Who is ultimately responsible for high gas prices?

Question

Is it the oil companies manipulating the market?
Is it oil traders jacking up the price of crude?
Is it some kind of government conspiracy?
Or is it you, the consumer, creating high demand with low fuel mileage vehicles?
There are greener and more fuel efficient vehicles on the market today. Why not make the switch?

Answer 1

Oil companies and Traders.

Answer 2

The consumer. We are truly addicted to gasoline. Try to go a week without driving or riding in a car. And when the price jumps a dime, people will go out of their way to find a better price. I saw a news report, and a driver said he drove something like 15 minutes out of his way to save 10 cents a gallon. I forget the exact numbers, but he took half an hour extra and in the end he saved a little over a dollar because of the extra miles, for a week's worth of gas. Is that rationale?

But it is inevitable that we will make a change. Basic supply and demand. As the price continues to climb, people will demand more efficient cars and alternative fuels. I am a free market conservative, but this is one of the times I think it is good idea for government to offer incentives, like tax cuts, for the consumer to buy, the manufacturers to build, fuel providers, both the retailers and producers, to offer alternatives. Just to spur the change faster so we don't continue to sink more money in the present infrastructure of gas.

But making the jump to alternative fuels is going to happen overnight. First, most people don't buy new. So there is going to be a lag time in available inventory of used hybrids, E85, etc vehicles. Second, the infrastructure isn't there yet. We spent roughly 100 years developing the infrastructure for gas powered cars, it won't take that long to develop alternative fuel infrastructure, but it will take time. And technology like E85 is still new, and isn't all that efficient, but it will get better with more R&D.

And the consumer is demanding more efficient. The big SUV sales are down and hybrid smaller vehicles sales are up. It's just a matter of time.

http://www.caranddriver.com/dailyautoinsider/11547/suv-sales-in-reverse.html

Answer 3

Primarily environmentalists. They have successfully opposed construction of oil refineries in this country since the early seventies. The automobile population has increased substantially during the interim, hence much more fuel is being demanded. Compound that with the fact that a number of states, like California, have imposed their own formula for gasoline onto the few refineries we have which increases their cost of operating. The oil companies are limited, by environmentalist, from developing the fuel resources we do have. In the meantime, the democrats, who created the opportunity, scream about the high profits the oil companies make.

To put it into perspective, gasoline where I live is $2.99 per gal. Orange juice is $5.64 per gal. If as much orange juice as gasoline was sold, I suppose they'd be raising hell about all the profit in orange juice!

Answer 4

It is a combination of factors. Of course oil companies, futures traders, and stockholders want to make money and higher prices means greater profits. American consumers are more than willing to pay $3.00 or $4.00 a gallon for gas without changing their driving habits (an AAA study shows that most drivers will not change their driving habits until prices reach $5.50/gallon). Government regulation preventing the building of new refineries also contributes to the high price.

As consumers, the only thing we can do is change our habits, drive less, and buy more fuel efficient vehicles.

Answer 5

It's pretty simple logic. If people switched to more efficient hybrids, the demand for gas would be cut in half. The lower demand would cause prices to come down.
The downside is that auto makers would start lowering the cost of the gas guzzlers in order to move them out of the lots. People would then buy the gas guzzlers and the pricing cycle would start all over again.

Answer 6

The Speculators on Wall Street and the Wholesalers. Since a barrel of crude costs less now than this time last year, we can hardly keep blaming "big oil", and the Government doesn't control prices.

Answer 7

Is us with our demand of oil. The companies aren't to blame, they are only businesspeople trying to make money like any of us would. People are trying to pin the blame on Bush and the oil companies, what about us? With our SUVs and big trucks, we are most of the blame. We are not willing to cut down on our oil use because we like it and anybody that tells us otherwise, we label them a communist.

Answer 8

It is the OPEC nations. They control the supply and manipulate it whenever they choose. Remember in the 90's when gas was $1. The OPEC nations had a little get together and now were paying $3.

It doesn't help that America seems unwilling to reduce its oil consumption, as without our vast demand creating a dependence, OPEC would have no leverage.

Answer 9

We are willing to pay, so alternate fuel vehicles will not be pushed until every drop of oil is gone. Oil has its greasy hands in everything, and will not let go. They know we go for convenience, and it is convenient to drive. Even with fuel efficientr cars, they will make billions off companies that do not use alternate fuels.

Answer 10

why not make the switch? i don't know. i'm waiting on my copy of "Who Killed the Electric Car" from Netflix.
But you & me keep prices high Bob, unless you drive some kind of vehicle fueled by your own sense of wit and intelligence.

you know what happened to all the trolly lines in our cities back in the day of the dawn of the auto? GM bought them all and ran them into the ground replacing them with bus lines.

Answer 11

One group that certainly DOESN'T help is the one that insists on being the very first car to stop at the next red light, and who feeds his car extra gas to get around the guy in front, in order to fill a small gap that he's left. Funny, this is the same group that complains that THEIR car doesn't get the advertised 26 MPG.