Looking for a REASON

[MoosesBusa]

Talking with a C-Store operator that also sells gas about fuel prices. He's anticipating seeing gas getting to $4 per gallon this summer. My question is WHY? He was in Egypt last month and was buying gas for .25 a liter.
Besides the greed of the gas companies, is there a real REASON for the high fuel prices that is effectively ruining the economy!?!  I really would like to hear the truth.  

* I know what they pay across the pond and I really don't care. that won't answer my question *

I'll tell you this, the first candidate that guarantees gas will go back to $1.50 a gallon will get in office!

 

[NINJA KILLER]

We will probably never see $1.50 a gallon again, And no matter who gets in office they are all liars anyway, They say what they have to so they get voted in.

 

[stlbusarider]

The oil companies are making record breaking profit numbers every year. Now what's that tell you.

 

[Mr Bogus]

supply and demand.. the US has not built a refinery in decades (you can thank the tree hugging liberals for it, they are going to save the world you know) The plants run at close to 100% capacity for 100% of the time... any interuption from weather etc puts us behind the processing curve.

Add the other issues of raw crude.. China has 10X the usage potential of the USA and they are starting to emerge as a BIG resource user.. So, they can create a shortage on the crude market pretty easily when you consider the world is at about the maximum crude production it is capable of. We are from what I can see tell at the top of the curve for production and so that means prices will continue to rise to what ever the market will sustain.

There will be posts that "taxes" or "oil companies" are doing this and IMO that is only partially the story.

If they say cut the price in half to $1.50 per gallon, the ignorance of the average consumer will make them just use twice as much fuel. This will then cause gasoline shortages (remember the processing plants are already at 100% of production and no new refinery has been built in I think close to 20 years due to the "environmentalist"

So you now have gas at $1.50 if you could find any sort of a catch 22 huh? all you care to use at $3.50 a gallon or none at $1.50

Really, the problem is going to get a lot worse in the next few years and so get ready for it...

could be wrong ... I could hope... but I doubt it..

 

[NINJA KILLER]

That's why I have the BUSA, Cheaper on gas and it always gives me a reason to ride more!

 

[RedBusa]

+1
Less environmental regulations, more nuclear power plants.

 

[bigoltool]

supply and demand.. the US has not built a refinery in decades (you can thank the tree hugging liberals for it, they are going to save the world you know) The plants run at close to 100% capacity for 100% of the time... any interuption from weather etc puts us behind the processing curve.

Add the other issues of raw crude.. China has 10X the usage potential of the USA and they are starting to emerge as a BIG resource user.. So, they can create a shortage on the crude market pretty easily when you consider the world is at about the maximum crude production it is capable of. We are from what I can see tell at the top of the curve for production and so that means prices will continue to rise to what ever the market will sustain.

There will be posts that "taxes" or "oil companies" are doing this and IMO that is only partially the story.

If they say cut the price in half to $1.50 per gallon, the ignorance of the average consumer will make them just use twice as much fuel. This will then cause gasoline shortages (remember the processing plants are already at 100% of production and no new refinery has been built in I think close to 20 years due to the "environmentalist"

So you now have gas at $1.50 if you could find any sort of a catch 22 huh? all you care to use at $3.50 a gallon or none at $1.50

Really, the problem is going to get a lot worse in the next few years and so get ready for it...

could be wrong ... I could hope... but I doubt it..

Good points all! You can also add to the equation that India is also emerging as a Super-user of Petroleum. The fact that no new refineries have been built in the US in over 30 years doesn't help. Oh and the Alyeska Pipeline in Alaska (which ran through the front yard of my childhood home)was only designed to last 30 years. They started pumping in 1977... you do the math.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_oil, Ethanol, Biodiesel, switch grass, tar sand, global warming, OPEC... cripes it's enough to drive a man to buy an electric Car.Oh but wait then you have to replace the worn out highly toxic battery packs every 5 years. I have more questions than answers I'm afraid.

 

[Procharger]

get use to it they have us by the ballz.

 

[Charlesbusa]

When the oil companies stop making record profits, then I'll believe the rest of this. But right now its all about making a profit.

 

[NINJA KILLER]

 

[MoosesBusa]

When the oil companies stop making record profits, then I'll believe the rest of this.  But right now its all about making a profit.

That's kinda what i'm leaning towards

 

[ibified]

I hate to sound like an ass here, but isnt making a profit kinda the goal of ANY company?  

So the fuel companies are making record profits.  So what?   You still buy gas, don't you?   people still buy 12 MPG sport utility vehicles as fast as they can be built.  people still don't do all they could to conserve fuel like combining trips, etc.

 

[BigBSBusa]

Best way to take advantage is invest in them.

 

[Wag]

Nobody really knows what's going on.

Here is my theory, however:

Fact: The primary product that is produced out of a barrel of crude is NOT gasoline, contrary to popular belief. It is plastic and other plastic and petroleum based products.
Fact: Gasoline is a waste byproduct resulting from the production of said plastics, etc.
Fact: Demand for said plastics over the past 30 years has FAR outstripped the demand for gasoline, etc. It is THIS demand that has pushed the price of a barrel of oil to $100 per barrel.
Fact: Excessive demand for said plastics has produced an excess of gasoline by-products. This represents and excess of supply and has kept the prices of gasoline WAY down. This is why the price at the pump does NOT correlate to the price of a barrel of oil.
Fact: ANY amount of money made from the sale of gasoline is virtually pure profit.
Fact: If it were the other way around where gasoline were the primary petroleum product, we would be paying FAR more for gasoline OR we would be using some other form of energy for transportation.
Fact: If the price of gasoline had kept up with inflation, we would be paying well over $8.00 per gallon, probably closer to the neighborhood of $10.00 per gallon.
Fact: It is not the Chinese demand for gasoline which is causing so much trouble, but the demand for more plastics.

Bear in mind that the ONLY thing which will affect prices of gasoline at the pump will be reduced demand. To say it in more certain terms, we have to USE LESS by driving less or by driving more fuel-efficient cars.

How's that for a review.

--Wag--

P.S. Figures included above are estimates only. More careful analysis would provide greater accuracy.

 

[BlkDrgnZ28]

im gonna get that deisel bike that kawi made for the military that gets like 120 miles to the gallon that would be sweet except its really ugly

 

[steveK8]

Dont forget that in the UK we are now $10 a gallon....yea $10

 

[Aquaman]

All I can say is that this country is going to SH!T!

 

[SAMBUSA]

When the oil companies stop making record profits, then I'll believe the rest of this.  But right now its all about making a profit.

The consumption of motor gasoline in the U.S. reached a record high of 9.3 million barrels per day in November 1, 2002. Consumption has only increased since then. So why the record profits? Because consupmtion is at record breaking levels.

 

[BigmanZ]

You also gotta remember that all the middle east countries that export oil cushion their own population from the gas prices...that is why they pay so little. It's really just a matter of supply and demand that drives up the price of crude oil. Also, nuclear reactors won't break us from needing crude oil. Maybe from needing coal, but not oil. What we really need to do is complain to the automotive industry for suppressing hybrid technology. The US market is so far behind the asian markets in that theater that it's not even funny...and we had the knowledge first! It also wouldn't hurt to do a massive overhaul of our railroads. No reason the US shouldn't have electric powered bullet trains when the rest of the world has them coming out of their ears.

 

[SAMBUSA]

You also gotta remember that all the middle east countries that export oil cushion their own population from the gas prices...that is why they pay so little. It's really just a matter of supply and demand that drives up the price of crude oil. Also, nuclear reactors won't break us from needing crude oil. Maybe from needing coal, but not oil. What we really need to do is complain to the automotive industry for suppressing hybrid technology. The US market is so far behind the asian markets in that theater that it's not even funny...and we had the knowledge first! It also wouldn't hurt to do a massive overhaul of our railroads. No reason the US shouldn't have electric powered bullet trains when the rest of the world has them coming out of their ears.

The bullet trains are for people not for freight. We cant keep Amtrak on the rail at 70, how are we going to be able to do it at 200? Passenger rail travel isn't really that high of a demand in the states so it would be a waste of money.