why is it that the gas prices keep going higher & higher? i do not by all the garbage says?

Answer 1

it really burns me when they say some oil compaines are making record profits makes you wonder

Answer 2

I'm so tired of hearing these lame excuses for why gas has gone up. No matter what is going on there will always be an excuse to why the prices have went up so high. About 6 or 7 years ago the price of gas was down to about $1 per gallon. So, do you think the demand has gone up that much in that little time? Also, refineries always have to go through maintenance, it's routine, it's expected. Back to supply and demand, this is how it works. When demand is high supply is low so you have to raise prices, so less people will buy and your supply will go back up, if not you will lose your supply. With gas it can't really work that way. They have been saying for several years that the demand has been going up so obviously the price increase is not reducing our use of oil. We cannot reduce our use of gas, we do not have any alternatives at this point, at least not all across the country. So, we have to fill our vehicles with gas no matter if it's $3, $6, or $12. So, my point is if the oil companies set the price at $1.50 per gallon or $3.50 per gallon we still are using the same amount of gas therefore nothing has changed except the pockets of the oil companies. So, there is no logical reason behind the gas price hike. If what they have been saying were true then we would be in a lot more trouble than $3.25 per gallon gas we wouldn't have supply to match the uses of our country. It's all a crock!!!!!

Answer 3

The cost of oil is just like any other commodity. The price is influenced by many factors. Supply and demand are a large factor, but since it is a commodity (bought and sold several months in advance) PERCEIVED supply shortages also affect the prices. And it is true that new refineries have not been built since the 70's, but it is also true that the Gov't has not issued any permits for them due to NIMBY/environmental activists. The prices of gas generally rise in the spring because refineries are taken offline (and yes, they are, some of them are located here in Houston where I live) to be ready for the summer demand. If you want to know why prices get so high, look at where the prices are highest. In California, the prices are highest where there are the most stringent laws about what gas can be sold. The more government regulation there is, the higher the gas price because the more it costs to make that gallon of gas you just bought.

Also, check out how much taxes come out of that price of gas. Chances are the taxes are way more than what the gas company gets in profits. And the government did nothing to make the gas and provide it to you. If there is anyone/thing that should be complained about in the price of gas, it's paying something to an entity that provided no service whatsoever but still gets paid (the government).

Answer 4

Don't buy into the supply & demand stuff. The oil industry is the most powerful industry on earth.

The US government has deemed that during the summer months, oil companies must refine a cleaner-burning gasoline. Guess what, this cleaner-burning gasoline is also more fuel efficient and provides a higher MPG. So how do you make the same amount of profit when you're going to be selling less gasoline, because the gasoline you're selling gets a higher MPG? Raise the price.

Ethanol is a red herring. The oil companies love it because it gets LESS fuel-economy. This, of course, means you're filling up even more. And you'll be paying more for everything else because the price of corn will increase. Ethanol will not solve any problems, it will make them worse.

Most people buy into the idea that the oil industry is a free market. It is not. It does not take very much logic to discover that it isn't. Every summer the excuses for prices rising is refining capacity dropping due to refineries being taken offline for repairs, yet where these refineries are is never provided. When you look at the pricing model for other industries, when their costs of manufacture go up, their profits do not. If a computer manufacturer sees a rise in the cost of hard drives, it will pass this cost onto the consumer but won't see its profit margins increasing to record levels in the process.

The oil industry is NOT a free market. Saying that it is a free market is absurd. The fact that so many people believe that it does operate on a free market model shows just how powerful the oil industry is.

But you can beat them. Buy hybrid cars. When you're only filling up once a month, you'll no longer care that much about the price of gas.

Answer 5

There has been a problem with refineries not being up to par and not running up to spec so that numerous ones are not putting out their capacity. This has happened due to different problems with different refineries.

The reason for fuel costs rising at this time of year aren't because of refineries waiting to do their scheduled maintenance(s) and such now, but that right around Memorial Day weekend is the kickoff of the summer driving months in which fuel demands increase as people are driving more during the summer months for vacations and good weather and whatnot.

Another problem is definitely supply and demand. With all of the complaining that has been constantly going around since the prices of gasoline have been increasing, the usage has not dropped off. People are driving just as much (and in many cases more) and so the demand for fuel at higher prices is still definitely there. That paired with decreased production levels isn't helping.

People need to think about that when they are thinking about prices. If everyone were cutting back on gas usage, the demand would definitely go down and prices as well. Unfortunately, 1-day strikes (as proposed through email forwards, Myspace/Hi5/Bebo... bulletins) aren't a solution because oil companies are aware of the fact that people are "addicted" to oil and can't just stop using it. People don't all fill up their gas tanks every day so not nearly as much money is lost as is stated in all of these bulletins, and everybody that needs gas and doesn't get it is either filling up the day before or after, increasing sales on those two days which would offset losses on the 1-day boycott day.

Answer 6

There is a definite lack of refinery capacity both domestically and abroad. What was the larget refinery in the US, which is the BP facility in Texas City, TX is still not up to capacity after the deadly explosion. Shell will have the largest facility in the US withing 1.5 yr in Pt. Arthur, TX. That being said, it is odd that all major refiners are doing scheduled maintenence at a time that will keep supply a little lower than demand. It is possible, that with the scrutiny taking place at the aforementioned BP facility, companies are trying to get it together before a review of their facility. Withing the year, Reliance refinery in Jamnigar India, will come to full capacity, and be the largest heavy crude refinery in the world, just a little more trade deficit.

Answer 7

Greed. If people continue to pay the higher prices and buy gas, the gas companies will continue to raise the price until it becomes unprofitable for them. Because so many of us rely on our cars to make our living or even just to get to work, we're forced to continue to purchase the gas at whatever price they set unless we find a better way of getting where we need to go.

Answer 8

In my opinion the big oil companies have created a low supply in order to force prices to go up and for them to have record profits. They have done this by not reinvesting their profits back into updating and modernizing their refineries and by not building new refineries. A new refinery has not been built since the 1970's. Part of the problem now is that there is a high demand, a travel holiday, and a lot of the refineries are shut down or on limited production due to "scheduled preventive maintenance".
Today the government will be announcing its projection of the number of hurricanes that will occur in the Atlantic Ocean. After that announcement you will probably see another spike in prices.

Answer 9

The real answer that is only known be very few geologists in the know, is that world oil extraction has peaked and is headed downward. That means there will be less and less supply from now on, driving the price higher and higher, until we run out completely in about 30 years. No one working for an oil company will tell you about this, because it's not politically correct for them to reveal this.

Answer 10

It goes way beyond just supply and demand. No one seems to have a legit answer to this question. I saw a news segment this morning on gas prices. They say that they will drop by the end of next month, but no one can give an answer to explain why they are increasing the prices.
As a whole we can all write to our governors, senate, whomever with our concerns. People are already pleading for the President to step in...because as of now its the oil company's and NOT our government raising this prices. We are probably going to see another Enron case.

Answer 11

In the last congressional election the Dems said it was the Rep fault and if they got control of congress they would hold hearing and punish the big companies that were responsible. Guess what? No hearing and the price is much higher now! What does that mean? There is not a nickels difference in the political parties.