Gas Prices.....What To Think?

[onmyknees]

As gas pushes $4.00 a gallon, and takes it's toll on consumer spending and household budgets it can be difficult if not impossible to discern exactly why it's spiking at a non traditional time of year, and despite a mild winter.

We've been hearing much about it. News Anchors, Newspapers, politicians, Administration officials.....and most of them will be blaming it on everything from nasty oil future speculators, to the insatiability in Iran, to greedy Texas oil men. But that's not what they were saying in 2007. Not by a long shot. As you watch the shuffle and the okey-doke, I thought it would be instructive to see what Democratic leaders were saying the last time gas prices put a hurtin' on us...The Pelosi clip is gleefully instructive. Funny thing is, I visited her site, the congressional democratic web site, googled all her press conferences for the past 10 days..........and not really much to report. And then there's Debbie Downer....check out what she said in 2007. Sound familiar ? But at least she's consistent, just Friday she blamed high gas prices on Bush again. LMAO. Could it be that these two were playing politics with gas prices back in 2007? Unthinkable.....isn't it? So if 3 dollar gas was Bush's doing in 2007.....what are we to think now? Hypocrisy? Watch the Vids.
Funny thing about karma, it has a way of coming back on you.

[robertlouis]

UK price currently north of 9$ per gallon.

Oh, and let's not forget that wholesale prices are at their highest for some years because of tensions in the middle east, mostly around Iran.

[trish]

The U.S. consumer is not paying what the rest of the world is paying. Much of what we refine in the Gulf is exported. The current rise in U.S. prices at the pump is due to speculators anticipating possible Iranian actions [to] slow the flow of oil to the west, perhaps even blocking the Straits of Hormuz.

[Stavros]

As gas pushes $4.00 a gallon, and takes it's toll on consumer spending and household budgets it can be difficult if not impossible to discern exactly why it's spiking at a non traditional time of year, and despite a mild winter.

We've been hearing much about it. News Anchors, Newspapers, politicians, Administration officials.....and most of them will be blaming it on everything from nasty oil future speculators, to the insatiability in Iran, to greedy Texas oil men. But that's not what they were saying in 2007. Not by a long shot. As you watch the shuffle and the okey-doke, I thought it would be instructive to see what Democratic leaders were saying the last time gas prices put a hurtin' on us...The Pelosi clip is gleefully instructive. Funny thing is, I visited her site, the congressional democratic web site, googled all her press conferences for the past 10 days..........and not really much to report. And then there's Debbie Downer....check out what she said in 2007. Sound familiar ? But at least she's consistent, just Friday she blamed high gas prices on Bush again. LMAO. Could it be that these two were playing politics with gas prices back in 2007? Unthinkable.....isn't it? So if 3 dollar gas was Bush's doing in 2007.....what are we to think now? Hypocrisy? Watch the Vids.
Funny thing about karma, it has a way of coming back on you.

So, are you actually interested in the price of gasoline and why it has been increasing? Answer: no. I don't really care about your loathing of the Democrats, its your country and your burden if you distort history to serve your lost cause.

You might want to pause and ask what impact the sanctions regime is going to have on Iran and the wider issue of oil prices. To add to the speculators buying oil futures, there is the spectre of 1951 all over again, which was indeed a disaster for Iran at the time, but more so than it would be now, and something that has hardened opinion in Iran where legislative elections are held in a few months time -your country's interfering has possibly done more for the extremists than would have been the case had you had the courage to open a dialogue on the growth of the nuclear option in the Middle East.

North of the border, the Russians are rubbing their hands with glee as the price per barrel rises, and which could possibly help them subsidise the cost of their latest weaponry on its way to Syria.

If anything, in the USA this could make it more urgent for policymakers to rush into the shale oil/tar sands industry to relieve the domestic need for imports and steady conceivably even lower gas prices, although it will take up to five years for this to feed into your retail outlets. The importance of environmental protection -eg unresolved issues around hydraulic fracking and the XL pipeline- could be sidelined by panic if high gas prices are perceived to be a key issue for voters in November.

So many serious issues derive from your own question, we await your serious response.

[robertlouis]

The U.S. consumer is not paying what the rest of the world is paying. Much of what we refine in the Gulf is exported. The current rise in U.S. prices at the pump is due to speculators anticipating possible Iranian actions [to] slow the flow of oil to the west, perhaps even blocking the Straits of Hormuz.

Yep, and only when US consumers start to buy the cars that the rest of the world drives, ie smaller and more fuel-efficient, will there be tangible evidence that you finally get it. Granted, it's all relative, and there's no doubt that hikes in fuel prices affect people in the US just as they do elsewhere, but until or unless your politicians grasp the nettle, you are cosseted by comparison to almost every other country in the west.

[Dino Velvet]

Gas is very expensive in California. The other day I was in LA traffic and saw an attendant at a Mobil station changing the price raising it six cents. I get 91 Octane and it's about $4.35 now. I also drive a full-size Chevy Truck with a 5.3 liter V8. It's my only vehicle. I'm a landlord and need a truck. I've been trying real hard to budget and conserve and doing pretty good. First I started budgeting my miles, now I think of things in blocks and have been able to stretch a tank of gas out. I paid $107+ to fill 'er up last time at Chevron in Westwood.

I've been dealing with things but I wish the damn prices would go down.

[BluegrassCat]

Funny thing is, I visited her [Pelosi's] site, the congressional democratic web site, googled all her press conferences for the past 10 days..........and not really much to report.

Even funnier thing is, when I googled Pelosi and gas prices, it turns out she released a lengthy statement on the issue (in which she blames speculation) not 5 days ago. With quality research like that, you must work for Fox News.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/nancy-...ing-gas-prices

[tslvr]

$1.89 when Obama took office and his Energy Secretary wants our gas prices in the Europe range of $8-$9 a gallon. Really doing a nice job of protecting the interests of the 'middle class'

[trish]

$1.89 when...

Chart from Gas Buddy ->

[muh_muh]

in what universe is less than 1$ per litre a high price for petrol (its not bloody gaseous)?