What's Causing Gas Prices

[erpowers]

This morning the "Today Show" will have a segment on what is really causing the rise in gas prices. This comes after the Democrats began to criticize and blame the Republicans for the spike in gas prices. My question is if the Republicans had started to blame the Democrats for the gas price spikes would the media have tried to determine the real reason for the gas price spikes. I do not think the media has done much to examine or disprove the idea that Democrats are seen by terrorists as being weak on terrorism and that caused 9/11 and cause other terrorist attacks. The media in my opinion have done very little to examine how and why 9/11 happened. After Republicans jumped up and started blaming Bill Clinton for 9/11 I never saw any news stories asking the question what really caused 9/11. The media also has not examined or tried to disprove the idea that Republicans are better on the issue of family values. In both of these cases there is and was ample proof that the Republican line on these issues is wrong.

[underpants]

1. I think it has a lot to do with missing blondes

oh and shark attacks

[ShortnFiery]

2. No! The source of all the evil can be found at Duke University ...

[underpants]

6. HAS the lacrosse team ever played in Aruba?

Now THERE'S an angle for Rita and Nancy

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[monktonman]

8. you've been watching too much TV

OK its chinas fault. Your kidding right?
Maybe its cause Exxon / Mobil posted 7 Billion in profit in ONE QUARTER !
Hows that possible with Katrina, Iraq, and now China?

[Name removed]

13. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[sandnsea]

14. It's not China

China could send oil from $20 to even $30. Not $75. It's Iraq and the dollar that sent oil to $50. It's threatening to nuke Iran that sent it to $75. I think we're flat stupid to not have insist on a trade freeze on oil any time any world leader threatens war or any other major natural disaster happens. We're paying for nothing but rumor mongering speculation, it's hurting real people and it needs to stop.

[mindbenderr]

17. Now that makes sense

[watrwefitinfor]

4. I watched this segment and the one on ABC as well.

Turns out it's all just a matter of normal market fluctuations. Once we consumers cut back a little the market will force the prices to return to normal, that is, somewhere less than $4.00 per gallon.

One guy pumping gas did mention something about the "exhorbitant profits" of the major oil companies, but no one followed up on that one.

Wat

[Dogmudgeon]

5. Discussion of 9-11 is *verboten*

It has been classified as "conspiracy theory nonsense".

Sure, there are a lot of hare-brained conspiracy theories about 9-11. But the whole CT-ridicule-and-disapproval cycle has shut up the investigators as a whole. Nobody wants to be known as a whacko, except for the whackos themselves, who are sure that the whole world will one day praise them as Advanced Thinkers. The irony is that the more credible researchers -- the ones who could ferret out the money and power behind al-Qaeda -- are kept silent.

Yep, the "psy-ops" specialists learned well from what happened in the aftermath of that day in Dallas in 1963. Learned quite well, thankyouveryuch.

--p!

[Radio_Guy]

7. Price is where supply meets demand

When big oil uses excuses like Iran to cut back supply, price goes up. But they are not directly tied, meaning supply only has to be cut back a tenth, not in half, for price to double. China's increasing demand for oil drives price up also, but that isn't having as much effect on US prices as big oil would like you to believe.

[LynneSin]

9. No one in congress with the balls to stop the escalating costs

Badmouth Joe Lieberman all you want the man did one very important thing we should be proud of. When California was hitting a major energy crisis in 2001, Congress refused to step in and do anything about it. At the time Bush was in the White House and both the senate & house was controlled by repukes.

Then Jeffords defected, the democrats controlled the senate and Lieberman got the chair of the Goverment Affair committee. First thing he did was call for an investigation into the outrageous costs of energy in California. Suddenly the prices tumbled back down to normal and we find out that Enron was cooking their books (and probably using California to clean up their mess).

This is just another reason why we need democrats in control. Perhaps they'll actually look into why this is happening and do something about it OTHER than suggesting we drill in a protected refuge that may or may not contain about enough oil to last us for 6 months even though it'll take 10 years for us to get it

[realFedUp]

10. Manipulation. nt

[baldguy]

11. Fact: a barrel of oil is 44 US gallons. Fact: About 44% gets made into gas

$74/barrel oil works out to $1.66/gallon. The portion of the price at the pump that pays for the oil is 59%, so $1.66/gallon oil should make gasoline that's about $2.81. OK, so we're paying a little more now.

But, that $74 is for oil to be delivered IN MAY AND JUNE. The gas we're buying now is from oil delivered in FEB AND MARCH when it was $55-60/barrel - which makes $2.09-2.28/gallon gas.

Where's that extra $.75-1.00 going?

http://www.howstuffworks.com/gas-price.htm
http://www.eia.doe.gov/neic/brochure/gas04/gasoline.htm

[Radio_Guy]

12. Here's where it is going

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/15/business/15pay.html?ex=1145764800&en=a69450c249d72ec4&ei=5087%0A

$144,573 a day. Sickening, isn't it?

[sandnsea]

15. Taxes, but that's half the story

Why is oil $55-60, and now $74??? No reason, except people playing the market and buying oil based on nothing but speculation after Katrina and now on Iran. They should freeze that sort of thing, oil is too important to real people to let this nonsense continue to happen.

[NickB79]

16. It's a non-renewable resource

And we've used up a lot of it in the past century.

Here's a quote from DU's Peak Oil message board:

"An article on the Oil Drum has listed the world's 21 largest oil fields, and is trying to find out which ones are already in decline. Here's their list so far (sources are in the original article):

1. Ghawar Unknown
2a. Burgan CONFIRMED DECLINE ~14% (Source)
2b. Cantarell CONFIRMED DECLINE ~14% (Source)
3. Bolivar Coastal Unknown
4. Safaniya-Khafji Unknown
5. Rumaila Unknown
6. Tengiz Unknown
7. Ahwaz CONFIRMED DECLINE ~64% (HOLY CRAP!) (Source)
8. Kirkuk CONFIRMED DECLINE Need Source
9. Marun CONFIRMED DECLINE (Source)
10. Gachsaran Unknown
11. Aghajari CONFIRMED DECLINE (Source)
12. Samotlor CONFIRMED DECLINE ~ 9% (Simmons' book IIRC)
13a. Prudhoe Bay CONFIRMED DECLINE ~11% (Multiple sources)
13b. Kashagan Unknown
14. Abqaiq I don't know, but have you seen the cross section? It's all water!
15. Romashkino Unknown
16. Chicontepec Unknown
17. Berri Unknown
18. Zakum Unknown
19. Manifa Unknown
20. Faroozan-Marjan Unknown
21. Marlim, Campos CONFIRMED DECLINE ~8% (Source)"

So, half of the major oil reserves worldwide are now producing less oil than they were several years ago, and NO major oil reserves have been discovered or come online that have the ability to replace them.