If this war is about oil, who is benefitting? Why is gas so expensive?

Answer 1

It's not about oil and never was about oil. Unfortunately in our polarized society where everything Bush does is hated by the liberals and everything the Democrats do is hated by the conservatives, it's tough to sort out reality from accusation. The war never was about oil, however. So little of the Iraqi oil came to the USA that it was ridiculous to even suggest.

As to what is causing the gas prices to be so high today ... it is good ol' Adam Smith economics - that is, "supply and demand". First, lets keep things in perspective. In Europe gasoline is TWICE as expensive as here. Second, of the cost of gas in the USA, one-third is taxes. The rest is a simple issue that there are not enough refineries for the growing population. For example, in California, in the past ten years the number of cars has grown 50% but there has not been a single new refinery built. There just isn't enough capacity.

So, prices will not fall until people stop driving, or until they stop driving gas guzzlers. But again, keep it in perspective ... it's still cheaper than Britain, where it's $6.00 a gallon!

And ... beware of anyone who says stupidity like the guy below ... come on, if that is the liberal side of the argument I guess we know why the Republicans keep winning (and I voted for Clinton, Gore and Kerry)

Answer 2

Ditto the Adam Smith answers. But I'll pile on anyway.

Geologists have long known that an oil field has a finite life span: it builds to a peak and then tapers off to nothing. Add all the oil fields in the world together and the same principle holds true. The easy oil is all gone. The hard to get oil is a lot more expensive to get.

On the demand side you've got one billion Chinese and one billion Indians who now want their slice of the oil pie and are willing to pay for it. That's one third of the world population that has just bellied up to the bar.

I'm surprised oil is still so cheap.

Answer 3

It's not about the oil. The U.S. invaded Afghanistan first and Afghanistan has no oil.

The top three oil suppliers to the USA are: 1. The North Sea Oil Fields; 2. Venezuela Oil Fields; 3. Prudhome Bay, Alaska.

Iraq is the USA's number 6 oil supplier. We can live without Iraqi oil.

The USA is currently stabilizing Iraq from becoming another Islamic fundametalist terrorist base of operations. If the US pulls out of Iraq now, we'll just have to go back later when Iraq funded terrorists again attack the USA. So lets finish the job we started.

Way back in 2001/2002 President Bush and General Colin Powell clearly stated to the American people that a land war in Afghanistan/Iraq will be long and messy. The Democratic Party and liberals seem to have forgotten this message!

Answer 4

It is not about oil and the price of gas goes up every summer with increased travel. It is about supply and demand. Think of it like fruit and vegetables at the grocery store, when a fruit or vegetable is in season, it is cheaper because there are more of them. Gas is the same way. When there is an increased demand for oil it makes the supply less. If the demand is still high, the price will increase as well.

Answer 5

It's not, why else would Iragi oil contracts sell mostly to China and India?

Gas prices are linked to the price of oil obviously, but the US suffers from a serious lack of refining capacity. Also gasoline markets are not homogenous because of so many state and local requirements for blends and additives. And finally, federal, state and local gas taxes are more than the profit margin at the pump.

More importantly, gas prices adjusted for inflation have not gone up much if at all in 30 years. If you think our prices are high, buy a gallon in Europe!

Answer 6

This latest price hike is the summer supply and demand cycle coupled with PLANNED refinery outages across the nation. There's no shortage of crude oil.

To drive the price of gasoline up, refinery owners across the nation secretly planned outages due to needed maintenance for May and June. Since the supply of available gasoline is smaller, the price goes up.

Our biggest refinery will be back in full operation just before the 4th of July. We don't expect to see a drop in gas prices until August.

Answer 7

The was not and is not about oil

as to the current price, look to your liberal tree hugging friends who whine about the maintenance shutdowns (required for safety) of the refineries. Oil companies have been warning us for decades the we do not have enough production capacity for making gasoline, but the eco-Nazi's wont allow them to build any more refineries

Answer 8

The war was about long term access to and control of Iraq's oil. Right now, it is Haliburton and the other contractors who are benefitting. The military goes in and destroys the country, then US taxpayers fork over billions to rich private US corporations to rebuild everything we destroyed. Meanwhile, billions of dollars have simply disappeared! (i.e., were stolen...)

Answer 9

The oil companies. Because they desire more and more profit, and they can get it because we're stupid enough to pay for it.

Answer 10

2.49 in US
5.10 in england

be thankful