Grr, oil and gas prices [Archive]

smokey the elder

10-31-2007, 03:23 PM

lizbud

10-31-2007, 05:06 PM

I think the oil companies are manipulating the market just in time for the heating season. Why is the :mad: refinery usage only 85% of capacity?! Don't even get me started on crude! GD&*%$^& speculators!!! I hope they get dot-commed out of existence.

<end of rant>

Why aren't we rich, huh. :p How much do you pay per gallon of gas
where you live? Mine was $2.50 about 3 weeks ago & now it's back up
to $3.00 & sure to go higher. Oil was 100.00 per barrel last week. :eek:

JenBKR

11-01-2007, 07:21 AM

Why aren't we rich, huh. :p How much do you pay per gallon of gas
where you live? Mine was $2.50 about 3 weeks ago & now it's back up
to $3.00 & sure to go higher. Oil was 100.00 per barrel last week. :eek:

About the same happened here. Shocking to see how fast the price can go up. I think it's about $2.95 here most places now.

Queen of Poop

11-01-2007, 09:08 AM

I too decry the high prices. Especially when I live in the oil rich province of Canada. Our Canadian government adds a whack of taxes to the price that are just outrageous. However, I work at an oil/gas company and I know the costs to get the darn stuff out of the ground. It certainly isn't cheap. So it's a no win for me.

moosmom

11-01-2007, 10:08 AM

I just got gas this morning and almost fell over how much it is again. $2.91 a gallon!!!! :eek: :eek: Makes me soooo mad! :mad: :mad:

Grace

11-01-2007, 10:34 AM

Here, in SE Michigan, it is currently $3.09. I was in Rhode Island 3 weeks ago, and nearly fell over. Gas prices there are 20¢ cheaper than here!!

Michigan is first or second in the country as far as taxes on gas.

smokey the elder

11-01-2007, 12:54 PM

We haven't seen 2.91 a gallon in 2007. New York collects a mint in taxes. They were supposed to cap the tax, but I guess they didn't. :(

I don't think oil went to $100. It maxed out over 96, but nowhere have I seen that it actually has reached $100.

I know the oil companies were burned by the low cost for a long time. I also know, if we can keep from going bankrupt in the meantime, that very high oil coupled with climate change is a very strong driving force for alternative energy research. But I don't have an H2 car yet! :p

Glacier

11-01-2007, 03:40 PM

It's a matter of perspective too....I'd be dancing for joy and filling up every jerry can I could find for 3 bucks a gallon. I've been paying over 5 bucks a gallon for the last year.(1.26 a litre here). Go a little north of me and gas is 7.50 a gallon. (1.53 a litre)!

lizbud

11-01-2007, 05:06 PM

I don't think oil went to $100. It maxed out over 96, but nowhere have I seen that it actually has reached $100.

You are right, I should have said "near 100.00" because that's where it
was headed last time I heard.

Marigold2

11-03-2007, 10:03 AM

Well Dick Cheny and his group have got us by the b%lls. They can charge whatever they want for gas and we have to pay. There are things we can do to fight back however. Buy smaller, greener cars. Vote and get these crooks out of office and buy lots of sweaters, and warm socks because we are going to need it, seal our windows, wrap insulation on our water heaters, etc... Every bit will count. I dread the headlines when eldery and the poor will die in their homes from the cold. This is America dammit, this should not be happening.

Grace

11-03-2007, 10:08 AM

Yesterday morning it was up to $3.19. That's a 20¢ rise in just 3 days. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/March16th/thgas.gif

Fortunately the main places I go are within 10 miles, round trip. And I bundle my errands. But it still s*cks.

Lady's Human

11-03-2007, 10:16 AM

Please explain how the Vice President of the US has anything to do with the current price of fuel? He has, in accordance with law, divested himself of his stock holdings, and sits on no corporate boards. Al Gore has far more energy company holdings than the current Vice President.

If you REALLY want to do something to cut the price of fuel, vote out the sitting congress and vote in a Congress which will cut federal taxes on the sale of fuel. The US Treasury makes more per gallon of gasoline sold than anyone. However, after that's done, be prepared for tax hikes on everything else, because god forbid that the federal government hold to a budget and limit themselves to spending what they take in.

The price of fuel is an issue of supply and demand. We use more, they charge more. Don't want to pay? Don't use it. Buy high efficiency appliances, buy fuel efficient cars, there are many ways to conserve.

I think you're being a tad melodramatic with the thoughts of elderly freezing in their homes unable to buy fuel, as there are many, many subsidy programs needy people can get assistance from.

CathyBogart

11-03-2007, 05:57 PM

I just got gas this morning and almost fell over how much it is again. $2.91 a gallon!!!! :eek: :eek: Makes me soooo mad! :mad: :mad:

$3.23 is the best I could find.

Solution: RIDE! 60+ MPG :D

Hellow

11-03-2007, 06:07 PM

Lady's Human

11-03-2007, 06:48 PM

Actually, between taxes, restrictions on drilling, weak (nonexistent) fuel economy standards, restrictions on exploration, and not providing a regulatory environment friendly to alternative energy sources and research, (when was the last nuke power plant built in the US), the US Government does a great deal to give OPEC power they would not otherwise have.

NIMBY (not in my backyard) also plays a giant factor. Alternative energy is a nice thought, but when people try to get windfarms going, they are fought tooth and nail by the same people who are, on the surface, pushing for an end to dependence on oil. Senator Kennedy has killed a very promising windfarm in Massachusetts because it would spoil his view. There has been a wind farm proposed for central NY, but it too has been killed by people who don't like the asthetics of the proposal.

We only charge as much as is necessary for the government to keep buying it.

The government doesn't buy petroleum products other than those the government needs, which are purchased at market prices minus federal and state taxes. All other petro products in the US are controlled by private enterprise.

RICHARD

11-03-2007, 08:16 PM

I just got gas this morning and almost fell over

I got gas this morning too!...

I took some Pepto.....I geel better now.

-------------

So you all do not feel badly....At work we rented a 12 foot stake bed.....to fill it up when we turn it in it's six dollars a gallon at the rental yard!

The company pays for it!

Scooter's Mom

11-03-2007, 09:09 PM

Because my husbands office has moved TWICE in the last three years, further away from us each time, we drive 135 miles round trip each day. We put gas in the car every 2 1/2 or 3 days, if we drive the Impala; if we drive the Mustang it's every 2 days. I also do not let it get to the "red line" because I do not want to push either car with my health conditions, lol.

Because of the housing market the way it is where I live (an area outside of Phoenix) I couldn't sell my house and move closer to where we work, and make any money. I wouldn't even make back the money we owe on the house & pool, I'm sure. So we're stuck driving 135 miles a day because the owner of hubbies company doesn't want to do any driving - so he keeps moving the office closer to HIS house. Fair? No. :( Nothing we can do though.

I just wish gas prices would go back down. In the last week they've gone up from about 2.51 to 2.74 at the little gas station closest to our house. I hate paying so much of my paycheck to fuel. *sigh*

RICHARD

11-03-2007, 09:26 PM

I just wish gas prices would go back down. In the last week they've gone up from about 2.51 to 2.74 at the little gas station closest to our house. I hate paying so much of my paycheck to fuel. *sigh*

You know, it wouldn't be so bad if they used a gun to get three bucks a gallon... :rolleyes:

ilovemypup

11-04-2007, 01:27 AM

Ok everyone, before you start blaming the prices on our government, i just want to tell you all this: Our teacher told us this: We do not control the price of gas. Saudi Arabia does. OPEC does. We only charge as much as is necessary for the government to keep buying it. Saudi Arabia is loaded from oil.

Yeah ..maybe we should stop stealing their oil!!

Oil and Gas prices are getting crazy!
I am not even old enough to drive and I already dread it!

I agree with you ONE HUNDRED PERCENT Marigold2!
If only other people would understand.
I know that when I drive I would LOVE a hybrid.. or one of those Smart Cars (if the USA allows..greener cars)

-ali:)

Lady's Human

11-04-2007, 01:33 AM

Hybrid? Hybrids cost more energy and pollution to produce than they save over their projected lifetimes.

smokey the elder

11-04-2007, 07:22 AM

Yeah, the old TAANSTAFL again. But at least we can start buying diesels again in the US in 2008. I agree that we (the US) are often our own worst enemy. There is unfortunately no manmade entity (wind farm, grain to ethanol, nuclear power plant) that doesn't have some kind of footprint. For example, wind farms occasionally kill birds, yet raptors love to nest on the tops of the towers. Nuclear plants do not make CO2 but there is that pesky waste problem. Grain ethanol is short cycle carbon, but using it takes food away. Ultimately, the answer will be a combination of things we may not even be able to foresee yet.

Conservation is always an option. Keep your car tuned up and your tires inflated properly, insulate your house, buy low-energy appliances.

(I'm not sure how this morphed into an energy thread, but it's neat.) Did you know that appliances with clocks or memory use up to 5% of the power they use when in active use?

Lady's Human

11-04-2007, 09:22 AM

Any LOGICAL discussion about oil/gas prices will ultimately get around to a discussion about energy. The two are completely intertwined. If you can cut back on usage in any area, it lowers the cost of petrol across the board.

Wind farms have the smallest eco-footprint and energy potential, but "spoil the pristine landscape". Well, I'll take some towers on a ridgeline any day.

Solar has a relatively small footprint (once you get past the production of the PV cells) but isn't really feasible for power generation in most areas. In 10 years we may have a solar array on top of our house, as we have a large south facing roof area currently going unused.

Nuclear plants have great potential, but waste is an issue. Much of the tons of waste, however is relatively benign, as it is low level waste. The way it is discussed in the media, however, you would think that there are hundreds of reactor cores being generated. Not true.

Are we sure that waste has no use? My biggest issue with the current discussions about nuke waste is that everyone wants to process it in such a manner that it is absolutely unrecoverable. We might want to use it for something someday.

Catty1

11-04-2007, 10:02 AM

A second windfarm opened in Alberta, not far from where NicoleJ lives.

It produces enough power to supply 75% of Calgary's needs - and we are over 800,000 in population right now.

Along with that announcement, we citizens were reminded that we still needed to look at our energy consumption.

Our LRT (in-city commuter train) has run on wind-powered electricity for years now.

Scooter's Mom - is there no train or bus to take to work? Time to bug the politicians, if they really want to get Green.

Maybe there is a car-pooling group near you. Take turns driving, and the rest get to sleep! And you pay less for gas.

Smart Cars? I would LOVE one - but for in-city commuting only. I shudder when I see one on the highway, as there can be nasty winds that make my much -larger Corolla vibrate! :eek:

Catlady711

11-04-2007, 04:01 PM

Wind farms have the smallest eco-footprint and energy potential, but "spoil the pristine landscape". Well, I'll take some towers on a ridgeline any day.

I think wind farms are very photogenic myself. I'd take one of them in my view anyday over a neuclear power plant.

cassiesmom

11-05-2007, 05:47 PM

I heard on news radio over the weekend about an Illinois school district that's looking into using wind power for its school expansion. The school needs more space and they think it would be good for teaching about natural resources and also forward-thinking as far as energy consumption. I think that would be very cool. Other parts of the world can do it, why should they not do it here.

The state of Illinois bailed out the Chicago Transit Authority again. I wish they would come up with more public transportation between suburbs because I am pretty tired of paying $3.19 a gallon for gasoline and sitting in rush hour traffic. It would be helpful for getting the 2016 Olympics if we had good public transportation.

smokey the elder

11-07-2007, 02:20 PM

If the world (read: US) weren't so worried about proliferation, there are loads of good isotopes in spent nuclear fuel. These can be used in nuclear medicine or radiation cancer treatment. Spent fuel is (relatively) chock-full of iodine-131 (thyroid), radioactive gold (used in PET scan, I think) and cobalt-60 (cancer treatment.) I think there are bright people out there working out the engineering of all sorts of alternative energy sources, and it may end up being like the computer age meets Manhattan Project.

Randi

11-07-2007, 02:34 PM

These are the prices in Europe: http://www.aaroadwatch.ie/eupetrolprices/

Currency conversion: http://www.xe.com/ucc/

Hellow

11-07-2007, 03:22 PM

I heard on the morning news this morning that the price of oil is $98. All because of problems with the oil pipelines in the east. Gas prices here for 1 gallon of regular are almost at $3.00, my dad said.

critter crazy

11-07-2007, 03:27 PM

This morning, I had to pay 3.18 a gallon!!!:eek: I just about passed out!!

RedHedd

11-07-2007, 04:12 PM

I almost wish I were paying only $3.18 per gallon. Self-serve unleaded is up to $3.55 in San Francisco :eek: You should have heard my language when I filled up the other evening. I think I upset a woman filling up in the lane next to me. I wonder what she paid - she was driving a high-octane SUV! :eek: