What's The Deal With Gas Prices??

[duane1969]

Perhaps it is just in my area but gas prices are shooting up right now and I have no idea why. In my area gas prices have gone up 3 times in the last 5 days for a total increase of .26 cents per gallon.

Not only should the price of gasoline not be going up, it should be going down! Last year when gas prices were through the roof the average price of a barrel of oil was $91.48. So far this year the average price of a barrel of oil is $44.00. So if the oil is half as much, why is the gas still almost $3.00?

I know someone will probably bring up refineries, but I don't buy it. The same refineries are refining the same oil in the same manner today that were doing it two-three years ago when gas was $2.00 or less per gallon.

This is a blatant case of price gouging by the gas companies and it ticks me off that our government continues to spend billions trying to save the economy and failing businesses while turning a blind eye to this outright robbery of our economy.

If Pres. Obama wants to stimulate the economy then how about forcing the gas companies to trim their profit margin. If people are spending less on gas then they have more money in their pocket to spend on other things and BLAM!!, you have a stimulated economy....

[shortking98]

Crude oil is over $80 right now, that is probably the biggest reason

[OnePimpTiger]

It's all Obama's fault that gas prices are high...it was Bush's fault when he was president, so now it's Obama's.

[Star_Cards]

It's all Obama's fault that gas prices are high...it was Bush's fault when he was president, so now it's Obama's.

lol.

I always found it funny that people said the military went into iraq because of oil and the prices kept going up and up.

[ensbergcollector]

duane- honestly if you look at the price per gallon and where it goes, only about 1/3 is affected by the price per barrel. the rest is taxes, cost of shipping, cost of refining, profit for refinery, profit for gas station etc. When gas goes up, it is hardly ever oil companies. Their profit per gallon usually doesn't move by more than a cent up or down

[JeRmZ]

Depending on where you are it could be the season as well ... prices here in Florida rose 7 cents over night .... BUT it's snowbird season baby!!

Dang northerners .... can't they just stay home!!

[Titantron]

The world's oil supply is almost gone. "They" just havent told us about it. Thats why Obama is sending all our troops to die in Afghanistan. Obama found a secret and endless supply of oil in Afghanistan. The war and 9/11 were all just a cover for Obama and his secret Business partner, Osama bin laden. they will soon be able to rule the world once they have complete control of the world's oil supply. They will also have complete control of the World's financial system thanks to obama owning all the banks. Its true. Obama's war in afghanistan is really just for oil......Joe Biden is the devil.

[duane1969]

duane- honestly if you look at the price per gallon and where it goes, only about 1/3 is affected by the price per barrel. the rest is taxes, cost of shipping, cost of refining, profit for refinery, profit for gas station etc. When gas goes up, it is hardly ever oil companies. Their profit per gallon usually doesn't move by more than a cent up or down

I realize all of that but things like taxes, cost of shipping, cost of refining, etc. doesn't fluctuate by .26 cents over a 3-5 day period. Gas went up .10 cents just this morning. That isn't cost of production, that is desire for profit margin.

Also, that "we only make .01 cent per gallon" thing is a misleading statement. Trust me. I used to be a manager for a petroleum marketer in Pennsylvania. The people who only make .01 cent per gallon is the retailer (in other words, the gas station owner). And it's true, they only turn about a .01-.03 cent profit per gallon. They make the bulk of their money from retail sales mark-ups.

The marketer/distributor makes about .08 -.12 cents per gallon because they profit from both the fuel sales and the delivery costs. I know we would charge $125 to deliver 5000 gallons to a station down the street. Anything we delivered over 50 miles got a per-mile charge on top of the $125. That is why you occasionally see smaller gas stations temporarily out of gas. They wait until the last second to order gas because they get charged a hefty shipping cost regardless of whether they buy 1000 or 5000 gallons.

The producer of the fuel (Exxon, Mobile, etc) makes about 6%-12% depending on their cost of purchasing the crude oil. So assuming they are selling the refined product for $1.50 per gallon, they are making .09 -.18 cents per gallon.

Trust me, Exxon didn't turn $40 billion in profits in 2007 by making .01 per gallon...they would have to sell like 4 trillion gallons of fuel to make that profit in one year LOL

[ensbergcollector]

I realize all of that but things like taxes, cost of shipping, cost of refining, etc. doesn't fluctuate by .26 cents over a 3-5 day period. Gas went up .10 cents just this morning. That isn't cost of production, that is desire for profit margin.

Also, that "we only make .01 cent per gallon" thing is a misleading statement. Trust me. I used to be a manager for a petroleum marketer in Pennsylvania. The people who only make .01 cent per gallon is the retailer (in other words, the gas station owner). And it's true, they only turn about a .01-.03 cent profit per gallon. They make the bulk of their money from retail sales mark-ups.

The marketer/distributor makes about .08 -.12 cents per gallon because they profit from both the fuel sales and the delivery costs. I know we would charge $125 to deliver 5000 gallons to a station down the street. Anything we delivered over 50 miles got a per-mile charge on top of the $125. That is why you occasionally see smaller gas stations temporarily out of gas. They wait until the last second to order gas because they get charged a hefty shipping cost regardless of whether they buy 1000 or 5000 gallons.

The producer of the fuel (Exxon, Mobile, etc) makes about 6%-12% depending on their cost of purchasing the crude oil. So assuming they are selling the refined product for $1.50 per gallon, they are making .09 -.18 cents per gallon.

Trust me, Exxon didn't turn $40 billion in profits in 2007 by making .01 per gallon...they would have to sell like 4 trillion gallons of fuel to make that profit in one year LOL

sorry, i managed to be unclear. what I was trying to say is that the producer's profit isn't going to flucuate by more than .01 in any given day. so, if the cost per gallon has gone up .20, it isn't because exxon decided to jack it up that day,

[StrongMan]

It is like $2.75 around here