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High price of gasoline in US

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  • Moderator
    1195
    I know in the US we've been getting away with low gas prices for years but we have gas in CA, TX and most Gulf states - we expect low gas prices. In addition the news we keep hearing about the price of a barrel of oil, is the futurs market and is no reason for the price to jump as it has been doing.
    In case you haven't been told - September 1 is "don't buy gas day" I receive a message from friends and I'm passing on the word, if you care.
    "Up the rebels"
    lovexxxxxx
    <p>If it isn't fun - don't do it.</p>
      August 31, 2005 4:58 AM BST
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  • Mary,

    I have to agree with the sentiment of "we've been getting away with low gas prices for years" especially when you compare like for like with Europe. In France we currently pay the equivilent of $5.82 a gallon US and it is higher in UK.

    It is particularly galling for the UK as it is actually an oil exporting nation, unlike the US which only produces a quarter of its oil and gas demand internally (even with the Gulf fields). Due to the light nature of UK North Sea crude it is ideal for making LPG and Petrol (gasoline) so what we don't use ourselves is actually shipped over to USA to be refined. So in many ways the current high crude prices benefits the UK economy , even if the high petrol prices annoy people.

    The big problem at the moment is, and has been for some months, not supply of crude but the US inability to refine enough crude to meet it's domestic demand for petrol and heating gas/oil. Every time there is an incident that reduces the refining capacity we see a spike in oil price. The fire at the BP refinery, hurricanes, tropical storms etc. It seems particularly unfair for the demand of one nation to control the entire world. The current events with Katrina are crippling farmers in the Phillipines, couriers in London and weavers in Africa as their costs have gone up but they can't get any more money for services and products.

    The high oil price is here to stay I'm afraid, and I can see it hitting $100 a barrel in the very near future. If you really want to do something then can I suggest you start to spread the word about energy efficiency.

    Simple things like turning off lights when you don't need them, turning the thermostat on the A/C up a degree or 2 (you'll not notice the difference but your wallet will) and the opposite with the heating in winter, using a timer switch so the A/C and/or heating don't run when the house is empty, turn the TV off at the switch not leave it on standby, try to buy energy efficient appliances when you replace, insulate homes better, make sure your tyres are at the correct pressure, keep the car clean (believe it! a clean car uses less fuel), think about a smaller car (shock horror!) or think hybrid (Lexus even do a hybrid SUV).

    Everyone thinks "what's the point I'll have no effect" but if everyone in the USA made a small reduction in their energy demand the cumulative effect would be enourmous. The US economy could even benefit as costs would reduce making profits better. Makes great economic sense to me.

    Don't blame the oil companies, the futures market or even the government but take a good look in the mirror. It is the demands for energy of the gool old average American that lie at the bottom of the current oil price rises. You do have the power to change it but it is up to you, the people, to make it happen.

    Do it for the money, keep it in your wallet don't waste it!

    Alex
    xxxx
    Life's Too Short Not To..... Living on Dreams and Custard Creams...... You're Only Young Once...But You Can Stay Immature Indefinitely.....
      August 31, 2005 9:44 AM BST
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  • I have to agree with everything Alex said. We're on a one way street as far as oil prices go, and that's up. And yet people still find it funny when someone buys a little car to save themsleves and the planet. I'm staggerred at the number of huge four wheel drive monsters that still get bought even over in the UK, there are two monster Humvees even in my little village. Sure it's a matter of personal choice but don't buy a gas guzzler and then moan that you can't afford to feed it .. or yourself!

    Just wait until the Chinese all decide they want cars as well, that's something like a quarter of the world's population waiting to join the in the oil burning game .. and then there's India ....

    Oh I'm off to buy me a horse!

    C xx
      August 31, 2005 12:15 PM BST
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  • me think a buggy pulled by whippets fit in round 'ere.

    mind you have ya seen the price of dog food these days...
    Claire Rand email : [email protected] Yahoo : clair_rand -- Its not so much that I have issues as the case that I have a subscription... [url]http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AuntIsobels[/url]
      August 31, 2005 6:40 PM BST
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  • A gallon of fuel just cost me $7.74

    I really and honestly sympathise with many problems the US has, but I'm afraid rising gasoline prices for the puclic are not one of them. Sure, keep it cheap for long haul trucks etc, but in these days of rising oil prices and low refining capacity, there's only one way to do that - charge the public more to subsidise industry and save the economy the damage that high gasolne prices would otherwise cause. If that means that people would have to use cars with a 1.6 engin instead of a 2.5, 3 or even larger engine then so be it.

    Of course, my views on what should be done are just that, [i]my views[i]. they don't nessecarily represent what anybody else thinks.

    To be honest, when I don't know how many thousands of people are suffering and dying as a result of the same storm that drove the price of gas up, I'm less concerned about the price of gas, and more concerned about people suffering.

    What I think many americans fail to realise is that the gasoline production in CA, TX and the rest of the gulf states accounts for about a third of total US consumption or less. This means that most US oil is acctually imported from the UK, other oil producing european countries, but mainly the arab states. And of course, after this last storm, a truly massive chunk of american oil production has been shut down, not just in the crude production, but the refineries to. The refineries aren't going to operate at the same capacity for a while to come because the workforce in that area has been dessimated by a massive storm.

    The current hike in gas prices is nothing if not a symptom of the pain and suffering in those areas affected by the hurricane.
      September 2, 2005 9:44 AM BST
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  • 588
    Frontpage of our third largest newspaper today:

    PRICE OF FUEL PAST 13 KR
    - prepare for much worse.


    That's $7.70 a gallon. And we are the world's third largest exporting nation - after Saudi-Arabia and Russia.
    Our friends says so:
    http://www.cia.gov/cia/pu[...]ml#Econ)
    So, with a population of only 4.5 mill we should get it for free. And I'm glad to say we don't. The price on fuel is an important source of income for our nation state.
    As for myself I don't drive - even though I have a licence.
    (had to learn during my military service.)

    L.
    “To be a poet at twenty is to be twenty: to be a poet at forty is to be a poet” -- Eugene Delacroix
      September 2, 2005 11:59 AM BST
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  • 2 2627
    I have to agree with a lot said here. We did this to ourselfs.
    I have to learn to rebudget for the cost of gas. I'm not crying about it . It just went up so fast. It was raising before this. But at a pace that I could handle easier. In my area I can get to just about anywhere by bus. But on the other side of Detroit where I grew up busses don't run.
    I rode the bus system here for three years because I couldn't drive. It's thought 2 kinds of people ride the bus, those that can't afford a car or those that can't drive because of trouble with the law. I work with people that will walk 5 miles if something happens to thier car because they feel it's humiliating to be seen at a bus stop.
    <p>Karen Brad</p>
      September 2, 2005 2:32 PM BST
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  • 588
    Yes, Tiina, when it comes to transportation I'm lucky. Where I live I'm in walking distance from nearly everything I need. But many norwegians live outside the cities where the price of fuel are even higher.
    The transportation problems in the US.. I'm aware. And as with so many things it's difficult to point out anyone responsible...

    Linda
    “To be a poet at twenty is to be twenty: to be a poet at forty is to be a poet” -- Eugene Delacroix
      September 2, 2005 3:08 PM BST
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  • 2 2627
    People here are moving farther & farther away from the cities. A transportation system could not keep up with it.
    It's called urban sprawl. Farms a turning into condos.
    It's odd realy so many people are moving they create the samething they wanted to move away from in the firstplace.
    They also get farther & farther from work. Burning more gas.
    <p>Karen Brad</p>
      September 2, 2005 4:41 PM BST
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  • Moderator
    1195
    Guess I kicked a hornet's nest. I understand everyone's feelings and thoughts about "causing it ourselves" but I don't particularly agree with it. Here in the USA we were told some years back we were energy independent - many communities got rid of there inter-urban trollies and trains and jumped on the bus bandwagon which General Motors had ballyhood. In 1980 we were told oil was running out and we had to find alternate fuel sourses(spelling?) and we did have unlimited supply of natural gas- in fact the government made it a point of telling us we would never run out of natural gas. Now we are being told that we have to import natural gas. "Me thinks - we were lied to and are still being lied to" The energy companies as they are now being called want to control - and control they do in this country. Here in this state the electric company now controls the gas.
    As for alternate energies - we have CNG = compressed natural gas - for a small price the carborator on the auto can be converted to burn CNG - there are many municipalities using CNG on there own vehicles. Unfortunately the public doesn't have access to these supplies vacilities. Just recently there has been developed access the making CNG from household gas supplies. In CA there are vehicles running on CNG -supplied from household gas. Wind energy is more available to the public than solar - solar isn't liked by the building contractors for reason unknown. With all this said I don't think anyone can blame the average citizen for causing this problem.
    There, I've had my say. Golly gee I remember buying gasoline for 30 cents a gallon and getting a set of glassware with a fillup.
    lolxxxxx Mary Grace
    <p>If it isn't fun - don't do it.</p>
      September 5, 2005 5:28 AM BST
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