Poll: Will Gas Hit $5/Gal by 4th of July?

[thstone]

Do you think that the price of a gallon of gas will hit $5 or more by the 4th of July weekend? Vote now!

[brian325is]

Don't feel bad. Premium is allready $1.50/ litre here which works out to 5.70/us gallon

Wait till anyone from Britain responds.

[Johnny Danger]

It will if Wall Street and Obama Ya Mama wants it to .

[Brucelee]

Originally Posted by brian325is

Don't feel bad. Premium is allready $1.50/ litre here which works out to 5.70/us gallon

Wait till anyone from Britain responds.

That makes me feel so much better.

Huh?

[TWODAN]

OBumma is kicked out of the white house

[thstone]

I felt that it was obvious why gas went to $4.75/gal when Bush was in the White House (Bush familly comes from oil business in Texas) but its not clear to me what's going on now...??

[tonycarreon]

as much as i like to blame bush for things, the president has little control over the price of gasoline.

the commodities market - where oil is bought and sold plays a large part. speculation raises the price of oil that will be sold months from now. there is an ever increasing demand for oil as more and more people move up and purchase vehicles, populations increase the need for mass transit and homes need to be heated. part of the problem is instability in the middle east - where a lot of oil comes from. instability means fear that prices will skyrocket.

OPEC could raise production but they're getting $112 barrel and it's still being purchased (though they've started to voice concerns that it will need to come down soon).

Most of the oil purchased in the US comes from Canada, by the way, but is still bought and sold on the global market. as long as someone is willing to pay the prices, they will stay high.

[Johnny Danger]

Reprobate !

[mikefocke]

burning $25,000 worth of av-gas per minute (Continental/United). And you think that there could be supply disruptions and the price of oil might go up significantly. Don't you think you'd want to buy a contract that would fix your price for future delivery of a large portion of your expected needs as a hedge against the worst happening. And when everyone does that, then the price of the futures contract goes up. And of course financial speculators, loving a volatile market, will speculate exacerbating the rise in prices.

Add in the fact that oil companies have been selling off refineries over the last few years so now refineries are having to buy and so they are hedging too.

And when the contracts are exercised and it comes time to pay for delivery, the price of the thing that is produced using that gas goes up.

And the BRICs are adding how many cars a day to the world demand for oil.

Its the natural supply and demand free-market thing.

And no president would ever want gas to go up as that is one of those things that gets presidents to be one term presidents. Some of you are too young to remember the Carter-era gas lines.

[Burg Boxster]

Originally Posted by mikefocke

And no president would ever want gas to go up as that is one of those things that gets presidents to be one term presidents. Some of you are too young to remember the Carter-era gas lines.

LOL - gas prices were hardly Carter's "tipping point". In hind sight, Jimmah's probably a little sorry for highlighting the whole Misery Index thing, huh?

[Allen K. Littlefield]

Originally Posted by thstone

I felt that it was obvious why gas went to $4.75/gal when Bush was in the White House (Bush familly comes from oil business in Texas) but its not clear to me what's going on now...??

That was your press in bed with the Progressive Dem party. Remember Halliburton, and as you have mentioned, Bush'es 'oil buddies' they constantly pounded on? Now that Bernacke has brought down the value of the dollar it costs more to of them to purchase oil. Oil companies, in spite of years of mis-education, do NOT set the price of oil, the speculators in the market do. George Soros is one of the major players here and he has stated one of his goals is to bring down this countries economy and bust the dollar. This can no longer be ignored. Remember we are loaning Brazil money (your tax dollars that you can so well afford) to DRILL for oil but we have a concerted effort to close down any drilling or new refineries in the USA. This is to ostensibly fund 'green energy'. Also the Fed govt makes about 15% on the gallon of gas so we have a tax increase to offset the extended Bush tax cuts. Oil co only makes around 5%. I am sure the new "investigation" by Holder will solve who is gouging...NOT! So, yes Virginia, govt. has a BIG role in the price of oil. How do you all like the drying up of 'trickle down'?

AKL

[thstone]

Hmmm. How do you explain Exxon/Mobil (and the rest of the oil industry's) record profits during the Bush years?

[Allen K. Littlefield]

Originally Posted by thstone

Hmmm. How do you explain Exxon/Mobil (and the rest of the oil industry's) record profits during the Bush years?

Higher prices, higher profits. Bush years, NObama years. Govt has stopped issuing drilling permits and the EPA puts so many hurdles in the way that the lawyer fees are astronomical. Why is it always supposed to be the companies fault and govt. regulation never is criticized? As soon as prices go up we hear, "Big Corps are evil and greedy". We never hear "Big Govt." takes our tax money and is greedy. AGAIN..... the profit margin for govt. in the form of taxes is based on percentage of price. If a gallon costs you more the govt. take a larger share. Around 15%. Oil co. is around 4 to 5% therefore profits are higher. I am sure others on this list have the exact figure. At least the oil company provides a real service but what does the govt. do? For years we have heard the old drum beat, "Big Corp. are evil" with no corresponding look at the massive increase in govt. depts. and their natural ever growing personnel. Govt. can shut down a company but a company cannot say no to taxes or ignore new, onerous regulations without fear of being shut down. Who is more powerful and greedy, the folks who make your cars, drill and refine your fuel, make your refrigerators, appliances, on and on ad naseum or the huge govt. work force that produces nothing and does "jobs no one wants done and would never hire anybody in the private sector to do anyway? More people work for the dept of agriculture than we have actual farmers for one example. I am sure you can think of others.

AKL

[RandallNeighbour]

Originally Posted by thstone

Hmmm. How do you explain Exxon/Mobil (and the rest of the oil industry's) record profits during the Bush years?

How do you explain their astronomical NEW record breaking profits during the Obama years?

[Allen K. Littlefield]

Originally Posted by RandallNeighbour

How do you explain their astronomical NEW record breaking profits during the Obama years?

1. NObama has more pals in the oil business than Bush did?

2. Since the dollar is worth so much less maybe the profits in real buying power are about the same?

3. Keeping the US dependent on foreign oil helps both terrorist nations and the oil companies profits?

4. The promise to bankrupt coal companies and to triple electric bills keeps driving the price of all energy up?

5. What about the astronomical NEW record breaking revenue for govt.?

All of the above tongue in cheek. I am sure we all can come up with more sterling explainable so have at it.

AKL

[thstone]

Originally Posted by RandallNeighbour

How do you explain their astronomical NEW record breaking profits during the Obama years?

I explain alll huge oil company profits during as nothing more than the oil industry grossly taking advantage of our dependence on oil. Nothing more, nothing less - simple good ol' fashioned greed.

The oil industry does it because they can and we are basically powerless to do anything about it. We're oil addicts who will pay anything for our fix.

[Allen K. Littlefield]

Originally Posted by thstone

I explain alll huge oil company profits during as nothing more than the oil industry grossly taking advantage of our dependence on oil. Nothing more, nothing less - simple good ol' fashioned greed.

The oil industry does it because they can and we are basically powerless to do anything about it. We're oil addicts who will pay anything for our fix.

Oil companies DO NOT set the price. The trading market does. Always the same old saw, greedy oil companies, never the actions of a greedy govt. Honestly guys chuck your high school and college propaganda, this grows tedious.

AKL

[Brucelee]

Originally Posted by thstone

I explain alll huge oil company profits during as nothing more than the oil industry grossly taking advantage of our dependence on oil. Nothing more, nothing less - simple good ol' fashioned greed.

The oil industry does it because they can and we are basically powerless to do anything about it. We're oil addicts who will pay anything for our fix.

If Exxon's numbers are correct (I assume they are easy to check) their profit on gasoline amounted to .02 cents per gallon.

Why would you consider that a huge profit.

BTW-They pay over 41% of gross profit by way of corporate income taxes.

How much SHOULD they make?

[JTP]

It's been $5.19 on Maui.

[thstone]

A small handful of producers (OPEC) who set production limits apriori is not a sellers free market.

Equally, a small handful of sellers (Big Oil Companies) who effectively set the market price of gasoline to consumers world wide is not a free market.

In a true open market, oil production would rise substantially as soon as oil prices increase. Instead, prices go up and production stays constant.

Therefore, the worldwide oil market is not free nor open. Q.E.D.