Truth spoken here. 👍

Why compare to 1980 when the real comparison is to 2018, 2019. I’m complaining and not going to quit until change happens

Federal government makes more on gallon of gas than the oil companies producing. Where you buy gas the stations are lucky to 3 cents gallon. Bottom line the government policies and stock trading cause of high gas prices. IMO mainly wall street. And where price skyrockets the federal government representative’s want to put greed tax on profits when companies finely make good profits. Now, tell me who the greedy one? and yes I can have opinion.

IMO you cannot compare pass to today. EVERYTHING WAY better today. Today If you can’t pay for something there always program to help today. Majority of us have no control over it. Either pay up or stay home.


IMO about comparing today vs yesterday the numbers can always be manufactured one way or the other depending on the targeted population. Bottom line if you have money don’t affect you, if you broke everything affects you regardless what year, decade, or century was in.

Wouldn’t any type of crud oil be dirty to clean up?

I remember it about 2 years ago and it wasn’t in state of Florida which have higher tax than 3/4s of states. But, everything costs more in Florida, so I can see why.

It's best not to live in a country run by misinformed scholars
 

The egg of today is better than the hen of tomorrow.

Not buying your positive comment on gas prices, while many Americans are suffering. It did not have to skyrocket, if we would have stayed energy independent.

You’re missing our point it’s not the gas prices it’s why they’re 4 & $5.00 a gal. It’s not because Putin they’re high. THINK about why they’re high!

Sad, everything is a conspiracy - it just makes common sense.

[/sarcasm]

Has it occurred to anyone that the pandemic has calmed down. People went back to work. To get there they drove their cars. So what does this do to demand for gas and oil? It goes up. What happens when the demand for something goes up and supply stays the same? Prices go up.

So, you’re saying there was no demand before the pandemic.

Oil company’s still making huge profits

They are business in free country that’s oK.

No, and you know they are not saying that. They are saying there was less demand. Which results in the just in time inventory to ramp down. Once down it takes time to ramp back up.

And since the Oil companies are making historic level profits they don't have a lot of motivation to increase production.

So, you are okay with $250/vial for insulin too? It's called predatory capitalism, and it sacrifices people for profits. So, I disagree with you, I do not believe that any amount of profit at any cost is acceptable.

So why wasn't it well over $4.00/gallon BEFORE the pandemic, when people were actually driving MORE than they are now?

Why was there less demand? Your comment makes zero sense...

If you think your math is superior to the syndicated columnist in that weekly publication, then let's see it. Do the same comparisons and show us how your answer is different.

The conspiracies about the Keystone pipeline also play RIGHT into the hands of the oil companies, who are the only one who stand to benefit when the masses believe that the conspiracies are true.

Facts: the oil is still getting here, same as it always has. Nothing has changed in that regard. Not a single thing. There is no shortage coming from Keystone. At all. Zilch.

2. The pipeline being complained about would not be built until NEXT YEAR even if it was approved 100% and construction had begun on it last year. So it would have ZERO impact - zilch, nada, on TODAY's gas prices.

3. The main petroleum companies in the world have published record profits for 2020, before the price spikes began. They're not hurting for distribution. They're putting a choke-hold on it because it is in their best financial interest to do so. The rich folks running the show can afford $6/gallon gas, especially when they're earning several million dollars every year in profits.

Summary: Gas prices are going up because oil companies have CHOSEN to jack up the prices. It's as simple as that.

So YOUR conspiracy theories are correct and everyone else's are wrong? Cool...

Are you willing to have a drill operation within 5 miles of your house? Are you willing to tear down the areas surrounding the Villages, basically "landlocking" it and polluting the water, so that you can afford gas in your car, because there's a prime drilling spot RIGHT THERE?

Are you willing to tell your family "nope, can't come down, we're moving again" because yet another oil company has decided to drill and the CDD and the county has given all the appropriate permits (for a hefty profit)?

Are you willing to have more bobcats, alligators, bears, and wild boars hanging out on YOUR front porch because the oil companies had to clear out the wildlife preserves to get the drilling machines in there?

I know I'm not willing. I'm not willing to see people who live off the land that they love, be forced out by oil companies with their billion dollar budgets to buy themselves emanant domain papers and force the landowners out.

There is enough oil to last. There is no shortage. The oil companies are recording record profits, because they know they can. We refuse to stop using it, and so they will continue raking in the cash. If we reduce our use of it, then they'll have to lower the prices, or else they'll price themselves out of business.

I haven't seen or heard of any US oil companies selling their product at a discount to the market price, in order to help its "suffering" population.
Ever.
Nothing to do with energy independence.
You honestly believe US oil would sell at $50 when the market is buying at $100?
Get real!

Very informative post!

Those environmental "goof balls" are the reason that people in the US are breathing better air and drinking cleaner water and living longer (just one of many reasons) than in say 1940.

Yes, it is, I never said it wasn't, but thank you.

What I said was pipelines have leaks and spills (Keystone already has) and if it happens in this country, WE get to pay for it.

Am I being unclear or are you just trying to be hard to get along with?

My reference to les demand was over the past 2 years when people were staying home because of the pandemic. Now, that people are starting to go back to work demand is picking up but slowly. It is estimated that demand was down to 1/2 of the pre-pandemic demand for the past two years. That resulted in gas price dropping a lot (down to around $2.00/gal or less). Now, demand is spicing up quickly, the sanctions on Russia are impacting supply (worldwide) and oil companies are making historic profits (so, not highly motivated to increase production).

The same way WE get to pay for it if there is a truck or rail accident (which happen more often)...

Personally, I'd want to go with the safer method of transporting the oil...

The last part is true. But, if a significant % of working people commuted by bike or walked to work (not counting pleasure walking or biking) - then by the law of supply and demand.......demand for diesel or gasoline would go down and the price of fuel would decrease. Perhaps now would be a good time to devise a way to motivate commuters to commute by bike. Note that many think that there is some amount (who knows how big?) of "price gouging" going on in the final price of gas at the pump.

Yet prices rose over the past year+ (since November of 2020, well before Putin invaded Ukraine) even when there was less demand...

Gas prices in 2019 (before the pandemic and before the drop in demand) were about $2.50/gallon. Yet, once the pandemic hit, the only dropped a bit (to just over $2.20) during 2020. They did drop as the year progressed to under $2.00/gallon in late October/early November of 2020.

They went up over $1.00/gallon (during the peak of the pandemic and lockdowns) from November 2020 thru February 2022. (which is counter to your explanation that they should be lower due to less demand).

Once the Ukraine invasion began, they went up another $1.00+/gallon...

So to answer your question.. Your response was crystal clear. It was just incorrect...

People biking/walking to work would not even show up as a blip on the radar of gas usage...

Personally, I was charge Canada's oil company a fee to cover clean up expenses, since almost all of the oil intended to go through to pipeline is destined overseas - it will go to the gulf, and be loaded onto ships and sold elsewhere.

Even if we consumed 100% of the pipelines oil it would amount to about 3% of our consumption. So, we take all the risk, we enjoy virtually no benefits, and Canada laughs all the way to the bank.

I completely agree in the short term. In the long term (as in new cities, etc) then it can make a difference. Maybe. But American's LOVE their 1000 mile range SUVs getting 25mpg that they drive back and forth 15 miles to work, and are not likely to give them up.

Better battery technology is being developed right now so that in the near future solar, wind, and tide energy will make the US and much of the world....."energy independent". We just have to live long enough to see it.

Fuel prices are high because of the law of supply and demand. Supply is now low so prices are high. Supply is low for many reasons. One is the purposeful keeping of supply low AKA "price gouging" at various points along the supply chain. Saudi Arabia is purposefully NOT raising supply. And Nato and Russia/China are virtually at war and possibly beginning WW3. Wars and the threat of wars always raise the price of a barrel of oil because of future supply unpredictability. Farmers are not able to plant wheat in the Ukraine so the future price of wheat is up. All goods must be transported, so there will be price increases in everything now and for the foreseeable future.

Correct, beware of "predatory capitalism". AKA price gouging.

Before the Pandemic was a completely different period than today. Today the world is severely stressed by the threat of an ongoing war - that could conceivably drive the cost of gasoline to as much as $ 10.00 per gal in the US. All financial markets and oil futures HATE the unknown!

Sorry, its appears you are not interested. So, we will need to agree to disagree.

I am certain I don't know what all the causes are, but I am equally certain that your saying because two things did not happen simultaneously means they did not affect each other is also wrong. Seems somewhere back there you said Oil (actually big business) hates uncertainty, and that was based on futures - so, anyway.

Have fun, try reading some about global economics, the impact of the pandemic, and how just in time economics work.

So, you’re blaming wall-street, there the ones driving market. Oil companies sell on commodities stock exchange what ever the price is. So, all people buy/selling oil stock are also making historical profit’s. But, that’s ok for them, but not oil company actually producing it.

And another thing, you never responded to “ isn’t all crud oil dirty and hard to clean up”?

Don’t you mean the stock market severely stressing the world?

I don't think I said anything about the stock market. But, thank you for misunderstanding.

And I missed the comment about crud (did you mean crude?) oil. And some is worse than others, but I don't see your point, oil is expensive to clean and causes serious ecological damage, especially if it is spilt over an aquifer.