Bachmann promises $2 gas

[jimntx]

There is as much reason to believe that it would actually increase as there is that it would drop. This whole Drilling out ANWR will cause prices to drop meme is just absurd and is yet another attempt by the oil production industry to maintain the status quo by securing drilling rights for when it really does become more scare in the future. It has nothing to do with prices today.
[/quote]

Actually, the cost of crude oil has almost nothing to do with prices at the the pump anyway. I worked in/with the petroleum industry for over 20 years. The price at the pump is based primarily on what the oil companies think people are willing to pay, and they practice "softening up the enemy" marketing techniques by raising prices five cents then dropping them 3 cents. Notice that whenever there is a "shortage of crude" prices at the pump shoot up, but then they come down. However, they never come down quite as far as they went up. Over time, you get to $4/gal gas.

 

[Ms Tree]

I have a friend who works for a food chain that has gas stations. They run comps (comparables) with stations with in a 5 mile radius and adjust their prices accordingly. The price of gas has little to do with the price of gas. Most places do not even make much money off of the gas. hey make their money off of the crap they sell in the station. Gas is used to get you in the door.

 

[SparrowHawk]

I have a friend who works for a food chain that has gas stations. They run comps (comparables) with stations with in a 5 mile radius and adjust their prices accordingly. The price of gas has little to do with the price of gas. Most places do not even make much money off of the gas. hey make their money off of the crap they sell in the station. Gas is used to get you in the door.

The cost of Gasoline at wholesale versus what it sells for on the street leaves the merchant with around 9 to 12 CENTS per gallon in Gross Profit which means you need to sell a boatload of gasoline to make any money. Which is why you see the convenience store business model as the predominate method of distribution

 

[777 fixer]

Hells bells, Rocky Bama got $5 off with the strategic oil reserve a few months back.

They have done that before, and those momentary price drops do not last. Those 30 million barrels released for the SPR accounts for a day and a half of consumption in the USA.

 

[SparrowHawk]

They have done that before, and those momentary price drops do not last. Those 30 million barrels released for the SPR accounts for a day and a half of consumption in the USA.

Which is more proof that he was pandering for votes even then. If one of his advisers told him he had a blood test Friday he'd leave the White House early to go study for it.

 

[700UW]

But it was ok when Bush II did it?

Hypocrites.

 

[delldude]

But it was ok when Bush II did it?

Hypocrites.

Pelosi calls on Bush to open oil reserves

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi recently pitched a plan to bring down gasoline prices by dipping into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, showing a shift in Democrats' response to the energy crisis.


The latest Democratic response calls on the Bush administration to open up the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Pelosi said the nation's stockpile of oil in the Reserve is 700 million barrels and if the government put 10 percent of that on the market, it could add 200,000 barrels a day for one year and lower the price of oil within 10 days.

Oh No....

 

[Ms Tree]

Drilling is great, but when's the last time a new refinery came online?

Bingo,

Someone finally gets the real problem!

Thanks E!

Secondly, the primary reason for no new refineries is two fold. The first reason is excessive environmental regulation designed to thwart every company with roadblocks that make it impossible for the companies to afford to build a refinery. The second aspect is the NIMBY syndrome that is equally effective as government regulation.

And we have a winner. Tech nailed it. The rest of you .,.. not so much.

There is no incentive for oil companies to increase refining capacity. That would increase supply.

...Econ 101.

We are now exporting more fuel than we import so all the whining by the right about new refineries ended up being wrong. We are driving more fuel efficient cars and driving less so now the oil companies will be closing refineries. Opps.

Gas Pains? U.S. Diesel, Gas Exports Surpass Imports

"We're going to see the lowest gasoline consumption in January of 2012 that we've seen since January of 2000," predicts Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service.

When you consider that the U.S. population increased by 30 million in those 12 years and that consumption is still declining, you get a good idea of just how significant this is. Kloza says the sluggish economy also plays a big role in demand.

 

[7days]

NPR? and you fell for it?

What an idiot.

 

[Ms Tree]

I think these articles show we are being played but the oil companies, speculators and Congress. The oil companies have known for quite some time that there was was never a refining shortage. Just a consumption shortage. All the 'we need more refinery' idiots were just pawns. The oil companies never wanted refineries. That was just an excuse for them to keep prices jacked up. I wonder what their next lie will be.


Mar 2010
s Oil companies look at permanent refinery cutbacks

Some of the nation's biggest oil companies are looking at permanently reducing how much gasoline and diesel fuel they make, a move that analysts say would almost certainly trigger higher prices for drivers.

Energy companies are suffering huge losses from refining because of slumping gasoline use -- a product of the economic downturn and changing consumer habits and preferences. Energy experts say refining cutbacks have begun and will accelerate as corporations strive for profits.

Looks like they they have been shutting down refineries for years. Funny how no one seems to be talking about this little fact. Now all of a sudden we are exporting more fuel then we are importing. Go figure.


Dec 2009
Chilly Climate for Oil Refiners

Only a few years ago, a cry went up that the United States needed more oil refineries. The perceived shortage was so acute that George W. Bush, president at the time, even offered disused military bases as sites for building them.

Not only did that never come to pass, but the reverse is now happening. The business of oil refining is mired in a deep crisis, with five refineries having shut down this year, including plants in Delaware, New Jersey, California and New Mexico.