Need Gasoline and Want to buy American-Made Only? Keep Reading!

[goldstar]

The following material is excerpted from:

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/04/25/energy-in-america-refinery-promises-no-mideast-oil-imports-offering-only-made/#ixzz1t9DdXb9C

The United Refining Company (URC) produces gasoline that is refined from 100% North American crude - oil that only originates from the US and Canada. URC's chairman and CEO, John Catsimatidis, a New York billionaire, heads the company whose refinery is located in Warren, PA where a pipeline was built from Canada 35 years ago to refine crude from that country. The company sells the gasoline at more than 300 stations in NY, PA and OH uinder the Kwik Fill, Country Fair and Keystone brands.

According to Catsimatidis, "We think Americans feel good about it. People drive by, and every time they get annoyed at...(Hugo) Chavez, every time they get annoyed at BP Petroleum, every time they get annoyed at the Middle East, you know what they say? Why don't I buy American oil and buy American-made gasoline?" Catsimatidis points out that relying on domestic sources, and those from stable neighbors and not the Middle East, provides for price and supply stability for customers. "What happens if Iran gets bombed, or Saudi Arabia gets bombed, or Iran stops shipping?" he asks, adding that pipelines are a more efficient and cheaper means of transporting oil than tankers sailing from overseas.

Catsimatidis says profits have been up for 27 consecutive quarters since the company started advertising that its oil is 100% North American. Television commercials highlight that feature, and Kwik Fill gas stations have patriotic "Driving America" signs.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, our country currently imports 45% of our crude oil from foreign sources, and about one-fourth of that is from Canada. We get 13% from Saudi Arabia and almost 10% from Venezuela. Imported oil hit a high of more than 60% in 2005.

Traveling in NY and PA as I do, I don't think I've noticed any of these brands, but now I'll keep a look-out and be sure to fill 'er up with all-
American when I see one.

Happy Motoring!

[1st Gen]

Iranian oil embargo/sanctions start in June I believe.
I've never heard of any of those brands but I'll keep an eye out for them.

[nerd racing]

I have a kwik-fill and a country fair in my home town. I have been using Golf oil though because it is 10 cents off per gallon if you use cash or debit. I can't pass that kind of savings up...

[bomdoutscort]

So it costs the same amount but doesn't provide any benefit other than American jobs; considering that the supplying costs are down and shipping costs are way down since its a tristate product? It seems like it should cost less too. Probably one person profiting from the speculation and raising prices to meet speculation.

[goldstar]

So it costs the same amount but doesn't provide any benefit other than American jobs; considering that the supplying costs are down and shipping costs are way down since its a tristate product? It seems like it should cost less too. Probably one person profiting from the speculation and raising prices to meet speculation.

There are at least two schools of thought here and I'm not so sure that the price equivalency is a simple matter of speculating for profit. Certainly, Catsimaditis doesn't set the price of crude. Referring to the article which I cited as the basis for this thread, there are two contrasting viewpoints expressed. The Chicago-based oil analyst Phil Flynn of PFGBEST (a commodities futures trading company) asserts that selling more US and Canadian-sourced crude, eliminating shipping costs from the Middle East, over the long run will lower gasoline prices.

On the other hand, Guy Caruso, senior advisor in the Energy and National Security Program at Washington, DC's Center for Strategic and International Studies notes domestic gasoline production can't necessarily lower prices since crude prices are set uniformly on global markets which of course affects the cost of Canadian and US crude. However, he points out that selling only American gasoline is "good for security reasons and the balance of trade, and to the extent of developing more American crude." He goes on to say, "If you take North America as a whole, it is not unrealistic that within a 20-year time frame, we could be purchasing little or no crude from outside the region."

For the present, even if there is no price advantage to US-sourced gasoline, creating American jobs and looking to future benefits is an undeniable boon.

Happy Fracking!

[bomdoutscort]

There are at least two schools of thought here and I'm not so sure that the price equivalency is a simple matter of speculating for profit. Certainly, Catsimaditis doesn't set the price of crude. Referring to the article which I cited as the basis for this thread, there are two contrasting viewpoints expressed. The Chicago-based oil analyst Phil Flynn of PFGBEST (a commodities futures trading company) asserts that selling more US and Canadian-sourced crude, eliminating shipping costs from the Middle East, over the long run will lower gasoline prices.

On the other hand, Guy Caruso, senior advisor in the Energy and National Security Program at Washington, DC's Center for Strategic and International Studies notes domestic gasoline production can't necessarily lower prices since crude prices are set uniformly on global markets which of course affects the cost of Canadian and US crude. However, he points out that selling only American gasoline is "good for security reasons and the balance of trade, and to the extent of developing more American crude." He goes on to say, "If you take North America as a whole, it is not unrealistic that within a 20-year time frame, we could be purchasing little or no crude from outside the region."

For the present, even if there is no price advantage to US-sourced gasoline, creating American jobs and looking to future benefits is an undeniable boon.

Happy Fracking!

Catsimatidis says profits have been up for 27 consecutive quarters since the company started advertising that its oil is 100% North American. Television commercials highlight that feature, and Kwik Fill gas stations have patriotic "Driving America" signs.

I understand that jobs are American but when does the end user see the gain? Profits are up from 27 consecutive quarters. I don't understand the the whole point of people being happy or proud of this company. Whats the difference between them and the other suppliers? If Americans don't gain anything from it(jobs isn't that big of a benefit because even the off shore companies still employ Americans and create American jobs), then its basically the same as sending the money to the other suppliers.

I may be wrong but I though that OPEC was a cartel and set how much oil would be sold and that predicted the price also. Based on the fact that this is an American company and isn't part of OPEC; prices should be substantially lower. To me this is the same as the auto industry. Americans stopped buying American automobiles because it gave no benefit to the end consumer to buy American. When they tanked, something had to be done to lure Americans back to American products. Better quality and lower prices. Both have led to substantial increases in the Old Big 3's automobile sales. So where is the better quality and lower prices of this American Company?

[goldstar]

I understand that jobs are American but when does the end user see the gain? Profits are up from 27 consecutive quarters. I don't understand the the whole point of people being happy or proud of this company. Whats the difference between them and the other suppliers? If Americans don't gain anything from it(jobs isn't that big of a benefit because even the off shore companies still employ Americans and create American jobs), then its basically the same as sending the money to the other suppliers.

I may be wrong, too, and I certainly don't know anything about the economics of the oil industry - only what I hear discussed on news programs or from an occasional article I've read. I just assumed that profits were up for 27 consecutive quarters because more and more people became aware of the company and decided to buy American meaning that the profits came from increased volume sales rather than the price charged for the gasoline. On that basis I can see why the success of the company is something to be proud of, but of course my interpretation could be wrong. If I'm correct, the difference between them and other suppliers is that the money goes to American and Canadian crude producers rather than to offshore producers in the Middle East and Venezuela. I think you would agree that more jobs for both Americans and Canadians as well as keeping the money here rather than sending it abroad are two big advantages and another reason for a sense of pride.

I may be wrong but I though that OPEC was a cartel and set how much oil would be sold and that predicted the price also. Based on the fact that this is an American company and isn't part of OPEC; prices should be substantially lower. To me this is the same as the auto industry. Americans stopped buying American automobiles because it gave no benefit to the end consumer to buy American. When they tanked, something had to be done to lure Americans back to American products. Better quality and lower prices. Both have led to substantial increases in the Old Big 3's automobile sales. So where is the better quality and lower prices of this American Company?

Yes, OPEC is a cartel and they do set production quotas but since oil is a global commodity its price is determined more by supply and demand on the world market, at least as I understand it. Whatever the price of oil, however, it seems to me it's better to pay it to domestic and Canadian producers rather than to send it offshore to countries some of whom don't even like us. Putting more money into local producers pays even more dividends since it comes back to us in the form of taxes, increased domestic oil exploration and production, and reducing foreign oil consumption. Eventually, we may even see lower gasoline prices as our domestic crude oil sources expand.

Not bad if I'm right about this.

[bomdoutscort]

Dont get me wrong. I agree with the taxes and more jobs, its just that the price that those stations have is probably based on the global price of oil that is based on OPEC's figures. So with it being an American company and the money going to America and Canada, wouldn't you think that the price would be significantly different than the global market price? This is all speculation though. I honestly feel that if we aren't buying it from these other countries, then the price should reflect that. And from a business stand point if they lowered the prices of gas, how many more new customers would they get, how much more business would it generate. More business, more fuel to be manufactured, more jobs to be had. This is opinion but I appreciate the intellectual conversation and open mindedness.

[goldstar]

Yes, I'm very glad we were able to have this conversation as it has been very interesting and thought provoking - most enjoyable. I certainly agree with you that if we're buying crude from US and Canadian sources it seems the price should be less than that charged for overseas oil, and that if it were, there would be even more customers and jobs. The fact that this is not happening is a mystery to me but then I don't really understand the oil business. Your guess is as good as mine here. Let's just hope that the situation is eventually resolved in terms of lower prices as more domestic and Canadian crude from oil shale becomes available thanks to the hydrofracking and horizontal drilling processes.

[KAinjection]

I would think anything produced locally would be cheaper as well, kind of like how the price of gas in Saudi is cheaper then water, or so I hear....

[meGrimlock]

as it was already stated, the US gets most of its oil from Canada anyway, seems moot "looking" for Canadian oil as its a good bet you've already got it in your tank. Some thing that i see a lot of pumps with "OPEC" logos on the nozzels, so you may be able to discern where NOT to take your money if you are concerned about its origins.