Grr, oil and gas prices

[smokey the elder]

I think the oil companies are manipulating the market just in time for the heating season. Why is the 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>

[lizbud]

I think the oil companies are manipulating the market just in time for the heating season. Why is the 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. 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.

[JenBKR]

Why aren't we rich, huh. 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.

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]

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]

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

[Grace]

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]

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!

[Glacier]

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]

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]

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]

Yesterday morning it was up to $3.19. That's a 20¢ rise in just 3 days.

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]

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]

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

$3.23 is the best I could find.

Solution: RIDE! 60+ MPG

[Hellow]

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.

[Lady's Human]

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.