September
02 , 2005
To Ease the
Pain at the Petrol Pump
Granted that it is hard to accept
stoically the current gas prices, granted also that
buying gas now has become virtually a grudge purchase,
yet there appears to be no sense in fuming and fretting
about a situation that you are totally incompetent
to rectify or to take out the grudge against any
particular entity.
The easiest thing to do is to attribute it all to
the government’s machination to satisfy the
greed of its key players and big energy businesses
that are now collecting their pound of flesh. You
may point out that the recently approved Energy
Bill focuses on promoting alternative sources of
energy rather than introducing any measure to reduce
the current price hike. But then President Bush
has himself admitted that he has no magic wand to
wave and bring the price down.
He is unwilling though to touch the enormous Strategic
Oil Reserve, as any release from it would not only
reduce the market price, but also the profits being
reaped now by big oil companies and speculators.
His henchmen attribute the price hike to the spurt
in demand from China and India owing to their burgeoning
economies and an expanding middle class with a newly
discovered taste for motorcars.
China with a population of 1.25 billion, 4.5 times
that of the US, has less than one-tenth of the number
of vehicles than in the US and India has much less.
The current world consumption of oil is 79 million
barrels a day. US consumption is 9.5 million barrels
a day, equivalent to the total production of Saudi
Arabia – the biggest producer - or 12 % of
world consumption.
The Energy Bill recently passed by the US Congress
places no cap on the profligate consumption of oil
in the country. That would have rubbed against the
grain of big oil companies – a measure Bush
Administration meticulously avoids. He must be credited
for being true to the salt of the major contributors
to his election kitty.
His trust in market forces to rectify the situation
might be misplaced this time. Government intervention
would have expedited the remedy – at least
a temporary one.
Some experts have gloom-and-doom predictions, including
a recession as a result of high oil prices.
In a situation like this, would the common man who
lives from pay check to pay check be able to maintain
his cavalier consumption of gas as he did a couple
of years back when he could buy it at a little over
a dollar a gallon? The inevitable ripple effect
on the prices of his other consumable items, groceries
for instance, are ripping an extra 30 % from his
pockets.
There is an inverse correlation between his anxiety
level and the level of the petrol in the tank. Less
petrol for the same amount means more anxiety, if
not anguish.
He cannot expect a reprieve or respite from any
segment of the oil industry. Of each dollar spent
at the pump, 55 cents go for crude oil, 18 cents
for refining, 19 cents for taxes and the remainder
on marketing. Since the Sales Tax constitutes a
percentage of the sale price, the higher the price,
the more the tax, a welcome development for the
state coffer, and no state has charitably cut down
its intake.
The average individual has to make lifestyle changes
necessary to reduce his overall expenses to make
room for higher payments for gas. He will have to
re-evaluate priorities and amend his errant ways
– a blessing in disguise. When medical charges
and insurance premiums increased sharply, a vast
majority of the people gave up unhealthy habits
and foods, took up exercise programs.
The pain at the pump has triggered consumer creativity.
Swiftest solution had to come from consumers themselves.
For commuters, a daily round trip on bus is looking
much better than driving and hunting for a parking
place. Car-pooling has also started to look attractive
and time saving considering the absence of traffic
jam in carpool lanes.
Here are some more tips to minimize your pain at
the pump.
Fill up your tank early in the morning when it is
cold in the underground tank. Later in the day it
warms up and expands giving you less BTU per gallon.
A full tank reduces evaporation. Fill it up when
it is half empty.
Keep your tires fully inflated; that reduces drag.
Overcoming aerodynamic drag is crucial to improving
fuel consumption. According to the Department of
Energy, a loaded roof rack can decrease your fuel
economy by as much as 5 %. An extra 100 pounds in
the trunk will cut your car’s fuel efficiency
by about 2%. If you are obese, go immediately on
a starvation diet. Life might become insipid but
you sure will save on gas. If you do succeed in
shedding the fat, the price hike at the pump will
pale into total insignificance.
Don’t even think of shifting the baggage on
the roof rack to the back seat and the kids from
there to the roof rack. You may get even arrested,
without achieving any reduction in the drag.
Better leave the heavy golf bag in the garage instead
of carrying it all the time in your trunk in the
remote possibility of your stealing time from work
to hit the greens with your buddies. That has not
happened and is unlikely to happen. Likewise, you
may remove the ski rack on the roof and the bicycle
rack in the front or back of the car.
Turning off the air-conditioner and opening the
windows will increase wind resistance and eat up
the savings. Enjoy your AC.
Avoid filling up at the stations near the freeways.
They charge more, it is true. But there is no truth
that prices are raised on weekends. They change
all the time. Greed is subject to no timetable.
Avoid “jackrabbit” starts by bolting
for the open road the moment the light turns green.
Hard acceleration causes your engine to lock into
a less efficient “fuel enrichment” mode.
If you press the accelerator to the floor, chances
are that you will soon be standing on the brakes
on the next red light.
In city driving, almost half the energy needed to
power your car goes to acceleration. Your fuel economy
will improve by five to ten percent, according to
the Department of Energy, if you avoid unnecessary
braking and acceleration.
The hybrid car is generally accepted as good for
your wallet and the environment. Indeed, hybrids
like Toyota Prius or Honda Insight are fuel-efficient
and give 40 to 50 miles per gallon. And undoubtedly,
they reduce smog-forming pollutants and carbon dioxide
emissions. But, consumers are concerned more with
their own financial health than with the environment.
The hybrid is not exactly a panacea for the price
hike.
If you want to shift to a hybrid to save on gas,
you might consider recalculating the cost/benefit
ratio. The car will cost some $5,000 more and the
insurance premium will be much higher too. An industry
expert has estimated that gas has to sell at $5.60
a gallon for the hybrid drivers to break even if
they drove 15,000 miles a year for over five years!
A Chinese proverb says: “When rape is inevitable,
relax and enjoy it”. Why then fume and fret
about the oil industry? There is nothing you can
do to counter the machinations of its greedy potentates,
scions of king Midas. So, relax, stay home and cancel
all your vacations. - arifhussaini@hotmail.com
