Oil is down considerably. Gasoline has fallen a bit but not as it should, imo. They now

[theophilus]

announce that oil supplies are up and gasoline supplies are down. Gasoline is not being refined as it should be so the price stays high. What chance does the economy have when all of our "surplus" cash is being siphoned off to pay for gas? What can be done to force these turds to refine the gasoline and supply this vital need?

Now I would love to see everyone not using gas. I would love to be able to buy a Prius or Leaf or Volt. The supplies of those vehicles also seem to be restricted. When is something going to seriously be done to get us off of petroleum for automobiles? At least for personal vehicles? This stinks. I guess oil could go to 30 dollars and gas would still be over 3 dollars per gallon. Crap!

[Atman]

1. Of course gasoline has fallen as much as it should. It's called "profiteering."

They artificially jacked up the prices, then expect us to be thrilled that they lowered them 1/5 of what they raised them. Can you say "CHA-CHING?"

.

[CleanGreenFuture]

11. Please show how prices are "artificially jacked up". Some links would be helpful too.

[Atman]

20. I have your link right here...

"http://gofuckyourself.com."

What oil company or lobbyist do you work for?

:shrug:

.

[CleanGreenFuture]

21. Was it really necessary to basically tell me to go fuck myself? Really?

I don't work for an oil company. Indeed, I'm in the green sector. I'm in the green sector because I think that's where the future is. And I think that is where the future is because I believe that we are currently seeing constraints on "good" oil production, "bad" being shit like heavy sour crude and tar sands.

Sure, there are some shenanigans with oil speculation. But I believe that it's only a small percentage of the overall price, based on increasingly limited production of high-grade, quality crude oil, or light sweet. Also, currently there are refinery issues. Many refineries that were designed to process light sweet crude are either unable to process the heavier crude or are in re-tool to do so. There is also a shortage of refineries capable of processing sour crude and getting them built is a major challenge, if not entirely impossible.

So, I have my reason for doubting that all the price of a barrel of oil can be loaded on to the back of speculators who know about the issues crude oil and gasoline production face.

Let me just add that anyone living now who expects to live for the next few decades can expect to see challenges associated with fossil fuel energy become the most important issue in all of human history.

Finally, I don't know what I did to cause you to be so rude. I simply asked you to back up your statement with something that I could read and consider. It's quite possible that my belief re: oil prices is flawed. And I'm sure there's probably something I'm missing. I've seen arguments all the way around the issue of oil prices. Telling me to go fuck myself is not the way to respond to such a request.

[Atman]

22. No, it wasn't "necessary."

But it gave me some satisfaction.

:hi:

.

[Horse with no Name]

23. LOL!

I was eating a corndog when read this and almost choked to death!:rofl:

[Cirque du So-What]

2. There's also the value of the US$ against world currencies

When it's down, consumers will pay more for fuel.

[pintobean]

4. That doesn't explain an overnight jump from 3.30 to 3.58

[Cirque du So-What]

6. Your mileage may vary

It went from $3.59 to $3.55 over the past day-and-a-half where I live.

[theophilus]

9. It has gone down here, as well. But it was at 3.21 when oil was higher a few months ago. Gas price

has become detached from oil price, imo.

[david_vincent]

3. Whoopsie, all our refineries are closed for scheduled "maintenance"

and that has put a crimp in the supply of gas. Sorry!

The only thing that will really force the price to fall would be a very large drop in the proportion of commuters using gasoline-powered vehicles. And I mean very large.

[theophilus]

5. Probably true but I wonder if gas wouldn't still be high and it would impact those

who can least afford it. I think the solution is to have government refineries producing fuel if the private sector won't do it. Of course that won't happen.

[Democrats_win]

10. Well, we do have a very very large number of cars on the road.

As a bicyclist, I can't believe how many cars there are. Bikes make up a fraction of a drop in the bucket. Sadly, Americans may not be in the "drivers" seat because emerging markets are beginning to drive up the cost of gas. Currently, we're seeing the normal fall drop in prices as the speculation has come to an end--as has the Obama recovery.

[CleanGreenFuture]

7. The price of oil IS NOT DOWN. Where are you getting that it is down?

[theophilus]

12. It is down considerably from about two/three weeks ago, is it not?

About three weeks ago it was at about 97 and it went down all the way to about 80. Now it is about 87. Gas prices went down somewhat but held steady here for a long while before recently dropping about eight cents. I just don't think it is comparable.

[CleanGreenFuture]

15. No, it isn't. Even then it wasn't "considerably down". It dipped into the

upper $70s. Even that is not "considerably down".

This civilization needs oil to be in the $30 range, not in the $70s and above. Talk to me about "considerably down" when we're back at $40.

[Atman]

16. Sorry, CleanGreen, the OP is correct...

Oil is "considerably down" from where it's been for the last few months. The fact that it isn't down to where it should be doesn't mean it isn't "considerably down." It's just not down considerably enough.

.

[sinkingfeeling]

18. Here's a chart.

[The2ndWheel]

8. I find should to be a very interesting word

[bigwillq]

13. I paid $3.89/gal for reg in CT

yesterday. That's the lowest I've paid in quite some time. I hope the price falls even more.

[Atman]

17. I buy all my gas in MA.

I live close enough to the state line that a quick drive over the border is worth the price. The tax structure in CT is ridiculous. The gas station near my house here is charging $3.89, but if I cross the state line it's .35¢ a gallon cheaper...and another .05¢ discount if I pay cash, and ANOTHER .05¢ if I use my grocery store loyalty card. Sure, I'm giving my tax money to another state, but judging by the condition of the roads, Massachusetts needs the money more than Connecticut does.

.

[bigwillq]

19. CT taxes are just outrageous.

They're going to tax everyone out of the state. Unless you're ultra rich, it's getting tougher and tougher to survive in this state.

[Selatius]

24. As someone who used to live in MA, your state taxes are pretty regressive there.

The problem is that the ultra-rich tend to win elective office more easily than poor people, but that's a problem anywhere without publicly funded elections. I mean, Boston got rid of rent control some years ago, for instance. Not exactly a pro-worker thing to do.

[bigwillq]

26. CT's sales and gas taxes

are both higher than Mass., as is the cigarette tax. Granted that last one doesn't affect everyone.

This link has CT #3, Mass. #8 as far as most taxed states
http://www.theliberaloc.com/2011/07/26/what-are-the-top-ten-most-taxe-states-in-america/


Wiki has CT #5, Mass. #10
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_tax_levels_in_the_United_States

Another good link
http://blog.nj.com/perspective/2011/06/busting_the_myth_the_real_numb.html


Granted, a lot of different criteria in each of those lists.

[Broderick]

14. As a station owner

I am perplexed, but understand the markets a bit. I have seen terminal prices rise about 18 cents in the past 7 days.

[Spider Jerusalem]

25. Oil is actually not down as considerably as you might think

the quoted oil price you see on the TV news or in the paper is the price of West Texas Intermediate crude on the New York Mercantile Exchange, for delivery at Cushing, Oklahoma. The oil depot at Cushing is oversupplied because of too much oil coming in and not enough pipeline capacity to get it out to refineries and so on, which drives the price down very considerably. The actual market price of oil that determines the price of refined gasoline is based on Gulf Coast, Alaskan, and North Sea oil. North Sea Brent crude is trading at $109 a barrel. Alaskan North Slope crude is at $102 a barrel. Gulf coast Louisiana Light Sweet crude is at $105 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate is at $81 a barrel. Notice anything about those prices? They all track each other fairly closely EXCEPT for West Texas Intermediate, which means West Texas Intermediate is NOT a good benchmark for the actual price of oil.