Posted on 04/18/2006 8:09:46 AM PDT by ex-Texan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush said on Tuesday he is "concerned" about high gasoline prices, and pledged that the U.S. government will keep a close watch out for profiteering.
"I'm concerned about higher gasoline prices," Bush said at a Rose Garden news conference to name new staff appointments.
"The government has the responsibility to make sure that we watch very carefully and investigate possible price-gouging, and we will do just that," Bush said in unprompted remarks about energy prices.
U.S. crude oil futures hit a record of $70.88 a barrel on Tuesday on fears of supply disruptions in Iran stemming from its nuclear standoff with the West, as well as lingering outages in Nigeria.
U.S. retail gasoline prices rose 10 cents last week to average $2.78 a gallon, up 29 cents over the last three weeks and 55 cents higher than a year ago, the government said on Monday.
Bush said high crude oil prices, rising summer driving demand and a switch to new motor gasoline standards is keeping gasoline prices high.
"It's tight supply worldwide and we've got increasing demand from countries like India and China, which means that any disruption of supply ... (is) going to cause the price of crude to go up," Bush said.
More drivers will take to the road this summer, which will also boost demand, he said.
"At this time of year people are beginning to drive more, getting out on the highways, taking a little time off," Bush said. "That increasing demand is also part of the reason the price of gasoline is going up."
So I take it that $3.00 per gallon gasoline will cause you to lose your house and starve to death?
In 1969 I was making $1.00 per hour and I could buy three gallons of gas with one hour's pay.
Today I can buy seven gallons of gas for one hour's pay.
Explain to me again how bad things are.
Don't BUY any you mean. Let Soros buy high, which I'm sure he isn't. There's still June trading to get through. It might go even higher yet. There's a wack of money to be made. People will be looking to sell more towards the fall, as usual.
Do not address me personally.
Precisely. Sort of. (A reflection of my abhorrence of government regulation, and my recognition that it is sometimes inevitable, if not always required.)
Transparent balance sheets can be real bears sometimes. Which is why I say that regulations are usually the product of bad decisions by the companies that end up regulated.
If you report what "appear" to be enormous net profits, you'd better be ready to explain in convincing terms why you are raising the price of the commodity generating those profits -- a commodity that otherwise has no appearance of scarcity in the market place. If you aren't prepared with that explanation, well, consumers have a tendency to vote irrationally sometimes.
What are anti-trust laws about?
These companies are screwing the American people and destabilizing the economy simply because they CAN.
Money = More Power = More Money = Screw your Customer!
Learned their lesson from tobacco companies.
Rather circular, don't you think? And people (drivers of cars, operators of trucks and railroads and sea transport, drug manufacturers, plastic and paint manufacturers, etc., etc.) will use what alternative product in the short term?
Lets see .. you started with Democrat (which is about as low as you can go on namecalling) & you cannot claim that the imbecile comment was not directed towards me.
I was having a discussion with another freeper before you chimed in with your insults. Keep your comments to yourself next time.
This issue and his immigration stance are not among them.
I'm paying $5 a gallon when I fill up in Canada. (5 litres)= 1.10 Imperial gallon). A US gallon is only 3.79 liters.
I notice you didn't answer my question about what kind of government agency should be created to dictate the price of gasoline.
First, noone, and certainly not I, thinks oil companies are going to lift (not 'pump') excess crude. Isn't going to happen.
What needs to happen to lower prices is that the market must be persuaded of two things: 1) that the capacity to lift more crude on demand does in fact exist (right now, excess capacity is at a 60+ year low), and 2) that the possibility of major and possibly long-lasting supply disruption is minimal.
Anyone who believes that static, i.e. present-day, supply and demand are THE determinant factors in price is economically and historically neither informed nor sane. Regulatory costs represent, variably, between 20 and 100-odd per cent of product cost in energy. Insurance costs (and that's what hedging is) have added and will continue to add between .002 and 15-20 per cent, depending entirely on perceived future availability.
Throw sharply increasing demand into the mix, and then add in perception costs (i.e. what the participants believe supply and demand will be in the future), and you're right about where we are now. Don't forget about interest costs, either. 4% of $70 is another potential $2.80 on the price of a barrel for 1-year delivery.
Fine w/me, make a profit. That's what I do (the Katrina fiasco being a spectacular exception). Drill everything in sight and by all means build all the nuke facilities possible -- I've argued this for years, and right here on this board.
All that said, though, you really just don't get how markets work in times of scarcity, whether immediate or perceived in future. You aren't going to change how they work in these circumstances, either.
So, where are all the service stations that are closed because they have run out of fuel to sell?
That to me, is what indicates a shortage of supply.
I can name fifty issues in which the government maintains a monopoly to the detriment of consumers, education and health care being the most obvious.
And yet you want the government to dictate gas prices.
You're so dumb you don't even realize you're a socialist.
I "get it" completely. It seems you just like arguing with yourself....
There is no shortage.
Quite right. $125/bbl oil, and you'll see civil revolt in half a dozen nations in the ESSR because their welfare states will collapse around their ears because they will not be able to stand the gaff.
Well, that should make up for your "free" health care. It's free, but they wait until you're dead to treat you.
If you think gas is expensive now, just wait until your government starts "regulating" the price.
It trades on participants' view of what tomorrow's events will be, and it always trades on the worst-case potential outcome.
Once you digest this apodeictic condition of contest, you'll be in good shape.
This thread has been a magnet for the economically illiterate.
How is that "gouging"?
http://www.newyorkstategasprices.com/index.aspx?s=Y&fuel=A&station=Citgo&tme_limit=48
The link above shows Citgo's range from $2.83 to $3.09 in New York state. At the end of the list linked above there IS a "gouger"...at $3.39/gal., in Orangeburg, N.Y...not sure where that is? Near NYC???
...that's about all he can do....just watch it.
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