Gas prices

[daveleau]

I am interested to see that since gas prices have dropped to normal, the media has stopped reporting sbout it. It seems they are being more partisan than usual. Not that I ama huge fan of W. I think he has done several things really wrong, but he should get credit for fixing the gas price problem since he got blamed for it earlier in the year.

Dave

[korgul]

i just don't understand how gas prices can go up like they did in such a short amount of time then take 4 times as long to come back down. I say it was the oil companies needing money so they can take the family on vacation.

korgul

[Fingers]

The latest price increase was a result of OPEC deciding to reduce production. There never was a shortage, it's just that there was less of a surplus than we expected. The most basic understanding of "supply and demand" (with a little panic thrown in on top) explains the why the price skyrocketed. Bush wasn't responsible for the increase, and I'm unsure what role, if any, he actually played in the getting prices back to normal.

As dave said, it's the inequity in reporting that ruffles my feathers... but then again, simple human nature dictates that "bad new" almost always gets more attention than "good news".

The United States is extremely dependant on foriegn oil, so these vast price fluctuations shouldn't surprise us... we're basically at their mercy.

[BBA]

As of the last I saw, OPEC has decided to reduce production of oil by one billion barrells a day starting Sept1 2001.

The reason was to promote the well being of OPEC nations. IE: They want to make less and force prices up...IE: more money for less product.

It is a move GW Bush and the Sec of energy have denounced. I wonder where all the press coverage went on that?

[Roy]

In the USA, gasoline prices are very connected to supply and demand. It's just too bad OPEC is pulling the strings on supply.

We tend to forget that US oil companies did most of the exploration and construction of OPEC oil production capabilities. When the facilities were nationalized, the oil companies didn't mind the theft because they remained in the delivery business.

The USA has significant proven reserves that we cannot exploit because of environmentalist do-gooders that don't understand oil production can be a safe, clean and lucrative process. The trans-Alaska pipline has a 100% safety record. The tanker spill was not related to the pipeline, it could have happened anywhere.

[GroundZero3]

yeah i remeber when everyone was screaming that the cheapest gas will be $2 and more during the summer.

whats the cheapest out there? down here i get it for $1.21 my friend in hawaii sayz her is $1.91


JaYsin

[Warthog]

http://www.sysopt.com/forum/Forum17/HTML/003984.html

[MrBaseball]

Prices still pretty high here in the bay area... $1.79 for regular.

[Gomer]

$1.13 here in SWL-MI/N-IN =)

[Roy]

California gas prices are the result of advanced clean air mandates that prevent us from using product from all but two out-of-state refineries.

When CA lines up with the rest of the country, prices will become more uniform.

What's curious is that California's MTBE additive accounts for about 11% of content. When it is phased out and replaced by ethanol, only about half the additive content will be present. Clean air standards will be met, but a gallon will have shrunk to 3.8 quarts.

We can expect another decrease in MPG, just because there is less energy in each "gallon".