Tag: Gas Prices

Those Damn Gas Prices

We all get sticker shock at times when we stop off to fill our gas tank….but then it comes down a wee bit and we accept that as a lower price.

But why are all gas prices within a couple of cents of each other?

I believe that is called ‘price fixing’.

Consumer advocates demanded congressional hearings on alleged price fixing by oil giants on Monday after the Federal Trade Commission banned an executive from serving on the board of Chevron, saying he had colluded with international representatives to keep oil prices high.

The FTC said it would prohibit John B. Hess, CEO of the Hess Corporation, from serving on Chevron’s Board of Directors as part of Chevron’s acquisition of the company, citing Hess’ public and private communications “with the past and current secretaries general of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and an official from Saudi Arabia.”

“In these communications, Mr. Hess stressed the importance of oil market stability and inventory management and encouraged these officials to take actions on these issues and speak about them at different events,” said the FTC.

The FTC’s complaint marks the second time since May that an oil executive has been accused of collusion and price fixing to ensure Americans would continue paying high prices for gas, adding an estimated $500 per year, per vehicle, in fuel costs for the average U.S. household.

…

Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) said that “jail time should seriously be considered,” highlighting the financial pain Sheffield’s actions added to households already struggling to afford groceries, childcare, and other essentials.

The five largest U.S. oil companies have reported more than $250 billion in profits over the last two years.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/ftc-oil-price-fixing

But I will bet that these thieves get away with it….after all they own the Congress.

It is not just the oil industry that is doing this….agribusiness….car dealers….you pick a commodity and there will be some sort of collusion going on.

These corporations will get a slap on the wrist and pay a small fine and promise to never do it again….a promise that is broken before the ink is dry on the deal.

Time for somebody to step up and take on these thieves….and I wait.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Those Damn Gas Prices!

As Summer nears the prices of gas seem to start slowly to climb…..but why is that?

Blame Biden….not accurate….blame the Middle East….some what accurate…..blame the weather….

In other words what does control the price of gas?

Well devotees….I have an answer for you….

Between keyboard warriors and comments sections, you might have noticed conflicting (and sometimes even downright incorrect) information about how, exactly, gas prices work in America today. While some popular opinions involve blaming whatever the current administration is for increases in gas prices, the issue is far more complicated than any singular person or even any singular government. In fact, the Energy Information Administration identifies four major factors that directly correlate to the cost of gas (and none of them are the president). These factors are crude oil prices (which are set by oil-producing countries), refining costs (which are increasingly impacted by natural disasters and climate change), distribution and marketing costs (which depend on the individual retailer you purchase gas from), and taxes (federal, state, and local taxes and fees).

For starters, you’ve probably heard terms like crude oil and petroleum come up in the gas conversation. For anyone who might not know, the gasoline we currently commercially purchase for our cars (or any other vehicle) is essentially a blend of crude oil and other petroleum liquids. Petroleum refineries break down crude oil into various components in order to then reconfigure and blend them into fuel products. This refinery process is extremely important, with this factor comprising 14% of your per-gallon price at the pump. Refinery costs are impacted by demand (with summer usually the highest-demand season) as well as by climate change. Since most United States refineries are located along the Gulf Coast, this generally means hurricanes, a natural disaster that can destabilize the stock market, and by extension, the economy.

Read More: https://www.moneydigest.com/1565960/what-actually-controls-gas-prices-us/

It is probably not Biden’s fault, that is being kind, that prices are rising….so please do not use that lie to determine your vote in the coming election.

You wanted to know….you ask I provide an answer….

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–09Aug22

In these days of high inflation we all have been jammed up at the pump….those damn gas prices are just too damn high…..but not to worry they have started their slow drop……but will they ever return to the days of yore when gas was affordable?

The answer to that question is….probably not!

Nothing can make or break a president’s political fortunes like the price of gasoline. As Ben Lefebvre reports for Politico, President Biden is trying to ease the pain by tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserves, easing rules on ethanol sales, and proposing a temporary gas tax cut. Such bandages might bring temporary economic and political reprieve, but they’re not likely to last, according to Lefebvre. Others may disagree. For example, Republicans blame Biden’s climate agenda and are apt to call for more drilling. Environmentalists and transportation analysts say oil prices are bound to fall amid rising demand for electric vehicles and renewable fuels. That may be true, eventually, but US demand for gasoline will remain high for the foreseeable future, and there’s not much anyone can do about it, writes Lefebvre.

The problem boils down to the nation’s refining capacity, which has fallen steadily in recent years, not because of political directives or decreased demand but—in several ways—as a result of climate change. First, there’s the physical threat posed by intensifying storms along the Gulf Coast. That’s why Phillips 66 closed a Louisiana refinery damaged by Hurricane Ida last year, and it’s also why insurance rates are skyrocketing. Meanwhile, Shell shuttered a Louisiana refinery as part of its “strategic shift to shrink its fossil fuel asset portfolio.” It’s being converted to produce biodiesel. Others are following suit as executives and investors adapt to the economic and politic realities of climate change. Nobody plans to build new refineries, and those that remain are old and getting older. And that’s why any future presidents should expect to feel Biden’s pain. Read Lefebvre’s analysis here.

Sorry to be a bummer and pee on the parade….but I thought you needed to know before you got too excited.

You see they, oil industry, will keep a tight control on supply so they can maximize their profits.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

They Go Up And Seldom Come Down

WE all get sticker shock when we fill our cars with gas…..the prices just keep rising and we keep feeding the problem that is causing this situation…..with out some relief this will be a major issue in the elections…..

The average gas price in the US hit an eye-watering $5 a gallon Saturday, and analysts say the record-breaking price is a massive problem for President Biden and his admnistration ahead of the midterm elections—especially since relief could be a long time away. Recent polls show that an overwhelming majority of voters consider inflation a very serious problem and almost half of them say Biden has “a lot” of responsibilty for it, the Hill reports. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm recently said that with “such a demand and supply mismatch on the global market for oil,” it could be fall or winter before prices return to $4 a gallon or less.

Analysts say inflation has played a major role in lowering Biden’s approval rating, which now stands at just 38%, according to a Marist poll released Thursday. Matt Bennett at the Third Way think tank tells the Hill that part of the problem is that many Americans don’t realize how little control the president has over day-to-day gas prices. “I think he needs to get caught trying to do everything possible,” Bennett says. “Haul the CEOs of the oil companies in to the White House and demand that they tell him exactly what they need to get production up in the short term.”

Biden toured the port of Los Angeles Friday and promised that his admnistration will continue to do “everything we can to lower the prices for the American people,” the AP reports. He blamed corporate profits for surging inflation and said ExxonMobil in particular should focus on boosting production instead of maximizing profits. “Exxon made more money than God this year,” he said.

Now the question remains to be asked….just who sets the gas prices?

If you haven’t been paying attention, gas prices are up. This has happened before, to the great detriment of every corner of the economy but gas prices, and it will happen again. Why, exactly, does this keep happening?

As YouTube analyst Climate Town explains, the answer is complicated. So complicated, in fact, that there is no single person you can point to, throwing a lever and setting prices absolutely. Quite the contrary. There is a cartel that throws a big lever to set gas prices, but even they face factors out of their control. Gas prices correlate most directly to the price of crude oil, so the biggest factor in that price is instead fluctuations in the geopolitical landscape and world economy that have an effect on both supply and demand.

That does not mean nobody has any direct hand in the price of oil, though. While the world’s general reliance on oil for just about everything mean that demand is almost entirely hard wired to the state of the world, supply is certainly open to manipulation. That leaves room for the people actually getting that oil out of the ground, both multi-national oil companies and the OPEC+ cartel that directly manipulates supply out of nations with nationalized oil reserves, to keep prices artificially high in order to maximize profit along that curve. OPEC should be familiar to any car audience. It was OPEC cutting off America from its supply of oil that triggered the gas crisis of 1973. OPEC+ now includes Russia as well, but it’s not like Russia has been doing anything big in the world of politics, war, or the control of oil lately!

https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a40243822/so-who-actually-sets-gas-prices/

We are the culprits.  Our gas guzzlers are the problem.  If you will not change your habits then I say suck it up.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–08Feb22

If you have been shopping in the past year or so then you will be having ‘sticker shock’ for the prices of everything has done nothing but rise….especially food and gas….we need to eat and we need transportation so we suck it up and make the sacrifice and spend the money that we worked so hard to get.

The news is much more troubling than the prices…..

A new analysis released Tuesday ahead of a congressional hearing on pandemic-era price gouging shows that U.S. corporations in the food and energy sectors—from Tyson to Exxon Mobil—are pushing higher costs onto consumers while raking in ever-increasing revenues and handing executives massive pay packages.

Conducted by the advocacy group Food & Water Watch (FWW), the analysis spotlights the fact that skyrocketing food and energy—specifically gasoline—prices have been major contributors to the overall rise of inflation in the U.S. Between December 2019 and December 2021, the nation’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) jumped by 8.5%.

According to FWW, overall energy costs rose 20% over that period while the price per gallon of unleaded gasoline increased by 31.7%.

Meanwhile, FWW found, “the cost to feed a family of four on a ‘thrifty’ food plan has increased by 33.5%,” driven by the rising prices of ground beef (+19.2%), bacon (+31.7%), chicken breasts (+19.7%), milk (+17.4%), and eggs (+16.5%).

The analysis emphasizes that such “egregious” price increases come as leading corporations in the U.S. food and energy sectors are reporting growing revenues and huge profits. Tyson Foods—the second-largest chicken, beef, and pork processor in the world—has seen its revenue grow 11% above pre-pandemic levels.

The corporation also rewarded its top executives with higher pay in 2021 even as it raised prices for consumers, blaming supply chain issues.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/02/01/data-highlights-egregious-pandemic-profiteering-us-food-and-oil-giants

At least it is good to see that CEOs and corporations did not suffer the same fate as the rest of us mere mortals.

Biden promises to address rising inflation….and if you think this will do anything to help us peasants then you have not been paying attention for the last 50 years.

There is a way to help us peasants but it is not an option for the corporations pay Congress to see that they continue to make their obscene profits while screwing the rest of us.

Turn The Page!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The Real Reason Behind the Oil Price Collapse | The Nation

Americans have been ga-ga over the slow fall in gas prices…..we have decided now is the time for that bigger car and that long awaited road trip…..I mean why not….gas is CHEAP!

There have been expert after expert on talk shows giving a wide array of reasons for the slide of crude oil prices….but do we really know the reason?  And by we I mean us average mere mortal consumers.

 

The Real Reason Behind the Oil Price Collapse | The Nation.

What Goes Up, Must Come Down

The story of 2014 and now into 2015 is the drastic drop in oil prices and thus in the price of gas……(and the peasants danced!)

Americans are delighted at the drop in gas prices….most could care less what the reason may be…..just that it continues to drop….but for those that care are asking just what the Hell is going on?

Let me try to assist in clearing up the muddy atmosphere…..

Wonder whether gas prices will hold at their incredible $2.20 national average? Based on today’s news, filling up the tank won’t get harder over the next few weeks, the Wall Street Journal reports. US oil prices dipped below $50 a barrel for the first time in nearly six years, breaking a psychological barrier and sending a message: the high-supply, low-demand, low-price perfect storm will only continue. Here’s more:

  • Why: Plentiful worldwide oil production—including historic US highs, reports Bloomberg—ran into a weak global economy last year, lowering oil prices. Saudi Arabia, which produces oil more cheaply than many rivals, opted to maintain its market share by keeping the oil pumping. Prices dropped by 50%.
  • What it may mean: “[It] is very plain for all to see that oil supply growth exceeds oil demand growth and from a producer point of view this imbalance has to be rectified,” says the CEO of broker PVM, the Financial Times reports.
  • Upshot 1: The number of US rigs drilling for oil has dropped for the past month. Many say US shale-oil drilling stopped being profitable at roughly $60 per barrel: “We’re certainly in new territory here,” says a portfolio manager.
  • Upshot 2: Analysts say we’re near bottom but could hit $40 a barrel before a rebound in a couple of months. Some traders are even betting on $20 oil, Marketwatch reports.
  • Upshot 3: Cheap oil could cause geopolitical disruption in nations like Venezuela and Libya, and limit Vladmir Putin’s global ambitions, an analyst tells Fortune.

The one possible end to this story is the demise of OPEC……to some this will be a good thing…..but to others they see a recession coming and the possibility for a world reaction to that down turn.

Gas For Less

Today I want to touch on some subjects that are in the news but do not get much press…..I mean they are not as important as some rancher and his cows or the antics Kimye or yada…Yada…..

There has been much to do about the making of ethanol, a gas additive, it seems that many do not like the idea because it is made from corn and they point to a possible shortage because of our non-quenching thirst for gas……but what if there was a good method?

Could ethanol someday essentially be produced out of thin air? A group of scientists has published research in Nature detailing a new method of making ethanol out of carbon monoxide gas, instead of corn or sugarcane, Reuters reports. Researchers saturated water with the gas, then zapped it with a novel device featuring two electrodes, one made of what they’re calling “oxide-derived copper,” to convert it into fuel. “I emphasize that these are just laboratory experiments today,” lead researcher Matthew Kanan says. He expects to have a prototype device ready in two to three years.

The environmental implications are profound. Critics of ethanol say it drives up food prices and consumes loads of land and water. It can take more than 800 gallons of water to grow enough corn to make 3 gallons of ethanol, Phys.org points out. What’s more, researchers envision a two-step process in which the carbon monoxide is derived from carbon dioxide in the air, providing an “economic incentive” for scrubbing carbon from the atmosphere, the MIT Technology Review reports. The new process could also work on a far smaller scale than biomass methods; the Review envisions rooftop solar panels generating fuel that’s kept in water heater-sized tanks. (More on the toll ethanol takes on the environment here.)

Could this be a godsend or is it just another money making scheme?

Wanna Talk XL—Again?

Any day now I expect the Prez to approve the Keystone XL deal.  Do you know why it is called Keystone XL?  (Pause here for the Google search)………there is already a Keystone pipeline…….the XL is for the expansion to make it LARGER.  As a matter of fact the existing Keystone is in the news as I type………

Newser) – Ten surviving “oiled ducks” and two dead ones have turned up following a pipeline leak in Arkansas, Exxon Mobil says. “I’m an animal lover, a wildlife lover, as probably most of the people here are,” says a local judge. “We don’t like to see that.” The air around the town of Mayflower smells like oil, the AP reports, and two front lawns have been soaked by the stuff. An Exxon rep says there’s “no indication” of health dangers, but the spill’s cause remains a mystery as Exxon workers clean up.

The company was fined in 2010 for a failure to inspect another part of the Pegasus oil line often enough, Reuters notes. As of yesterday, the company still hadn’t dug up the ground around the leak. Meanwhile, the disruption of the line, which runs from Patoka, Illinois, to Nederland, Texas, continued to fuel debate over the Keystone XL pipeline. The Pegasus line transported oil similar to what the Keystone pipeline would carry, Bloomberg notes, and there’s controversy over whether this diluted bitumen is more corrosive than regular crude. Last year saw 364 US pipeline spills totaling 54,000 barrels. National Geographic has more photos of the latest spill.

That’s right, sports fans….the disaster occurring in Arkansas is part of the existing Keystone pipeline…….it is oil from the sands of Alberta that is polluting central Arkansas……got that?

The pipeline will hire many construction workers, if approved……but once finished those jobs will be gone.  The oil flowing through the completed pipeline does NOT belong to the US…..it is Canadian oil…..and the Canadians will sell it to the highest bidder….it will NOT make the US independent.

The political line is that the US will be the number one oil producing country in the world by 2020……the truth is that the oil companies will be the producers not the country…….it is a political game to claim otherwise…it is disingenuous…..

Then we have people like Pickens that is pushing nat gas……and is saying that this will make us more independent…….the truth there is that nat gas will fluctuate in price like oil and the will be no cheaper than any other form of fossil fuel……again the country will not be producing the gas…….companies will and companies will trade it, like oil, in the spot markets…..

As always…..there is only one way for the country to profit from oil production…..and NO one likes it……but if you want cheaper oil then there is only one way to achieve the price decrease…….

So You Want Solutions?

A very much appreciated reader of Info Ink is Terrance or Sibboleth Nation (go to blogroll and visit his site for a different perspective and go often) and I have been exchanging views about the high price of gas and what to do about it………

Everybody, whether left of right, has been bitching that they want solutions to the banking fiasco and for the price of high gas prices…..but are they really serious about the solutions?  Or are they willing to put up with the solutions?  Read on, McDuff!

During this circus we call an election cycle we keep hearing that all Americans want solutions to the problems that the country is experiencing…….a couple of the gas off the top of my head….Gas prices and banking…….these came to mind because I was watching an interview with Nevada’s babbling brook, Sharon Angel…..she was talking about the problems of her state and the country and as usual the housing, gas prices and lack of jobs is all Obama’s doing…..a typical BS answer for those with little brains and no logical thinking processes……

I tweeted that she should be asked to give how Obama was at fault for high gas prices…….of course not being one of the boys in the MSM, my question was not asked……I am positive that her answer would have been domestic drilling……….to begin with Oil Companies set the prices not the president….I will concede that banks are still stealing us blind is a bit of the Prez fault….Dodd-Frank was a toothless python……but the problems with Freddie/Fannie Mac is NOT the president’s fault…jobs… by now we all know whose fault that is……

Now let me say that if you want solutions to high gas prices and the banks there is only one answer for both problems…..and the answer will send the Right into convulsions………Nationalization!

Let’s start with gas prices………Mitt has said that one his first day of his presidency gas would be $2 a gallon….if you believe that then by all means vote for a liar….the only way for gas to come down is eliminate the profit margin and the only way to eliminate the profit margin is to nationalize the industry….any other solution is pure BS and will NEVER happen…..no matter who tells you it will.

The banking fiasco……again the only way to eliminate the boom and busts of the industry is for the government to control the industry…..and again that would be nationalization of the industry…eliminate the profits and you can eliminate the cycles of boom and bust……more regulations will not do it and less regulations will definitely NOT do it…….

The ONLY way to make good on campaign promises of cheap gas and less banking fiascoes is nationalization…..like it or not…….with out it gas prices will continue upward and banks will continue to gamble and get government money to pay their debts….bitching about it will NOT help….only one answer to make it so…..NATIONALIZATION!  Yes, the other “N” word!