Who is mostly to blame for the high gas prices?

I would say OPEC afterall they are ones who engage in the price setting are they not?

Trajan Octavian Titus said:

I would say OPEC afterall they are ones who engage in the price setting are they not?

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They alone cannot control oil prices. If they could to any large extent, or if American oil companies could, then something tells me that they would have exercised that power back in the 80s when oil dropped to 12 dollars a barrel. That is not to say that oil companies have not deliberately reduced refining capacity over the last 20 years in order to possibly boost prices though. However, the problem is largely a systemic one. Worldwide production growth is slowing, yet worldwide demand is spiking due to economic growth in China and India, and inefficiencies in the United States.

We cannot drill our way out of this problem as we have less than 5% of the World's oil reserves yet consume over 30% of the world's oil production. Moreover, domestic oil production peaked 30 years ago, and no amount of domestic drilling is going to reverse that trend.

We cant simply blame "Big Oil" either. The oil industry is earning record profits, because demand is so high, not because they are our gouging us.

We really can only blame ourselves. If we want cheaper oil, the soccer moms are going have to quit buying 15 mpg SUV status symbols to haul their two kids around in. We have to buy fuel efficient vehicles when possible. As consumers demand that the automakers build more efficient vehicles. Practice more sustainable living ideals like carpool when possible, use mass transit when practical, and curb urban sprawl. Conservation on top of investments and research into alternative fuels is our only true viable option.

Our entire economy and entire way of life is fully dependent on being able to move people and goods over large distances relatively inexpensively. The fact is, for all the criticizing of mainstream environmentalists and conservationists, they have been right all along. If we don't look to ourselves and recognize that we have to make some small changes in our lives to fix this problem, then our economy and way of life is at stake. We are both the problem and the answer and if we want cheaper oil, its up to us, the American consumers, to make the necessary changes.

SouthernDemocrat said:

We cant simply blame "Big Oil" either. The oil industry is earning record profits, because demand is so high, not because they are our gouging us.

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We can't COMPLETELY blame them but the public subsidies for this already profitable industry is pretty damn stupid.

We really can only blame ourselves. If we want cheaper oil, the soccer moms are going have to quit buying 15 mpg SUV status symbols to haul their two kids around in. We have to buy fuel efficient vehicles when possible. As consumers demand that the automakers build more efficient vehicles. Practice more sustainable living ideals like carpool when possible, use mass transit when practical, and curb urban sprawl. Conservation on top of investments and research into alternative fuels is our only true viable option.

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I completely agree but let's take it to a new level and start experimenting and using ethanol and hydrogen and other alt. fuels.

No one. It is a natural cycle of ups and downs in the market.

Big oil industries: certainly not, they are the ones drilling our oil and we (as in people w/out my viewpoint) still complain. Hey, its capitalism.

Gas guzzlers: A minor factor.

TheTruthDebunker said:

No one. It is a natural cycle of ups and downs in the market.

Big oil industries: certainly not, they are the ones drilling our oil and we (as in people w/out my viewpoint) still complain. Hey, its capitalism.

Gas guzzlers: A minor factor.

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Oh so they are all powerful because they drill our oil. That's a sign that we need to start switching to alt. fuels.

Che said:

Oh so they are all powerful because they drill our oil. That's a sign that we need to start switching to alt. fuels.

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how do you get such nonsense from the quoted post

You know what, the big oil companies inc. are running around with big flags saying "oh oh, it's not our fault".

yet these are the same people who i read about making RECORD profits.

how in the world am i suppose to believe them?

massive_attack said:

You know what, the big oil companies inc. are running around with big flags saying "oh oh, it's not our fault".

yet these are the same people who i read about making RECORD profits.

how in the world am i suppose to believe them?

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Demand goes up (china/India)
supply does not
prices go up
profits go up

DeeJayH said:

Demand goes up (china/India)
supply does not
prices go up
profits go up

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So Irish potato farmers got rich during the potato famine? I see. I was wondering how they afford all that booze.

DeeJayH said:

how do you get such nonsense from the quoted post

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She said that it's not their fault because they drill our oil. Thus I assumed she means they are untouchable. So I said that when a scenario like this happens, where we're controlled by corporations, its time to switch fuels.

understand?

vexati0n said:

So Irish potato farmers got rich during the potato famine? I see. I was wondering how they afford all that booze.

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wrong analogy
it would be correct if the oil companies were making record profits when the oil wells dried up (famine)
there is alot of oil
but there is alot more demand
if the irish were producing as much potatoes as they always did
than they could increase the price when demand went up

Che said:

She said that it's not their fault because they drill our oil. Thus I assumed she means they are untouchable. So I said that when a scenario like this happens, where we're controlled by corporations, its time to switch fuels.

understand?

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the highlighted portion is where you went wrong

It's definanty the REPS and DEMS fault! The worse part is that we can
become independant from Oil !

The sooner we get Hydrogen & Electric cars as the standard in the U.S. the sooner we won't be enslaved to the Oil co.'s and the Oil producing countries!

1) Leaders of new technologies prosper followers don’t!
2) Pollution is bad! Hydrogen / Electric car don’t pollute.
3) The earth’s Oil is not unlimited.
4) We rely on others for oil. With Hydrogen others will rely on us. (If we are Leaders #1)
5) Companies (Domestic and Foreign) are exploiting our dependency on Oil!
6) We can sit here calling names or push OUR Politicians to create new energy
sources.
(Does anyone remember CFC’s? People can make change!)


http://www.hydrogen-cars.biz/hydrogen-fuel-stations.htm
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4563676
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3675760.stm
http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2005/july13/hydrogen-071305.html

NoMoreDems-Reps said:

It's definanty the REPS and DEMS fault! The worse part is that we can
become independant from Oil !

The sooner we get Hydrogen & Electric cars as the standard in the U.S. the sooner we won't be enslaved to the Oil co.'s and the Oil producing countries!

1) Leaders of new technologies prosper followers don’t!
2) Pollution is bad! Hydrogen / Electric car don’t pollute.
3) The earth’s Oil is not unlimited.
4) We rely on others for oil. With Hydrogen others will rely on us. (If we are Leaders #1)
5) Companies (Domestic and Foreign) are exploiting our dependency on Oil!
6) We can sit here calling names or push OUR Politicians to create new energy
sources.
(Does anyone remember CFC’s? People can make change!)


http://www.hydrogen-cars.biz/hydrogen-fuel-stations.htm
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4563676
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3675760.stm
http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2005/july13/hydrogen-071305.html

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Well said. I've been preaching the same thing since day one. Of course it falls on deaf ears.

More Oil Than Saudi Arabia


"Bhattacharya figures the company can produce oil for about $33 a barrel in the early days, and that, over time, production costs will fall to less than $20 a barrel. "


Oil Shale from Utah...Load up the truck and move to Beverlyyyyy

Southern Democrat..."That is not to say that oil companies have not deliberately reduced refining capacity over the last 20 years in order to possibly boost prices though."

First of all the biggest of what at one time was an American oil company is Exxon which controls about 3% of the global reserves. Hardly a big stick and more of a nuisance to the global energy market. US refining capacity has been reduced due to the operating costs but more importantly the unpredictible ENVIRONMENTAL and worker based LIABILITIES of conducting refining in the United States with its lottery of awards to frivilous self perpetuating hordes of greedy attorneys.

Here is the picture that our so called legal system and their puppet politicians put upon the US people and the global environment. Just about every petroleum related environmental catastrophy and quantitatively the worst, relate to transportation. Thus it is predictive reliable (true) that the farther petroleum must be moved to its markets the greater the exposure to the environment.
So what do the sell outs do? They continue to prey upon the ignorance of their constituency and and in the name of environmental responsibility and HOMELAND SECURITY (What a joke.) ...exact a labyrinth of legal webbing prohibiting oil and gas production and refining near the markets.
Another thing I love about the simplistic sound byte perception of the prevailing US constituency is their propensity towards dynamic semantics. Some idiot media mogul says the words "RECORD EARNINGS" and the public immediately associates that to mean profit.
I guess it is just too much of a leap to comprehend words by their specific definitions. In order for an oil company to make a profit reserves that are sold have to be replaced with reserves that are of greater value. The alternative is what the people at WalMart call liquidation.

Here in the Gulf of Mexico where I work a large part of the infrastructure was destroyed by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Along with the destruction of infrastructure are losses of "stripper reserves". (FYI, stripper reserves represent about 75%+ of the national reserves.)

Here again the politicians kick in to line their pockets and fill their ballot boxes. They have raised fees, increased constraints to productivity and are exacting regulation over technologies they are not qualified to regulate backed by a constituency clueless of any of the related complexity. These are same people that invade Iraq for 911 when clearly the deed was the seed of the elite in Saudi Arabia. BTW weren't all those terrorists Saudi save one?

Maybe one of these days you folks might want to read a translation of a Saudi 4th grade primer and see for yourselves the Saudi love of the American commoner. I said commoner because George bin (Prescott) Bush continues to act as an instrument of Saudi wealth and military power. You do remember Prescott Bush? You know that one that aided in pre-war financial support to the Nazi Party and was brought before a government committee to be questioned about a conspiracy to assassinate FDR.

In short.

SPECULATORS.

Without their input the price of oil would drop by around $15 to $20 per barrel.

(Diesel is extremely polluting compared to even gasoline powered vehicles.)
Only one way to answer this point.
Absolute BS.
With old style diesels ok you have a point.
Diesel can now be cleaned up to the point where emissions are comparable to emissions from Gasoline (plus additives) vehicles.

The main point with running a diesel vehicle is that the filters need to be changed every 10,000 miles, this is rarely done.