read in the sunnday sun herald a two weeks ao that petrol will be up to $3.00 by the end of next year ....the guy concerned said it will come sooner than later....just wonder how its going to effect every body as far as hunting goes
daniel

You`ll still go, it`ll just cost you a shit load more. Remember when petrol `skyrocketed` to 80 cents a litre? Now everyone wishes for the good old days when it was around a dollar!

$10 a litre will not stop me hunting.

Makes you wonder how the average hunter used to do things before the cheap fuel and plentiful four wheel drives. People must have always got out and hunted somehow or other. Maybe hunting as we know it needs to change? Or will have to anyway. What do you guys reckon?

Lucky I live close enough to town to get the groceries on horseback; but will Woolworths agree to hitching rails outside their supermarkets

Unfortunately it has a roll on effect and everything else will go up accordingly.

Maybe a worldwide recession is waiting in the wings?

Why does the reporter think it will be $3/l? I didn't think the price of crude oil was expected to rocket that high that fast. Regardless, the cost of fuel is still a fairly small part of the cost of driving a car. We just don't consider the cost of the car itself each time we drive it, even though we are wearing out a very expensive consumer good each time we take it on the road.

I agree with asdf here.

but maybe I should invest in a horse.

The better half would love the mess, the work, the deposits...

And the boss of the school would be pretty impressed.

Seriously, I couldn't live without my 4 x 4 at present. My son was talking about bio-fuels and ways of conserving fuel then bought that big V8. I think we are very lucky to be rid of it for many reasons, fuel being a small one.

Has supply actually been altered, or is it just due to a bunch of wheelers and dealiers in the market that the price has gone up? It's got to be good for the top end of town, shareholders in Shell / BP etc if we're all paying a heap more when perhaps we don't have to. Sure, oil is going to run out one day soon, but I'm not sure scarcity and geo-political chest thumping from our American friends is entirely to blame for this price rise.

The tax raised by the government on crude, then refined petrol etc. must add a fair bit.

Not that i can remember, but after WW 2 sixty years ago, fuel was very expensive to the average
worker compared to to-day. I read somewhere that it was about four times more expensive then in labor/ hours for the ordinary Aus compared to now.

Refinement costs must have gone down per barrel. But the government is certainly getting heaps more every time every time a car is filled.

An alternative to crude?

Jimbob, IMO, it is nothing more than corporate greed! derf

Let's hope that some of the petroleum alternatives come on soon.

For all of you diesel owners, maybe it is time to look at Bio-Diesel. This is apparently a great alternative to paying the fuel companies for your diesel and it can be found for $1 per litre or less. You can even make it at home, so I am told!

OPEC has said in the last day that demand has not increased and supply has not decreased, therefore the middle-men the global oil companies must be profiteering.

No reason for the huge prices increases other than uncertainty and profiteering.

Guess Bush's oil-men mates are laughing at the moment.

I wonder how a little nuclear reactor creating energy would go down? Maybe in our life span.

I was wondering today: At what stage will my weekly fuel bill match my car loan repayment... I might have to break out the Ipswich fuel card: syphon hose and a 20 litre drum..

Note to self:- stay away from Ipswich....

Muzza: It`s never a bad plan, eh...

Have a couple of guys here at work who run bio-diesel, ie used chip fat, in their vehicles.
The only downsides reported are that the fuel filters tend to clog more frequently and that the fried fish and chip smell you get when you start up in the morning is almost irresistable.

Apparently there is an ethanol plant opening in the U.S every 10 days . Biodiesel produced from mustard crops is fast becoming economically viable .
Unfortunately Australia is miles behind other developed nations in regard to production of alternative fuels .
Ask yourself how often you have heard Abbott and Costello criticise oil companies for high fuel prices ? Answer : Never that I can recall .
Ask yourself what the Federal Govt. have done to promote development of alternative fuels ? Answer : Virtually nothing .
Ask yourself how much the Federal Govt. collects in excise currently ? Answer :
Sh!tloads .
Didn't you love Costello's recent plea for local businesses to absorb the additional fuel cost rather than pass on cost increases to the consumer ? They should go down the gurgler in order to support greedy oil-rich sheiks and multi national oil giants ? What a wacker .
For the record I'm not a labor voter or tree hugger but obviously not a big fan of Johny No-guns .

quote:

OPEC has said in the last day that demand has not increased

Rubbish. I've been to China in the last year to visit relatives. There's no freaking way demand for oil has been flat over the last few years. OPEC obviously cannot be trusted.

There are alternatives, and the US and Australia can both become energy self sufficient. It requires sacrifice, and not just of conspicuous consumption. The investment for other energy sources requires investment elsewhere to be cut. That means fewer people researching cures for cancer. No one's hurting enough right now to be willing to make the adjustment.

quote:

Originally posted by BwanaBob:
Let's hope that some of the petroleum alternatives come on soon.

For all of you diesel owners, maybe it is time to look at Bio-Diesel. This is apparently a great alternative to paying the fuel companies for your diesel and it can be found for $1 per litre or less. You can even make it at home, so I am told!

Yes, it's pretty straightforward. I have a couple of fairly easy to make recipies for bio-diesel, if anyone wants them.

Something I was emailed............................. for what it's worth pass it around


Join the resistance!!!!

Do you want petrol prices to come down? We need to take some
intelligent, united action.

Philip Hollsworth offered this good idea. This makes MUCH MORE SENSE
than the 'don't buy fuel on a certain day' campaign that was going
around last April or May!

The oil companies just laughed at that because they knew we wouldn't
continue to "hurt" ourselves by refusing to buy fuel. It was more of an
inconvenience to us than it was a problem for them. BUT, whoever thought
of this idea, may just have come up with a plan that can really work.
Please read on and join with us!

By now you're probably thinking fuel priced at about $1.00 is super
cheap. Me too! It is currently around $1.30 per litre for regular
unleaded. Now that the oil companies and the OPEC nations have
conditioned us to think that the cost of a litre of fuel is CHEAP at
$1.00, we need to take aggressive action to teach them that BUYERS
control the marketplace - not sellers. With the price of fuel going up
more each day, we consumers need to take action. The only way we are
going to see the price of this fuel come down is if we hit someone in
the pocket by not purchasing their fuel! And, we can do that WITHOUT
hurting ourselves.

How?
Since we all rely on our cars, we can't just stop buying fuel. But we
CAN have an impact on petrol prices if we all act together to force a
price war.
Here's the idea:



For the rest of this year, DON'T purchase ANY fuel or any products
period, from the biggest company in Australia, CALTEX. If they are not
selling any fuel, they will be inclined to reduce their prices. If they
reduce their prices, the other companies will have to follow suit. But
to have an impact, we need to reach literally millions of CALTEX fuel
buyers. It's really simple to do!

Now, don't bail out on me at this point ... keep reading and I'll
explain how simple it is to reach millions of people!!
I am sending this note to 30 people. If each of us send it to at least
ten more (30 x 10 = 300) ... and those 300 send it to at least ten more
(300 x 10 =
3,000) ... and so on, and by the time the message reaches the sixth
group of people, we will have reached over THREE MILLION consumers ....
A reasonable chunk of Australia!!!

Again, all you have to do is send this to 10 people - that's all! (If
you don't understand how we can reach 3 million and all you have to do
is send this to 10 people....

How long would all that take? If each of us sends this e-mail out to ten
more people within one day of receipt, all three MILLION people could
conceivably be contacted within the next few days!!! I'll bet you didn't
think you and I had that much potential, did you! Acting together we can
make a difference.

If this makes sense to you, please pass this message on. I suggest that
we not buy from CALTEX ** until they lower their fuel prices to $1-00 or
below ** AND KEEP THEM THERE ** START THE BOYCOTT TODAY!!!!!!!!

Nice try,there are only two refineries here in Brissie,BP and Caltex.All the fuel in Qld comes from one or the other.

quote:

Originally posted by Easy_Rollins:
Nice try,there are only two refineries here in Brissie,BP and Caltex.All the fuel in Qld comes from one or the other.

Hi all, have been reading some of the posts and thought I would add some facts and figures for you.

#Federal excise per litre of ULP = 38.14 cpl + 13cpl GST on the total = 51cpl taxes
#BP Bris predominantly Deisel refinery
#Aus imports in excess of 25% of it's finished product
#Worldwide refining capacity is down and demand is up with minig boom and developing countries
#USA consumes approx 24-25 barrels per head of population (1 barrel=156ltrs
#China consumes approx 1.5 barrels per head of population, China expects growth to be approx 5 barrels per head of population in 7 years, this is massive growth.
#Do not forget the growth of India
#Gladstone, Mackay & Townsville diesel consumption up 30% over 2003 due to mining boom
#Kuwait has only developed 1 major field in the last 25 years ther are 3 more fields and they plan to open 1 of these (wonder why Saddam wanted Kuwait)
#BP refinery will be supplying 5% Biodeisel in 2007 for it's supply pocket That equates to 150million lt of refined tallow per year.
#400million litres of ethanol would be required for Qld alone shuold all ULP contain 10% ethanol blend

I would not panic to much about $3 pl just yet.....but hey I've been wrong before

I just got back from West Australia where fuel company Gulf has opened 9 fuel stations in Perth, with biodiesel fuel available.

Apparently the mix is 20% bio with 80% mineral diesel and the price is 3 cents a litre less than standard mineral diesel.

Its a start.

In a high level computer store with a large magazine rack there is an abundance of mags some of which are on the borderline of computerdom. For example there were two on model rockets (some of which are almost weapons grade) and one on alternative power sources via wind generation, solar power, and bio-diesel. The last item came from the usual french fry and fried chicken oils available at any of our fast food services.

I talked to a tanker truck driver who was picking some up from an underground tank at a Kentucky Fried Chicken shop. The guy got very suspicious but talked a bit more freely when I mentioned reading about some college kids who ran a VW van on the stuff. It may have been straight frying oil plus the modifications required to get a properly useable chemical conversion.

The stuff is a bit dirty or cloggy where filters go and may produce some other bad side effects on the mechanism. But it can be done. However I don't know how it would work in a compression ignition engine. I suppose with filtration and ether it might work in a model airplane engine except those run on heavy oil mixes just for the lube and cooling effects.

I have three Chrysler LeBaron convertibles. One four and a six plus a six for parts. I will go the whole super-tuning route and will try to rebuild the four for the harder times ahead. If I have to I could strip the thing into a light glorified go-kart set up for utility driving and hauling. This would use aluminum wheels, doors would be sheet aluminum rivited aircraft style, etc. Lotsa fun but I wish I had time.

Expect someone to develop a compression ignition "motorcycle/scooter" motor for bolt-on application to stronger bikes. We had something like that in the old Whizzer motorbike with an under-seat mounted engine. Small four cycle and possibly sidewalve engine. Some crotch around my own age periodically putts down my street on one. Likely opriginal property from the 40's or 50's.

quote:

Originally posted by f.s. piekarczyk:
In a high level computer store with a large magazine rack there is an abundance of mags some of which are on the borderline of computerdom. For example there were two on model rockets (some of which are almost weapons grade) and one on alternative power sources via wind generation, solar power, and bio-diesel. The last item came from the usual french fry and fried chicken oils available at any of our fast food services.

I talked to a tanker truck driver who was picking some up from an underground tank at a Kentucky Fried Chicken shop. The guy got very suspicious but talked a bit more freely when I mentioned reading about some college kids who ran a VW van on the stuff. It may have been straight frying oil plus the modifications required to get a properly useable chemical conversion.

The stuff is a bit dirty or cloggy where filters go and may produce some other bad side effects on the mechanism. But it can be done. However I don't know how it would work in a compression ignition engine. I suppose with filtration and ether it might work in a model airplane engine except those run on heavy oil mixes just for the lube and cooling effects.

I have three Chrysler LeBaron convertibles. One four and a six plus a six for parts. I will go the whole super-tuning route and will try to rebuild the four for the harder times ahead. If I have to I could strip the thing into a light glorified go-kart set up for utility driving and hauling. This would use aluminum wheels, doors would be sheet aluminum rivited aircraft style, etc. Lotsa fun but I wish I had time.

Expect someone to develop a compression ignition "motorcycle/scooter" motor for bolt-on application to stronger bikes. We had something like that in the old Whizzer motorbike with an under-seat mounted engine. Small four cycle and possibly sidewalve engine. Some crotch around my own age periodically putts down my street on one. Likely opriginal property from the 40's or 50's.

Manufacture of Bio-mass products on a commercially viable scale is not as simple as it first appears

*first the issue around emissions and particulate need to be considered.
*Remember regardless of the base product used oil seed, animal fats, collected waste oils etc the final product will need to have gone through a refining process which = $$$'s there will need to be infra-structure distribution channels, consumer awareness, OEM approvals State and Federal excises/taxes = more $$$'s
*Product refining emissions organo oils require acid treatment and further chemical treat for stability eg cold climate product will wax hot climate volatility becomes an issue. You may pay less at the pump but do you seriously beleive that it will be that much less than you are paying now.
*Sure you will get the odd propeller head that runs his car on a mixture off household pig crap and garbage and hit the news but these guys are not a commercial reality when you take into account the quantities of product required to supply the needs of an industrialised country.
*It will be quite some time before we see bio-fuels as a serious alternative and accepted by end users.

Why is gasoline so expensive here in Aus? Simple. Oil is a commodity and is traded on the stock exchange as "futures". The deal is that I buy X dollars worth of oil at X dollars per barrel. My gamble is that the price will go up and then before I have to actually take posession of my commodity, I sell it and make a profit. But what if, just to increase my chances, I had a mate called "George" who could threaten to nuke a major oil producing country. WOW! Big dividend for me, the price has gone apeshit!!!!
Now for the double bonus! If I not only buy futures but also own a refinery I can use the artificially high price of oil (thanks George buddy!) as a top excuse for increasing the price of my product BEFORE i start paying the higher price for the commodity.

COOL! I'm a rich oilman and I'm getting richer, off your sorry hide! Do a Google search on "disruptive technologies" these are the ones that will put a dent in the oil companies. Unless they buy them all up (already happening)

FYI:

I paid $2.79/gallon two days ago to fill up my pickup truck and I live roughly three hours from the refineries on the Texas coast.

It only cost me $30 to fill up my truck - I do love Toyotas!

How many liters are in a gallon and what is the current exchange rate for Aus to USA?

TEX
4.5 litres to a gallon....one gets 75 U.S cents for one Australian dollar
DANIEL

quote:

Originally posted by M 98:
TEX
4.5 litres to a gallon....one gets 75 U.S cents for one Australian dollar
DANIEL

US gallon is smaller than our Imperial gallon Daniel. derf

3.8 litres = US gallon, 4.5 litres = Imperial gallon. One Australian dollar = 76.7 US cents, one US dollar = 1.30 Australian dollars.