Gas Prices

And, of course, there is absolutely no good reason for prices to rise.

 

The recent rises seem to have somewhat stalled here, meaning they have been steady for about a week now; $1.979 for 87 octane at the cheapo places, while Shell and Chevron are typically about 8 cents more -- and those stations, right across the street from the Arco and 7-11 pumps, still have customers, go figure. Still, that's 30 cents more than the minimum we hit a few weeks back.

It is said here that refineries are cutting back production due to falling demand -- so I reckon it makes sense in America that they gotta get their same profit regardless.

Crude is now at ~ $37 / barrel, about a quarter of what it cost a few months ago -- and it doesn't take a PhD to see that gasoline hasn't followed it that closely.

Snip from a news story ...

HOUSTON — From the Indian Ocean to the South Atlantic to the Gulf of Mexico, giant supertankers brimming with oil are resting at anchor or slowly tracing racetrack patterns through the sea, heading nowhere.

The ships are marking time, serving as floating oil-storage tanks. The companies and countries leasing them for that purpose have made a simple calculation: the price of oil has fallen so far that it is due for a rise.

Some producing countries are trying to force that rise by using the tankers to withhold oil from the market, while traders are trying to profit by buying cheap oil now to store and sell at a higher price later. Oil storage has become so popular that onshore tank capacity is becoming scarce.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/15/b...q=crude oil price&st=cse&scp=1&pagewanted=all

 

Try that with food, or other things we need to survive.

 

Cheer up, BB. After tomorrow gas will drop below $1.00 a gallon at the pump, flowers will start blooming and the birds will be singing again.

 

I'm just basing that prediction on all the blame and promises that I heard a few months ago. Are you telling me that those were lies? Say it ain't so!

 

Politicians, what are they good for? Absolutely nothing! Say it again!

 

Gas prices are rising as crude piles up offshore because the refiners have reached a point where they are not making what they consider an adequate profit on cracking crude, and so they have restricted the amount of crude they process. That has caused a tightening of refined product supplies within the US, and prices have risen as a consequence.

Some references. There are lots of stories about it:

http://seekingalpha.com/article/115357-oil-prices-are-down-so-why-isn-t-gas

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/bu...35E16D5C5873BA49862575410007CCF4?OpenDocument

http://www.tulsaworld.com/business/article.aspx?subjectid=49&articleid=20090116_49_E1_Oilpri942332

 

And we get screwed,....as usual.

 

Maybe I'm misunderstanding ya'll. Are you saying that oil companies might manipulate prices independantly of the guy in the white house? When did this start?

 

Of course they'll do it without reason or justification. Just now this guys friends won't be making a bloody killing (or at least as big a one). I guess I just found it odd that the oil companies were making their largest profits in history the same time we had a guy in office who was known as the oil president. Maybe it was just a coincidence.

 

Would you garantee that? Lots of millionaires were backing Obama too, and I'm fairly sure that many of them expect a return on their "investment".

Or maybe he just happened to be a president that you already admitted that you didn't like. Hey, I don't have a problem with that. I'm sure Obama will get some blame that he doesn't deserve too.....from me, at least.

 

In life, there are no guarantees ('cept'n death, taxes and high gas prices).

I didn't hate GW at first; I just thought (correctly) he was a few bulbs short of a chandelier,....a few fries short of a Happy Meal,..... a few beers short of a six-pack....a few WMD's shy of a war,...etc.

If, no when, Obama's messes something up, I won't have his back because I like the guy. Nope! I am an equal opportunity insulter.

 

Well, Americans finally got awakened by $4 ++ gasoline. I think that ride is over for some years to come, we're headed for another econo-car period.

It's really sad the American car companies aren't ahead of this.

 

Yeah, that's true. American car companies have always been too slow to recognize trends. That's the main reason they're struggling so badly now. They rode the high profits of big pickups and SUV's as long as they could. That market won't be back any time soon, because nobody that I know believes that gas prices will stay below $2 a gallon very long.

 

OVER THE POND IT"S $1.03 per litre (LITER not gallon) youse guys are still gettin dare I say cheap gas!
But how long that"ll last ,GOD KNOWS

 

Kind of true. If any of the domestic OEM's decided 3-4 years ago to stop the SUV/Truck building craze and start making gas efficient cars, they'd have been asking for Gov't bailout money 2 years ago. They were making what the public was buying at the time. They all have, and have had, cars that get good if not respecible gas mileage, but nobody was buying them (except me). You can't make a profit selling something that no one is buying.

 

knocked in some Kroger dreck for Rock this morning...$1.55 with the ol' customer discount.