Shocker: Don’t blame Middle East for our gas prices.
I read an article recently that blew my mind. It stated that within approximately 10 years, the United States will be the largest producer of oil in the world. Bigger than Iran, bigger than Saudi Arabia, bigger than anybody. How is that possible? Didn’t you just assume that Middle Eastern countries would always produce more oil than any “western” country? I know I did.
But if you look closely, the signs are already there that this could be true. In 2012, the U.S. shipped more oil fuels, including gasoline, diesel, kerosene and jet fuel, than any other single export for the second year in a row. The U.S. exported more than $117 billion of fuel and petroleum products in 2012, a 9 percent increase over 2011. In fact, in 2011 and 2012, the U.S. exported more fuels than we imported, and that hasn’t happened since 1949.
OK, so if we can get our minds around the fact that we’re exporting more fuels than we’re importing, the obvious question becomes, why are gasoline prices still so high? There’s clearly no shortage going on. In fact, the biggest problem the U.S seems to be having is not with producing oil, but rather with getting our oil to market as usable products.
I found this article titled “Will We Ever Know the Truth about the Oil Supply?” It raises some interesting questions.
Were you aware of how much more oil the U.S. is producing than it used to? Do you have thoughts regarding why gas prices are so high if there is no shortage going on? I’d be very interested in hearing from you about this.
The real reason gasoline is so expensive is because several refineries have gone out of business forever.
No new refineries have been built in over 60 years because of tough government regulations. The shortage is created because refineries have a tough time keeping up processing crude oil into gasoline. So it does not matter how much excess crude oil there is if you cannot process it fast enough to keep up with gasoline demand. Just hope that no more refineries close in the future because prices will go a lot higher than they are right now.
This is not meant to justify the price, but rather to point out some of the reasons. The end cost to the consumer is a complex issue.
There are many reasons for the price of gas and one or two exceptions do not negate the fact that we have some of the least expensive gas in the world. Look at the price in most European countries. A quick search will show “in general” that MOST countries pay double or more than we do.
Start at the cost of crude at the well head. In the Gulf of Mexico the cost of crude is close to $80 a barrel. How much crude does a refinery use to get one barrel of gas? Next is the refinery. A refinery needs to run close to capacity for efficiency and profit.
Now look at how much gas we use. With more efficient vehicles, as a country, we are using a lot less gas than when full size cars, getting 12 to 16 MPG, were on the road.
Look at a map of the pipelines providing gasoline to the country. It’s not only relatively inefficient, but leaves most states dependent on a relatively centralized source. OTOH pipeline delivery if far cheaper and safer than rail or truck for long haul.
Now the automakers are planning to switch to electric cars. Some are planning on all electric cars by the end of this decade. Given that the fragile electric grid is at capacity in some places that does not compute. People are demanding electric cars as electricity to travel a mile costs a fraction of the cost of gas.
What ever the price of gas and how it got there, there is still some competition. The electric utilities are a monopoly. IOW, “no competition” and we are near the limit to deliver it. You can only charge so many high capacity batteries during off hours.
So…We use a lot less gas and although the demand goes down, the price will go up. Electricity is cheap in most areas, but the ability to get it to the consumer is near its limit. That means the price will go up for all users.
One thing not mentioned is the US dollar. The world currency is based on the US dollar. Should the dollar be replaced with another we can look forward to the price of gas and all imports doubling, or more. Another good reason for using “their” crude at present. Just look forward to the $7 or $8 a gallon they currently pay in Europe..
Greed! During the gas shortage in the 1970’s the bulk tanks everywhere were full. It was a Oil Company made shortage. The Sheeple were setting back thinking what are we going to do for Gas! We have still the largest supply of oil than rest of world combined! But we buy oil cheaper than we produce it. We sell higher than we pay. The U.S. are a bunch of idiots.
The bottom line for me is this. I feel if you own anything you should be able to sell or not sell it. I’m pretty sure you would not like the Feds rolling up to your door and telling you to sell your car now and what price to charge.
Most of the chatter here sounds like oil companies are supposed to share their largess with You because you say so. I say if you want a steady supply of fuel, build your own refinery (waste oil and algae). You can do it, but I bet most will not because they don’t want to get off their booty.
We have fewer refineries today, then 50 years ago, true.
But, the ones we do have refine much more then the refineries combined, 50 years ago.
Refineries and oil companies actually make very little profit on a gallon of gasoline. Most of the cost we pay at the pump is actually due to taxes.
Check it out if you don’t believe me. I worked for an oil company, a refiner actually, for 20 years and Gasoline was our least profitable product. Black oil with no real specs involved is where the money is to be made.
So, break down the price of a gallon of gasoline and see how much of your money taxe related. You will be shocked.
I remember in the late 70ts ,a gas shortage ,gasoline had raised to around 50 cants a gallon.The gas smelled so bad it almost made tot sick to smell it, I had a car that required high test gas.the engine pinged so bad i was worried it would blow up.We found out the gas we were getting had been in storage long enough the octane had been taken away
I remember back in the mid 70’s when I was working at TIA our airside was used by Petroleum Helicopters to ferry workers to oil rigs that were being built off the West coast of Florida. This went on for at least 6months. I guess there are more capped wells of the
West coast of Florida. Every time the Gov wants to drill off of Florida the public goes ballistic. Why drill more when there are already drilled.
Back in the 80’s I “owned” a service station. It was a Full Service station, and reg. gas was 32.9 a gallon. One night I was closing up (an emloyee didn’t show for work). There were about 300 gallons of regular gas left and no customers. The “self serve” on the other side of the street was selling his reg. gas for 30.9… I decided to start a mini gas war. I kept dropping my price to keep it 2 cents under him. When the 300 gallons were gone my posted price was 18.9 — I just locked up and went home. The next day the my Union 76 supplier called me and told me in very plain terms to NEVER do a trick like that again. I replied that it was a good way for the local customers to know I was there and that I had a FULL SERVICE operation, and if it brought me some extra customers, it might just happen next time I was low on gas to sell. The next person who called would not identify himself. Again I was warned to NEVER do that again. This time the person told me my children’s names, ages, and the route they took to school. His closing comment was “YOU WOULDN’T WANT ANYTHING BAD TO HAPPEN TO ONE OF THEM, WOULD YOU? The whole point of this story boils down to the fact that BIG OIL HAS BEEN PRICE FIXING FOR MANY YEARS, and have doing it with immunity from any type of regulation or control. How many of our elected officials do you think have always been, and how many still are on the take from BIG OIL?
Have you guy’s been asleep? We’ve been the world’s largest oil producer for more than 6 month’s now. We are the world’s largest producer of oil and natural gas in the world
What about all we hear about water shortage as well as gas and gas shortages, and food shortages? I think the government needs to be downsized. Too many departments and too many regulations that are too mind boggling to tackle. It is all about greed and lies, and until America and the world wake up to what is right in the eyes of the true God, not idolatry to wealth, material things, and false gods, we are doomed.
Amen to that
one of the reasons that gas is so high in America is that we dont refine very muchof the WTI or Light Sweet crude that the shale drillers are finding. We refine the heavy sour oil that is imported. It would cost alot of money to convert the refineries to light sweet crude. I dont see that happening anytime soon
That is precisely why we need the Canadian Pipeline. Oil sand oil is like tar and most of our refineries are set up to handle that.
The way I understand it is that there are ways that big oil manipulates the market. One, a lot of our oil gets shipped overseas, not for our use. Two, when production increases, big oil will take down a refinery for “maintenance”, so that also limits the supply in relation to demand.
Remember in 1960 when a big candy bar was 10 cents and gas was around 40 cents? Well today that candy bar costs $1.25 and gas is hitting $4. Thanks to government spending and the Federal Reserve printing, today’s dollar has less buying power than a 1960 dime. Wages have pretty much kept pace. Vote out the big spenders and get rid of the Federal Reserve and see what happens.
closing refineries here does not help prices either.
yes oil = money for rich and powerful as always has happened. We are lied to time and time again by gov and oil companies.
As our autos advanced in technology, our miles per gallon has not advance so good. How many mpg does a little 2000 lb. car get ? How many mpg does a 4000 lb truck get ? I have been told out of this country mpg is very good for 4000 lb auto, but my 1997 chey 1500 350 vortec new engine still started at 12 mpg. By me doing little things to it it now gets 15.7 mpg.
Do you think for one minute that this is not a “control” miles per gallon country ??
Gas Prices Explained
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40hNSJEKUgo&feature=player_embedded
Gasoline Taxes Vs. Exxon Profit, Per Gallon So who profits more?
http://www.dailymarkets.com/economy/2011/04/27/gasoline-taxes-vs-exxon-profit-per-gallon/
“The Energy Non Crisis” (1980) by Lindsey Williams. Chaplin to the Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline.
You mean to tell me that you are worried about a few gallons of fuel stored in the USA? You should focus your attention on the hand that you don’t see from our government and oil companies.
I work in the oil and gas industry. I know that there are a lot of sneaky tricks played upon the public not only by our government but by the oil companies as well.
First, the mind set of the US government is this, “last man standing.” That is to say, lets use the other guys oil while saving ours. When their oil runs out we will still have ours. The US government might pay through the nose right now; but, when the world is crying in their beer for fuel it will be the USA that will play the pipe that the rest world must dance to. There are oil fields that were depleted of its oil or large enough to store more than was believed possible, much like a bathtub half full. The Government started to fill this bathtub as much as possible as a storage facility. This supply is to be used in case of a emergency or when needed. This fuel source will be available for years to come. The U.S. government does not own all the oil fields in the USA; thus, the oil companies began to work on their own personal oil fields, upgrading their technology as the years goes by.
In 1935 Congress passed an Interstate Compact to Conserve Oil and Gas and the Connally Act and a few other laws were designed to conserve and protect our limited oil supplies. Remember, in 1935, we didn’t know how much oil or natural gas is in the USA. The oil companies that were founded in the USA used these laws to their advantage to keep the fuel supply at a low level so that prices would remain high. Remember that in 1935 the price for a gallon of gas was 3 to 5 cents a gallon. The oil fields in Arabia were just discovered prior to the start of World War II.
It was in the 1950’s when the USA discovered how large the oil fields really were in Arabia.
So the US waited and bought the rights to these oil fields while training these Arabic countries how to find, drill, pump, refine their crude oil.
Lets move ahead to the 1970’s. The USA government proposed to build a pipe line from Alaska to the lower 48 states. After spending millions of our tax dollars on this project; the government decided that it was more economical to ship this crude oil to Japan to have them refine it for us then have it shipped back to the USA to be used. This meant that we sold the fuel to Japan, let them dirty their environment, then purchase the final product(s) back. We paid a tariff coming and going on this oil too.
Then the American oil companies started to disappear. They were being bought out. First by other American oil companies then by international conglomerates. British Petroleum, BP, owns close to 80% of the oil companies in the world. Now the prices are really fixed and there is very little we as a country can do about it.
The next participant in this comedy of errors is the financial insinuations, like Chase, JP Morgan, and the speculation breakage houses. This group of greedy speculators discovered that they could buy and trade oil on a ship before it even leaves the port. It was not uncommon to have the same load of oil sold 10 to 15 times before the ship arrives in the USA. This was part of the main down fall of the financial crisis of 2005. These speculators were playing with the crude oil futures, forcing the prices to rise until we were paying close to $5.00 a gallon. When we, the people, cried out about the high price of heating oil and diesel and gasoline per gallon these financial institutions were forced to look for profits in their mortgages, junk bonds and stocks. This is when the economy really took a dive for the worse in 2007.
Now, we come back to the oil companies again. The oil companies with refineries were instructed to keep the supply low and the demand high by pulling a refinery out of production under various excuses like upgrading equipment, repairing the plant, or changing the grade of fuel from summer time to winter grade and back again. There was also a fire or two at some of the larger refineries that kept the supply low. These companies would tell the American public their problems, through the news media, and the news media ate it up. The news media took this as gospel without checking their facts. Remember, I told you how the government had Japan refine their crude oil from Alaska? Well, the oil companies took a page from the governments play book. Instead of sending the crude to Japan, the oil companies sent their crude oil to Mexico for refinement. This way all Mexico has to do is to ship the oil in a pipeline that was already laid down back in the 1960’s to Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. All the oil companies had to do is buy time to use the pipeline.
In conclusion, the greed of so many has cost us, the people, dearly in the price of oil. You can’t fight it because there are too many hands in the cookie jar. The only way to control this problem is to put regulation(s) back into the oil and gas industry. Oh, the oil companies will fight this tooth and nail. In order to get this done; we will have to have some honest people in the government, once again. Please note, I didn’t talk about the gas industry because it is related to the oil industry and is similar in a lot of ways, it is, in fact, a different animal with its own special quirks that you should be aware of. But I will save that for another time.
THANKS cliff, well said let the truth be known. its all about greed!!! this will be the down fall of america.
sore, prices are high because of government regulation, mostly the epa, and no new refineries having been built in the last 30 or 40 years, again thank the epa and the environazis
we the people are much to blame as we keep sending the same people to washington to regulate our affairs. a few years ago there was an article published that said the american people are beginning to like chinese products more. fact is most of the things available to us are produced in china. check the labels and see before you buy. most things we buy come wrapped in plastic or are made of plastic which takes oil to make and ends up filling our landfills with the stuff. cities on the east coast even barge the waste out to sea and dump their waste in the ocean. when will it stop. we have foreign entities wanting to purchase seaports, railroads and land to build casinos and hotels in nevada on land where a mans family has raised cattle for around 100 years. not many years ago it was announced that we now import more food than we raise. can you see where this is leading our country? what will we do when they quit sending us food? we already import laborers to do the work here while the government pays our people unemployment to sit home and not work while the younger generation learns to steal or sell drugs, while since the government can’t control it the drug trade, they want to make it legal, so they can tax it to make the government more money to pay our leaders more to sell us out to foreign governments.
we need leaders in washing and the states that represent our people. we are exporting our jobs and prosperity to other nations while our people become lazy because many of them get more money on unemployment than by working while we are forced to buy cheap imported goods, waste our resources buy filling our land fills with the unusable waste. In utah they provide extra garbage cans for people to put their plastics in to be recycled. many people recycle their aluminum products . Oh , but that puts people to work. our government doesn’t want to do that. The politicians would lose votes from the unemployed and illegals that come here to work. WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS SYSTEM. VOTE to make our country work not because you are a member of one political party or the other. vote for right not convenience. then our government
“might “become more responsible to the American people again. Did you know an oil company representative stated we (the oil companies)
stated we need to sell our oil to other countries so we can make more MONEY?
Dear Frank: you say “gas prices in the US are quite cheap vs the rest of the world..” That’s not true.Venezuela has the lowest gas price in the world. A litter of regular gas is less than a penny. If a gallon has approximately 3.6 litters do the math. A 1/2 litter of fresh water cost 2 dollars(12 bolivares official trade or 160 bolivares on the black market trade)
Reasons for high gas prices: greediness on the oil companies owners and laziness on the people. Why low the gas prices if we still buy it whatever it is.We should go back to the old times and ride a horse, a bike,or a buggy for the sick and laziest ones.There’s a town in Brazil named “Paqueta” where no motor vehicles are allowed. We should get rid of gas burning vehicles an d companies and save our abused planet.
Gas prices are high because (1) TPTB want us impoverished; (2) the Eco-Weenies want higher prices to discourage use of “fossil” fuels (which they are NOT); (3) the Guvamint wants higher prices because their taxes are a PERCENTAGE of the base price (!); (4) and the oil companies want higher prices so they can make more money on a “wasting asset” (which it is NOT! – See Thomas Gold’s “The Deep Hot Biosphere”.)
Secret Gas Savings Switch I do not believe this at all. I have taken many cars and trucks apart. In school and work, never have I found anything like a switch to turn on. Now they could be talking this way about something else. I have told Damian Campbell if they tell him about this switch and he tells me that it does work I will pay for both of us to have the package, so far no reply at all. Maybe he did not get the email or maybe he did will never know for sure. So Frank I will do same with you, if these people show you the switch working I will buy package for both of us
geraldc
Geraldc,, I know what the secret switch is and its no secret, there just trying to get money out of you. the switch is the one that changes your fuel consumption display from average MPG to instant MPG so you have to drive your car by looking at the display so you know how much to NOT push on the gas pedal. Kind of a scam.
The main reason all oil and oil related prices are so high is HEDGE FUNDS! They are using our money to buy oil and pay oil companies to store it. The commodity traders are making money on trading it also. All a person has to do is look back when oil started being traded as a commodity to see that ever since then it has went higher and higher in price. Look at how many fund traders went under when they got too greedy and up the price to $147.00 per barrel. They are only required to pay a few dollars to be able to hold thousands of dollars of oil off the market to increase the price of the commodity. The bottom line GREED.
katrina was staged and directed to new orleans. the trejectory of that hurricane was to cross fla and go out to the atlantic. the reason,….not far from the shore of what used to be la. are oil platforms run by cheney’s bed buddies, hal burton. the area arou9nd new orleans and the shore line where oil i sbeing drilled is secured like area 51 . do the math kids. life has no vILUE TO DEMONS, OIL BARRONS THE TICH AND DICTATORS. CHENEY SAID ALLI NEED TO HEAR WHEN HE LEFT THE HOSPITAL AND REFUSED TO SAY THANK YOU TO THE KID THAT DIED AND GAVE HIM HIS HEART. HE SAID THE KID IS DEAD I AM ALIVE. AND WALKED OFF. NO REASON TO THANK ANYONE THE KID IS DEAD. there is no shortage of oil. we are hoarding so we can be the only country in the world with oil. however no one trying that now will live that long. hahahahah china owns us. we ship our coal which we have an unlimited supply of in this country to pay our debt to them. we cease to pay the interest we owe china then china comes in and takes over. that is why soon to be martial law and gun confiscation. we will be herded into the f.e.m.a. camps. f.e.m.a. has already stock piled 600,000,000 that 600 million m.r.e.’s (meals ready to eat). for a while they will fill our bellies with food that has no nurtiritial value. constipation and toxcitiy will enter into the blood system. the purpose of fema camps is the same purpose the nazi concentration camps were created. thin the herd baby. children, elderly, sick, mentally deminished. millions upon millions dead in a month or so. and then cremated. no place to bury and no one to bury the dead. me? i intend to be raptured after the dead in christ rise the living in christ will rise. we will all reutrn 7 years later after the battle of armeggdon has been won and jesus will slay the indwelled satan and his demons. worry about your imotal soul not oil. gold, coal, give your soul to god because your body will belong to f.e.m.a.
YA YOU ARE RIGHT J HANLEY I SEE THIS CUMMING IN THE NOT TO FAR FUTER GET READY TO MAKE PEACE WITH GOD IF YOU WANT TO GO TO HAVEN AFTER YOU DIE
The price of oil has been rigged by the same folks that set up the CFR, the Bilderburgs, and financed Secretary Henry Kissinger’s education. . .the Rookerphucers. fancy that!! /s/kr
It’s totally naive to believe that there could be a legitimate oil shortage in this country. A minimal of research and some simple addition will reveal the truth which is that we have enough for hundreds of years. Oil and coal are third world fuels like wood and buffalo chips. Do you know with recent advances in technology that we can re visit every oil well that has ever been drilled and remove the oil that was out of reach , which in many instances equals the amount they had already removed ? Thanks to horizontal drilling, we can do this . And more. We can now use horizontal drilling and fracking to remove something more abundant than oil, natural gas! Clean, non polluting and enough to solve the entire worlds energy problems. And they can now do it without using questionable chemicals which were replaced with a natural bean, that’s right, beans. Not to mention geo thermal , solar and wind. Oil and coal are third world fuels like eood and buffalo chips. You bet the prices are artificially inflated! They will keep us using oil as long as they can and until they take full control of the other alternatives mentioned above. Oh, and please don’t mention China. What have they done for us besides take our best technologies or jobs and our cash and give us cheap junk in return.
We can now use horizontal drilling and fracking to remove something more abundant than oil, natural gas! This at the same time endangers are water supply. THINK
I have a God given right to be greedy, if I so choose. Everyone here seems to bash the wealthy. First, define wealthy, then make your claim as to who’s at fault. That said, since our government has decreed oil and energy to be in the “national interest”, we can and do regulate, to some extent. If I invest in an oil company , I should be able to profit without ever working. I would gladly start a business with any investor and split the profit (my labor vs. thier money). Hard work and a little luck is what made this country great (and 2 world wars that we Americans help rebuild while making a profit). Just saying!
You said it Carl!
What we all have to realize is oil isn’t going anywhere. As stated earlier in this discussion…oil is in everything! So call it whatever you want, profit is what makes US and the rest of the world tick. It’s not wrong to earn. Who are you or who are we to say someone earns too much? Don’t lie to yourself, you aspire to not have a worry in the world. Each and every one of us would like to free of the burdens that keep us working each day of our lives to provide. If we have the opportunity we should snatch it up, but far too many of auSs want to point fingers of blame and keep our heads in the sand. Instead of complaining about greed of this companie or that government, stand up and demand that we build refineries in the. US, that the keystone pipeline be built,! Americans have the greatest gift granted by our creator…enginuity, the desire to accel, to power our world with opportunity! We’ve been blessed in the US with providing the understanding to find the oil in the first place. Yet now we argue about the so called greed of the companies that chose to take oil and harness it. If your not going to do it who will?
My job has me in the oil fields drilling holes in the ground so companies like BP, Hess and Shell can extract the awesome power provided to us. This job lets me live a life better than most, although it keeps me from my family half the year. It’s better to be part of the solution than to stand on the sidelines and complain.
So before you point fingers, or whine about profit, tell me what your doing to help US survive?
Get on your bike and ride…
@ things that effect our energy prices are: 1)The EPA, because their laws are so strict that the oil companies can’t build refineries that match their atmospheric laws (HCL), 2) They need to take the energy supply in our country off the stock market, this is where we as Americans are losing big time, too many wealthy people making money sitting on their behinds & getting paid those high profit dividends.
Regulations will always make a product cost more. Time=money to a company and regulations take time and sometimes money also to satisfy. Get rid of some of the restrictions placed on refineries and gas stations etc and we will see a dramatic reduction in prices. We have plenty of oil but not near enough facilities to process it.
I agree that the EPA needs to set up some reasonable regulation to protect us but they have gotten god complexes and gone way over the top in this area. There should be clean up funds and safety precautions but to speculate on every possible miniscule % of a chance of a “disaster” and make a rule/reg is costing the country money. The cost is jobs, increase taxes to help the poor, disabled and working poor with cost of living increases from increased transportation costs. Im not sure getting the oil off Wall Street is helpful because these businesses still need investors. Maybe limit speculation to what is a “real life” profit would be helpful. I would note that the amount of taxes you pay on a gallon of gas is extremely significant and it varies from state to state as the federal gov. gets theirs then the state gov gets theirs and finally the local gov gets theirs. Bottom line Government regulations and taxes make it nearly impossible to fill up your vehicle and buy basic groceries and we do not eat much in the way of snack foods, no soda, fancy water or beer. Don t smoke and are feeling the squeeze as we are on fixed income.
If you deregulate the oil companies you will end up with another disaster like the BP oil spill of the Louisiana coast. Just think if there were thousands of these little disasters we would be pointing the finger at our government for not protecting us. Building more refineries doesn’t necessary mean lower oil prices. I agree there is a need for more refineries; but there is a greater need for the oil companies to come clean and stop playing us like a fools.
If we boycott one oil company a month for a year buy no fuel from them maybe they will realize we are tired of their greed but that would take a strong effort by the american people, just a thought
The cost of health care and the price of a gallon of gasoline for example all boil down to the profit that can be made on the backs of the American people. Entrepreneurism – “The American Dream” has made this country the greatest nation on earth and continues to make opportunities for the average American with a good idea and an ethic of hard work, to “strike it rich”! I support that!
The problem arises when there is a tendency of the successful entrepreneur to hold on too tightly to their wealth; even though he/she may be living a dream lifestyle – with enough money to live 100 lifetimes in the lap of luxury and be at the top of their peer list.
I can’t fault anyone for wanting to preserve their wealth and to live comfortably well; but to hang on to wealth that couldn’t possibly be spent in a lifetime – 100 lifetimes, while paying minimum wages, part-time wages, no benefits to their employees and playing that kind of game; when they could easily live the same lifestyle while paying a living wage and benefits to those that work to create that wealth for them – it seems criminal to me to be so greedy.
Why take jobs away from Americans that need them to other countries whose citizens will work for less? Greed. If there is enough profit in the business to pay living wages to Americans in America, why not do that?
There are some exceptions of course and I want to say “Thank You” to those generous individuals, but most hang on to it all – to the bitter end. Usually we see one of the top 100 wealthiest begin their giving at the twilight of their life, creating some sort of organization to help sort out a pet cause or two. I applaud them for that, but assert that they could still do that at the end, while doing much more good for the American people throughout their lives – by paying a living wage in the mean time, by keeping their jobs in their own country, by helping their employees and neighbors live more meaningful lives – by willingly sharing a part of their wealth with those who work for them and serve them. For many of the wealthiest – without even making a dent in their own elevated lifestyles and life status. May I paraphrase a great president? “Ask not what your country can do for you; rather ask what you can do for your country”
roy, the top 2% pays 90% of the taxes while 50% of U.S. citizens are now parasites.
Speaking of job loss. Google just announce the closing of the first smart phone factory, which is in Texas, due to an ability to make the phones for less elsewhere.http://online.wsj.com/articles/googles-motorola-mobility-to-close-factory-in-texas-1401462571?tesla=y
Isn’t Google the company with huge favor at the Whitehouse-the Whitehouse so committed to the Middle-Class and jobs, jobs, jobs. Isn’t that a part of the tax and spend let’s have another program party joined by many a Progressive Republican as well.!! Then couple that with total ignorance and bobble headed totally unaware of “past and current” events voters who seem to thrash like chafed wheat to gain something for nothing and too inane to understand-everything comes with a price-nothing is free!! Not even an “Obama” phone!!!!
Seems as though Google owns a Solar Electric Generating facility in the same Nevada desert recently in the news and the desert land between the grazing land Bundy used was sold to a Chinese Company, ENN, who was to install another solar electric generating plant brokered by a lawyer named Reid, Harry’s son. We need to circle the wagons and decide a ton of issues perpetrated in the name of the economy and jobs but permeated with absolute power and greed.
Does anyone recall the parting remarks of Obama’s former Energy Secretary? The mand stated that he no longer believed $10 a gallono gasoline was the solution to our nations energy problem. I don’t know about you, but in my mind that screams government influence in the market price – what ever happened to laisez faire? Oil executives have been honest about their profits, even at $2 a gallon the profits would still be in the billions!
Try a quarter of a cent. This means millions of dollars to the oil companies. Ask your local gas station what kind of profit they make per gallon, then you will start to get the picture.
Youbarevwkright, don’t blame Middle East, it’sthe greed of our own Oil Companies, Why should they lower the price? If we steel buy It.
Oil isn’t just used as energy, it’s also use as a component in many if not most of the things in your house. Our economy is DIRECTLY related to the price of oil and the oil companies combined absolutely control our economy. Every time the American people begin to get ahead a little and have a few extra bucks at the end of the month, the oil companies swoop in and scoup it up at the pumps without retribution. No one investigates, I guess they are too big even for the government to fight unless of course the government us really in bed with them.
All the trade agreements that the US enters into requires the US to export certain amount of fuels along with other goods and commodities….
In turn we must allow cheap Chinese goods to be imported to stave off the inevitable “debt call” at any moment by the Chinese….
US gas is actually artificially priced low due to the dollar being the reserve currency at the moment…oil transactions take place in US dollars only right now…one reason gas is lower here than the rest of the world….
The dollars reserve status will soon be replaced and then the real cost of oil/gas here in the US will be known…
Also, gas is priced by the amount that is in the main pipeline from day to day which is a function of refinery output….(all gas comes from the same place…no difference between BP, Exxon, Texaco, etc. except for an additive that is added at the gas station itself…)
The devaluation of the dollar by inflation makes gas more expensive….
Since 1913 the dollar has lost 98% of it’s value….so it’s not that gas or any good or commodity is more expensive in real terms it is the devalued dollar that is the problem….
So gas “seems” expensive because of:
1) forced exports due to trade agreements
2) devalued dollar/dollars status as world’s reserve currency
3) amount in pipeline on any given day
4) and a bunch of other factors like greed, artificially created shortages, natural disasters, etc.
An example…..gas prices actually went down dramatically after Hurricane Sandy which is counter-intuitive….one would think gas prices would rise…..but it was due to the fact that there was a surplus of gas in the pipeline due to reduced deliveries to northern-eastern states that resulted in excess supply…..
There are so many factors that determine gas prices it is almost impossible to point them all out….as Rumsfeld said (paraphrase)….there are knowns that we know, there are unknowns that we know and then there are those unknowns that we don’t know……that’s about the truest statement that ever came out of Washington…lol
Frank you are doing a good thing here looking for many answers and I do Thank You.
I have a 1997 chev 1500 2 wd 350 vortec truck with a new engine, after a visit to hospital with wife having had a ” rooster attack ” so 5 switches and 4 staples later she is ok but rooter and truck did not do so well. Truck had been having internal water leak problem. Had did 2 head gasket replacements which did not work. This trip cracked both heads and block. With new engine with 12,000 miles now getting only 12 mpg I started working to increase mpg, Re-routed PCV valve air lines to inbound air, re-routed EVAP air lines also to inbound air for vacuum and gaped plugs to .074 and cut ground to match vertical plane of positive pole side. The truck run very good. Filled up at Koger made trip Savannah to Atlanta Ga. gained 1 MPG ok filled up at Koger again in Atlanta drove home same distance gained 3.7 MPG.
Can any one tell me what is in the gas in Atlanta that is not in Savannah gas ??? With a 3.7 increase in MPG a 32 gallon tank could give an increase of over 100 miles per tank and so far I can not get anyone to tell me the difference. An extra 100 miles per tank could make a big cost change in driving.
That is because you were driving up hill verses going down hill. I use to live in Atlanta. I also use to live in San Francisco, California. Now I live in Los Angeles. Going to San Francisco from LA is going up hill. Going from San Francisco to LA I go down hill. Thus the increase in MPG.
here are some utube videos may be some answers there if interested ” gas hole ”
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=gas+hole+full+documentary&oq=gas+hole&gs_l=youtube.1.1.0l6j0i5l2.2553.5552.0.15435.8.8.0.0.0.0.195.792.5j3.8.0…0.0…1ac.1.11.youtube.Hi7Vo4yEEuI
” no shortage at all ” In 1971 I personally seen test well being drilled on EAST coast, drilled from Va to Fla and capped. No report open for public to read of what was found. When having dinner, some of the workers doing the drilling, were there and we talked. They told me drilling was being done at same time 50 miles out to sea same distance. I did ask what had been found they said “we can not tell anything about that , all the material is being sent somewhere to a lab.” My wife is from Oka and through her family, some with oil wells on their land, I was told no body can own oil wells or any minerals EAST of Mississippi River. The government owns all that stuff under the land, no matter who owns the land. Oil companies are controlling the gas prices, congress gets how much money from oil companies when running for office ?? A man here in Savannah Ga. in 1976 had found a way to increase MPG on any car or truck just by adding a small part to carburetor. One Sunday morning he had 2 visitors, they showed him pictures of his wife and 2 children where they had been different places all week then told him ” you will not change any more cars or trucks will you ?” So when I went to get mine done he would not do it. As for natural gas this first export terminal is being build right here in Savannah Ga. Starting to deepen the river more again for these ships
Shell oil had done MPG test way back in the 1950s had actually gotten 100 MPG . Where is this stuff at now ??
Its Bull crap about not owning mineral rights east of the old Mississippi . I live in Ohio and I own mine and I get paid for the oil/gas they pull from my wells.
I understand that the lower value of the dollar is at least one reason for high gas prices. Shear incompetence may be another.
GREED. Big oil still likes to make money.
I think the answer to high gas prices is simple: GREED. The rich want to be richer, keep their power and control over US citizens. As long as the majority of the public is unable to afford to buy hybrid or electric vehicles, we’re forced to buy gas (unless we want to revert to using bicycles or horse and buggies). The US government and fuel company owners have us over a barrel. Taking actions like car pooling, riding public transportation, reducing unnessary travel and buying more economical vehicles helps, but sometimes is unrealistic in the long run for various reasons. I sign petitions and send emails to protest gas price increases whenever possible, which hopefully does a little good.
Why do we (America) import oil when we make enough here?
BECAUSE THEY CAN Who’s going to say anything We all will just set back let it happen Just like are government When there’s just a hand full of us
If you do the research you will find that it costs the oil companies an average of between $65 and $70 to produce a barrel of oil that is now selling for between $100 and $105. Some costs much more than others–new exploration in deep water rigs for example is much more expensive than pumping from old wells. Most oil is the US is from established wells and much is being extracted by fracking. Anywhere from 15 to 30% of the retail cost of gasoline is thus due to speculation in futures markets.
Isn’t the problem not having enough or building new refineries?
Wind, solar and water power is not going to sustain or “drive” the USA when it comes to defending the USA.
Ever sense Carter and his so called shortage where odd and even lic plate numbers could get gas on certain days the Government has been regulating this industry to death when you send the EPA, OSCA and other Government agency’s after the company’s slap big fines on them guess what the price hit the ceiling plus Clinton start the extra tax on oil at the gas pump and some states like WVA they put a state tax as well and in some case’s WVA is 40 cents higher then in some places of VA and Obama raised that tax again when he took office plus he had the EPA go after emissions on coal power plants and if he had got the cap and trade passed you would have been paying 175 dollars a month more for electricity. The large oil company’s sell there fuel to other country’s because of the Government regulations its easier to sale it to other country’s than to sale it here. The Government under dem leaders have always wanted to control the company’s and they use the Global cooling in the 70’s and in the 90s it was Global warming and now its climate change but all this research or so called research was funded by the Government the earth runs in cycles between 50 and 70 years most wont pay attention. Now most schools teach the theory of Global warming as fact. Now if it be fact why can’t anyone tell you if its going to rain or snow the next day and your suppose to believe they can tell you a hundred years from now? Please give me a break and then someone hacked the emails of some of the leading scientist to find they play with the numbers to get the data the way they wanted the result to come out they couldn’t explain why instead of warming the earth was actually cooling the average American has been scammed by our Government
What alot of people do not know or maybe they do is that the Iraq war was over oil and nothing else. The US holds over 4 trillion Iraqi Dinar and has been trading to China to pay off debt due to the fact that Iraqi will be the leader of the oil world. They are set to revalue this Dinar soon as many speculaters have known for years. This could pump Trillions of dollars for over 90 countries involved. Gold will drop and oil will remain at higher prices when this happens as we have seen as of late. We are headed for a new world order.
USA without oil — natural gas — still need to import — ” NO WAY ” — in 1971 – 1973 I worked from Va. to Fla. in different places for as much as 3 weeks. each place. What I seen was test well drilling going on about 200 mi apart all the way down the coast. When I had dinner with some of the drill crews I ask, ” What were they drilling for ? ” Each time I asked the answer was, ” Oh just test drilling “. Then about 7 years later I read a report about how in 1971 the government was drilling test well on east coast and about 50 mi out to sea from Va. to Fla. “wow ” I seen history being made. And now we are being told USA has more oil than saudia ever had and more natural gas than we can use so we are building the first natural gas export terminal here in Savannah Ga. Also natural gas cars and trucks are being build more and more, natural gas stations are being build more and more.
As for price per gallon of gas, a tax on the books can raise the price at any time , right now the RIM tax is .01 per gallon but as much as .15 can be added at any time. The tax law has been in place for many years.
Mr. Bates,
Would you be so kind as to include re-searchable reference points where we can actually look further into this information ourselves? I can assure you it will be very much appreciated by those of us who aren’t as prolific at this as you and your colleagues obviously are.
THANK YOU ever so much.
Respectfully,
Danny
I think you might find that your prices gradually increased after the Rockerfellers got control of the middle east oil in the late 70’s.
The chase manhatten bank makes more money per barrel that any arab prince, by a huge margin.
Also the russians found out that oil is mineral, not organic so the just drilled deeper and found a S%##load of it, there is no shortage, but truly that is not the issue.
Why are we still dependant on an 19th century energy technology?
What is so mysterious about the U.S. exporting oil, and experiencing rising prices here, when it is so much more expensive in most other countries? As they say, follow the money. Why would producers here sell oil here for X dollars when they can get 2X dollars by exporting it. The law of supply and demand can be tampered with, but it can’t be repealed completely.
why are the gas prices so high when we are told that usa produces more oil then many other countries, and the president of usa refused the oil from canada ; because the pipe line might some way spring a leak and cause damage. WHAT do you say about that? I’am sick about it.
Actually, Gordon, gas prices in the US are quite cheap vs the rest of the world. You can thank your high taxes for that. Europeans dont drive little cars because they are cute.
Yes, our gas is cheap right now due to the fact that all crude transactions are done in US dollars. All currencies must convert
to dollars which are still the world reserve note. All this derivatives debt and and lack of faith in the future dollar is going to keep China
and comrades moving to new gold based trading, leaving US with
Much higher import costs on Everything. Gas may be getting a little cheaper to produce by efficiencies, but the dollar is losing value.
Domestic oil production is vital now to fight mega inflation, I think.