[sandbar]

Can someone here educate me to as to why it is this high? I keep hearing about how we don't have refineries, blah blah blah. That has nothing to do with the price of crude oil. I do think that the government needs to step in at some point and attempt to do SOMETHING. It's going to cripple our country if it doesn't stop.

[KevinDavis]

We don't need the Government to do something period.. I think it was the Government meddling (EPA regs) that got us into this mess in the first place.

[softwarecreator]

It's going to cripple our country if it doesn't stop

I agree.  This is getting WAY out of hand.

[Smokin' Joe]

Refinery bid on crude oil is determined in part by the price the refineries get for their products. If product prices are really low, then the refineries cannot bid much for crude oil. If they can not pay much for crude oil, then the exploration companies (or divisions of really major oil compaines) cannot underwrite the 2 million and up it takes to drill a well. So drilling stops until there is a shortage of crude, prices climb, first at the pump,then at the wellhead, and exploration picks up.

Funny, how some people think this is crippling, but those of us in the oil exploration industry are not only grateful for steady work, but for pay raises which were virtually nonexistent from 1982 to 1996.

[simon says what]

Can someone here educate me to as to why it is this high? I keep hearing about how we don't have refineries, blah blah blah. That has nothing to do with the price of crude oil. I do think that the government needs to step in at some point and attempt to do SOMETHING. It's going to cripple our country if it doesn't stop.

In a nutshell... world oil production is peaking while world oil demand continues to rise. North Sea oil production for Great Britain dropped 10% last year. Norway's oil exports are at an 11 year low. The majority of the world's oil production comes from a few large oil fields that are over 50 years old and nearing the end of peak production. There has not been enough oil found the past 25 years to replace these fields once they go into decline. The price of oil is more than likely going to continue to rise until it has an effect on our oil consumption habits.