$2.29 a Gallon!!

[noone986s]

How about $7.15 in the UK? Sucks, especially as most of it is Tax

I lived in the US for a while and recall the days of $10 fillups

[Perfectlap]

my strategy was to keep the tank full at all times. iF it went down a 1/4 fill er up.
Before I was playing with 1/4-1/2, never more than half. In my mind I was trying to rationalize that the cheapest gas available was always in my tank.
Now that supply is high I may have to go back to the never more than half strategy. Its a mental war!!

[longislander1]

This is no accident and has nothing to do with market demand and everything to do with politics. I believe gasoline will spike back up after the November elections. BP originally reported a major problem with corrosion in its Alaska pipeline and, miraculously, it's now getting the flow back on line much earlier than expected. The government is suddenly issuing economic numbers that show upticks not seen in years (some of the economists can't even figure it out). The generals were caught fudging the August figures from Iraq on the deaths due to violence. We're being scared out of our wits over terrorism. This is all part of an orchestrated campaign to keep the current people in power, but I hope the American people are smart enough to see through it. Sorry to inject politics on such a fine board, but I might as well tell it like it is. In the meantime, let's enjoy lower gas prices while we can. We're paying for it in other ways.

[Brucelee]

Originally Posted by longislander1

This is no accident and has nothing to do with market demand and everything to do with politics. I believe gasoline will spike back up after the November elections. BP originally reported a major problem with corrosion in its Alaska pipeline and, miraculously, it's now getting the flow back on line much earlier than expected. The government is suddenly issuing economic numbers that show upticks not seen in years (some of the economists can't even figure it out). The generals were caught fudging the August figures from Iraq on the deaths due to violence. We're being scared out of our wits over terrorism. This is all part of an orchestrated campaign to keep the current people in power, but I hope the American people are smart enough to see through it. Sorry to inject politics on such a fine board, but I might as well tell it like it is. In the meantime, let's enjoy lower gas prices while we can. We're paying for it in other ways.

Well, that is a bit of interesting fantasy!

The OPEC oil cartel met last week in an attempt to keep world oil prices above their new "floor" price of $64 a barrel.

It is widely thought that this new floor will not hold as OPEC does not have enough clout with the rest of the oil producing nations to make it stick.

In other words, these guys pumping oil need the money and will sell if the spot market price drops below OPEC's cartel price. Putin needs his dough!

That is the way it works in the real world, you know, the one where the conspiracy theory guys are busy watching Michael Moore's latest fiction and thinking it is actually happening that way.

[Brucelee]

"In the meantime, let's enjoy lower gas prices while we can. We're paying for it in other ways."

It looks like the Brits and Europeons are paying for it, you know at $6.15 per.

BTW-How much SHOULD gas cost anyway and how did you arrive at that price?

[johnsonrj74]

Originally Posted by noone986s

How about $7.15 in the UK? Sucks, especially as most of it is Tax

I lived in the US for a while and recall the days of $10 fillups

I'm doing the reverse- now an Brit ex-pat enjoying the much cheaper gas in the US. I went home to England recently and spent almost $100 filling up a cheap rental car that was no fun to drive. It's adding insult to injury knowing you're paying 2.5 times more AND the petrol is not going in a Porsche!

[Perfectlap]

gas should cost $20 for a tank.
SUV drivers should pay $100 a tank.

That's fair.

p.s.
Between the price of a barrel of crude (what happened to $100 a barell?)
and what the Exxons, Shells, BP's end up charging you at the pump there is
allot of price manipulation.
Those Oil companies are raking in money like you can't imagine and their political influence in congressional elections (particularly in Texas) should not be underplayed.
Remember when the Saudis where straight up saying "we'll tinker with the price of our crude to help the American during their elections"?? Straight from the horses mouth. The freehand of capitalism is a frail one when it comes to this particular commodity.

[Brucelee]

From today's newswires!

"A sharp decline by oil prices has also fueled the rally. Lower energy costs should take pressure off of inflation and give consumers strapped by a cooling housing market some added pocket change. Crude was moving lower again Friday, sliding 78 cents to $62.44 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange as momentum-driven speculators continued to jump out of the energy market."

I guess the "conspiracy" to hold those prices above $64 failed?

Perhaps they are just trying to fool us into thinking there is a world spot maket functioning for oil?

[longislander1]

Brucelee, we'll see if it's really fantasy. Watch what happens to prices after the elections.

Fossil fuels have become a national strategic resource, yet our government allows them to be manipulated in return for political bribes. With the industry in private hands, we pay unnecessarily high prices (witness the oil companies' billions in ADDITIONAL profits), face arbitrary limits on supply (the oil companies -- with all their money -- haven't built a new U.S. refinery in 30 years and their maintenance of the existing facilities is highly suspect), and the nation isn't pursuing alternative energy (with so many politicians in oil companies' pockets).

If market forces for crude are driving prices, oil companies' margins would remain the same. Yet profits have skyrocketed.

You need to wake up and see how things really work in this country. I'm not sure I'm the one who's believing in fantasies.

I bought 93 octane yesterday in Champaign, IL for $2.55!

[Brucelee]

Originally Posted by longislander1

Brucelee, we'll see if it's really fantasy. Watch what happens to prices after the elections.

Fossil fuels have become a national strategic resource, yet our government allows them to be manipulated in return for political bribes. With the industry in private hands, we pay unnecessarily high prices (witness the oil companies' billions in ADDITIONAL profits), face arbitrary limits on supply (the oil companies -- with all their money -- haven't built a new U.S. refinery in 30 years and their maintenance of the existing facilities is highly suspect), and the nation isn't pursuing alternative energy (with so many politicians in oil companies' pockets).

If market forces for crude are driving prices, oil companies' margins would remain the same. Yet profits have skyrocketed.

You need to wake up and see how things really work in this country. I'm not sure I'm the one who's believing in fantasies.

So, since the average ROI for Oil Companies over the last 20 years is actually lower than the stock market as a whole, you are saying that there is

A- Monopoly for oil companies to price however they want. It is just now that they are doing so.

B-That even though there is this monopoly, the oil companies choose to keep lower ROI numbers.

C-There have been anti-trust investigations conducted by the FTC, the Justice Dept. Congress, and about 35 state AGs. Yet, not one oil company exec or company has been indicted for any crimes of price fixing, etc.

That must mean that .......




It is all a vast right wing conspiracy!

Yet, the price of gas in the US is lower than it is in the rest of the world.

D-The oil companies monopoly power and their consipracy with the US Govt still won't allow them to get through the greenies in order to build new refineries. Check the public record, they have tried and failed any number of times.

Sorry, the price of gas will rise and fall, as supply and demand rise and fall.

That is the way it has always been!

But, don't let history get in the way of a good consipiracy!

PS-Since you believe this whole deal is a vast conspiracy, I will ask you the key question here.

HOW MUCH SHOULD GAS COST and how do you know that?


.

[longislander1]

Originally Posted by Brucelee

PS-Since you believe this whole deal is a vast conspiracy, I will ask you the key question here.

HOW MUCH SHOULD GAS COST and how do you know that?


.

Let me ask you some questions. Should gas cost $2.79 a gallon where I live, less than 50 miles from the nearest refineries, while the national average is $2.50? I'm sure that's just "market demand." Should America give away oil leases for free, resulting in losses of about $10 billion a year to the taxpayers? Do you really believe that oil companies, already awash in government incentives as well as profits, can't get a refinery approved with (no mistake here) Dick Cheney leading our country? Is it an accident that so little money is invested in alternative fuels in the U.S.? Why is the White House afraid to tell us who met with Cheney in formulating government energy policy?

What you'll see is more saber-rattling against Iran right after the November elections. Crude prices will rise sharply and so will prices at the pump. If the Republicans win both houses, they'll blame it on "market demand." If the Democrats win (we can only hope), the Republicans will try to make it their mess. Rove's probably working on it right now.

[sandyman65535]

@fig and @johnsonrj74

Don't forget that we do at least get a little more octane for our buck in AUS and the UK. Aus regular is 93 or 95 RON and premium is 98 (IIRC... haven't had any cause to buy regular since having a boxster), and same in the UK (again IIRC).

But I can say for sure that petrol companies here in aus are a pack of thieves.