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In reply to the discussion: The price of gasoline: Do we try and explain this to Americans or let them find out the hard way? [View all]BlueCaliDem
(15,438 posts)9. We are using less gasoline than we have
thanks to hybrids and FlexFuel automobiles. Result? Oil refineries are exportng 117 MILLION gallons of diesel, jet fuel, and gasoline per day, and undoubtedly at record profits!
Fuel exports, worth an estimated $88 billion in 2011, have surged for two reasons:
Crude oil, the raw material from which gasoline and other refined products are made, is a lot more expensive. Oil prices averaged $95 a barrel in 2011, while gasoline averaged $3.52 a gallon a record. A decade ago oil averaged $26 a barrel, while gasoline averaged $1.44 a gallon.
The volume of fuel exports is rising. The U.S. is using less fuel because of a weak economy and more efficient cars and trucks. That allows refiners to sell more fuel to rapidly growing economies in Latin America, for example. In 2011, U.S. refiners exported 117 million gallons per day of gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and other petroleum products, up from 40 million gallons per day a decade earlier.
There's at least one domestic downside to America's growing role as a fuel exporter. Experts say the trend helps explain why U.S. motorists are paying more for gasoline. The more fuel that's sent overseas, the less of a supply cushion there is at home.
Gasoline supplies are being exported to the highest bidder, says Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at Oil Price Information Service. "It's a world market," he says.
Refining companies won't say how much they make by selling fuel overseas. But analysts say those sales are likely generating higher profits per gallon than they would have generated in the U.S. Otherwise, they wouldn't occur.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/story/2011-12-31/united-states-export/52298812/1
Crude oil, the raw material from which gasoline and other refined products are made, is a lot more expensive. Oil prices averaged $95 a barrel in 2011, while gasoline averaged $3.52 a gallon a record. A decade ago oil averaged $26 a barrel, while gasoline averaged $1.44 a gallon.
The volume of fuel exports is rising. The U.S. is using less fuel because of a weak economy and more efficient cars and trucks. That allows refiners to sell more fuel to rapidly growing economies in Latin America, for example. In 2011, U.S. refiners exported 117 million gallons per day of gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and other petroleum products, up from 40 million gallons per day a decade earlier.
There's at least one domestic downside to America's growing role as a fuel exporter. Experts say the trend helps explain why U.S. motorists are paying more for gasoline. The more fuel that's sent overseas, the less of a supply cushion there is at home.
Gasoline supplies are being exported to the highest bidder, says Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at Oil Price Information Service. "It's a world market," he says.
Refining companies won't say how much they make by selling fuel overseas. But analysts say those sales are likely generating higher profits per gallon than they would have generated in the U.S. Otherwise, they wouldn't occur.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/story/2011-12-31/united-states-export/52298812/1
It's clear driving less or buying fuel efficient automobiles has given oil refineries the excuse they'd been looking for to go ahead and export for bigger profits while jacking up the prices here at home. The fact that gasoline prices are almost unaffordable in countries where they have excellent public trans and trains (the Netherlands, for one) should've been the tip-off that would happen here, too.
But we're not ready for those prices. We're far from being able to toss our cars aside. We don't have the excellent public transportation like Holland, London, Germany, and France. Not yet. But we're already suffering higher gasoline prices now. I guess we've cut our noses to spite our faces on this one.
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The price of gasoline: Do we try and explain this to Americans or let them find out the hard way? [View all]
Zalatix
Feb 2012
OP
Once things change, once more people hear the message in the OP and recognize
JDPriestly
Feb 2012
#56
In my OP I described SOLUTIONS. They did not include eating grass or living in a tree.
Zalatix
Feb 2012
#40
Jeep-lovers can keep their jeeps, but they will probably have to pay a lot more for gas.
JDPriestly
Feb 2012
#60
Exactly how many "anti-car" screeds have you had the opportunity to read here?
TalkingDog
Feb 2012
#35
And when we run out of oil or your farmland dries up due to drought, then what?
Zalatix
Feb 2012
#37
I don't think it's feasible to allow every Tom, Dick, or Harriet to fuel their own car with CNG.
cherokeeprogressive
Feb 2012
#28
if you read RIGHT BELOW you'll see a reliable system has been in place for decades
tech_smythe
Feb 2012
#31
Nadine, you hit it right on the head. We need more food AND energy decentralization.
Zalatix
Feb 2012
#43
Measures are more intended to render the current prices irrelevant, rather than reduce them
bhikkhu
Feb 2012
#48
I don't know why you bothered with a reasoned, intelligent post..."Drill baby Drill"
rustydog
Feb 2012
#5
Profit is definitely a factor as well, and they've generally increased with prices
bhikkhu
Feb 2012
#68
I already addressed this point: I said in the OP that "hives" can in fact be disastrous.
Zalatix
Feb 2012
#39
In your conclusion you state "We can de-suburbanize the populace, moving them..."
cherokeeprogressive
Feb 2012
#54
Urban sprawl is bad, overcrowding is bad. The term of the day is 'happy medium'.
Zalatix
Feb 2012
#62
Thank you for a very well reasoned response. Gotta respect that. Tip o' my hat to ya.
cherokeeprogressive
Feb 2012
#65
Until the fact that forty five percent of all oil available goes to our military
truedelphi
Feb 2012
#21