When we filled up our van a few days ago, we bypassed a closer, cheaper bp station for another one. My guess is, as sick as I am about their incompetence, we'll continue to bypass them.
On September 11 (THAT one), a locally-owned gas station we had been going to exclusively for decades, raised their prices THAT MORNING an ungodly amount. It made us so mad, we never ever, not once, bought there again. That was simple price-gouging. They are now out of business. They never should have done such a horrible thing. None of the other gas stations in town did that. If I ever am in the same room as the owner, he will get an earful. LOUDLY.
I know who he is. We live in a small town. It's bound to happen eventually. Look out buddy.
Do not resent growing old. Many are denied the privilege.
My original post was based on my choice to avoid a Company that is destroying a large part of my country. It was not a boycott of oil companies in general, like it or not we are stuck with gas engines for along time. (side note: I was on a customer panel when the escape hybrid was going to be introduced and I turned in my survey with the notes that it should be Ford's Flagship instead of the explorer, they didnt take my advice that worked out well for them )
As others have stated I have no worries about mom and pop gas stations, if they are truely independent they can switch companies. Most of them make their money from the pop sales anyway not the gas. If they are not independent well to bad, BP will never get my money
As a person in the Fisheries science field I cannot frequent a company that goes against everything I live for.
I know some have tried to make this political but I really dont think it is about that at all, I really dont think a donkey or a elephant would actually want something like this to happen or continue but what I do know is that BP has committed crimes against this countries environment and even their own employees. S@rew 'Em
Everyone says to boycott BP, has anyone realized that BP doesn't really own any gas stations in the US? Their gas stations are run by vendors who pay BP for the use of the name and access to the gasoline. If you boycott the gas, you're probably hurting the independent owner rather than the large corporation. (Please note that I do have a vested interest in what happens to BP -- that's all I'm saying, if you want to know more, please PM me.)
If you want an experience, go to a Jimmy Buffett concert.
Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.
aeroparrot wrote:Everyone says to boycott BP, has anyone realized that BP doesn't really own any gas stations in the US? Their gas stations are run by vendors who pay BP for the use of the name and access to the gasoline. If you boycott the gas, you're probably hurting the independent owner rather than the large corporation. (Please note that I do have a vested interest in what happens to BP -- that's all I'm saying, if you want to know more, please PM me.)
You are so right. You never know where the BP gas is. I went to a Kangaroo gas station today and filled up. Then I was thinking, where do they get their gas from? Guess who?? Mostly BP!
msu#1 wrote:My original post was based on my choice to avoid a Company that is destroying a large part of my country. It was not a boycott of oil companies in general, like it or not we are stuck with gas engines for along time. (side note: I was on a customer panel when the escape hybrid was going to be introduced and I turned in my survey with the notes that it should be Ford's Flagship instead of the explorer, they didnt take my advice that worked out well for them )
Ford is the only one of the Big 3 auto companies that didn't get any bailout money from the People's Bank of Obama. It also showed a profit of $2.1 billion (that's billion with a B) in the first quarter of this year. Yeah, not taking your advice did work out pretty well for them. Facts can be, to steal a phrase, an inconvenient truth.
aeroparrot wrote:Everyone says to boycott BP, has anyone realized that BP doesn't really own any gas stations in the US? Their gas stations are run by vendors who pay BP for the use of the name and access to the gasoline. If you boycott the gas, you're probably hurting the independent owner rather than the large corporation. (Please note that I do have a vested interest in what happens to BP -- that's all I'm saying, if you want to know more, please PM me.)
So, if you boycott stations that are licensed by BP, they may decide to license with another company, which may hurt the large corporation.
Sorry, but I'll continue to boycott the BP brand. If enough people do that, the BP brand just may disappear from the landscape.
What has happened here is an environmental disaster - there is no arguement with that, but isnt it about time someone took a look at the regulator with their lightweight way of working.
In Europe each well has to have 3 stop points - the drilling is heavily regulated.
In US waters only one is required - remember you had a president that didnt want to upset his oil buddies.
Yes BP are responsible for clearing up this mess - but remember they were working to the rules set by their governing body!!
no shoes wrote:In US waters only one is required - remember you had a president that didnt want to upset his oil buddies.
That's right, I forgot that prior to 2000 and the Bush presidency there was no oil drilling, oil industry or demand for the product. Then evil and dumb George came into office and set up the oil industry and put all his buddies in positions of power and wealth
Try to look beyond your personal political opinions when discussing topics it'll lead to more credibility for your position and comments.
msu#1 wrote:I am. I was even driving around today and saw a station with EXTREMELY low priced gas, went to pull in because it was so cheap and not because i really needed it but then I realized it was a BP station and kept going.
So sign in if you will never set foot in one of their stations again!
Don't forget to add Arco AM/PM
and Arco Aluminium to your list.... it is all BP
I am sure there are others... just go to BP's website and search
I have not read through all of the posts... but I was talking to a friend who is an engineer for an oil crude ship and he just made a comment of "laziness operator error" not saying the employees but total picture...
Then I thought...instead of calling on Hollywood to fix the problem, have they called on the companies that built the oil drills in the North Sea on if they have a solution?
Again, before you baste me with comments, I did not read through all of the pages.
Based on what I've read, seen and heard from the media and from speaking with several people who work in the oil and gas fields in Utah and Wyoming, they place the blame on the operator of the well btw, I have come to conclusion that the initial problem was caused by cutting corners and failing to understand just how bad things would get if there was a blow out. According the regulations there were supposed to be two methods to prevent this from happening. The problem was that one was removed shortly before the accident and the other failed to work.
I am convinced that BP, along with every company operating deep water rigs, is doing everything that it can to bring this under control as quickly as they can. This is going to take time to bring it under control. The reason the other oil companies are offering any and all help is simply their own vested interests. They fear that BP's blunder will end up costing them as well.
If the US government nationalizes the accident site, then any and all subsequent damage ends up being the responsibility of the US government. Right now three private companies are on the hook and that is where they should stay. While the CEO of BP says that they will pay for all losses, I suspect that once the claims start rolling in, BP of America, will go belly up and BP of the USA, will buy the bankrupt assets and thus get rid of the debt resulting from the claims and yet keep the assets.
As for a boycott of BP, if you mean gas stations, well, in the short run, it might hurt the licensees but I don't think it will put them out of business. They will just switch names and be out some money for signage. If BP were to suffer the loss of every gas station in the USA, that would be a small amount of business for them. They have so many other pieces of the pie that it wouldn't cause them much pain. If you want to hurt them, get the US government to cancel all of the contracts that BP has with the government. That will do significant damage to the bottom line of BP.
I hope that they get a handle on the leaking oil quickly and are able to seal this up by August and that they pay EVERY last claim in full, including the loss of income for those who rely upon the waters and beaches to make their livings and those who can show that they were directly impacted by this mess.
Honestly, I don't think it matters who was in the White House because when you undertake such difficult engineering feats, there will be accidents and mishaps, regardless of oversight and regulations.
Captain Jack's Bar & Grill, Home to the Lost Manatee.
Makes you wonder which mistake, if someone would have spoken up earlier, would we be in this mess?
Seems it all the trouble began at a meeting hours before the blowout, with a "skirmish" between a BP official and rig workers who did not want to replace heavy drilling fluid in the well with saltwater.
The switch presumably would have allowed the company to remove the fluid and use it for another project, but the seawater would have provided less weight to counteract the surging pressure from the ocean depths.
The BP official, whom he identified only as the "company man," overruled the drillers, declaring, "This is how it's going to be." Brown said the top Transocean official on the rig grumbled, "Well, I guess that's what we have those pinchers for," which he took to be a reference to devices on the blowout preventer, the five-story piece of equipment that can slam a well shut in an emergency.
There were other signs of problems, including an unexpected loss of fluid from a pipe known as a riser five hours before the explosion that could have indicated a leak in the blowout preventer.
A congressional memo about a BP internal investigation said that tests less than an hour before the well blew out found a buildup of pressure that was an "indicator of a very large abnormality." Still, the rig team was satisfied that another test was successful and resumed adding the seawater, said the memo.
And then you need permission to hit the distress button after 2 explosions and a fire?
Steve Bertone, the chief engineer for Transocean, wrote in his witness statement that he ran up the bridge and heard the captain screaming at a worker for pressing the distress button. Bertone turned to Pleasant, who was manning the emergency disconnect system, and asked whether it had been engaged.
Pleasant told Bertone that he needed approval first, according to Bertone's sworn statement. Another manager tried to give the go-ahead, but someone else from Transocean said the order needed to come from the rig's offshore installation manager.
A couple of workers described a debate about whether they should be in lifeboats. Once workers finally started getting into the boats, it took several minutes to persuade officials to start lowering them. Once they did, the operator didn't know how to detach a boat from the rig.
I know on my husband's ship, they practiced a fire drill once a month! Everyone, from the cook to the captain were at the drills as you never know who will survive after an explosion.
Read in the paper recently that the rig had a fire earlier this year even. The last casing of the drill didn't get cement either. A dead battery on the BOP, a faulty piece somewhere else...whatever could go wrong did.
And then there are the people making the decisions. Just to cut corners and save a few hundred thousand dollars.
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