2.25... 2.35... 2.45... 2.55... 2.65 What...The...Fuck

[armyowalgreens]

Seriously though...What the fuck is going on?

Did anybody learn any damn lessons about speculation from the last time sweet crude skyrocketed?

Is there any legislation placing heavy restrictions on speculators? Jesus fucking christ this is ridiculous. I want to punch someone in the face. But who should I punch?

:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

[dkf]

1. Its the weakening dollar. I guess you can blame our deficit.

Our currency is losing its value, so everything else gets more expensive.

[armyowalgreens]

2. I don't know of any other product that is going up nearly as fast as oil.

This cannot be inflation alone. It has to be wall street.

[dkf]

3. And the fact that it is a depleting resource that we use faster than

we can replace it.

Those two things will allow it to retain value...its become the replacement for the safety of the dollar.

Hell I thought we'd be permanently at $5.00/gallon by now. I can't believe its still pretty cheap. You see what they pay in Europe?

[armyowalgreens]

4. Explain to me why gas prices plummeted then...

Obviously the oil companies haven't been losing massive amounts of money since the drop. The only thing I can think of is Wall street wants more money.


Oil no longer functions under the law of supply/demand. It is manipulated by an array of people as it makes it's way toward our gas tanks.

Is 43 dollars a barrel the "real" price of oil? Or is it 150 dollars a barrel? I'm pretty damn sure it's not the latter.

Either way, we need to stop speculation.

[dkf]

6. If we stop oil trading in the US it will simply move to another country.

In fact, that is exactly what Iran wanted...to have trading done on a new Iranian bourse in their currency.

If you really think oil will be plentiful in perpetuity you need to read up on peak oil. When I bought my 19 mpg sweetheart of a car, I did it because I knew it was my last chance to drive a car like that. And its painful to fill the tank when prices are really high but its the choice I made.

[armyowalgreens]

8. Jesus christ...

Fuck all this shit. I'm selling my truck and riding my bike everywhere.

Actually, I'm getting a motorcycle in the next month or two. That should help me not give a shit about gas prices.


I really wish the world would wake the hell up and realize that it's a really bad idea to continue to invest in a non-renewable resource. We rely so heavily on fossil fuels, it's fucking scary.

[gratuitous]

18. Very good solution!

I'm thinking that the petroleum robber barons really liked those $4 a gallon prices, but they found out that consumers started getting far too discriminating and began examining their purchases too closely. I think that's part of the reason gas prices began plunging a little while ago. The election had something to do with it, too.

But American consumers have notoriously short memories, and you're an outlier, noticing climbing pump prices before they hit the $3 a gallon mark. Also, oil companies are feeling safer, as nothing has been done to or about them in the first six months of the new Democratic administration. So prices are on the rise again.

Good for you for paying attention, and working on a solution that will work for you.

[armyowalgreens]

5. Also, demand is actually going down.

[dkf]

7. India is coming out with a $2000 car.

Its supposed to replace all the 2 wheeled vehicles they have. China is giving cash incentives to buy cars.

Its not about us...its about them.

[MADem]

9. It's the summer driving season--time to make a buck!

You don't open your ice cream stand in winter, after all!! You sell 'em the product and stick it to 'em when they've gotta have it!

The time to gouge people is when they need the gas to go on holiday! And more people will be vacationing close to home, so they'll be driving, not flying!

[geckosfeet]

10. Some people seem to think it's OK to fill up tankers with crude and float them offshore

until the market is ripe.

You can punch them.

[GliderGuider]

12. There are 100 million barrels of oil currently being stored on tankers

According to this Reuters article.

Now before anyone says, "That's a huge amount of oil! See? I told you those buggers were manipulating the market!" let's look at that number in perspective. 100 million barrels is less than a day and a half's global consumption. In fact the world uses that much oil every 32 hours. It's only one third of one percent of the oil the world needs in a year. The degree of restriction being imposed on the markets by this strategy is truly negligable.

Now, if the price of oil goes up to $100/bbl by the end of the year the companies storing that oil will make a whopping total of 3 billion dollars. Of course, from that they have to pay the rental cost of the tankers and factor in the opportunity cost of keeping $7 billion tied up for 6 months. It's not a terribly profitable game, though some people will make money off it.

There are other factors that are influencing the world price of oil much more than the storage of a minute amount of it in tankers.

[taterguy]

11. We should punch ourselves for leading unsustainable lifestyles

I'll start!

[JANdad]

13. What happened?

Did you fall off your bike while attempting to carry your groceries home?

[taterguy]

14. I punched myself for leading an unsustainable lifestyle

I thought that was clear

:shrug:

[ejpoeta]

15. but it's less than it was last summer... so we should just thank our lucky stars

and be happy.

[lazer47]

16. Please!!!! Stand back away from that Kool Aid fountain

[ejpoeta]

17. i was being sarcastic. everytime they talk about the gas prices, they make sure to

mention what the price was last year and then they say that we should be glad it isn't THAT price.

[The2ndWheel]

19. Considering that we act like corporations

in that we privatize the profits of oil, and externalize the costs to the rest of life on the planet, we should be paying more than $2.65, and not getting anything for the additional price, except lighter pockets.

That's one reason why it's always funny to see people complain about corporations(not that it shouldn't be done). Picture each species as a corporation, and the planet as the government. We want the government to regulate corporations. Yet at the same time, we don't want the planet to regulate our species. We are Exxon, we are Monsanto, we are Wal-Mart.

[TheKentuckian]

20. As high as $2.83 here

I call it utterly predictable and can't believe people so quickly forgot what is going on energy wise. We've got to get a handle on this or NOTHING else we accomplish will mean a damn thing. Energy is the central pillar of our society. We can't even maintain the number of people we have today without it. We can only turn back the clock with a massive die off.

Civil Rights, Environmental issues, Education, and even Health Care are all effectively meaningless over even the medium term if we don't achieve clean, abundant, and renewable energy because we can't maintain our people or our civilization otherwise nor can we address the coming water crisis. This is the lynchpin and I expect the great equalizer. Once energy is abundant and cheap it will remove tremendous levels of economic strain on every level.

[AngryAmish]

21. I, for one, blame Bush.

[tabbycat31]

22. Wall Fucking Street

[ThatsMyBarack]

23. I didn't know you meant *gas prices*, at first.

I thought you were talking about channel lineups on digital TV. ;)