Why in the world are gas prices so high????

Roy,

The business gurus from CNN, MSNBC and Fox News have all stated in the past day or so that the PUMP price of gasoline is RELATED to 1. Threats by Iran to close one shipping lane; 2. Decisions by foreign producers to reduce crude production; 3. Possible manipulation of the overall market by SPECULATORS.

I even hear one compare predicting oil prices in today's economy as "something like witchcraft".

If domestic demand is soft, and overseas demand is high and U. S. refineries can produce gasoline to meet that demand, it seems to me that makes more sense than mothballing and then re-starting even ONE refinery.

While I wrote this, the price at the pumps probably rose three more cents, but I fooled em all, I filled up last week.

We could drill till we didn't import a single drop of oil and it wouldn't matter. Those that control the supply will always dictate the supply.

And for those who missed it, a link. Look at the end for the cheapest.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/10-places-where-a-gallon-of-gas-is-more-expensive-...

Last point for awhile. I would love to see Newt's plan for $2.50 a gallon gas achieved without taking over the supply end.

The little banner on ABC morning news says United States' BANK speculators are to blame.....

That same bunch that many CREDIT for the economic mess.

Ds, Rs, Is, in CAHOOTS with investors looking for WEALTH rather than social well being?

Hmmmmmm....

Buckshot, from I can tell from what you posted, it's the oil companies fault, not the Presidents. Am I correct?

COLLECTIVELY we got it NOW WHAT??????? NO PUN INTENDED BUT THIS IS OUR FREE MARKET SOLUTION????AND then we are going to blame who??????

This is the kinda thing that has been going on for decades....it's called STEALLING.....motivation .......GREED........VICTIMES .....THE PEOPLE WHO SUBSIDES THERE PROFITS.......ME AND YOU........IN THE BARREL TOGETHER NO MATTER WHAT YOUR POLETICS.....AND????

COLLECTIVELY we got it NOW WHAT??????? NO PUN INTENDED BUT THIS IS OUR FREE MARKET SOLUTION????AND then we are going to blame who??????

This is the kinda thing

It is $3.49 here. It has been rising 10 to 15 cents per day for the past couple weeks. Ridiculous!

Buckshot, you seem to ignore the fact that the only shortage is artificially created by the oil companies to increase profits. None of the other things you have mentioned really matter. Like I said, even if we didn't import a single drop of oil, the oil companies would still create this artificial shortage in the name of profit. You see, companies have no nationality, no allegiance to anything but profit. We could be self sufficient in oil and they would still charge the market price because they can. The rest of your argument is just politics, not economics.

And just how is that Buckshot? Iran gets a hair up it's butt, and world oil prices rise due to speculation. And just who are the speculators?

The Saudi's increase production and what happens? Nothing.

OPEC has decided that the baseline for oil should be around $100 a barrel. It's roughly 10% more than that now.

Short of Nationalization, there isn't a darn thing anyone can do about the price of gas here, and you know it.

This is free market at it's best and finest.

Like I said, oil companies have no nationality or allegiance, except to profit.

Explain to me how a project to build a pipeline designed to sell oil on the world market would change a darn thing today. Do you realize how long it would take to build that pipeline? So please take that out of the discussion. In the name of politics, you completely ignore Economics 101.

Everybody seems to be missing the message being reported by EVERY western news service...

The gasoline that the United States of America is EXPORTING is surplus to the NEEDS of the United States of America at the PRESENT TIME.

It amounts to 4 percent of the GASOLINE currently being REFINED inside the United States of America from oil PURCHASED last year sometime on the WORLD MARKET.

Not one news service has explained that perhaps the gasoline SOLD to the Chinese, COULD NOT be sold in the United States of America, because of the multitude of GOVERNMENT BUREACRACIES AND ASSOCIATED REGULATIONS that we the people abide by.

Not one news service has reported that one barrel of crude oil equates to X barrels of gasoline BECAUSE each CRUDE SOURCE is different and each REFINERY creates DIFFERENT amounts of the specific "BLEND" of gasoline dependent TOTALLY upon the age and condition of the SPECIFIC refinery equipment.

The BUSINESS portions of the WORLD media is almost unanimously citing INVESTMENT BANKERS speculating (I. E. GAMBLING) with somebody else's money in a highly competitive GLOBAL economy as the cause for our pain at the pump.

On a more local note, if the local station operator knows his business, he knows that he will need to have MORE cash in his bank account next week to pay for the replacement fuel that he will need NEXT month.

HIS only recourse is to raise his price by 1 or two percent as his nearby COMPETITON has to do as well.

So, do you really think that WE have it figured out?

Minor editorial note.

Everybody should have been Many.

Given that we refine more than what we use, so demand is down and supply is up, then prices should come down, except world demand is up, so we pay the price. How much oil we pump, or what pipeline is built matters not. We pay what we are told to pay. Plain and simple.

O-B-A-M-A-N-O-M-I-C-S!

He is working on his nest egg...when he moves out of the US...once he is out of the White House.

Pretty simple. In bed with oil. Drill baby drill!!

Diesel fuel and jet fuel are also among our current exports. The fleets of supertankers once returned to global ports sitting "high in the water", a cost of doing business. Economics PERIOD.

Oil based energy is a FINITE GLOBAL RESOURCE that has its limits. Fact.

While EPA regulations certainly compound the manner in which America uses "black gold", Americans have found it painful to acknowledge that the days of $0.25 gas for Sunday drives in the country are HISTORY.

My father may have said it best when he told me as a lad that "These Are The good old days you'll yearn for."

The bottom line is they control it and we pay. Who sits in the WH matters not. That pipeline is just to deliver oil to the world market. They decide how much oil hits the market and that is a fact. Free market, remember? It's all about supply control. OM, you do understand no matter how much we drill, WE don't own or control that oil or it's price. American oil producers will charge us what ever the market will bear. Period. Get past your hate and look at reality. We are exporting gas and are still going to pay $4.00 a gallon! You figure it out.

And now the competition for oil is even higher. The biggest oil producers are not running at full capacity. If they were, there would be a glut on the market and prices would drop and you know it. The price we pay is dictated by the world market.

So tell me Buckshot, even if we didn't import a single drop of oil, as long as there was an export market for it, do you really believe American producers would charge us less than foreigners?

It was President Bush who caused the high gas prices then. It must be President Obama who causes the high gas prices now?

http://weaselzippers.us/2012/02/24/2007-pelosi-blames-bush-for-high-gas-prices-2...

You forgot to mention that as long as there is an export market for oil we will continue to pay whatever the market will bear. OPEC will continue to control production to keep supplies tight, and American oil will continue to go to the highest bidder. You know it and so do I.

It was written:

"After all, Obama's on record saying he'd like to see $6/gal. gas because at that price, his foolhardy investments into green energy would look more appealing."

I've searched for it on the internet and cannot find any citations to back up that statement.

It was written:

"You seem to have your "facts" off a bit Mr. Pratt. The saudis have NOT increased their production, actually just the opposite."

The only citation I could find was:

"Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, has increased production in the past week and offered additional output to its largest customers to contain prices, Reuters reported." at

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/saudi-arabia-increases-crude-oil-output-reports...

Buckshot:

1. In my opinion your statement of "You seem to have your "facts" off a bit Mr. Pratt. The saudis have NOT increased their production, actually just the opposite." was completely false.

I don't have to rely upon the Marketwatch website you label as liberal. You seem to have come to the same conclusion. And I quote:

"in light of the significant increases at the pump, [the saudis] have decided to increase production."

2. Your statement of ""After all, Obama's on record saying he'd like to see $6/gal. gas because at that price, his foolhardy investments into green energy would look more appealing." was misleading no matter how you try to spin it.

- When someone is "on record", it means just that. Plain and simple, President Obama is not on record of saying "he'd like to see $6/gal. Gas" in this 2008 interview.

3. You said "What does "making an adjustment" mean to you, Bondy?

- "Making an adjustment" doesn't mean what you think it does Buckshot. Sorry if you cannot see the difference between "he'd like to see $6/gal. Gas" and making an adjustment. But that's your opinion so I'm fine with how you want to spin it.

4. You said "you actually have to THINK about what "your hero" is saying here, rather than just gobbling it up."

Your "statement of fact" that President Obama is my hero? And you know the President is my hero how? Or do you make assumptions based on my total dislike of presenting biased opinions as facts as your only proof? Like bazookaman, I don't have allegiance to any one political party. But my allegiance is definitely slanted towards the Republican Party. I, like bazookman, am willing to give credit where I feel credit is due.

Buckshot, I believe everyone has a right to their opinion. It's only when that opinion is present as solid fact and free of bias, do I have a problem.

Mr Buckshot61: And don't forget that the man BHO hired to run energy wanted gas to go to $6 to $9 dollars a gallon. It's at $6 in some places so it looks like their plan worked?