Got so many 'interesting' responses when I posted this in Editorials, I thought I would just throw it out into GD.
Guess I am just wasting my time in trying to develop a clear, concise theory as to how they are artificially lowering gas prices, so when I engage a Reich-Winger on the issue, I can present a well thought out portfolio on how they are pulling it off.
Then again, running around in circles crying 'Chimpy's To Blame' and not being able to offer a theory as to how always carries the day, doesn't it.
But I guess I'm just wasting my time. Facts are so tiring.
(Hint: The articles, if you read between the lines, contain nearly all of the clues as to how they are reducing prices beyond the normal autumn drop in unleaded prices.)
Michael Klare, Why Oil Prices Are Falling
http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?emx=x&pid=124698Is this the result of some hidden conspiracy between the White House and Big Oil to help the Republican cause in the elections, as some are already suggesting? How does a possible war with Iran fit into the gas-price equation? And what do falling gasoline prices tell us about "peak-oil" theory, which predicts that we have reached our energy limits on the planet?
Since gasoline prices began their sharp decline in mid-August, many pundits have attempted to account for the drop, but none have offered a completely convincing explanation, lending some plausibility to claims that the Bush administration and its long-term allies in the oil industry are manipulating prices behind the scenes. In my view, however, the most significant factor in the downturn in prices has simply been a sharp easing of the "fear factor" -- the worry that crude oil prices would rise to $100 or more a barrel due to spreading war in the Middle East, a Bush administration strike at Iranian nuclear facilities, and possible Katrina-scale hurricanes blowing through the Gulf of Mexico, severely damaging offshore oil rigs.
. . .
For all these reasons, immediate fears about a clash with Iran, a possible spreading of war to other oil regions in the Middle East, and Gulf of Mexico hurricanes have dissipated, and the price of crude has plummeted. On top of this, there appears to be a perceptible slowing of the world economy -- precipitated, in part, by the rising prices of raw materials -- leading to a drop in oil demand. The result? Retailers have abundant supplies of gasoline on hand and the laws of supply and demand dictate a decline in prices.Another view.
Cheap Gas Until The Election?
http://www.augustafreepress.com/stories/storyReader$40623
"The Republicans are in a bad situation, even soccer moms know this. The best chance they have now is lower gas prices," says Michael Kane, energy affairs editor at From the Wilderness Publications, which publishes a daily e-mail newsletter on world energy and political news.
"When it comes to heating oil and natural gas, your bill may go up, but you pay what you pay for it. The price is not on billboards around the country. But people shop comparatively for gasoline. It's a real billboard sticker. Cheap gas is about the only push that the Republicans have right now, given that their backs are against the wall in Iraq."
. . .
"Following what the storage numbers say, each week the amount of oil and gas reserves is going up," says Kane. "The people who are involved at the refineries know the market, they know the cycles and they know that they don't need that much gas. By flooding the market when you know that demand is low, and then on top of that when the economy is slow, you know that there's even less demand." Even though supplies are high and prices are falling, refineries have continued to run at higher than 90 percent capacity in recent weeks.
. . .
Most oil executives, Kane says, are Republicans, and they feel that the GOP will protect their interests on Capitol Hill better than Democrats would. Yet, Kane does not see an organized conspiracy to manipulate voters before the election. "I doubt there was even one phone call," he says. We're seeing a coordinated campaign, but it's not a conspiracy. It's just everybody knowing what benefits them. It's a question of all the parts of the machine turning in the same direction at the same time."