Posted on 08/15/2005 6:06:24 AM PDT by BulletBobCo
CNN) -- Gas prices surged 20 cents over the past three weeks to an all-time high of $2.50 per gallon of self-serve regular, according to a national survey.
The price surge "does smash the all-time record high for the third time this year," Trilby Lundberg, publisher of the Lundberg Survey, said Sunday.
"Crude oil has caused this jump at the pump," she said of the survey, taken August 12 at about 7,000 gas stations in every state.
"And even at the current record-breaking pump prices, gasoline demand, while not galloping, is still growing."
Oil prices rose to record highs of $67 a barrel Friday, amid concerns that demand was straining the world's capacity to pump and refine crude oil. (Full story)
Lundberg noted that if the crude oil supply remains undisrupted, "the gasoline price surge itself will probably be ending soon, if it has not already."
"Our demand for gasoline is always highest for June, July and August," she said of the summer months, when families typically take vacations. She said gasoline demand is expected to taper off after August.
(SNIP)
Though a record in absolute terms, the price is still well shy of a record, if adjusted for inflation. The peak price would have been set during the Iranian revolution in March 1981, when a gallon of gas cost about $3 in today's dollars, Lundberg said.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Profiteering is good in capitalism. Only socialism is offended by capitalism. So you want the government to come in and limit profits? That, as I said, is socialism. My reason for enjoying high gas prices has nothing to do with my comment that the desire to have the government intercede is socialism.
Soooo, drive the biggest vehicle because it's survival of the richest out there? I reject that and ride a bicycle and drive the smallest vehicle I can to take whatever percent of my family of 10 I need to move. My favorite is the Taurus and my least favorite is the 12 passenger van.
Clean burn would have reduced fuel use 20~30% over the past 50~60 years.
Meaning mideast monkeys would have 70~80% less money to buy weapons to cause trouble with, among other things.
This angle is hardly ever addressed.
Another angle is clean burn makes cars last longer, they hate that too.
As Lilly Tomlin says;
"No matter how cynical you become, it's never enough to keep up!"
So what are you bitching about?
Sounds like you don't live in constant fear of the fickle finger of fate.
I actually feel like the so called "conservatives" around here would counsel people to stay in debt rather than pay off their debts.
That's true. There was a project engine back then by some amateurs working in the back yard under a shade tree who put some high performance parts on a stock engine. Things like a high flow polished intake manifold with a 4 barrel carb, high lift advanced spark cam, shaved heads, low constriction exhaust manifold, and got something like 30% increased gas mileage [with a light touch on the gas pedal] along with the expected power increase and of course lowered emissions.
This because the "oil boys" talk with "car boys" to determine Fleet MPG as a factor of fraction flow & output demand at the refinery.
Always have, always will, I reckon until enough of the curtain is pulled back so enough of the public sees how silly everything about this situation really is.
There's no mystery to us carnival workers, we see the show for what it really is.
The point is that you wouldn't have to pay ANYTHING if you chose to do so. All you would have to do is adjust your witholding so that you have less taken out each month. If you use an average amount, you pay nothing. If you conserve, you actually get more money back than you put in. With 3 dependents in college, you could claim 5 if you were married, for a total of $4800 in tax credits. You probably wouldn't be buying nearly 50 gallons a week between the 5 of you, so you would end up SAVING money over the current situation. The idiot with the Hummer would be subsidising your childrens' educations because of their greed.
Not trying to make it complicated - but to provide a constant incentive to conserve. When gas costs $1 a gallon, there's little incentive to conserve, so people by heavy gas guzzling SUVs rather than fuel efficient station wagons. That makes the potential for supply crunches higher, as the market demands more. Europe has high taxes on gas that encourage conservation (they use a small fraction of the oil per capita that the US does) - but overtaxing is wrong. I'm trying to propose a way that provides a constant, significant incentive to conserve that doesn't cost the average american a thing. Only those who choose to pay more do, and those who choose to conserve get rewarded.
Demand for gas in the U.S. is still growing, despite the cost. When demand starts to decrease, I'll be more concerned.
I'm less worried about prices at the pump for my car (thank you Honda!) and truck (not so lucky) than I am about the inflationary effect on the economy as a whole but I don't think that most people make the connection.
As far as the Dems go, hell didn't we want to go into Iraq so we could get cheap oil? That was the canard for at least of couple of years. Now it's profits for Haliburton. Tomorrow it will be for something else. I don't think anyone is listening to them.
Not much that W can do at this point anyway for the short haul. If you believe in the free market, there isn't much explanation needed. If he tried to stand up and say that oil prices were up because of the relation of world supply and demand and a probably a shift to the right in the demand curve because of the change in the Chinese economy and possibly a shift in the supply curve caused by terror considerations of AG nations, half of the country would be asleep and the other half would still be yelling Haliburton!
I'm not saying that I know the exact cause (and depending on your school of economics, whether anyone knows as a science) but I'm fairly certain there isn't a sound bite explanation for it.
No, the studidest posts of the day go to those who demand unlimited use of a resource which has a limited daily worldwide supply and then complain about the cost, all the while increasing the problem of dependence upon foreign oil, and allowing for money to be funneled to nations which support terrorists who are bound and determined to attack this country.
That, my friend, is stupid.
I'm just trying to propose an idea which would reward conservation, reduce energy dependece, not cost the government a thing, and not raise taxes a single cent on the average american. Hint - if I pay $7000 in federal taxes this year, and a plan like this were in place, then the following would happen: I would be paying $4.70 per gallon at the pump ($3.70 a year ago), which would be a constant reminder every time I filled up to conserve. I may or may not change my driving habits, but if I am like an average american (who wastes oil as it is), I would be paying $188 in surcharges. Then instead of having $583.33 per month witheld from my taxes and owing $0 at the end of the year, I have $395.33 witheld from taxes per month. Then at the end of the year I would have $4744 witheld, which would leave me $2256 short of my tax bill. But the fuel surcharges collected over the year would have totalled exactly $2256, and the credit (based on the average usage) would be $2256. Net cost to me: NOT A SINGLE CENT. Net cost to the government: NOT A SINGLE CENT.
Now if I guzzle gas, I pay a penalty. If I conserve, I get rewarded.
Show me any other idea that exists that would not increase the deficit or raise taxes on the average american, but also address energy dependence and encourage conservation. I'm not saying this idea is perfect - but I believe it would go much further than any idea that has come out of anybody in industry or the government to improve the situation.
That, my friend, is not stupid. Its a creative attempt to solve a problem in a cost-effective manner.
The madness continues. Gas prices just jumped another 25-30 cents today here in Michigan.
I'm running out of arms and legs.
>>>So what are you bitching about?
Uhhh, $2.69 a gallon. Even at 29 mpg, that is alot of money!
Not compared to the 4.50ish they pay in europe.
No it is not simple, nor does the graph accurately portray the true refining capacity (operable capacity) of the U.S. Our total refining capacity is not our gasoline refining capacity. It does not take into account blending requirements that further degrade the gasoline refining capacity as various blends of gasoline require not only different refining techniques, but blending techniques, that require significant downtime for plant/refinery turnaround between various gasoline blends, as well as not all refineries are not set up to produce all gasoline blends.
It does not take into account that our refining capacity is further limited by the type of feedstock that it can process. Refineries are generally limited to a range of feedstock that it can utilize, that is they or crude oil specific of API range specific. This also does not take into account the requirements to refine other necessary petroleum products such as aviation fuels, diesel, and petro-chemical feed stocks.
Depending on the design and capacities of the refineries; refineries of the same capacity do not necessarily have the capacity to produce the same volume of gasoline from the same volume of feedstock. Some are more efficient then others at maximizing gasoline per barrel production.
The absolute refining capacity of the United States is not the achievable or sustainable refining capacity of the U.S. In addition, the demand for gasoline and other higher distillate products is rising faster, than capacity can be increased, though most refineries are attempting to maximize their gasoline output. With refineries operating at near their operable capacity, any disruption for maintenance, turnaround, accidents and repair further diminishes our gasoline refining capacity. This coupled with the fact that the majority of our refineries are operating beyond their design life, and the relatively old age of the refineries operating in the U.S. make them more susceptible to repair and maintenance disruptions. There has not been a new refinery built in the U.S. since 1976. Though the U.S. has the most complex refining capacity in the world, due in large part to we are the largest consumer in the world, our capacity per refinery is among the lowest in the world.
Additionally the concentration of refineries to certain geographic locations in the U.S. has also added additional costs to gasoline at the pump. For it is still cheaper to transport crude oil then refined products. Our pipeline infrastructure is yet another bottleneck in the equation as well as the decline in our waterborne refined product capacity.
It is not a simple solution, there are none, asthere are many other downstream and upstream constraints that face the petroleum industry.
I don't care what the charts say about the economy. We've quit buy anything we absolutely do not need. Anyone that doesn't think this is affecting peoples spending is crazy.
Even with our small engine toyota V-6, it costs a wad of money to fill up.
I even gave up my NRA subscription. lol
How much do you think that really adds to the price?
It has to add something directly to the price, but when the winter formulation kicks in, my gas mileage drops by about 10%. So, effectively, that's a 10% price increase.
>>>Not compared to the 4.50ish they pay in europe.
There's a reason I live in America, not Europe.
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