Gas Prices

[Dom]

2.75 yesterday in metro boston. They are only going to get higher, I use these sights to help find the cheapist:

gaspricewatch.com
gasbuddy.com-I find this better for boston

[smmokan]

This may explain some of the price increases. $150 million to retire? I quit!

http://money.cnn.com/2006/04/19/news...ex.htm?cnn=yes

[PNWbrit]

i haven't clued in to a lot of these arguments, but from what i can see, a few things have been overlooked. first of all, there hasn't been a new refinery built in the usa in ages. bp's texas city refinery has been out since hurricane rita last year (3rd biggest refinery in america). the regions that produce 'sweet' crude which is the easiest to refine have been the ones with the most problems actually getting their oil to market (venezuela and nigeria, both in the top 5 of usa oil importing countries). shell and eni have had to call force majure on numerous cargoes out of nigeria. cracks (the spreads b/t crude and refined products like gasoline) are at huge levels which means that the market is bidding for people to build refineries. the surge in crude has nothing to do w/ current supply levels in america, in fact, they're at their highest levels in a decade and are 'bidding' via the near term contango for whatever above ground storage there is. crude price surge has to do with the future and the fact that there could be a supply disruption in iran or a larger one in nigeria which would send prices automatically over $100 b/c of short covering.

I already covered these points - but apparently it's all bullshit and we should just blame the $/euro

[bad_roo]

It all comes back to Norman Lamont.

[Cono Este]

Face it, we are no longer the only developed country outside of europe anymore. We are competing with China, India and others for oil. Iraqi oil production was never near full production since the first gulf war. Venezuela is booting out all the American oil companies. The russians stopped flooding the market and threw their oil executives in jail.

Exxon only has a 10% profit margin on its revenues.

It is still cheaper than Pabst Blue Ribbon.

Hopefully this will encourage everybody to drive a four banger.

[PNWbrit]

It all comes back to Norman Lamont.

I'll take incompetent Chancellors for $100

[SkiingBear]

Bet yet they are making more money than ever. Why not lower gas prices and keep their profits the same?

Explain to me why their profits are up. If oil prices have gone up and they haven't cut their manufacturing costs and demand has been decreased, how in the world can they make more money?

They should only raise their prices by the amount needed to cover the increase in their costs. Instead, they have been rasing it more than the increase in costs and as a result are making greater profit.

It's been touched on, but no one has really hit it yet. Prices are up as a means of forcing conservation. There has not been a new refinery built in the US since, and I might be off by a little bit here, the 1950s. Refineries have increased capacity slightly over the years, but there have been no new ones. The price charged at the pump reflects the ability to produce it.

This could be compared to the cost for a Rolls Royce. While the cars are worth quite a bit, it's the fact that they're hand made and only a set number can be produced per year, that really drives the cost up. If they lowered the price, they wouldn't be able to produce cars fast enough to meet demand.

The price for gasoline that is charged at the pump is set to force conservation. What's worse?..having high prices limiting how much you can afford?..or having no gas available? Can you imagine if there were no gasoline available for ambulances or police cars? (Personally, I'd rather see this happen to really get the public involved and force the government's hand). The gas shortages of the 70's taught these companies that it's better to charge high and have gas available than to charge "reasonable" prices and run out of supply.

This is only my personal speculation, but I believe that the oil industry itself is lobbying against the construction of new refineries. What better way to increase profits than to maintain an expense ceiling for production, while raising prices for the consumption of the product?

[homerjay]

$3.11 for 85 octane at the West Vail Price Gouger Conoco.

[serge944]

Yeah, it hurts to pay that at the pump. That's part of the reason I sold my snowmobile, and own two Toyota Corolla's.

Fuck it, we need to change our thinking anyway. This continued trend of bigger, faster, more powerful isn't helping anything.

Though nearly everything is getting heavier and more powerful, technological advances allow cars to still be more efficient. For example, the new corvette zo6, a supercar by any standards, get something like 26mpg on the freeway, despite having a 7 liter engine. In comparison, my 2.5 liter bmw 325 (less weight, less displacement, less power) gets poorer fuel economy.

As for fuel inefficient cars driving up prices - come on! America is so dependent on gas, we'd pay nearly any price. Our whole economy is based on transport via trucks.

I paid 2.94 for 87 yesterday in Sacramento.

[lemon boy]

I already covered these points - but apparently it's all bullshit and we should just blame the $/euro

Still can't be bothered to spend two minutes with google huh PNWB?
I'll start you on your way though: A graph just for you

[Cono Este]

we have two things going against us in this country.

1. Our country is huge, and our infrastructure was built around the automobile.

2. Somehow most idiots feel a sense of importance by driving a big expensive vehicle.

In europe even the weathlier people can be seen driving inexpensive compact diesels.

[PNWbrit]

Still can't be bothered to spend two minutes with google huh PNWB?
I'll start you on your way though: A graph just for you

Thanks for the graph

I still disagree with your earlier analysis that "it is the Euro that is primarily driving our high gas prices"

Most commentators would seem to agree.

[lemon boy]

Everyone else has listed a whole host of reasons why prices are going up (and I don't disagree that they're part of the problem) but nothing else singly answers the bulk of the price increase to US consumers the way that the fall of the USD against the Euro does. Sure it is a harder concept to grasp but Occam has got this fucking razor and the motherfucker is sharp.

[Jer]

I live very close to sea level. Buying a fuel-efficient car had nothing to do with 'feelgood' decisionmaking, it's pure selfishness - I like my beach, but it's close enough.

Sell .

[Blurred]

where are the people who have professions in the oil game that can give us some real unbiased/ungoogled info on why gas prices are skyrocketing?

i want to hear from them.

[fridge]

$1.15 CDN/litre here today, which I think roughly equals about $3.83 US/gallon.

[lemon boy]

where are the people who have professions in the oil game that can give us some real unbiased/ungoogled info on why gas prices are skyrocketing?

good luck Diogenes

[StaggerLee]

[QUOTE=skiaholik]I'm sorry but it has nothing to do with chance of making more money. Yes, the markets for gas stations/companies are not perfectly competitive but the firms cannot dictate....QUOTE]

I have to disagree with you here. Theoretically, oil/gas prices would be a function of supply and demand. However, the oil industry is a cartel. What further exacerbates this problem is the extremely strong lobby that the oil giants have in DC...Bottom line, by leveraging political capital, the fallout from misc. current events (i.e. Iraq War), American consumer dependence on oil, and the relative price disparity with the balance of the civilized world, these pricks have decided tip the scales in favor of gererating additional producer surplus. Translated, taking dollars from our pockets to line theirs...Not sure if people recall the hearings that were spun up on Capital Hill after Exxon-Mobil reported historical record profits (for all American businesses, not just oil). Politics at their best...in the end, nothing was accomplished...Bottom line, the average American consumer is apathetic at best.

On a side note, why in the hell is diesel (a virtually unrefined product) the same price as super unleaded??

End of rant...

[PNWbrit]

Everyone else has listed a whole host of reasons why prices are going up (and I don't disagree that they're part of the problem) but nothing else singly answers the bulk of the price increase to US consumers the way that the fall of the USD against the Euro does. Sure it is a harder concept to grasp but Occam has got this fucking razor and the motherfucker is sharp.

Occam would probably need something like this to deal with the rather more complex world of today. One blade or solution probably not enough to explain everything.

[lemon boy]

Staggerlee- That one can likely mostly be spread around a bit between: rising demand (consumer diesel segment), static refining capacity and the conversion to ULSD. The wintertime jump is usually associated with HHO demand and Winterblend D2 creation.

[Blurred]

good luck Diogenes

you calling me a cynic? youre as bad as everyone else.

why hasn't anyone attacked Bush for cashing in the oil from the Iraq war?

[funkendrenchman]

why hasn't anyone attacked Bush for cashing in the oil from the Iraq war?

Because he's our president and I'm sure that he is doing what is best for the country.

[edg]

$45 to fill my tank. Does about 200miles on that. Sigh.

edg

[fiddler]

Because he's our president and I'm sure that he is doing what is best for the country.

Choking with laughter...........

[fiddler]

Since 10pm when I posted last night the price has gone up at major stations to around 3.089. I filled up this morning and got a real bargain at 2.959 at a Shell station.

And I repeat: politics, greed and monopoly have replaced the free market. It's been some time since there was anything resembling a real free market.