fuel protest?

[John O]

after i asked about organising a fuel protest i had i suggested to me that instead of blocking roads we could instead boycot 1 fuel company each month. eg:- bp 1 month and esso the next, ect. you wouldnt buy anything at all from these companys, no fuel, drinks food ect. this would force the fuel companys to speak to the government. whos up for it? which company should we start with? and who would like to contact the national press to spread the word? cant do that bit myself as im busy with 5 kids and 2 jobs

rocky, thats why we need the press

[gearnofear]

The problem is this, not matter how many days you spend not buying fuel, eventually everyone will run to the pumps so they them selves don't lose money. Sure take one day and don't pay for gas. The oil companies snicker every time we do that simply because they know the profits they lost this day will be made up the next when everyone runs to the pump to fill up. If you want to get the little suckers you need to do what I do. Get 5 55 gallon drums and fill them up while the price is low. Then you can go weeks with out ever having to go to the station. That would send a message. Problem is not everyone has the means to store 275 gallons of gas at their home. But it's a start. I'm still paying 3.00 bucks a gallon for my gas... What’s everyone else Paying (Grin)

[Gatsby216]

Applying basic principles of economics, quite simply these type of boycotts do not and could not have any material impact on the long term price of gas. Even if you had 100 times the most optimistic level of participation.

Say we have oil company A, B and C. All three companies sell gas for $3.50 a gallon. If sales of A slow they lower the price to $3.45. The least loyal protesters think, " Protesting is OK, but I could save a dollar or two if I use A". And they start using A.
Or if A did not cut the price, B and C would just raise it they would have extra unexpected demand.
Or since oil is a commodity, A would sell excess supply to B and C or China, India or Japan, etc.

Put another way, if every single person in the UK did not drive their car for 5 days, the economic impact would literally be a drop in the bucket for the global oil companies. It might damage the local owners of gas stations, but of course they have nothing to do with the price of gas.

And oil consumption is not all direct consumer related. Trucks, power generation, construction equipment, farming, trains, airlines, buses,
a>

[royd]

Why are you wanting to organise a fuel protest against the oil companies? You should be organising one against the government and the amount of tax that we pay on fuel! If everyone just stuck to the ordinary speed limits we would collectively use a lot less fuel and consequently use less fuel and hence pay less tax to the government. The only catch is that they'd make up the lost tax from another source!

[duigan2003]

In the country I live in a national e-mail campaign was set up to make a Friday a no go day for fuel purchases One day in March almost no-one visited a service station in the country
I was said it cost the Oil Companies Millions of Dollars in wages. Also they had to employ extra staff on the Saturday to cope with the extra business (at penal rates)

[hackthis7]

rocky is right,

anyway when the day comes i can not afford to drive my 3 litre i will buy a smaller car or get a diesel like the wife

[oobeedoo]

john o.
i think the idea is good for just about lots of things....we could stop lots of companies and organisations ripping off joe public................but organising it is another thing .......good idea

[bilbobagsend]

i was up for the last protest which was more passive ie dont but fuel on certain day that gets the message accross to all the companies but you need a lot of support and time to implement it but if you do then aim for the 30th day of May 2008 being a Friday

[rocky]

It has already been tried I have had emails saying boycott a petrol company so they would have to reduce there prices and pass the email on to as many people you know. but no one bothered

[Fred C]

Why do people who can't read a dictionary think they know how to solve gas prices? To boycott means to actually do without something, in whole, or in part. It does not mean just buying it somewhere else. If this plan, which has been suggested pretty much every hour of every day for the past 10 years or more, ever actually worked, it would force gas prices up. So stop trying to help me, I can't afford your help!

Think about it, nobody buys from Shell this month. Demand is up at other stations. How o you handle demand in such a manner as to keep from immediately running out? YOU RAISE PRICES!!!!. Then you run out, and you have to re-stock. Oh, look Shell has lots! Then they refill from Shell. Now, Shell, desperate for customers, in your "plan", drops their price. OOPS, bad move, customers flock in, demand is too great, and price is raised because that is the ONLY way to decrease the demand and keep supplies from running low. Viola, success, prices are up for everybody, everywhere! Oh, wait, that isn't what you planned is it?

Research at Snopes, at the forums in Gasbuddy, various places on the net, and you will find all the other reasons a "boycott" that is nothing like a boycott, has never worked, is not working now, and never will work to lower gas prices.