Gas prices have likely peaked. Don't expect drop because the U.S. is exporting petroleum products.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Oil is plentiful and demand for gasoline continues to decline as American drivers move to more efficient cars and trucks. So why haven't gas prices come down?

Pump price watchers say this year's seasonal run-up has likely run its course — for now. The national average price is at or near its peak for this spring, according to AAA, which expects prices to remain cheaper than last year's national high of $3.79 per gallon.

But as refiners continue to see strong demand for gasoline exports, don't look for big savings on the cost of filling up your tank any time soon.

-snip-

"You don't have the millennials and young people driving anymore," he said. "You've got an aging demographic that's driving less. And the average car is 11.4 years old. When you turn that over, you get a lot better mileage."

That drop in demand might be expected to bring lower prices. But to make up the shortfall, refiners have found robust demand in Mexico and Latin America, where refining capacity hasn't kept up with growing consumption. Though the U.S. bans exports of crude oil, gasoline and diesel exports are about 25 percent higher than last year, according to the EIA.

Those exports are expected to keep gasoline inventories relatively tight, which would keep prices from falling below roughly $3.25 a gallon, the low point for the past few years. Tight inventories could also increase the risk of a price hike later this year, according to Kloza.

http://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/gas-prices-have-likely-peaked-dont-expect-big-drop-n96066

[Drale]

1. People around me have been complaining about 5.00 a gallon prices but

I keep telling them its not going to happen. It might flux a little up and down but for now its going to stick right around 4 dollars a gallon here in Chicago because that is the price that the Oil Companies have found out that they make unreasonable profits, and while people might complain there's no outright rebellion about it.

[JaneyVee]

2. Remember the gas prices after Katrina under Bush

[Marblehead]

3. 3 trillion

for the war in Iraq, where is our cheap gas?

[mindwalker_i]

4. Good, high prices are driving innovation

Yeah, it sucks, but it's good for us.

[BadgerKid]

5. Apparently slightly refined crude can be exported.

Loophole Makes Hilarious Mockery Of US Crude Oil Export Ban
Wolf Richter
TestosteronePit.com
Friday, March 7, 2014 at 12:35AM

...

Meanwhile, behind the scenes, so to speak, something else has been happening: a breathtaking boom in exports, not of crude oil, which would be illegal, but of refined “petroleum products,” which is perfectly legal, even if it’s refined just enough to circumnavigate the crude-oil export ban.

BP, the British oil mastodon which is still in hot water over the Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, figured it out too. It has inked a 10-year deal for at least 80% of the capacity of a refinery being built by Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP in Houston, Bloomberg reported. The first phase of the 100,000 barrel-a-day refinery is expected to come online in July. It’s designed to refine crude just enough to turn it into a "petroleum product," which then can be legally exported without limits.

...

It’s not just BP. The possibility of legally exporting barely refined “petroleum products” to profit from the price differential overseas has been such an irresistible lure that it has triggered a construction boom of specialized refineries along the Gulf Coast.

An “inexpensive way around the export prohibition” is what Judith Dwarkin, chief energy economist for ITG Investment Research, called the phenomenon. She told Bloomberg, “You can lightly ruffle the hydrocarbons and they are considered ‘processed’ and then they aren’t subject to the ban.”

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/03/11/1283746/-Wolf-Richter-Loophole-Makes-Hilarious-Mockery-Of-US-Crude-Oil-Export-Ban