Oil prices are skyrocketing, yet gasoline has stayed nearly flat?

[BillZBubb]

It used to be the second oil prices went up, the price at the pump soared. What's different now?

You don't think the big oil companies are holding down their rapacious price increases to help the Chimperor do you? They know they'll make it all back and more once he is locked in for four more wars.

[THUNDER HANDS]

1. didn't the Saudi's up production or something?

either way, it's all a racket.

[Spider Jerusalem]

12. From what I've seen lately, the Saudis CAN'T up production...

not by as much as most think they can, anyway...apparently there's a growing consensus among some top petro-analysts that Saudi production has likely peaked...

[gasperc]

2. gas went up only 12 cents from yesterday here in Detroit

so I don't know what kind of flat your talking about

[htuttle]

3. Word on the 'street' is look for gas 10 to 15 cents higher by next week.

Time to top off the tank.

[One_Life_To_Give]

4. Gas Stocks

The stocks of Gasoline are now at a 17 month high. So it stabilizes the prices relative to short term fluctuations in crude prices.

[BillZBubb]

6. True, but stocks never used to matter.

If crude went up, so did prices--even finished inventory. I don't buy that as the reason.

[One_Life_To_Give]

8. Fed Action?

What is the status of "Price Setting" investigations? State or Federal, concerning Rack Price?

[trogdor]

5. You wait until the northeastern heating season.

They made a buttload of gasoline in order to, yes, depress the price. This means less heating oil available this winter, and higher prices to keep warm. Yes, we in New York/New England will be taking it in the shorts yet again, and just when Bush is becoming a lame duck.

[tandot]

7. Probably instructions from the White House:

If they promise to keep prices low until after election, Bush promises to give them additional tax breaks when he is re-elected.

[mongo]

9. Flat? Gas went up .20 here on Wed.

From $1.73 to $1.93

[BillZBubb]

10. I did miss yesterdays price action.

Still, isn't the price still well below where it was a few months ago when crude was under $40????

[AbsolutSprint]

11. I hope Gas

I hope Gas prices go through the roof. I think its exactly what we need. ok, before you flip, let me explain this. We need to be using less of this fossil fuel crap for a variety of reasons and unfortunately the only thing that makes people listen is...MONEY! I can't see people start taking public transportation unless Gas gets ridiculously expensive. I sorta just hate Western Culture in general. I mean, are we that lazy that we just can't walk, bike, or hell even take a bus?

[mongo]

13. Sure...right

That may work in the big ciry, but out where I live it MANY MANY people have to travel 20-50 miles or more each way to work. Some, so that they can make more than minimum wage, but many because it is the ONLY job they can find.

I suppose we should all just abandon our towns and villages and farms and move to the nearest big city. Which by the way has no rapid transit, just buses that basically go downtown and then to outlying areas. So if you want to take a bus somewhere other than downtown, you are looking at a 2 hour ride.

Sure, let gas go through the roof. Then only giant factory farms will still be in business. People will flee the small towns, and their old houses will be worthless since no one will buy them.

Yeah, I'm lazy because I won't walk 14 miles each way to work.

[catmandu57]

14. I know what you're speaking about

I used to live in a town of approximately 700 give or take. It had an agrarian based economy that went away. To work, to survive, one had to drive at the minimum 30 miles to a larger town. Gasoline was ten to twenty cents higher in our little town so you bought just enough to get down the road to where it was more affordable.
I drove through there this spring, it's shrinking even more, there are vacant lots where houses once stood, and some derelect abd falling in.
I don't know what's going on with gas, it's 1.77 here and I've expected it to go up, so far so good. I do think it's being manipulated to keep the moron* in the best light possible.

[AbsolutSprint]

16. well

I think thats also part of the problem as well. Things are being built farther and farther apart because of everyones use of cars and that is just killing the environment. I'm sure you can recall back in the days when things used to be within walking distance. Grocery Stores, shops, etc... And this doesn't mean only in the big cities. The sprawl of people has also led to the destruction of those "mom and pop" stores and now we have a corporate whore nation. I've actually participated a study in Western Philadelphia where poeple do have to take mass transit 40 or so miles out of the inner city to find a job, and you'd be surprised of what the results said, I"ll send you a link to it if you wish.

But at any rate, our dependence on fossil fuels cause more harm then any of the issues you just raised. We need to get rid of it..NOW. I'm a card carrying member of Greenpeace, so I may be a bit radical.

[catmandu57]

21. The town was founded in 1841

So sprawl is not the culprit. Change has had more to do with it's decline than anything else. It's a pity, it used to be a nice little town, everyone knew everyone, houses were left unlocked. It's just an unfortunate fact of life that people can't live where they want, but it's not right to be forced into being somewhere you don't want to be to stay alive.

[mongo]

24. I'm not talking about sprawl, I'm talking about rural America

Where all the industry has dried up. Oh and the town I live in, I'm 5 doors up from the post office, It's a half block to the nearest restaurant or bar, 1 block to the library (only open 3 days/week), 3 blocks to the conveinence store, and 4 blocks to the drug store. The high priced, bad selection grocery store and the Dr.s office are under a mile away.

But Wal-mart/ K-mart are 12 miles away, the mall is 18 miles away. My store is 14 miles away. When I was a computer systems/analyst I used to drive 55 miles each way to work. Gas was .98 then. It is the way of life out here.

[blindpig]

19. we're in the same boat

I've got the same commute as you. We have a one car household and plan our travels accordingly, putting 10k on the car per year. If trying to get right with the Earth requires more expense and inconvenience then so be it. As a society we've been living beyond our means for too long.The American Way of Life(cars\interstates\burbs)is a deceptively attractive scam designed to sell cars, concrete and real estate. Let the buyer beware.

[haele]

15. Problem is, some of us can't walk, bike or

"hell", even take a bus to work. It's not a matter of lazy, it's a matter of where we work and where we live.

I really do understand the concept of "tough love" you promote in such a case, but I don't see how it actually addresses the problem and any solutions. It only addresses one factor of the situation, not the complete picture that needs to be fixed.

The primary problem is that notion of "Community" has been superceeded by "Individual" for a long time now. Every aspect of life has been marketed to individual desires rather than individual needs.
Public transportation is for "poor folks" on a stipend, not for the head of household or to drop the family off for an afternoon at the mall - certainly not for any family or individual who also has a vehicle.
Even when there is public transportation out to many of the bedroom communities people live in or can afford to live in, it becomes a daily nightmare of not being able to balance time enough to make it to a work site on time or spending three/four hours each way on a commute.
Personally, I couldn't see keeping my job for very long if I had to use what passes for public transportation around here. I've tried it for a week, and every day, not only did the four hour, 30 mile commute by bus and trolley damn near cripple me (I'm partially disabled - bad back and leg) I was consistantly two hours late for work, even after taking the very first bus out of my neighborhood at 4:30 in the morning, and didn't get home until nearly 9pm at night because I had to stay late to make up for the hours missed.
Give me better - and more reliable - public transportation with earlier/later hours and less waiting for transfers, and I might try it again. Extend the trolleys out to the 'burbs, and there would definatly be a greater time advantage and less stress to the town and city streets.

Of course, the next thing that would be asked of me and others in my situation is "why don't you live closer to work?" Well...cost of living is 20% cheaper where I live now than if I did live closer - so as of yet, that's still less than the extra tank of gas costs for me to pay for my own commute.

For all the gnashing and wailing over "SUV's" and "lazy-assed cubicle rats" - much of it is that the solutions to our gas problems lay twenty or thirty years ago, and we as a society are now playing catch-up to what should have been done back then.

But of course, socially, conservation and community awareness has not been considered a manly, patriotic virtue, over the past twenty years, has it?

Haele

[OneTwentyoNine]

17. And...no other services will raise THEIR prices??

If you think that then your in a dream world. Sure,maybe some can walk or ride a bike to work--well until it hits about 10 degrees with a -5 windchill factor.

But...the big picture is that everything from your electric bill,water bill to cable TV will also go up. They have hundreds of vehicles and they get nailed with fuel increases also. Their a monopoly so the gas price hikes just gets passed on without you having another choice.

All the service industry people will eventually raise prices when they take a big enough hit from increased fuel prices.

Yeah..I could probably do without cable but it might be a bit hard to do with electricity,water and the guy who fixes the refrigerator.

David

[tandot]

18. No bus connection here...but I'd love to walk or ride my by to work

50 miles one-way doesn't sound too much when it is 110 Degrees outside. I'd have to get up at 3 am, though. But sleep is overrated anyway...

[DoYouEverWonder]

20. If you live in Florida

we are have a one month tax holiday for gasoline. It's reducing gas prices by about 8 cents per gallon.

[HuckleB]

22. May will be a fond memory compared to where prices will be in September.

The expensive oil's not here yet, and I think the reason they haven't played the same old raise 'em now games, is that they know they pushed it too far in the Spring. They've got an oligarchy, but they've got to protect it, and they know they can only push it just so far before people really look into it.

[hatrack]

23. The record high oil prices are oil futures prices

That is, educated guesses on how much a barrel of oil will cost some months from now.

From what the news says, we apparently have an abundant supply of processed gasoline on hand, ready to use, so that may be holding down prices at the pump for now.

[PsN2Wind]

25. Short term loss

for long term gain.