Why is gas almost two bucks a gallon?

[maggrwaggr]

Didn't we invade a country to take care of this?

Maybe I should buy a car that gets better "soldiers to the gallon".

Seriously, does anybody know why gas prices are so high right now (at least here in LA they're in the 1.95 range)

[JCMach1]

1. Iraq production has yet to reach pre-war levels... also inventories

are close to historic lows in N. America and Europe.


Just wait until this winter!!!

The fuel oil and NG spike will send a shock to the economy.

*Note, the Winter setup is pretty much already in place. Barring a record warm Winter-- we are in for it.

[Pepperbelly]

2. because the people who will benefit most from mistakes are

the ones who will also profit the most from it.

Something is very wrong with that picture. The government ought to investigate. Wait a minute ... they're going to profit too!

[TennesseeWalker]

3. "Two Bucks a Gallon"

Does anyone here have any idea how much a gallon of gasoline REALLY costs? Remember, we have a HUGE military budget that is primarily needed to ensure that we have access to foreign oil. Plus, tax breaks for the Big Oil corporations, all the money spent on lobbying, etc....just a wild guess, but I bet gas really costs more than TEN dollars a gallon.

[Ein]

24. I've heard it runs about 35$ a barrel.

dunno how many gallons are in a barrel.

[stevedeshazer]

4. It's the dim bulb in the White House

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) -- A key Iraqi pipeline to Turkey was breached Saturday after an explosion and fire blamed on
saboteurs.

The pipeline had resumed its flow just three days earlier, which raised hopes in oil
markets that Iraqi oil would be adding to world supplies and potentially lowering
prices.

"Reports of damage shutting down Iraq's oil export pipeline to Turkey is likely to
dominate early energy trading Monday," with some estimates indicating it may
be offline as much as a week, said Grady Garrett, chief trading strategist at
EnergyTrendAlert.com, a commodity information provider.

Thamer al-Ghadaban, Iraq's acting oil minister, said the 600-mile pipeline from
Kirkuk, Iraq to Ceyhan, Turkey, was blown up early Friday.

http://cbs.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B392027FB-6C5B-464A-A250-A1C9CD3FDE6B%7D&siteid=google&dist=google

[oostevo]

25. True, but ...

it takes quite a while for something to affect oil prices. In other words, you are paying for gas that was pumped months ago. The incident you are referring to should increase oil prices over the winter (oh, great).

[stevedeshazer]

29. Okay,

So what happened months ago that resulted in the increase we're seeing now? Three guesses....

[HawkerHurricane]

33. Prices go up on when you hear about bad news

whether it actually happened or not.

Prices go down when the good news actually happens.

For example:

Gas Prices went up when the latest OPEC meeting claimed they were going to reduce production to get prices raised.
They still haven't reduced production or prices.
Prices will go down once the Iraq crude actually hits your gas tank, and not one second early.

Up on rumor. Down on fact.

[Minstrel Boy]

5. Just wait

Fuel prices in North America have been kept artificially low. But the days of cheap oil are ending, and the days of affordable oil are numbered.

[Kellanved]

6. remember: 2 bucks would be considered a giveaway in Europe

We're closer to 4 bucks. Gas is artificially expensive here.

But that's not all: the Oil-corps rip the customers off. Every time the eco tax is raised they raise the Gas price as well and blame the Gouvernment for the increase (even if the tax is only responsible for a fraction of the increase).
Every time a tax is dropped they raise the price to keep it unchanged.

Antitrust can't do anything, as it's not the local subsidiaries (they never ever have a profit) raising the price, but the mother companies selling it to their subsidiaries.

[BiggJawn]

27. Yes, and you get 4 weeks paid vacation and good health care, too.

And video techs probably make three times what I do. Get me all that, and I'll pay $4 w/o snivveling.

And our companies act like yours with taxes. Taxes go up 2 cents, gas goes up 5 cents and the State bears the whole brunt of the blame.

I have 2 stations in my town. Lasrt night, one was $1.43, the other $1.44. Thism morning, they both were at $1.50. I though "uh-oh, better tank-up before this "Gasoline Crisis" that's being blamed on the black-out hits..."(we didn't lose power here)

So tonight, I see where one station is at $1.45, and the other is at $1.44....
You just can't win....

[legin]

7. Inventories are very low

the Power cut didn't help things.

There are still two months of high consumption projected.

(From an article I was reading less than an hour ago, but I cannot for the life of me remember where)

[LEFTofLEFT]

8. There is a bush in the whitehouse.

I would like to see gas at about $3 per gallon.

$1 tax - 50 cents to alternative energy research - 50 cents for mass transit development

[ComerPerro]

9. What are you gonna do about it?

I mean really.
We are conditioned to expect gas prices to go up, the media warned us.
So suppose gas prices could be lower. Why would companies lower them? Because they are nice?

[karlschneider]

10. Actually, we have the cheapest gasoline of any "first world" country. n/t

[BiggJawn]

28. Yes, and the smallest paychecks, to match....

eom

[Emboldened Chimp]

11. Almost $2???

It IS $2 where I am (LA). I paid $2.03 9/10 today. Call me crazy, but it seems to me it was around $1.80+ just last week.

[bicentennial_baby]

12. Guess I'm lucky

$1.43 here

[leftofthedial]

13. because they can charge that much

and we will pay it.

[dkf]

14. I just paid $2.15 a gallon in Hawaii.

A few years ago our state sued Chevron for price gouging and their records showed that we in the little state of Hawaii were providing 20% of Chevron's profits for the time period they were looking at.

Our legislature put in a gas price cap law which hasn't kicked in yet but our new Republican Gov. Linda Lingle campaigned against it.

[zelda7743]

30. $2.22 a gallon

Here on Kauai. But, we're used to getting screwed. :)

[w4rma]

15. Oil company and cartel price gouging, IMHO (n/t)

[twilight]

16. gee what a deal!

It is $2.17 a gallon here today in northern California!

:kick:

[KG]

17. no mystery - we are being gouged. again.

:(

[oasis]

18. Look for Rummy and Cheney to suspect Venezuela of WMD programs.

[mike_c]

19. $2.13 for regular unleaded yesterday...

...in Willow Creek California.

[havocmom]

20. Doesn't it generally go up towards end of summer?

Gotta get every dime they can from the tourist season. Soon it will be cold and time to gouge the folks who need fuel oil for heating.

[maggrwaggr]

21. the oil companies just had record profits

in the quarter leading up to the war. The "fear" of the war was absolutely perfect for them.

Now they're still managing to figure out a way to keep raking in those windfall profits.

What I want to know is why, and how are they doing it?

And haven't we had "windfall profit taxes" in the past when this has happened? Or is that now considered bad "liberal" ideas?

Ooooh, don't want to piss off the oil companies, no way!

[JackSwift]

22. BUY YER F****** SUV AND PAY

HALLIBURTON FOR THE F****** OIL. THE BFEE OWNS THIS COUNTRY AND YOU ARE JUST A WAGE SLAVE. STOP COMPLAINING!!!

[Capn Sunshine]

23. 2.26 in the LA West suburbs

for PREM.
This is killing Ferrari sales. :)

[Catshrink]

26. I just paid 1.94 -- it was 1.49 last week.

A pipeline broke in Tucson or something.

[ChemEng]

31. Why is bottled water about $8 per gallon?

Gasoline prices are higher in California because it costs more to make the special blend required to keep pollution down. But also consider: with oil at $30/bbl, and with variable costs for refining the oil, gasoline costs about $1.00 at the refinery gate. The next biggest cost is taxes (federal and state), then transportation to the gas station, and finally the profit to the oil company or station owner. I don't think it is all that high when you consider all the costs that go into making gasoline.

But I would still like to know why does bottled water cost more than gasoline, and when are people going to complain about that?

[maggrwaggr]

34. Uh, I can get water for free out of the tap.

So I'm a moron if I pay $8 a gallon for it.

With gas I don't have a freaking choice, all right?

[Hubert Flottz]

32. We have to pay for Bush's next Campaign somehow!

Same as last time remember?