Who is the main culprit behind high gas prices?
ann h asked:
Do you ever wonder how the cook at Mcdonalds, or the clerk at Walgreens are even able to get to work everyday with gas prices being so exhorbitant ? Why are gas prices over a dollar more than they were a year ago? Who do you think is the main culprit behind these exhorbitant prices? Opec, the Oil Companies, the Bush adminstration?
Do you ever wonder how the cook at Mcdonalds, or the clerk at Walgreens are even able to get to work everyday with gas prices being so exhorbitant ? Why are gas prices over a dollar more than they were a year ago? Who do you think is the main culprit behind these exhorbitant prices? Opec, the Oil Companies, the Bush adminstration?
Personally I think it is the Chinese. They are industrializing and driving more cars and so demand is going up.
The oil companies. It’s a fact that they’re turning record profits. Record profits = gouging and gross overcharging.
The world demand on oil is out of sight and getting worse
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With China now in the waiting line for its share of the oil supply it is going down hill faster than thought before possible
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So get ready for a real price hike in the coming 12 months
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$6.50 USD a gallon next years summer
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You should come to England. Our petrol prices are at least twice as much as yours, even allowing for conversion of currency.
And also – oil is a diminishing resource. Most of the American domestic oil is gone now. That’s what’s to blame for high oil prices, in a nut shell. There’s less of the stuff available, and more demand than ever before. Prices will only go up from here Im afraid.
It’s all bush’s fault, he’s an freakin morron!! he’s clueless, the economy wasen’t like this when clinton was president. my brother is over in iraq i havent seen him in 6 months, bush dosen’t have a heart, i bet if he had a son over in iraq that could die any second, he’ll think way different.
SPECULTORS ARE THE MAIN CAUSE. THEY ARE OPERATING IN UNREGULATED EXCHANGES AND ARE DRIVNG THE COSTS UP FOR EVERYONE SO THEY CAN MAKE A BUCK. SUPPLY IS KEEPING PACE WITH DEMAND, THAT IS NOT AN ISSUE.
‘There has been no shortage and inventories of crude oil and
products have continued to rise. The increase in prices has not been driven by supply and demand.’’
—Lord Browne, Group Chief Executive of BP
READ THE SENATE REPORT ON IT:+%E2%80%9CThe+Role+of+Market+Speculation+in+rising+oil+and+gas+prices&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us&client=firefox-a
The large purchases of crude oil futures contracts by speculators have, in effect, created an additional demand for oil, driving up the price of oil to be delivered in the future in the same manner that additional demand for the immediate delivery of a physical barrel of oil drives up the price on the spot market. As far as the market is concerned, the demand for a barrel of oil that results from the purchase of a futures contract by a speculator is just as real as the demand for a barrel that results from the purchase of a futures contract by a refiner or other user of petroleum.
AND THIS IS ALLOWED DUE TO THE Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000, allowing oil futures to be traded electronically in unregulated markets outside of the jurisdiction of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission. (That Bill Clinton signed into law)
Check google news:
This is the 1st article:
Speculators knock OPEC off oil-price perch
By F William Engdahl
With the development of unregulated international derivatives trading in oil futures over the past decade or more, the way has opened for the present speculative bubble in oil prices.
Since the advent of oil futures trading and the two major London and New York oil futures contracts, control of oil prices has left the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and gone to Wall Street. It is a classic case of the “tail that wags the dog”.
Before G.Bush entered office, $1.15, two years in , $2.00
(CNN) — While the price of gasoline in recent days has gone up about a nickel a gallon — less than a dollar per fill-up on many cars — that may be the highest it will go all summer, analysts say.
The national average, including all grades and taxes, is currently about $1.27, up 5.18 cents from the previous survey conducted July 9, says Trilby Lundberg, publisher of the Lundberg Survey of 10,000 gas stations nationwide.
It is the highest price in more than 18 months and the biggest hike nationally since late March, according to the industry analyst. This comes after prices dropped significantly between early May and early June.
Pump prices are high compared with last year, but are comparable with prices in 1996 and 1997 during the same period, Lundberg said.
Supply down, demand up
Factors in the recent rise include:
# Recovering Asian and Latin American economies that now require more energy.
# A 2 million barrel a day production cut this spring by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.
# The traditional summer spike in miles driven by vacationers; more of those miles are being driven in bigger vehicles.
# Problems, including fires, at several California refineries that have cut production
Put it all together — increased demand coupled with reduced production — and you get higher prices, says economist Donald Ratajczak of Georgia State University.
“Gas demand, which had been growing very slowly during the energy crisis of the ’70s, now has started to kick back up again, and we’re seeing demand grow 4 percent a year,” he told CNN.
That professor had it right,
It is a combination of the three.
There is no single smoking gun,,,
Ron Paul said it is taxes, he seems to be closest to illuminating the cause.
DOE may have some factor in that also:
What we spend
DOE spends 2/3 of its budget on nuclear weapons.
What it spends on wind, one of the most promising new energy technologies, comes to just 15¢ per person per year.
Only $1.13 per year. That’s all that DOE spends from each of us for research on new solar, wind, and biomass (ethanol) energy technologies combined. This is not DOE’s fault. They always ask for more, but their budget is proposed by the President and passed by Congress. Some way to fight “oil addiction” and achieve “energy independence.” They’re not even trying.
Increasing or unrestricted demand on a finite resource.
There have been NO new refineries built in the United States in 30+ years.
Our operating refineries run full tilt producing gasoline for part of the year, and the other part of the year produce things like home heating oil.
Now, if we, as a nation, have NOT increased our refining capacity, yet have demand for gasoline the continues to increase year after year after year, what do you think happens?
The PRICE goes UP. That is Economics 101 – the law of supply and demand.
Sure crude oil is $100 a barrel. And out a barrel of 44 gallons of crude oil, you can get about 50% gasoline. The rest is diesel, fuel oil, etc.
People who buy gas guzzling SUV’s or drive around wasting gasoline, are partially to blame, because the demand keep s going and going and going up (like the Energizer Bunny). Now add to the mix that China and India’s economies are RED HOT and China and India are buying oil on the world market (China now consumes more oil than the US), it DRIVES THE PRICE UP.
We could have 10 BILLION barrels of oil ready to refine, but if all our refineries are running at max output and still cannot keep up with demand, the price goes up. We have to import huge quantities now of REFINED gasoline because our refineries can’t keep up. And when you throw in an explosion or a hurricane that has to shut down one or more refineries, it is a ripple effect. The suppy is tight as it is because because production is maxed, so any interruption in production causes havoc.
This is not Bush’s fault, or OPEC or even big oil. OPEC sets production quotas and sells the oil on the open market and if they restrict the supply, the price goes up, given the demand. and yea, big oil companies are making record profits, but if the demand was the same for bread, and we had all our bakeries cranking out loaves of bread, the bakeries would profit.
High Demand + Steady or Low Supply = HIGH PRICE. SIMPLE.
Personally, I think we should SAVE all domestic oil production and BUY and BURN UP ALL MIDDLE EAST OIL AS FAST AS WE CAN.
If you want to bring the price down the correct way, then you have to LOWER DEMAND for that product. If you think gasoline prices are high now, just wait until 3 BILLION CHINESE citizens start driving cars!
Oh yea, and I calculated the other day that the Brits are paying right about $8.25 a gallon (when converted from liters and British pounds). So don’t whine too loud or our friends across the ocean might not have too much pity on you.
None of the above. It is those left-wing environmentalists who have blocked any possible means for the country to produce more oil to lower our energy cost. They are against of drilling oil in Alaska, along Florida coast line in deep sea, they are against building any oil refinery plant in this country, they are against to build nuclear power plant, …. All this has added up to today’s sky rocking oil and food price. Believe me the oil price will reach $150 a barrel within a few months after we start our summer driving season. Another words, the worst is yet to come with deeper economy recession and higher unemployment rate for the next 6 months.
the american consumer
Ever wonder what people are paying for gas in other parts of the world. Americans should think of the rest of the world sometimes if your paying a few dollars think what people in Africa are paying for fuel costs. Why do you think people risk their lives in Nigeria for example trying to steal petrol. The reason is a gallon of petrol can be sold for over 11 dollars a gallon.
We are.
High demand and restricted production.
The Culprit is YOU. Supply and demand, mate.
They make enough money and live within there means. They don’t drive SUV’s and don’t buy extravagant luxury items that you consider as nessesities.
I saw a teenager walking down the street with a 300 dollar iPod. Talking on her Bluetooth wearing very nice trainers (not the Walmart variety either). What do you make of this?
I totally blame Bush. My questions is –
If China is the reason because they are consuming more fuel and we now that China has nuclear weapons, why not with hold oil from China until they relinquish their weapons of mass destruction (what we hung Hussein for)!!!
Nobody can lower gas prices. Contrary to popular belief, nobody controls the price of gas. Not the government, oil companies, nobody. The only thing the government can do is lower the federal or state taxes on gas, which won’t help much. Who is pushing the prices of gas up? We are (your neighbors, friends, and everyone who trades gasoline.) Gas and crude oil is traded openly on the NYMEX futures market. When more people want to buy it than sell it the price goes up. It’s really that simple. There is no magic person, government, or country pushing the prices up. The prices are going up because most of the traders are buying gas right now because most people think the price will go up. If you want to offset the price of gas, buy gasoline futures. For several thousand dollars you too can buy a contract. When the price goes up, you make money. It’s not rocket science. In fact you can make about $1000 for every dollar that the price of crude oil goes up. So if the price goes from $125 to $126 per barrel, you make $1000. But then of course you are part of the problem, driving up the cost of gasoline. But at least you’re making money, right.