What's going on with gas prices.

[Wayne SW/MO]

I think to have any effect on the real culprits, OPEC and the market investors, gas consumption has to cut. Imagine what the affect would be if 25% of the workers stopped driving to work. I'm talking about an equivalent, something achieved by an all out effort to car pool or ride public transportation? If it was nation wide the refinery reserves would shoot up, force the market speculators to become uneasy, and put OPEC on notice that alternatives are coming in the face of high gas prices.

American drivers keep prices high. They can also lower them because they run on one thing, supply and demand.

[SilverMallard]

I think to have any effect on the real culprits, OPEC and the market investors, gas consumption has to cut. Imagine what the affect would be if 25% of the workers stopped driving to work. I'm talking about an equivalent, something achieved by an all out effort to car pool or ride public transportation? If it was nation wide the refinery reserves would shoot up, force the market speculators to become uneasy, and put OPEC on notice that alternatives are coming in the face of high gas prices.

American drivers keep prices high. They can also lower them because they run on one thing, supply and demand.

I don't think the economic equation is that simple. Refiners and distributors artificially constrict supplies domestically for finished product to keep prices high. OPEC doesn't deal in finished product in terms of pricing and production. They deal in crude.

I think 2/3 of the price of gas is market-driven and 1/3 is domestic manipulation of supplies. They KNOW demand is inelastic...especially in the near and mid terms. When you have inelastic demand, the old rules of supply and demand don't work on prices the way they should. My problem with domestic oilco's is that 1/3, not the 2/3.

And it is a much tougher proposition to get 25% of American workers to use public transportation or high volume carpools than it is to get American drivers to stop buying a Big Gulp or Slurpee when they gas up. What you propose would take YEARS to achieve any desirable results. What I propose would take 1-2 months. Distributors and refiners cannot sell finished product without their retail outlets. And their margins and cash reserves are TINY. They are VERY vulnerable.

[Quillback]

Today's Arkansas Gazette has an article that states that farmers are taking CRP land and planting corn on it. Corn that will be converted to Ethanol. The writer speculates that this loss of CRP land will have a direct negative impact on duck numbers.

[SilverMallard]

Quillback, we're going to see a LOT of ridiculously high hidden costs of ethanol. Just hide and watch! 20% of historical food production acreage is being converted to fuel production. That is a 1/5 reduction in the world's grain supply, dude! Ethanol production uses MASSIVE amounts of water that all nat'l resource orgs INCLUDING the ones in the ag industry say will deplete ground-water resources FAST. Wildlife will suffer because of the pen-stroke moves to reduce CRP as you mentioned. And value-added food products that rely on grain like MEAT and DAIRY are going to SKYROCKET!

It's gonna make $3/gallon gas seem like a GOOD thing by comparison.

[Wayne SW/MO]

I can't agree SM, putting c-stores out of business hurts them, and then gas will either rise because of less competition, or because the capital investment requires it. There are still stations with little more than a shack to pay at and they persevere.

I think 2/3 of the price of gas is market-driven

Or more. Getting enough people to find an alternative to burning fuel, for even a few days a week, in order to make a difference is doable, but I agree very unlikely.

Eventually the economy has to absorb the loss of dollars leaving the country, and it won't be painless, but if it hurts enough changes will be made. the changes, as they have always been will be cheap bandaids eventually replaced by realistic options. This will take many years however.

I guarantee you we would not be facing the threat of terrorism at the level we are if we weren't indirectly financing it.

[gonefishin]

I believe there is all kinds of manipulation of gas prices from OPEC to our own federal and state governments. Anyone can look around and see that fuel consumption is down in this country yet gas prices continue to raise. There are more and longer trains than I have seen in years, there are very few campers on the roads in comparison to recent years, SUV heavy automobile companies are going broke while fuel efficient car companies are making record sales. Everyone I talk to has made some sort of adjustment(s) to cut their own fuel consumption. Yet fuel inventories continue to fall and gas prices continue to increase. Makes no sense.

Our economy is geared around energy. If our economy gets hyper a rise in fuel costs help cool it off and if it is cooling off cheaper fuel will help stimulate it. It is a very powerful economic tool and anyone who thinks our own government would not use that to keep our economy in check needs to take a close look at their hole card.

[Ham]

I'm skipping an afternoon fishing trip today because of fuel prices. I just don't think I would have enough hours on the lake to justify the expense.

I think we asa nation will finally start conseving energy because we are forced to by our wallet.

[gonefishin]

I have skipped several fishing trips this over the last 2 or 3 summers because I cant justify the cost and I drive a car that gets 40 mpg. Right now it costs about $30.00 for a fill up. I used to budget $50 per month for gas but I have been forced to stretch it to $60. With gas prices where they are right now I buy two tanks per month. IF there is gas left over after my normal driving I go fishing. When gas is under 2.00 per gallon I can go fairly regular now that it is close to 3.00 I have to stay home.

I learned my lesson during the late 1970s gas crisis and have driven fuel efficient vehicles ever since. Funny thing tho is that I am being now I am being penalized just like those who have driven gas guzzlers.

A lot of people don't think the impact of carpooling one day a week would make much of a difference but think of all the millions of people who drive every day. Just car pooling on one day would have a huge impact on gasoline reserves.

Of course conserving energy is not limited to gasoline. Saving electricity and water both help conserve fossil fuel consumption. Conserving enough energy to make a difference doesnt have to be all the difficult. Switching to fluorescent lights, drying some clothes on the line, washing and drying a full load every time, using the water from the washer to help water the lawn/garden, cutting the amount of time spent in the shower and turning off your computer monitor at night can all have huge impacts on the amount of fossil fuel consumed.

[SilverMallard]

Gas Station Owner Told to Raise Prices

Tuesday, May 8th, 2007 at 7:32pm

MERRILL, Wis.

A service station that offered discounted gas to senior citizens and people supporting youth sports has been ordered by the state to raise its prices. Center City BP owner Raj Bhandari has been offering senior citizens a 2 cent per gallon price break and discount cards that let sports boosters pay 3 cents less per gallon.

But the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection says those deals are too good: They violate Wisconsin's Unfair Sales Act, which requires stations to sell gas for about 9.2 percent more than the wholesale price.

Bhandari said he received a letter from the state auditor in late April saying the state would sue him if he did not raise his prices. The state could penalize him for each discounted gallon he sold, with the fine determined by a judge.

Bhandari, who bought the station in May 2006, said he worries customers will think he stopped the discounts because he wants to make more money. About 10 percent of his customers had used the discount cards.

Dale Van Camp of Merrill said he bought a $50 card to support the local youth hockey program. It would have saved him about $100 per year on gas, he said.

(Mediacom Newswire. 5/09/07)

Who says the gov't doesn't have any influence on gas prices?

[MrDucky]

Im am a manager of 3 convinence stores , Springfield , Aurora , and Mt Vernon , The owner of our company told me last years profit of cfuel sells were about 600.00 from all 3 stores . I just had a fuel order of 6900 gallons of unlead fuel . We paid 2.879 a gallon and now our selling it at 2.889 a gallon . Its outrageous i know but it seems to me the rich get richer while folks like us get kicked when we r down . I watched a television show while living in california , The owner of arco fuels home contains 48 carat gold sinks and urinals . Man im thinking would you really want to use the restroom were everything was real gold , But with the price of fuel now , Im sure its now 96 carat gold