Why Are Gas Prices So HIGH?

Lots of reasons for high gas prices.
1) High crude prices....
2) Companies taking profits
3) Hurricanes knocked out some production
4) Consumption is still up, although there are signs it has gone down)
5) Refining space has declined
and probably other reasons as well

 

They have been droping around here in Oklahoma.

Last I filled up was $2.29 last Friday 10/7

 

Crude is between $61 and $62 right now.

This is down from a few weeks ago when we were at $68 after Katrina.

I believe crude was around $64 a barrel before Katrina hit, so prices should be coming down for gasoline.

 

just noticed??

... where you at?

most the price increase is fueled by the same motivations. supply and demand. however, most of this is suspected supply verses expected demand with a dose of greed tossed in

 

The claim is that even though crude prices are dropping, damage to refineries in the gulf is still causing high prices for gasoline. Probably just a claim by the oil companies so they can continue to rake in their record profits, though.

 

My last fill up was 3.03 in northeast colorado. I wish we could see that 2.29 mark again.

 

I think the answer to this question is in the writers name........
nohaveamind

 

Not-so-mysteriously, gas prices still haven't dropped below $2.85 here in N CA.

There have been a couple of posters here the last few days whom I suspect are trolls.

 

Any other examples?

 

There was a detailed report on NPR yesterday. Other than the factors being discussed, there is increased (and increasing) demand for crude oil by India and China. There is a finite amount of oil. Reduced refinery capacity and increased demand, both domestic and international, make for a scarce commodity and increased prices.

 

Refineries in the Gulf area have not yet recovered from Katrina and Rita. Indeed, the largest natural gas refinery in the US was still surrounded by water and, as of last week, had still not put out a single cubic foot.

Rising heating prices this winter might put gas prices to shame.

 

yep, still nearly $3.10 a gallon in central NC due to the gulf refineries and panic buying...

 

Sounds like you all went for the troll bait. What a shcmuck!!! Get a life putz!!!

 

Gas is 2.88 here in Massachusetts. Not seing dirt cheap gas yet...

 

skruse: I am HIGHLY skeptical of the "increased demand from China", er, "reason".

Every time the high-gas-price question/argument comes up, media people in particular (often prompted by oil industry reps) trot out ALL the POSSIBLE "reasons". In the last year "China demand" has been added. Of COURSE Asian (including India) demand is rising and will continue to.

But the last time I heard this included on a laundry list, gas prices DROPPED $.50 per gallon over the next few weeks! Did demand from Asia suddenly drop? Of course not.

I think "local" (U.S.) factors are always 99% of the story---including ramped-up profit-taking.

My newspaper reprinted one of those misleading how-is-the-price-of-gas divvied-up" pie charts last year. Cost of crude, refining, Federal, state and local taxes, yadda yadda. NOWHERE on the chart did the word "profit" appear.

In the accompanying article, when asked, the oil company spokesperson dismissed the question, saying, "oh, profits are negligible, so small as not to be worth including". !!!

Then at the end of a fiscal quarter, buried in the back pages of your paper, you may notice "record Exxon (or Chevron or whatever) profits". The oil companies knows most people don't pay attention---and do everything they can to keep it out of the network TV newscasts. And you rarely hear it on those newscasts.

I'm not a conpiracy theorist. It's just the way it goes. We're used to it and, largely, accept it.

 

The story I got from a guy here at work, who subscribes to several of those investment mailings is that China has never had a reserve before, and decided they need one. So, by the end of the year they are pulling 100 million barrels extra off the market to build up a reserve. They even bought a Canadian Oil Company so they could ensure their supply.
Thats the story I get at least. :blink:

 

Osama 's relatives need more money for the terrorist cause so they raised the price of a barrel of oil

 

The Chinese demand affects the price of crude, which has just about doubled in one year.

The price at the pump is also affected by costs of refining and distribution which have been very volatile in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

 

If you believe our global oil supply is in decline then watch the documentry

"The End of Suburbia"

The basic premise is this. . .

Global oil production has reached its peak and we're on the down hill leg of efficient oil production. Since global supplies are dwindling and the type of crude extracted requires more refining, it will cost more per barrel of oil as time continues.

Since the global appetite for petrolium consumption (particularly the U.S.) needs to expand in order to grow economies, prices will naturally need to rise due to decreased ability to produce (The U.S. prices are way too low compared to the rest of the world.)

Our convenient life as we know it is about to change. We've only experienced the tip of the iceburg. Hurricanes and diminished oil refining capacity are only tiny blips on the overall global oil supply radar.