I filled up at $3.93 today.

I pay £0.00/$0.00 for my fuel!

It is cheap there because we U.S. taxpayers subsidize their cost. Iraq has a lot of oil, but very little in the way of refining it. So WE pay Halliburton (awarded a no-competition contract of course) to buy fuel from other countries and to bring to Iraq.

But gas was a lot cheaper for them and their oil production capacity is something like half what it was before we bombed them, so I guess it is only fair?

Don't be too surprised, the US has a LOONG history subsidizing energy prices in the Middle East.

And the article also said that they were suffering shortages because pipelines had been sabotaged. What a mess.

10 days has gone by since the last GAS post. We must be getting used to the prices, huh?

Today: National average $3.98 a gallon
One Year Ago: $2.80 (and in January 2007, I paid $1.89 one day).

What happened in one year to justify this amount of increase?
Did one third of the world's oil fields dry up? NO. Was there a major war in an oil producing country? NO. Was there a hurricane that affected oil production? NO. Was there artificial price inflation from commodity speculators? Was there government malaise? Were oil companies making obscene profits?

Ooh!! Ooh!! I know!! YES!!

Ok...so can anyone present how much of a profit the 'oil company' sees on each gallon sold?

I can't get over how many Board members seem to believe that there ought to be a certain price charged for a gallon of fuel, or milk, or medical care. What in the world MaryCas does "justify" have to do with pricing?

It's all relative. I can't get over how willing you are to bend over and take it up the ass and say, "it's not too bad".

When the price of something raises DRAMATICALLY in a short period of time (barring some sort of natural disaster) AND the companies selling that product report RECORD EARNINGS then it makes me mad. What's so hard to understand about that?

That's not what he's saying.

So you're mad. What does your emotional state have to do with justification? If you are not williing to pay the current price for fuel, then don't. Again I ask: what in the world is the price of anything supposed to be and how is that price to be arrived at?

What's your point, olivant? Just stirring up shit, or is there a real point?

JG, nice to see you so feisty today!!

Yes, they can charge whatever they want. They can use whatever sleight of hand and bullshit that they like to justify a ridiculous rise in prices over a short period of time. And yes, we will continue to pay it, mostly because we have no choice.

The only way to stop it is to end our dependence on it. That's it. If we find alternative fuels, if we are willing to give up our SUVs and high-powered sports cars for a Prius or a Smart Car (they are so tiny!!), to stop our selfish whining, then we will CONSIDERABLY lower the demand and THEN the price will come down.

Instead of plans to lower the price of oil (which they don't control) or to repeal the federal tax (when we already have a deficit), why isn't the government putting SERIOUS money into alternatives. Give substantial rebates for people who buy hybrid cars, not the pittance given now, subsidize solar energy for the average homeowner so that it's practically free, instead of the average homeowner having to wait 20 years to recoup their money. Hydrogen cars, SAFE nuclear energy, anything that would help, rather than oil, oil, oil. Then we can tell the rest of the world to go F itself, we don't need their oil.

The price will come down then, you can bet on that.

I usually give you credit for having more sense than alot of Board members, but not in this case.

Point? I'll reiterate it: What is the retail price of a commodity supposed to be and how do you suggest that such a price be calculated?

It is simple. Price of the commodity depends upon what we are willing to pay. In case of gasoline, we should pay about 76 cents for a gallon. Anything more is anal rape.

But think about this - You are spending a little more for fuel, but you get free anal sex.

Gee, I kind of like that word "justify". Comes from the word "just" as in fair. A pure capitalist would not care to justify price increases, but since our economy, culture, society and basic existence as a country is directly connected to energy (electricity and transportation) then I think that the concept of capitalism has to be watered down quite a bit.

In the name of justified capitalism would the total collapse of our economy be OK?

The economy is wonderful, remember?

Well now, that depends. How do you calculate "wonderful"????




TIS

...maybe like this...

I see trees of green, red roses too,
I see them bloom for me and you.
And I think to myself, What a Wonderful World

...or...

but I do know one and one is two,
and if this one could be with you,
What a Wonderful World this would be.

Well, at least we've got it a lot better than our mortal enemy the Soviet Union.

CdLCN, the Soviet Union? I thought they disbanded? Mortal Enemy? Sounds like the 1950s. What have you got better regarding gas....gasoline?

I don't know... They get TWO anal rapes for free, the bastards!

Whew! Thanks for clearing that up. I was beginning to think all the rape talk was affecting your brain.....like it went soft from all that comedy you've been playing; you know the fish net stockings....

Blame the wildly unregulated speculation market that drives up the prices for oil futures based on the continuation of a falling dollar, the Iraq War (its impact on oil prices, and its relationship to the declining dollar) and the looming threat of a war with Iran which would further impact oil prices!

It isn't so much a gasoline is going up but the dollar we buy it with that is going down; and the fear of an Israeli-U.S. attack on Iran increasing current demand in order to build stocks against disruption more than any oil company greed or OPEC greed (not that they aren't that greedy, mind you, hence the war). Our demand hasn't changed that much, so market forces DO NOT APPLY.

SB, an intellectual response and probably, to this feeble economic mind, right on the MONEY. Those damn Iranians are making it harder to figger this whole thing out. Who? What so many "average" Americans dismiss is the world economy and where America fits in the whole scheme. It's a complicated house of cards. One that I walk gingerly around. Some BB members proclaim to have it all figured out. What big brains they have!

Interesting that Bush lifted the ban on off-shore drilling that had been put in place by his father. He now urges Congress to do the same, basically putting it in their court. He says that it's important for Americans to have immediate relief from the prices at the pump. It's a total joke. If they started drilling TODAY, it would be three to five years for a single barrel to hit the market. It's a pointless and useless gesture.

It does, however, make way for the oil companies to find another profit center.

Why do people except instant repair to the worlds headaches.



If Clinton had done it say seven years ago, then maybe we would have some of this pressure off today!

So if we start today, then maybe, just maybe you will not be paying 8-9 dollars a gallon seven years from now.
But lets be truthful, the world wants more.. more.. more, so where does it end.

With China adding thousands of cars a week, the world will be hard pressed to keep up with the worlds demand for that black gold.

If new leases/drilling will fix the oil price problem, why are the oil companies sitting on so many unused leases? During most of the Bush years, drilling leases have gone up 361%. Have you seen ANY decrease in gas prices? Oil companies already have plenty of places that are leased and approved to dig in, they just aren't doing it.

And why aren't oil companies aren't even attempting to pump at full capacity?

Cheap political points are all they're after.