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: Wow!! Look At Them Gas Prices  ( 6101 )
Henry
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« : December 03, 2010, 09:18:22 AM »

Went down to get my snow tires put on yesterday and noticed the gas prices down at Steeple were $3.149 - Decided before they got any higher would go up to Nan's and fill up.  Nan's was $3.119.  I am sure there is a good reason for this hike, but I sure don't envy the times back when Maryann and I were driving two cars to work, one to Burlington and one to Essex Junction.  I kind of piggy back Mary Kay's trips to Burlington for things I need to get out of town.  Thank God we can get most things here in town.

Henry Raymond
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« #1 : March 11, 2011, 03:28:16 PM »

Good Afternoon, Henry   Your December 3 , 2010 posting of 3.119 per gallon sure seems like a bargain now after a month of drastic price increases.  In our local area, the price of a gallon jumped .10 this morning after the posting of the Tsunami disaster ( price at the pump in Dade City is 3.649 )......which has little to do with the price of the oil being refined now ( which was purchased at a price near $ 85 a barrel ). Look for the oil companies to post record profits again by the end of March ( first quarter earnings ) . This price increase came even with the price of oil dropping over a $ 1.00 a barrel yesterday and even though the Saudis were committing  their country to make up the 2 % of oil placed for sale on the market which is not available from Libya ( reported in Monday's Time Magazine ) .
Is it possible that the speculators who are inflating the price on the world commodity market do not really care about an economic recovery in our country ?? Absolutely , and even now,the Energy Czars are lining up today to discourage any government actions designed to aid the consumer . Is the typical American broke ???? Nope , not yet , but they will be soon .....the consumers will not be able to patronize small businesses who in turn .....etc, etc , etc. . The cycle of recession ( depression ? ) continues, making it extremely tough times for the middle class .   
mirjo
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« #2 : March 11, 2011, 06:10:18 PM »

And those out side the "middle" even more so.

If the world gives you melons, you might be dyslexic
LauriH
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« #3 : March 11, 2011, 11:33:48 PM »

I was at Ross's Auto Wednesday afternoon having a pair of snow tires replaced, when the guy from the gas company came to raise the gas prices.  Regular went from 3.59 to 3.69.  Gas company guy stated that he could see no supply shortage and demand is pretty low right now.  In other words, he could see no logical reasons for sky high prices.
Norton
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« #4 : March 12, 2011, 09:48:05 AM »


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Is it possible that the speculators who are inflating the price on the world commodity market do not really care about an economic recovery in our country ??

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Gas company guy stated that he could see no supply shortage and demand is pretty low right now.  In other words, he could see no logical reasons for sky high prices.

There's no logical supply and demand reason in the short term, and of course those who determine the prices don't care about the US economy.  But if you take a somewhat longer-range view, it IS all about supply and demand.  World demand is increasing rapidly.  We've already run out of most of the cheap easy oil.  World production is peaking right now, we may well have already passes the "Peak Oil" point.  The short-term spikes in prices are due to speculation, but that speculation is based on world-wide supply and demand. 

The folks who control the oil (and the ones who buy and sell it) are not fools.  They can see what many of us refuse to see, that oil is going to get more precious and expensive, and it may happen quite quickly.  Why would they want to sell it cheap today when it's going to be worth much more tomorrow?  The price volatility is one indicator that we are running "close to the edge" in terms of supply.  That's why even minor events in oil-producing countries affect the price so much immediately.

It's going to get worse before it gets better.  We can't do much about it except to use it more efficiently and start to move toward other energy sources.  The oil is running out.  We can continue to subsidize it (with our tax dollars) through big tax incentives for very profitable multi-national corporations, and by our military activities in the mideast, and by fiddling around with our strategic reserves, but that only shifts the cost from the individual user to the middle class (since they are the ones who pay most of the taxes these days).  These strategies only postpone the inevitable and make the crash happen a little later and harder.

We can't drill our way out.  We use one-quarter of the world's petroleum.  We have about 3 percent of the world's oil reserves.  If we fully implemented the "drill, baby, drill" strategy tomorrow, it would only make a small difference.  Most experts think it would only amount to a few months of our consumption.  And there's a very good argument to be made that we would be better off leaving it in the ground for now, since it's going to be much more valuable later.  Not only that, but there may come a time when we can't buy the oil we want at ANY price, and those reserves would be very handy then.

Bottom line, oil prices are determined by world supply and demand in the long run.  They will go up.  We can't do much about it.  This will be a trend, but we will probably reach a point where the supply is short enough that the bidding war will start, and then the price increases will be very substantial.  In the short term, we can expect volatility in the pricing to continue (and to get worse) because of short-term speculation by individuals who can see the writing on the wall.  These folks (mostly) don't like us.  They're going to make lots of money.

The sooner we wake up and acknowledge that oil is a finite resource, the better.  We will have to switch to something else.  We can either start doing that now or wait until we have to.  Efforts to keep the price artificially low will just make things worse later.  And yes, the price IS artificially low.  Anybody think oil would cost the same if we didn't provide those tax incentives to the most profitable corporations in the world?  Anybody think oil would cost the same if we didn't spend massive amounts of money using our military to keep the flow going?  Our politicians are convinced that we have to do these things to "prop down" the cost, or our economy would suffer, but how long can we keep doing this, and at what cost?

The choice is whether we start an orderly transition to other fuel sources, thereby minimizing the pain and spreading it out over time, or whether we ignore the obvious, continue as we have been going, and wait until the excrement hits the fan and deal with that catastrophe when it hits us hard.
Travis
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« #5 : March 12, 2011, 01:09:42 PM »

We have a huge amount of oil shale here in North America. Current estimates are saying that there is much more oil here than all of the Middle East. The problem is that it is expensive to extract and refine. Technological advancements have brought the costs of producing this oil down, but it is still not profitable unless it is sold around $100 a barrel. Although that figure could be less now since the last time I read up on the subject. I've heard of some processing plants claiming to have a profitability mark of $30 a barrel.

Personally, I am Ok with the current policy of limiting our drilling as US and world demand goes up. Let's allow the current countries profiting from their oil reserves to dry out, and we'll see just how much money we can make when we're the only ones on the block with any oil left.
Henry
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« #6 : March 13, 2011, 09:22:17 AM »

Gas prices in Bellows Falls for regular were $3.49 per gallon.  Sharon filled up here in Fairfax when we got home and it was $3.67 per gallon.

Henry Raymond
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« #7 : March 14, 2011, 02:31:25 PM »

Henry     The posting by Norton contained a lot of important info on energy planning and oil consumption. I had heard it before but he articulated the facts as well as anyone.  It's still hard for me , however , to accept that there is no price-gouging on the part of the big oil companies or to not feel that they're taking advantage of a bad situation along with the speculators who are bidding the price up. Today the price on a barrel of oil dropped on the market , but at several stations in this area the price has increased today ( most are around 3.659 ) with only one station actually dropping its price to 3.559 ( competition ?  or concern ? ) .
Norton
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« #8 : March 15, 2011, 06:41:49 AM »

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It's still hard for me , however , to accept that there is no price-gouging on the part of the big oil companies or to not feel that they're taking advantage of a bad situation along with the speculators who are bidding the price up

I didn't mean to say that there isn't price gouging, only that the gouging is possible because of the overall supply and demand situation.  If we (the world) had more oil than we needed, we would see at least some individual suppliers dropping prices to get more customers.  But we don't.  It's a seller's market.  That's what I meant when I said
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In the short term, we can expect volatility in the pricing to continue (and to get worse) because of short-term speculation

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I had heard it before but he articulated the facts as well as anyone.

Thanks for the compliment.  The post was long, but once I got started the words just poured out.  If it is well worded, you can thank the excellent public education I got at BFA Fairfax in the 60s and early 70s.  (Had a good principal, too.......)
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