My fault

[stackenem]

Sorry guys, I tried to keep it under wraps that I was going on vacation for 9 days but somehow the big oil co. found out. I guess they figured that if I could afford a vacation that I could afford higher gas prices.  Went up 17 cents a gallon in 8 hours what a bunch of BS. Wonder what the excuse is this time. They said over Memorial day that there was a problem at a refinery in IND so that was why the price hike then. what a bunch of bull.

[Dan]

I second that emotion!!

[LAPORTE]

2.99 a gallon in Ohio at the circle K near the state line 

[stackenem]

buy a tanker full. bring it up and I'll give you 3.10

[rangerfan]

That means it will only cost me $156.00 to fill my boat....

[Hooksetter]

Yea it is bs. If someone sneezes in the wrong country the prices go up. I paid 3.44 on Monday, it was 3.65 at the same station yesterday. I can remember when gas prices would stay the same for weeks, or even months at a time.

Also, why is it that all the stores have sales for the holidays and lower their prices but the gas stations always raise prices for the holidays? Its called greed, pure and simple. They use the holidays, and any other excuse to gouge the American public. 

How do they sleep at night?

Willie

[Durand Dan]

$3.31 in Owosso this morning. Of course I had already filled up at $3.53!

[bbtt123]

was $3.28 in lansing this morning, of course I drove by every gas station on the way into work at 5:30 and told myself I would get gas after I got out. Luckily I got out of work early today and found a station at the $3.28, surprisingly I was only one of 3 cars getting gas there, figured it would have been a mob scene.

[matt]

I don't know why.But I saw this coming from a mile away!

It'll go back down after the 4th...LOL

[bbtt123]

Well, all the stations which raised the prices yesterday to $3.60, are back down again within 12 hrs of raising them in Lansing, now at $3.26 in town, apparently the raise was premature by them.

They are saying with the July release of Oil reserves gas should drop again, wonder what they will use as an excuse to raise it onces that happens.

[rangerfan]

375 a gallon today all around flint.happy 4th from big oil.....

[Mojo]

folks, sorry to mathematically raise your ire but gas is a government controlled commodity based on the % of refined oil held in the US reserves.

Therein the value of the commodity follows a basic economic law of "rocket up and feather down". Whats worse is due to the recent relative spike in demand (last 10 years the rate of increase is 4 times that of any other period) from China, a non government controlled value would make it even worse.

Short story, blame your government, because they could build  more refineries and pull more oil to increase supply, by they would rather use high gas prices to change the American habits (namely have you demand and then buy more fuel efficient cars).

Did you know that the US uses 13% of our total refining capacity (get this) to refine 100% of the gas we pull out of Mexico and then we re-sell it back to them at significant profit.  Another 10% refines and sells gas to Canada. Yes the government would rather refine and make a profit making gas for foriegn countries than redirect that capacity to US consumption needs (and thereby lower US prices). 

[djkimmel]

Oil companies build and run refineries, not the government. They are not putting their giant profit back into upgrading or enhancing production. They are just putting their giant profit into giant profit.

[EKennedy]

AND we trade oil as a commodity on the stock market...so in some regards...the "market" dictates the daily price.

[Mojo]

correct in both cases Eric and Dan..... and nicely stating the obvious. The oil companies will NOT invest in new refineries because .....

A)   their profit per barrel would drop dramatically if all companies were allowed to build more refineries
B)   they are indeed greedy
C)   the govt issues permits to build this infrastructure, and the govt controls this ..... and has not issued permits in 9 years (Last one coinsided with the start of the Iraq war .... - weird coinsidence eh ? )

SO effectively the govt is ensuring low supply for rising demand to drive new technologies for energy production... and because its a commodity, its market rate will rise when demand rises (like it has). It really hurt when in 2001 deregulation allowed further market speculation to hedge certain commodities that were former heavily regulated.......

Bottom line - there is absolutely no incentive for the oil companies to build more refineries (in the US), and even if they wanted to, they arent being permitted.

[djkimmel]

It is not a real simple issue but I'm fairly confident that the information I have researched shows that the banks and the futures trading is responsible for about 50% of the price - meaning we could cut the cost in half if greed wasn't out of control. Literally.

[Mojo]

your right, and I am wrong on this ..... I recall reading the same, where the unspeculated value of the oil today should reach our pumps at about $2.30 a gallon with 2% retail mark up. The fact that its $4.00 with 2% retail mark up is absurd. So .... no debates here. I interjected that the gov't regulations (or lack of) allow this.

I think I will need to adjust my input to say that the refinery capacity issue is just a market driver that allows overspeculation ......... IF we remember, when the 2009 market bottom hit ..... gas fell to $2.40 / gallon. Gas use didnt fall by 40%. I mean, are we really that close to being at max capacity that pricing goes through the roof every time a gas line is shut down ? really ? Makes you wonder who profits most when this happens, the gov't, the US controlled refineries, or the Gas companies themselves ?

[Hooksetter]

As I said on page 1, they are greedy b a $ $ turds.
Willie

[djkimmel]

I have CRS pretty bad, but I can still remember it wasn't that long ago that gas prices didn't go up and down 10 to 50 cents once or twice every week...

[Skulley]

The oil companies also use the speculation of what the demand will be in the coming year to drive prices up.  Just recently the government predicted that the demand for gasoline was going to be quite a bit higher in the next year or two.  Hence forth, speculating that demand is going to go up will drive gas prices up.  And that is exactly what they did just before the July 4th holiday. 

I noticed today that the price at the pump is starting to fall again.  I wonder how many times they are going to speculate the demand just to keep it up over 3.50 a gallon.  They usually do it around holidays figuring people are going to travel during that time.  What a sham............


BD