I have had a theory on this for years and it’s proved correct. Once the msm says the price will go to X dollars, it will because they’ve given permission for it to do so. Once it’s said, the oil companies know the public has been braced for it so they’re free to raise the price.
“Once the msm says the price will go to X dollars, it will because they’ve given permission for it to do so. Once it’s said, the oil companies know the public has been braced for it so they’re free to raise the price.”
This is a confusion of cause and effect. The oil market is a huge constantly moving entity. The theory that some unseen hand can set the price flies in the face of what we know. Take, for example, the much maligned speculator. Supposedly, they’re driving up the price. Actually, there are thousands of speculators; governments feeding their fleets and their militaries, for example. They need so much gas and so much oil in different grades each month and they’ll need it for they budget year ahead. (There are several steps in this and multiple contracts, so this is simplified and the prices are made up.) The “speculator” goes on the market and offers, for delivery next month (next year, etc.), say $4.09 per gallon of regular gas, $8.72 for JP1 and $9.05 for JP2. These “speculators” are betting the price will go above that level. If it is below that level they lost money, but they got their gas. The supplier willingly sells into the future to guarantee his money so he doesn’t have cash flow problems. If the price goes above the spec price he “lost” money. But he doesn’t care. The supplier constantly lives in the future.
Meanwhile, the actual price we pay at the pump consists of a laundry list of refining costs, transport costs, delivery costs, taxes and an astonishingly small profit. (Gas is highly regulated. The government makes more in taxes than the guy who owns the gas station or the refiner or oil company.)
“I have had a theory on this for years and it’s proved correct. Once the msm says the price will go to X dollars, it will because they’ve given permission for it to do so. Once it’s said, the oil companies know the public has been braced for it so they’re free to raise the price.”
The price of oil is determined by worldwide demand. Worldwide. Demand.
I think there's something to that, and I would add perhaps a bit of self-fulfilling prophecy as well as good ol' supply and demand.
Prices might touch those ranges, but no way they stay there--demand will drop drastically given how rampant the run-up has been to date. We saw that a few years ago when the oil bubble last burst at $4 gallon gas after several weeks.
The long term goal might be to continually condition us to a ever higher price increase and retreat model.