Got Gas? U.S. Economy to Worsen as Gas Prices Skyrocket

[dmcowen674]

The world has proven now it's able to survive with the kinds of oil prices we have now.

They suck, they hurt the economy, but the demand remains there, so $80 sure doesn't seem unreasonable.

I disagree and you also disagree with yourself.

How can you say in one sentence the world is fine with high oil & gas prices and then the next sentence say it sucks and hurts the economy?

You ought to get that problem checked out.

$80 has certainly proven to be unreasonable unless of course of you are rich.

 

[heymrdj]

I disagree and you also disagree with yourself.

How can you say in one sentence the world is fine with high oil & gas prices and then the next sentence say it sucks and hurts the economy?

You ought to get that problem checked out.

$80 has certainly proven to be unreasonable unless of course of you are rich.

He didn't say they were fine, he said they were surviving. You have to deal with a (sometimes drastic) decrease in your standard of living as well as removing the ability to go out and do anything or get our of your city walls. It's shitty, but technically it's still survival. After all, corporate still gets what they need. Like it or not in this economy you play by the boss's rules, you WILL drive to work off of your salary, regardless of the other effects.

 

[werepossum]

He didn't say they were fine, he said they were surviving. You have to deal with a (sometimes drastic) decrease in your standard of living as well as removing the ability to go out and do anything or get our of your city walls. It's shitty, but technically it's still survival. After all, corporate still gets what they need. Like it or not in this economy you play by the boss's rules, you WILL drive to work off of your salary, regardless of the other effects.

Exactly. The Western world is amazingly rich and for the vast majority of us, high gas prices affect things we'd like to have or do, not things we have to or need to have or do. Accordingly we simply don't cut back that much when gas prices rise. We'll bitch at $4/gallon gasoline and bitch like hell at $5/gallon gasoline, but most of us won't take the bus to avoid it. Yet undeniably these same gas prices hurt the economy as that money isn't available to be spent on other economic activity.

 

[heymrdj]

Exactly. The Western world is amazingly rich and for the vast majority of us, high gas prices affect things we'd like to have or do, not things we have to or need to have or do. Accordingly we simply don't cut back that much when gas prices rise. We'll bitch at $4/gallon gasoline and bitch like hell at $5/gallon gasoline, but most of us won't take the bus to avoid it. Yet undeniably these same gas prices hurt the economy as that money isn't available to be spent on other economic activity.

I sure wish mass transit was as available as you guys think it is. The bus doesn't even run as early as I have to be at work. It doesn't go to my out of town contract locations either.

 

[Charles Kozierok]

Exactly. The Western world is amazingly rich and for the vast majority of us, high gas prices affect things we'd like to have or do, not things we have to or need to have or do. Accordingly we simply don't cut back that much when gas prices rise. We'll bitch at $4/gallon gasoline and bitch like hell at $5/gallon gasoline, but most of us won't take the bus to avoid it. Yet undeniably these same gas prices hurt the economy as that money isn't available to be spent on other economic activity.

Given what a gallon of gasoline can do, it should probably cost even more than $5.

In 2006, I was in Norway, an oil producing country, and paid over $6 a gallon for gas.

 

[werepossum]

I sure wish mass transit was as available as you guys think it is. The bus doesn't even run as early as I have to be at work. It doesn't go to my out of town contract locations either.

Oh, it would be very impractical for me as well. I live fairly far out, so I'd have to either move or drive to the bus station. Many job locations are not on the bus routes either, so I'd have to either take a bus back to my car to drive to the job site, or I'd have to leave a car at work. But by taking the bus I meant making any major life changes. For myself, I could take my bike more often, or trade in my 4WD Tracker (which gets only 25 mpg despite being a tiny 2,500 lb four-seater) for a tiny 2WD micro car getting 40 mpg.

Given what a gallon of gasoline can do, it should probably cost even more than $5.

In 2006, I was in Norway, an oil producing country, and paid over $6 a gallon for gas.

Agreed. I find it amazing that a gallon of gasoline can be located, removed, refined from its raw petroleum form, and delivered for my relative convenience for such a low price. Even whole milk costs more.

 

[Doppel]

I disagree and you also disagree with yourself.

How can you say in one sentence the world is fine with high oil & gas prices and then the next sentence say it sucks and hurts the economy?

You ought to get that problem checked out.

$80 has certainly proven to be unreasonable unless of course of you are rich.

They suck, they hurt the economy, but they have not destroyed it. Life goes on. $500/barrel oil would crater everything about modern life, but at $80 we grumble about it and it increases costs of things, but not to an insurmountable level.

 

[desy]

Of course it hurts because we have spent 150 yrs building reliance on cheap energy to grow and drive the economy, human knowlege, population, everything.

Oil is a gift mankind has exploited to great benefit and now that its becoming harder to produce at the rate we expect it . . . . . decline, inevitable decline, unless we find scalable, renewable substitutes and efficiencies to offset what we are losing

 

[sportage]

NBC had a report asking economists why gas at the pump has been coming down in price lately.
The spokes woman answering was tossing out several reasons, theorized why this was happening now. Especially when gas price trend to rise during Summer months, not decline.
As she ran thru several reasons, one that made sense was hearing that a major refinery was back up and running.
Oh... So this may have been the entire problem with rising prices months ago?
Then figure in republicans constant synchronized drum beat ripping Obama and his economic policies to hold down gas prices during that period.
Where now we hear total silence from republicans as prices have fallen.
No "good job mr president". No pat on the back.
Obama had no control over refinery outages.
Certainly old Mitt, as president (God forbid), would have had zero control over refinery outages.
My point... No president can wave a magic wand and lower gas prices.
So many factors. Many strings attached with gas prices at the pump.
Attacking this administrations policies over something out of their control was nothing more than a cheap shot. Mitt knew that. Newt knew that. They all knew that.
Conclusion? Mitt Romney and congressional republicans are clueless lowlife scumbags.
Imagine how they would govern if ever given the chance?
And we thought GW was as low as it can go.
Mitt proves another entire level of low truly exists.
And his Mitt Romney administration is just itching to take us there.

 

[redgtxdi]

I think you might be missing the part about why we haven't built any new refineries recently and which administration (cough) is most responsible for that.

Yes, it's primarily an EPA hurdle, but I'll give you 3 guesses as to who's the biggest proponent of greenie bearuocracies standing in the way of progress in that regard and the first two don't count.

 

[Svnla]

$2.99/gal for regular unleaded at Murphy/Walmart.

And if you use WM credit card or prepaid card, you would save 3 cents per gallon for a total price of $2.96/gal after discount.

 

[Londo_Jowo]

We are officially below $3.00/gal again (3 local stations under that mark). I just filled up 5 minutes ago for $2.93/gal (including my Kroger $0.10/gal discount).

http://www.houstongasprices.com/Shell_Gas_Stations/Sugar_Land/113096/index.aspx

 

[dmcowen674]

I think you might be missing the part about why we haven't built any new refineries recently and which administration (cough) is most responsible for that.

Yes, it's primarily an EPA hurdle, but I'll give you 3 guesses as to who's the biggest proponent of greenie bearuocracies standing in the way of progress in that regard and the first two don't count.

Perhaps you FAIL in reading the hundreds of articles and posts above showing how much of a lie you are now posting.

The existing refineries pump out so much gasoline that there is a huge surplus and gasoline is the number one export of the entire United States.

Try educating yourself before posting misinformation.

 

[dmcowen674]

NBC had a report asking economists why gas at the pump has been coming down in price lately.

The spokes woman answering was tossing out several reasons, theorized why this was happening now.

There are no theories. Just bullshit from the oil thugs.

You know how I have been posting that they are running out of room with all depot tanks full, the barges full along the rivers and harbors?

It has gotten to a critical point that a friend of mine who went to work at the oil sands in Calgary said they are on the brink of having to be laid off and shut down because there is no where to put all the oil.

The refineries here are getting the oil for practically free right now because they are scrambling to find places to put all the oil they are getting out of the oil shales.

The result is that U.S. is not importing a fraction of foreign oil that it used to causing the markets overseas to crash.

Enjoy the short term drop.

As soon as the keystone line is completed they will be able to go back to charging $100 or more for their black gold once again.

 

[dmcowen674]

6-25-2012

http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterco...a-cut-oil-prices-21-boosted-gdp-78-4-billion/

Since April President Obama Cut Oil Prices 21%, Boosted GDP $78.4 Billion


In April, President Obama’s $52 million plan to increase the margin requirements and otherwise tighten the screws on oil speculators — who borrow huge sums to bet on the direction of oil without taking delivery

• Increase by a factor of six Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) surveillance and enforcement staff “to better deter oil market manipulation,”
• Boost 10-fold to $10 million the civil and criminal penalties against “firms that engage in market manipulation,”
• Give the CFTC authority to increase the trader margins — the amount of their own capital that traders must set aside for each bet. The administration officials said such authority “could help limit disruptions in energy markets,” according to the Post.

So just how much has President Obama stimulated the economy through his April crackdown on oil speculators?



Gas was $4.05 a gallon for mid-grade back then and this week the price had fallen to $3.49.


That 56 cents a gallon decline would amount to a savings of about $582 a year — assuming 20 gallon tank once a week. But if the AP is right, that same 56 cent a gallon drop would add $78.4 billion to U.S. GDP.


That’s not much for a $15 trillion economy, but it represents a 1,508% return on President Obama’s $52 million investment in two months.

 

[redgtxdi]

Perhaps you FAIL in reading the hundreds of articles and posts above showing how much of a lie you are now posting.

The existing refineries pump out so much gasoline that there is a huge surplus and gasoline is the number one export of the entire United States.

Try educating yourself before posting misinformation.

Ditto, Dave. Just because we export it, doesn't mean it's in excess. You aren't hearing refinery complaints right now because it's not en vogue. Keystone is. Hold onto your pants, you'll get your high gas prices back again soon enough.

 

[dmcowen674]

Ditto, Dave. Just because we export it, doesn't mean it's in excess. You aren't hearing refinery complaints right now because it's not en vogue. Keystone is. Hold onto your pants, you'll get your high gas prices back again soon enough.

I have no doubt we will be back over $5 a gallon, most likely not long after the day of the election.

 

[ElFenix]

I have no doubt we will be back over $5 a gallon, most likely not long after the day of the election.

to be back over $5 a gallon, shouldn't we have been there in the first place?

 

[Charles Kozierok]

I have no doubt we will be back over $5 a gallon, most likely not long after the day of the election.

I hope so. That would mean that Europe hasn't melted down and that the economy is doing a lot better.

 

[hal2kilo]

I think you might be missing the part about why we haven't built any new refineries recently and which administration (cough) is most responsible for that.

Yes, it's primarily an EPA hurdle, but I'll give you 3 guesses as to who's the biggest proponent of greenie bearuocracies standing in the way of progress in that regard and the first two don't count.

I would bet that NIMBY is more of the reason that refineries don't get built than EPA regulations.

 

[Londo_Jowo]

I would bet that more that NIMBY is more of the reason that refineries don't get built than EPA regulations.

Winner, winner......chicken dinner. I would also say the same is true for power plants as well.

 

[desy]

Since the US is exporting refined fuel we don't need to build any more refineries and yes no NEW refineries have been built but capacity has been expanded at existing sites to meet demand.
So, its disingenous to b*tch about refineries as there is more than enough capacity esp if consumption continues its downward trend, more refineries will close. There isn't huge margins on refining oil.

 

[Born2bwire]

to be back over $5 a gallon, shouldn't we have been there in the first place?

Oh you... :awe:

 

[waggy]

I would bet that NIMBY is more of the reason that refineries don't get built than EPA regulations.

agreed.

I think more people sue over NIMBY then EPA.

i do think we need more though

 

[First]

Oh Dave, you little troll.