Posted on 05/21/2008 6:58:14 PM PDT by blam
Continuing Upward Pressure On Retail Gasoline Prices Expected
ScienceDaily (May 22, 2008) With the price of a barrel of oil hovering around $120, U.S. drivers can expect to pay more at the pump in the near future, according to a new study by Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy.
"There is room for retail gasoline prices to move up," said Kenneth Medlock III, a Baker Institute fellow in energy studies and one of the study's authors. While Medlock cautioned that seasonal variability and other factors could affect prices in the near term, he said gasoline could easily reach $4.20/gallon around the Memorial Day holiday, especially if demand spikes as it normally does.
The study, titled "U.S. Energy Policy and Transportation," is part of a series of working papers on "The Global Energy Market: Comprehensive Strategies to Meet Geopolitical and Financial Risks." It was co-authored by Medlock and Amy Myers Jaffe, the Wallace S. Wilson Fellow in Energy Studies at the Baker Institute.
"In the short term," the study found, "temporary demand and supply factors can cause gasoline prices to rise substantially. Given the shortage in refinery capacity in the United States, these short-run departures have been growing larger and more frequent. Demand has grown steadily, but U.S. refinery capacity has not kept pace. Thus, the U.S. market has become increasingly dependent on foreign gasoline imports. At the same time, growing demand elsewhere in the world means increased competition for gasoline, which, in turn, drives up the price to attract imports during high U.S. demand periods."
However, the study also warned against blaming the growing demand in other countries for the high fuel prices in the United States. "Many have pointed to growing demand in Asia as the culprit for higher prices," according to the study, "but the United States consumes 33 percent of the worlds road transportation fuel and demand continues to grow. Thus, as American demand goes, so goes the world price of oil."
The only way to address high energy prices over the long term, the study's authors argued, is to curb U.S. demand growth. They call for "a combination of conservation, higher fuel efficiency, alternative fuels and greater domestic production capacity" to achieve "manageable and acceptable" gasoline prices in the future.
The study may be viewed at http://www.rice.edu/nationalmedia/multimedia/gasprice-transportation.pdf.
Adapted from materials provided by Rice University.
Oil was at $134.00 a barrel today.
You should have a plan designed to deal with these higher gasoline prices.
My plan is to just stay home...I'm retired. I'm presently using 1/2 gallon of gasoline daily(average).
Well folk the Saudis.
You are correct.
Gasoline prices are not going down anytime soon (read years).
I've already started by buying a motorcycle. I might fabricate a sidecar for it.
There are plenty of places I can walk to if need be. (grocery store, barbershop, motorcycle parts, etc)
I know how to can and store food for winter use.
One thing I'm still lacking is a wood stove or a fireplace for winter heating
Wrong.
We could curb other nations useage.
We could increase our own supply.
We could vote all of Congress out of office.
We could export Mexicans until Mexico supplies 3 bbl/illegal/day.
There's all sorts of things to do.
My plan is to increase the size of my tactical Diesel reserve.
The problem is Congress, not the Saudis or OPEC or anybody else. We have enough oil on the continental shelf and other domestic sources to be independent. Congress has shirked its responsiblity and allowed us to be manipulated by our enemies on a whim. It’s now a matter of national security and we should begin drilling at all available sources.
Well that is a true story too.
IIRC US demand has fallen on the order of 1-2% over the past year.
This is driven by speculators.
No cheers, unfortunately.
Bingo. Congress is the root of this problem. Drill and it goes away.
No worries, mate. Congress just passed a bill yesterday saying it is OK to sue OPEC. Everything is going to be just fine.
When people start dying because of this, Congress will listen. This isn’t a game any longer, and this nation may be due another revolution.
I wish I shared your confidence about Congress.
Yeh, I only get 50 MPG but it does have a larger engine.
Careful. It will go bad if you don't add stabilizer.
I want to get to where I can keep enough around for a couple of tanks worth for one of the vehicles and for the generator.
Should it ever come down to running it for the short term, I fully expect my liberal, hypocrite, eco-wacko neighbor to be on the warpath or actually try to fake being nice. Either way, I don't have that kind of capacity.
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