Does anyone believe the reasons given for the high gas prices?

Question

The experts say it's because the refineries are switching fron producing heating oil to making more gas, and that we are using more gasoline than they can produce. That the gas prices won't level off untill after Labor Day.

Answer 1

Lies. They are charging what they can get away with. The profits that they are reporting confirms the lies.

Answer 2

From the stand point of a consumer, I ask what about the charging of gas in the ground (old fuel) that is included in the new price rate. Is it fair to charge high prices on what has been paid and stored in the under ground tanks?This makes all the reasons sound more like LIES! If there are not enough refineries then let the gas companies put some of the Billions they have made over the years into more refineries.
Spartawo...

Answer 3

No, I don't believe that what they say is accurate. Last year when prices started to creep up, there was a reported 4 billion dollars in the first quarter as a profit. I believe wholeheartedly that it is greed and corruption at the highest levels that is keeping the gas price high and because we are thirsty, gas consuming nation, we are paying for it and it is like the big industry gasoline people are saying to hell with the middle class, under class, aged and we have no other choice but to continue to buy gas until - we can either buy hybrid gas or do a gas out - not that don't buy gas for one day thing, but everyone go to public transportation for a few months until the gas prices are lowered. I know that we as a people need to get together and send a resounding voice of unity to the powers that be our elected officials and let them know we are tired, we are united and we want it to stop!

Answer 4

Can you really blame a company or a person for raising the price of a product? We can really only blame ourselves! When you don't like the price of a product, you don't buy it.
What would you do if you were selling something that everyone wanted, and kept buying it no matter how high the price is. You'd keep raising the price. Let's face it, it's all about the money! So if you don't like the price of gas, find another way to keep from using it! When enough people do that, you'll see the price of gas come way down.

Answer 5

Actually, this is the truth. One problem with US refineries is that they are mostly old since most states in the US have refused to let companies build new refineries for environmental and "not in my backyard" reasons. The first refinery that someone is trying to build in my home state of Arizona is tied up in litigation about environmental and Native American artifact issues.

Refineries end up built elsewhere and the property taxes, jobs and income tax dollars end up elsewhere.

But, you just gotta love it. The Saudis are in the process of building mutibillion dollar refineries so that instead of selling us petroleum at $60 a barrel, they can sell refined producets like gasoline at an equivalent of $85 a barrel. They think they are leaving money on the table by selling us unrefined crude oil.

If you are environmentally inclined, you should cheer high fuel prices. High prices are what makes people buy economy cars instead of SUV's. It is what keeps people driving less and reducing CO2 emissions.

It is what keeps limited supplies in balance with demand.

Answer 6

It is hard not to be cynical regarding gasoline prices. In my opinion and unless there is a wourld wide depression and/or ression; $2.00 is a thing of the past. I hope I'm wrong. We have a smaller role internationally in producing oil in the US and eventhough we are the largest consumer nation it is a shrinking %. It's a world economy supplying our hugh product demands. These goods and many services come from LDC's :The Chinas, Indias, Asian countries, Central and South Americas countries. They need energy, they need cars and scooters, they need washers and dryers and lots of other plug-ins. Supply is finite and costly to drill and produce.

Have you priced a 10,000 foot well recently and tried to find the best place to drill it? What about a 20,000 foot well?

The answers are somewhere in renewable energy sources, more mechanical efficiency, more public transportation, and even nucular energy untill something better is available. No government subsidized plant energy. Why not subsidized? It is currently very inefficient and resembles the pac-man. It devours itself and it is like a bad codependent relationship that gets worse never better.

My suggestion is to find out what works best for you and be ready to adapt/change in light of your situation. What other choices do you really have? Good Luck

Answer 7

No, I don't believe they are valid, my mother works for a company that engineers parts for oil refineries. They say that the reason has to do with oil refineries but it is normal for this time a year to shut down part for maintenance but they do this every year. They convert oil to gas every year. Every year it gets warmer in the spring and summer and colder in the autumn and fall. People travel more in the summer every year so you need more gas than home heating oil now unless you live in the north pole. They are gouging the consumer and destroying the economy all in the name of profit. Why do you think that whenever the gas prices are really high they show record profit? One problem is Bush has financial interests in oil so he will allow gouging. If the new democratic writes laws for severe fines to oil companies that gouge Bush will veto it. If the government doesn't step in and go after the oil comanies the gouging will continue. If Bush tries to stop laws to stop the gouging than just vote out most of the Republicans out in '08. People need to contact congress and tell them what they think.

Answer 8

The reason is not evil oil company conspiracies. It's tight oil and refined gas supplies, caused by ever increasing demand.

Are the oil companies making more profit? Sure they are. Any company makes more when supplies are tight, because they can charge a higher price. They'd be shirking their responsibility to their stockholders if they did anything else.

This is all due to our shortsightedness as a nation by buying ever more large SUVs and trucks that get worse gas mileage than average vehicles did 20 years ago, our increased driving, our unwillingness to build new refineries and drill for more oil, and our unwillingness to explore alternative fuels.

Increasing demand with static supplies = higher prices. It's simple economics.

The solutions are:
1. Drill for more domestic oil
2. Build new refineries
3. Buy more fuel efficient vehicles.
4. Encourage development of alternate fuel vehicles.
5. Expand and encourage public transportation, car pooling, biking, walking etc.

Answer 9

I do not believe the reasons they are giving. It always goes up before a holiday(Memorial Day). On May 15, there was an effort to boycott the gasoline stations. What happened? the price went up to the highest ever. It is a conspiracy, full of lies.

Answer 10

i heard an intersting rumer that we have acutally been mixing ethonal i think its called ( that stuff made out of corn) into our gas, and the government had to sign a contract saying they will use it for so long, and then the corn companies raised the price of corn because of this, which rose the price of gas, i'm not sure that it's true but i friend told me this yesterday and it makes sence

Answer 11

I had heard that too, but They had something on the news about taxes in the state. Here is a copy of it: http://www.api.org/policy/tax/stateexcise/index.cfm

State Motor Fuel Excise Tax Rates

In addition to income, severance, production, property, and other taxes, the products produced by the petroleum industry are subject to various excise taxes. Every state imposes an excise tax on motor fuel. Often excise tax rates within a state differ depending on the type of motor fuel being purchased--for example, gasoline may be subject to one rate while diesel is subject to a different rate. Determining the amount of tax paid on one gallon of gasoline or diesel fuel purchased by a consumer at the pump can involve numerous factors and calculations. The tax rate may vary depending on the whether the area where the fuel is purchased is in compliance with federal clean air standards, whether a threshold amount of revenue has been collected for the taxing jurisdiction for the fiscal year, and how much is being charged for the pre-tax price of a gallon of fuel.

API collects motor fuel tax information for all 50 states and compiles a report and chart detailing changes from the previous update and calculating a nationwide average. These documents show the average amount of excise and other taxes imposed by each state on gasoline and diesel fuel. API's chart reflects a weighted average for each state, meaning that any taxes which can vary across a state's jurisdiction are averaged according to the population of the local areas subject to each particular tax rate. Where appropriate, the weighted average also takes into consideration the typical percentages of premium, midgrade, and regular fuel purchased in each state. In states where taxes vary depending upon the price of the motor fuel (for example, where the tax rate is set as a percentage of the sales price rather than a cents per gallon method), the state average listed on the chart is a snapshot based upon the price of fuel (as reported by AAA) on the date the chart is updated.

As of March 2007, the average amount of tax imposed on a gallon of gasoline sold in the United States was 45.8 cents per gallon, up 0.3 cents from the October 2006 report. For diesel fuel, the national average amount of tax was 52.7 cents per gallon, up 0.2 cents from the October 2006 report.

Here is a site where you can look up your state: http://www.api.org/policy/tax/stateexcise/upload/GAS_TAX_MAP_MARCH2007_2A025.pdf