Gas prices

buffettgirl

buffettgirl

Cathlete
OK, so a hurricane is predicted and the price of gas starts to rise before the storm even makes landfall. The price continues to rise about $0.20/gal every hour or so. So the president releases emergency stocks of oil. And the big-oil-wigs in Europe release emergency supplies too. The price of a barrel of oil drops. So, has anyone seen a drop in prices at the pump?!!!? Holy Pipeline, Batman. What is going on? Who is making $$$ on the diaster? Not me. K-Mart, Walmart, Lowes. etc are matching contributions. Are Exxon and Sunoco? Sorry, but this really makes me angry.
 
Giving up our car 8 years ago still stands as one of the best decisions we've ever made. }(

-Nancy
 
I bet Nancy. Growing up my kids were the only ones whose Mom didn't have a Mini van and then SUV. I'm so glad now!
 
Coming back out of lurkedom to express frustration :D

It's amazing, isn't it? Really, this disaster shouldn't have affected gas prices for a week or two AFTER... depending on where you live. The gas you're paying extra for didn't cost the stations (or company that owns them) extra!! And I'll be willing to bet that we won't really see much of a decrease from here on out, whether things get pretty close to normal or not.

Somebody is surely making bank on this situation, and it certainly isn't those who need it.

Sara
 
I agree Sara. I think once production returns to normal, prices are not going to go down much. They probably think that because we are paying the high prices now, we will continue to do so.

The province I live in had regulated gas prices until last week. The oil companies simply said they would no longer sell gas to gas stations in my province. Whithin a hour, the price regulations were lifed and gas jump .38 cents a litre. All the oil companies had to do was threaten to cut us off.
 
Personally, I think there's this whole thing of the oil companies not really having a conscience (sp?). I mean seriously, in New Orleans there were all these people just trapped, and some simply because they couldn't afford a tank of gas! Now that the relief effort is underway you'd think the gas companies could show some compassion, instead they are helping to keep people trapped by raising prices at some stations to 6 dollars! Ridiculous. Of course, these were pictures I saw a couple days ago, hopefully they've gone down a little. It's just so sad.
maddie
 
LOL Gas prices here in NJ go up at least everyday, if not more often than that! The prices start in the high 2.90's for regular in some places.
It's unfortunate, i just got my car and I was very proud of being able to purchase one on my own finally, now I can only use it in extreme situations because I can't afford to go anywhere!!!
;(
 
Okay, I sure hope that I don't make anyone here mad.

Last Tuesday, gas got up to 3.49. Yesterday I got some for 2.99. I don't get what the delay is everywhere else. Maybe only certain places are getting the relief, but I live in Indiana and for some reason I don't think that we are one of the places that needed relief the most. I got mine at Shell. I hope that you guys get a break soon.

Nancy, I would love to get rid of my car, but we live in a more rural area and the nearest grociery store is about ten miles away, so rub it in, why don't ya??? :+ :p

Missy
 
Oh, I'm so sorry Missy. I was gloating a bit, I know. I should have restrained myself. I realize most people rely on their cars for everything.
 
Simply, there is a gas shortage right now. We have not built a new oil refinery in this country in 25 years. So, we rely on oil refineries in the gulf coast, which are currently shut down and damaged. Prices will stay high until the shortage is resolved. We may have oil in reserve, but we need a place to refine it into gasoline. We need to conserve as a country right now. It does not matter if oil companies cut profits and the price lowers, there would still be a shortage. Keeping the price a bit higher makes us limit our purchase of gas, helps us to conserve and helps keep the shortage from getting worse. If gas dropped to $2.50, we would just buy more, right? This disaster will not only affect the gulf coast, but the entire country. It is basic economics, unfortunately. There is less gas that is available for sale. The price is also affected by flucuations in the stock market, which likely went haywire this past week. Hope that helps.
 
Gas prices were going UP before Katrina....

Sorry, but should not be over 1.50 a gallon, and that is the truth. Paying anything over that is gouging and raping the public unneccesarily. I am sorry but the administration needs to address this ASAP, many people can not afford to pay 3.00, 3.50 for a gallon of GAS!!! That is totally ridiculous and unfair!!
 
It was also Labor Day weekend, the last major travel weekend of the summer, one last chance to gouge the public.

As far as the administration addressing the oil companies behavior, who do you think financed the Bush administrations campaigns? You think he's going to go against Big Oil? No politician from either side of the fence is going to bite the hand that feeds him.

We need to become more fuel efficient, build more processing plants, investigate new technologies. All the things we said during the fuel crunch in the '70s.

Dave
 
I just heard on the news this morning that the pipelines that provide gas to our area (NC) are down. They originate out of Baton Rouge, LA. There are seven of them and six of them are down. No wonder there is a shortage here. We still have gas stations out of gas and the price isn't budging off of 3.29/gal. I don't know if the little station where I bought gas for 2.89/gal last Friday still has it for that price. They did on Saturday when I went by there. I haven't been out since then. The news originated out of our local news station in Charlotte, NC so this is in the Piedmont of NC.
 
I understand that there is a shortage right now and I do agree that we all need to try our best to conserve, all the time, not just during diasters. That said, I have to repeat that I think someone is taking gross advantage of the situation and making money on the little guy.
 
Nancy, I was just teasing you! ;)

I have only driven to the grociery store lately, so with all this conserving that my family is doing as well as all the others in our neighborhood, I think that the environment will be a little safer from us, at least for the time being.
 
Sometimes I think there is a silver lining in the increase in gas prices. It had made me think twice about driving my car. I have tried to conserve more. Not only in gas, but in other natural resources. I have also tried to educate my kids about conserving energy -- there's only so much to go around.

I also think this is almost like a wake up call -- find another alternative to gas. Researchers do not want to do a lot research on the alternative to gas. Part of the reason is it is not profitable when gas is so darn cheap. May be this will speed up more research into different forms of energy and take us out on oil dependency -- then may be our once friends are actually not. I know we released our emergency reserve, but what happen if we were attack (by terrorists) TODAY? Would we be able to handle it? I hate that we release the emergency oil just so the price would drop a little. Let's see a little hardship, and people will persevere and find a new alternative -- car pool, smart consolidating on errands, etc. And hopefully a new way of life without dependency on oil!
 
There could have been vast improvements in cars that don't use gas, or not as much of it. But it isn't profitable. You have to remember the research that was done was not enough and did not continue well because as the car company's put it, "It costs too much to make cars like that". O.K. maybe we should read behind those words. Every car they make costs a lot from the inception of the idea to the final product. However, they continue with the hope that the sales from the final product will offset the expenses and create a profit. This happens with every product. The cars that would help our economy are no different. There is a market for them, as we can definitely see. Hybrids are among the fastest selling cars. So if this is the case, there has to be another driving or motivating factor behind not producing them. There is, and my opinion is this, THERE IS TOO MUCH MONEY BEING MADE WITH OIL TO ENCOURAGE ANY CONTINUING RESEARCH INTO BETTER HYBRIDS. If you don't believe me check the financial papers of any of the oil companys after this fiscal year. I'm almost willing to bet my whole Cathe collection (almost}( }( }( ) that all of them posts profits this year. Yes there is a shortage, but the shortage is not what creates an incredibly high price all the time.

Additionally, if you look at Shell's financial report from last year, you will see a letter indicating that analysts overestimated the amount of oil in the reserves they hold. What? Analysts are skilled in what they do, could it be that they purposely overestimated so that the oil company could produce good numbers in prior years. I almost feel that the entire business society is completely riddled with corruption, and unfortunately, the small consumer has to pay for it.
 
Well, I do agree that this increase in price is making some people think twice about making unnecessary trips. But there are many of us who simply can't think twice... There are jobs, school, daycare, groceries, etc. When everything hit the fan, I was 800 miles from home; that didn't stop me from coming home. I also needed to make another trip a couple of days later in order to take some final exams. Most people are in this kind of situation, even if for different reasons.

And I totally agree Christi, as far as becoming a more fuel-efficient world - it truly isn't going to happen until huge oil corporations have no money left to stuff into our leader's pockets. Truly, the technology for electric-powered cars was around in 1912!!! Of course, it wasn't super-advanced, wow technology, but neither was the Model-T. You can't tell me that with all the technology, scientists and research companies that exist, this world shouldn't be a much more environmentally-friendly, fuel-efficient system. The problem is simply that the powers that be do not want it to happen. Research isn't funded, and advances that are made are suppressed, in one form or another. Too many high-powered people are billionaires from oil. It won't run out in their life-time, so what do they care of the consequences.

And I have worked in enough small companies to see the corruption, lying, and book-altering that goes on in order to profit. I also see the back-stabbing / back-scratching that goes in in a small town between officials and companies. If it exists on a small scale, I'll bet my life it exists in ways you wouldn't believe on a large-scale. It's all about profit and power. These guys at the top (either in government or monetarily in business) don't give a crap about the environment or oil shortages for the rest of us. Well, most don't anyway.

It's a very pessimistic view, but I do not believe that most things that are done are done in the interest of the people. That, however, is just my own opinion, and I have very little proof to back it up. But when I see how little groups work, it's hard to believe that things are much different on a large-scale. If these people really cared, they would have lowered the price for those in the hurricane-stricken areas who had lost everything, so they could afford to get out. Not make it even more impossible.

Sara
 
Why were gas prices going up for a month before Katrina was even in the picture? Someone, somewhere is making a killing! Thanks for letting me vent. x(
 
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