Buttigieg: "Price of gasoline is not set by a dial in the Oval Office"

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Soaring gas prices across the country are out of the White House's hands, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on ABC's "This Week" Sunday as he rebuked oil company executives for not upping production.

Driving the news: Gas prices have continued surging and look headed for $5 a gallon nationwide, writes Axios' Matt Phillips.

The big picture: "I don't think it's correct to say it hasn't made any difference at all," Buttigieg said about Biden's decision earlier this year to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve...

https://www.axios.com/2022/06/05/buttigieg-gas-price-oil-companies

[Frasier Balzov]

1. They're not using the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to proper effect.

You go into the futures market and short WTI contracts until you crush the longs.

Then you gradually cover those shorts with whatever longs have the courage to re-enter on the buy side.

Then you make delivery on the fraction of your short order flow which you haven't covered.

Then you relentlessly repeat this process. Keep punishing the speculators. Magnify the downward pressure you put on prices while reducing the reserve as little as necessary to make deliveries on your outstanding contracts.

Go ahead and jawbone the energy companies, but that's not really going to help the consumer.

You've got to leverage the huge economic power you have to move the oil market when you control the SPR.

The goal is achieved with futures.

[Ferrets are Cool]

3. Damn, if only YOU were President all our problems would be over.

[TheBlackAdder]

4. That's some serious wizard shit right there.

.

You should patent that process.

.

[Celerity]

8. it's a basic short sale strategy for oil (WTI in this case) futures, BUT it caries tremendous risks

especially if you leverage up:

A huge short squeeze

and you are FUCKED

The amount of capital at risk would be staggering and all it takes is one major exogenous shock that spikes prices

and

[egduj]

7. I have no idea what you said.

But I'm convinced.

[multigraincracker]

2. Bust the Trust.

Even Adam Smith the Father of Capitalism said that markets need to be regulated to prevent monopolies.

[COL Mustard]

5. If it was, every President would have it at a buck a gallon.

Nobody likes high gas prices.

It's kind of like when gold was $35 an ounce but Americans couldn't legally own it.

[roamer65]

6. The price of gas is set by drivers.

Stop consuming so damn much of it and the price WILL come down.

Too damn many trucks and SUVs is a BIG part of the problem.