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"The Real Reason Gas Costs $4 A Gallon"

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ky54 said:
Did he not say he wants to raise the taxes on BIG OIL and cut their subsidies? What effect will that have on gas prices, hmmm?
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We should end their subsidies whether it increases the price of gas or not. This is just like trickle down economics and does not work.

Lets give the uber rich money and hope it filters down to the rest of us. How about end subsidies and spend it on something that will directly affect the price of oil instead?

The oil companies are in it to maximize profit. If money is given to me with no strings attached than as an oil executive I would not use it to reduce the price of gas if it lowered my bottom line (profit). I would take the money threaten to raise prices and laugh all the way to the bank. It is definitely not wrong for them to do it because they ultimately answer to shareholders first, not the American public and certainly not the US Government.
 
shortylickens said:
OK, you clearly didnt read the first paragraph of the article. They flat out stated it only takes them 2 dollars to produce it.
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saudi arabia produces crude oil. exxon and other companies refine it to produce usable products that can be used by cars and other devices. try to put some crude oil into your gas tank and see what happens.

most of the oil that comes out of the ground today is sour crude and needs to be treated before you can even put it on a ship to be transported to a refinery
 
I have also read that refineries are closing, due mainly (at least the way I understand it) to how old they are.

http://www.businessweek.com/article...igh-gas-prices-blame-shuttered-oil-refineries

Personally, I think a combination of just about everything mentioned in this thread is the cause of high gas prices, but I also think it's interesting that no one will tell us definitively what the cause is.

I think if the price of gasoline got back to where it was only influenced by supply and demand, it would be less that $2 a gallon.
 
ky54 said:
Well, according to Obama we need to raise the taxes on oil companies, cut the oil subsidies, and the prices will drop. Can't see anything wrong with that.
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He may not have said that exactly but he DID say over and over again that you can't drill your way out of this problem. A supply and demand issue can't be solved by more supply. LOL
 
Matt1970 said:
He may not have said that exactly but he DID say over and over again that you can't drill your way out of this problem. A supply and demand issue can't be solved by more supply. LOL
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I think we need to find other energy sources. Its difficult to say precisely how long the oil will last (cuz we cant get solid data on exactly how fast the world uses it or how much there really is) but we do know its finite so one day we will have to figure out something else anyway. Better to start now and as a bonus we can maybe fix a couple political situations as well.
 
Exactly energy independance will only come via home grown alternatives.
The US exports bout a billion dollars a day, wouldn't you rather ethanol, algae diesel, natural gas, electric cars ANYTHING other than importing? These options are still imature and finding their way as oil has 150 year head start but something will have to replace the status quo.
Bush recognized it when he said 'America was addicted to oil', a surprising moment of truth and clarity from a politician but like all politicians before and after gutless in 'our lifestyle is not negtiable' Guess what, its going to have to be and since 2008 the face slap was there for all to feel.

Good article on refineries, its title is misleading as some refineries are profitable others can't compete so they shutdown, why would you run a refinery when they aren't profitable? and so that also leads to the price differentials between the coasts and midwest, no sh1t, gas is cheaper where its cheaper to make and local . . . .
 
I wonder how much oil Saudi Arabia has left. I'd imagine they want that to remain a secret for as long as possible.
 
Matt1970 said:
He may not have said that exactly but he DID say over and over again that you can't drill your way out of this problem. A supply and demand issue can't be solved by more supply. LOL
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Except it's not a demand issue. Demand is decreasing and steadily so in the USA. Refining is an issue here and high crude costs. Oil producers are screwing us right now, but whatever. Most of you don't think Libya was about protecting Frances oil interests either, lols.
 
desy said:
I don't drive my car with nuclear energy
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Driving a car (electric) powered by nuclear power from a plant is quite technically feasible.

I personally have stopped asking the question of why gas is so expensive at the pump and instead have started asking the questions of
1) why do cars get such crappy gas mileage?
2) why do cars need gas at all?
3) why are no alternative means of transportation other than cars viable?

There is actually a lot of speculation that big oil and the auto industry take considerable efforts to bury inventions/patents (through legal and illegal means) that improve gas mileage, reduce the amount of gas needed to be purchased, and can potentially hurt their profits.
 
Last edited:
If it costs only $2 to produce a barrel of oil, then why do we pay over $105 a barrel?
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Seriously? Do I need to keep reading after this; does it get better? It costs under a buck to package a DVD for software, so why might that software cost $60?
 
Doppel said:
Seriously? Do I need to keep reading after this; does it get better? It costs under a buck to package a DVD for software, so why might that software cost $60?
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Are you honestly trying to say that's anywhere close to the same thing?
 
shortylickens said:
OK, you clearly didnt read the first paragraph of the article. They flat out stated it only takes them 2 dollars to produce it.
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You clearly didn't read the part about it being $2 a barrel of oil. The key word being OIL and not GASOLINE. Gasoline prices follow the trend set by the price of oil but are consistently being manipulated by false shortages through refinery shenanigans.

My official opinion is that gasoline prices as they currently stand don't have a huge impact on my life in terms of expenses despite driving at least 60min a day. The solution is to use less gasoline. Bring on the hydrogen fuel cells and the thorium nuclear reactors!
 
Gonad the Barbarian said:
There is more demand than just what the US consumes. I haven't seen global numbers, but my guess is they're not going down.

Edit: Actually, they have been down slightly the past 2 years.

Edit 2: Well, this says otherwise for 2012 projections:
http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2012/01/18/iea-cuts-2012-global-oil-demand-growth-forecast/
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Even if it isn't demand then it is speculators. In a nutshell Speculators are just betting on if they think demand will be higher. Either way, flood the market with oil and the price will go down.
 
ketchup79 said:
Are you honestly trying to say that's anywhere close to the same thing?
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Actually, this is more like an auction. And by more like I mean that's exactly what it is.

My analogy was half assed but did get at the heart of the fact that the cost to make something is not what it's worth.
 
Sunburn74 said:
Driving a car (electric) powered by nuclear power from a plant is quite technically feasible.

I personally have stopped asking the question of why gas is so expensive at the pump and instead have started asking the questions of
1) why do cars get such crappy gas mileage?
2) why do cars need gas at all?
3) why are no alternative means of transportation other than cars viable?

There is actually a lot of speculation that big oil and the auto industry take considerable efforts to bury inventions/patents (through legal and illegal means) that improve gas mileage, reduce the amount of gas needed to be purchased, and can potentially hurt their profits.
Click to expand...

And if you notice, all three of those things are things that the Obama admin has tried to combat and been blocked and attacked at every turn by the GOP. The current GOP doesn't care what position Obama has, they'll take the opposite each time. It's the main problem with the US right now, the GOP exists.
 
slayernine said:
You clearly didn't read the part about it being $2 a barrel of oil. The key word being OIL and not GASOLINE. Gasoline prices follow the trend set by the price of oil but are consistently being manipulated by false shortages through refinery shenanigans.

My official opinion is that gasoline prices as they currently stand don't have a huge impact on my life in terms of expenses despite driving at least 60min a day. The solution is to use less gasoline. Bring on the hydrogen fuel cells and the thorium nuclear reactors!
Click to expand...

Do you have any idea how many things are made from a single barrel of oil? Shit I believe you get at least 20 gallons of gasoline out of a barrel, not to mention other hydrocarbon chains turned into other things like plastics, jet fuel, diesel, coke etc. Hell for big refineries in the USA, their Coker units make more than enough to cover all their expenses, everything else is profit. So while the refiners are gouging, it is mostly suppliers causing issues. Why do you think we have to go after these alternative more expensive ways of getting oil?
 
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