The big bad gas companies are making good money, but not great money. Their profits have not increased as much as they should have in the recent decades. Now they are catching up with everyone else.
The price of gas is set by demand. If the use of gas stays the same the price will be increased till the use goes down. We aren't there yet. That's the way it is supposed to work.
There are times when supply is choked. Katrina was one of those. So was the OPEC grab for power in the 70's. When that happens there need to be some controls to keep gouging from happening. We aren't there either.
We have been hamstrung in this country for decades on energy production. We can't build power plants, especially nuclear, to accommodate our growing economy. We can't build refineries to keep up with our demand for fuel. We can't drill for more oil or mine for more raw materials. We can't manage our forests to get more building material and to control fires.
Would drilling help? If we can refine the oil then yes. There is plenty of oil here. But, also have to be careful because wells get taxed to death in this country by every town, county and state. It is almost not worth it to get to the stuff when you don't get any profit for your work and risk.
Would drilling increase the risk of earthquakes. I think the answer might be yes, but, it is not a clear yet. The biggest problem in the near term is pumping water out of the ground. Several areas have pumped aquifers dry and there are a lot of geologists watching those areas to see what happens.
I find it funny that some of the people who complain the most about gas companies are the same ones who don't mind getting raises every year, which is passed on to the rest of us in the price of goods and services. Or they enjoy the larger dividends from investments, but, don't want the companies responsible for those dividends to make a decent profit. Or they rejoice when their house value goes up dramatically, even though it means some poor guy has to pay double what the house is worth so he can have a place for his family to live.
And, don't bring up that thing about gas being a necessity. So is food. So is a house, car, etc, etc.
Sorry, a lot of questions to address
charlie
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edited 05/08/08 12:48pm by an administrator/moderator *
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Refining capacity is a big problem in the USA. That's one of the reasons diesel is higher than gas. Diesel is much the same world-wide, but gas mixes are specific to states or even regions in the states. More oil production in the USA would help curb speculation & improve our imbalance of payments, but it wouldn't change prices at the pump.
But, I spend so little on fuel (26.83* mpg helps), I don't worry. My monthly cost for blood pressure meds higher than fuel.
Amazing. Simply amazing how many of us have the wisdom and insight to know all about the "energy crisis", the reasons behind it, the only way to fix it, and why it will never happen. Even more amazing is all the different answers.
We should have a forum on just how to pick one approach (the right one of course) and run with it.
Now then, I have a very good friend, and a very intelligent one at that. He has the best "handle" on the issue that I have heard to date. Rob85546, you seem to agree with him. Jay seems to believe that there is a Powerful few in this country that control all things worth controlling. They are not allowing production of domestic crude reserves until the rest of the world's supply is depleted, and then they will have control over the only source of oil on the planet, and they won't be sharing with other countries. I don't have access to near as much inside information as he does, but somehow, I would believe this scenario even less than I would some of the ones on this forum. Not much, but then again, it is just a bit less believable.
Just to throw in here...I kinda think the Big Bad Media is not the culprit at all. In years past that might have been so, but with instant access to world information now, if the only news you read is US, you are doing yourself a huge dis-service. I DO think that the world economy is now driving the buggy. That will include the political decisions made in any nations capitol. Witness the food riots now taking place around the world..flour might well be the next critical food shortage..and I don't think that the world economy is a positive thing, either. The forces of evil more like..control food and oil..all of a sudden you control everything else. Plants closing, housing mortgage crisis, add these to the mix and one could get right worried. Calling for more drilling or another refinery..that's disinformation at it's best. People have to look and think globally not regionally. Doing otherwise is dangerous. IMHO, of course.
Locally owned refineries were bought by big oil and quickly demolished. Somewhere I read that big oil intentionally removed refineries nationwide so they could control supply.
More conspiracy theories than you can throw a stick at.
As long as people will pay the price, the more the price will go up. Nothing anyone does will change that. If you stop using it, nothing the suppliers can do about it. If enough people reduce usage then sales will start to go down and prices will then go down.
1 day, 4 day or even 1 week moratoriums are just a joke. Everyone knows that before and after the moratorium there will be a HUGE increase in sales. People will fill up extra gas cans or just wait til it is over to fill up. Daily usage will stay the same. And, yes, the gas companies know that. I can imagine them laughing at these 'shows of concern'.
Now, if you want to be serious, a few month's moratorium might get someone's attention. But, of course, that would mean you would have to sacrifice something and really change how much gas you use. Goes back to my initial statement. Use more, gas price goes up. Use less, gas price goes down.
A couple of points- the economies in the rest of the world are expanding, along with rising standards of living, which means we are competing with more people for the same resources, including food, energy, etc.
The US has 2% of the oil reserves and uses 25% of the oil.
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