Gasoline Prices Options

[impala454]

Just thought it'd be some interesting questions to ask. As always, explain what your choices were and why. If there's a sensible choice in one of the questions I left out, I'll add it.

[cmac]

george bush
impeach bush
(i have no support for my beliefs)

[James]

Gas companies looking for a bigger profit, who can blame them.

Nothing to be done about it short of not buying anymore gas, but we can't do that with no practical alternatives out there. It's not the government's business and they need to stay out of it. Laissez faire and such.

I think it'll go back to under $3.00, if only for a short while. This spike was just due holiday/summer. If it goes back over $3.00 during the winter/non-holiday, then it's not coming back down.

[jonathan83]

i think it could go back under 2.50, but never lower than that. and that's being optimistic.

the reason gas prices are going up is because there's a high demand, and a short supply at the moment. the iraq war doesnt help, but if we weren't in iraq, i bet the same thing would be happening.

we need to drive less, come up with better public transportation, and also switch to something besides oil.

[impala454]

I think gas prices are fairly high, but adjusted for inflation I think we're right where we should be (or perhaps on a slight spike). I think we just happened to have a 5-10 year period of insanely low prices, which makes today's prices look outrageous. I recall gas as low as $0.75 when I was a sr in high school, which, adjusted for inflation, was the lowest price in the history of gasoline in the US. we just happened to grow up during those times, and now get pissed that it's back to a more "normal" price.

[THECHICKEN]

We all know there is infinite oil in the world, therefore it can't be demand and supply.

[schwab]

I chose other for the first one, there is an increase in demand from China and India, which is causing less to come our way when we are demanding more...which causes higher prices

also, refineries are doing their yearly shut down over summers so that prices go up when people use gas the most

i chose 1.50-2.00, i honestly believe it will go back down to that area

i also think it will be a combination of all of those factors to lower gas prices

[impala454]

yeah i've heard of a lot of temporary refinery shutdowns, which is probably the cause for the recent spike.

[James]

Just wait until we have a hurricane wipe out a few refineries this summer. Wheeee.

[schwab]

just out of curiosity, does anyone here really do anything different now that gas prices are going up? As in walking anywhere/biking/so on?

[James]

Not I. Not much more I can do to become thrifty in anything I do short of dying

[Billy]

I hope we expand our deep sea exploration efforts. Expensive, yes. But hopefully we'll find some huge wells.

[Seeker]

There are a couple of things we can do:

1. Cap the profits of oil companies. They don't need 30+ billion profits IN ONE QUARTER. I believe in laissez-faire, capitalism, etc. but when it comes to something that affects interstate commerce, shipping, the economy, etc. then the government needs to step in. If a company has profits that large it's obviously not due to supply and demand, but due to price-gouging.

2. Divert funds paying for the Iraq war and create a Manhattan project dedicated to finding and creating a cheaper, cleaner, and renewable source of energy.

[Hartmann]

The current spike in prices has nothing to do with supply and demand, it has to do with the refinery capacity and the current economy.

I figure we'll see gas drop below $2.50 at the end of summer (with no huge natural disasters or refinery problems).

There is currently no incentive for oil companies to build refineries, it's not a money maker. Simply bringing the oil out of the ground makes the money, so why do anything else?

Oil prices haven't really gone up, only gas prices.

[Dogmeat]

I think it's funny how everyone is talking about refining capacity right now and blaming the oil companies.

Do you people understand what a total joke it is to try and expand a refinery, let alone build a new one?

Christ the *TINY* refinery I worked at owned by a PRIVATE company had the EPA literally SPYING on us at least two or three times a fucking month, and we had one of the cleanest environmental records in the rockies!

It's un fucking believable how naive people are about this. If you want cheap gas, then support BUILDING AND EXPANDING refineries, IE, don't fucking vote for a bunch of god damned hippies and socialists ....

The other thing is, as far as crude prices go, it's OPEC aka the saudi royal family that is dictating prices to the rest of the world, not american oil companies.