U.S. gasoline hits $3.93 a gallon: survey

[onehandle]

Source: Reuters

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States rose 11.49 cents over the past two weeks as profit margins for refiners and gasoline retailers increased, according to the nationwide Lundberg Survey.

The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline rose to $3.9297 on March 23, the survey of about 2,500 gasoline retailers in the continental United States found.

That was a smaller increase than the 12.31-cent rise in the previous survey, which covered the two weeks that ended March 9.

"Profit margins have been exceptionally narrow for quite some time and they have normalized," survey editor Trilby Lundberg told Reuters. "Crude oil price hikes have found their way through to the pump."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/u-gasoline-hits-3-93-gallon-survey-205105183.html

[bluesbassman]

1. Crude oil price hikes have found their way to the pumps?

At what point were they lost?

Ya know, I'd just as soon they were straight up about it and say that they're just going to go ahead and gouge us because they can.

[unkachuck]

2. it's a privitized for-our-profit tax from the slimy 1%, forced upon the disbelieving 99%....n/t

[Monk06]

3. That's a minimum $1 discount on what everyone else in the world is paying. Americans

better get used to $5 a gal. And forget $2 per gal. Gingrich is completely ignorant of oil economics if he thinks drilling oil shale deposits will change domestic gas prices. Non of the heavy oil resources are suitable for refining into gasoline.

Learn to love diesel and electric or diesel/electric because that is the way auto technology is going in the short term, not the long term.

[DJ13]

4. The rest of the world pays more due to taxes

They also get direct social benefits from those high taxes.

If some people want to try that here, be aware that it would only increase our misery, as our government would never use it on those kinds of social benefits, the increased revenue would just be spent on more tax cuts for the wealthy.

[Monk06]

5. And those taxes go towards paying for road's, bridges and social services. The US will

end up paying $5 per gal without the social spending. The extra money will go into the pockets of futures traders. That canard that the rest of the world pays more for gas because of taxes assumes
that sales taxes, income taxes or any taxes are a threat to your fundamental freedoms under the constitution.

You can't be the most powerful nation in the world if you don't pay your bills and it's taxes that pay the bills.

Right wing anti taxers are the worst form of deadbeat. They think they should have everything without paying for it. Just add it to the deficit and blame it on food stamps.

[Psephos]

6. 40 cents of every dollar the govt spends is borrowed

It's not taxes that pay the bills anymore. It's bond sales. Worse, most of these bonds are being purchased not by investors with real money but by the Fed with fiat money. In other words, the government is buying its own bonds with printed money backed by nothing but Bernanke's index finger.

Every year the Treasury's actual tax receipts are being allocated increasingly to paying interest on the debt. If (I should say when, as it's inevitable) interest rates on Treasury bonds rise to historical norms (or above), the US will literally go bankrupt, as tax receipts will not even be able to service interest payments. This will happen within the next ten years.

The price of gasoline in gold is currently actually lower than it was ten years ago. The real reason gas has gone up so much is because the dollar has been debased by insane printing of trillions of dollars of fake money. As people wise up, the money is increasingly worth less and less on the global market. Look at the spread between West Texas Intermediate (domestic oil) and Brent (world oil). It's currently about $20/bbl. Trillion dollar deficits backed by printed money have driven the spread, and it's going to get a whole lot worse as the world increasingly (and correctly) sees the US as Greece. Who wants to paid in fake dollars for real oil? No one.

[Posteritatis]

9. $5.31US/gal in my neck of the woods. (nt)

[fasttense]

10. And yet demand in the US is way down,

So why should prices rise? One word - specualtion. We are paying more so the Koch brothers don't have to.

By the way, most countries that have higher gas prices also have better public tranportation, frequently much, much better public transportation. Think highspeed rails, and trains.

[bhikkhu]

12. Global demand is up, so prices are up

Speculation has some part to play in that, but the biggest factors are continuing demand, constrained supply (oil being a limited and non-renewable resource), and increased production costs.

[Spider Jerusalem]

13. Because America is not the world and the US IMPORTS over half its oil?

That's pretty simple to figure out; world market prices determine the market price of crude oil, and the US is dependent on imports.

[olddad56]

15. and probably exports half of the other half.

[Spider Jerusalem]

19. Not at all

total US consumption is 18 million barrels a day; total exports are around 2 million barrels a day (which is mostly diesel fuel, and mostly re-export of imported oil processed in US refineries).

[slackmaster]

7. I wish I could get it for that price

[Devil_Fish]

8. I was just thinking the same thing.

Gas hasn't been under $4 here for months. It's almost at $5 to be honest. My Bike gets 50mpg. I just hit my riding suit with an entire can of scotch gaurd, and I'm going to have to hit it with another. My other car gets 20mpg, and I simply can't afford to take it to work, even when it rains. I would trade it in for a leaf, but I'm under water on it.

[Javaman]

11. The squeeze is on...

I remember back in 08' when the national average price hit 4 bucks, various parts of the economy and the nations transportation industry took a hard hit. Now, you hardly hear a peep about it.

Back then there was an interesting article, I wish I had kept the link, talking about what would happen if the national average hit 5 bucks. In summation, it would be an economy killer. The price for transporting goods and services would be so adverce to the consumer, that it would cause a systemic slow down.

Right now at 4 bucks (roughly), parts of the economy are still able to make it, (while some are actually profitiing off of it - I'm not talking about the fossil fuel industry) but when the national average hits 5 bucks, those that were able to still make a go for it and still make a profit, most of the nations transporations sector will take the hardest hit and that would immiately translate across the board to all industry. Why? because it's a run up, not an out of the blue bump. Transporation companies can only cut back on overhead so much before they have to pass the cost onto the receivers and then finally to the consumers.

5 bucks is the magic number.

[BiggJawn]

14. $4.15 here.

And it's not working. Nope, I'm STILL gonna vote for Barry.

[Strelnikov_]

16. The Bumpy Plateau

The net increase in average US crude oil production in 2010 was 0.1 mbpd, or about 170 bpd per drilling rig.

The net increase in average US crude oil production in 2011 was 0.1 mbpd (through, October).

If this number holds, the net increase per drilling rig would be about 100 bpd per rig.

[Strelnikov_]

17. Global Spare Oil Output Capacity "Ridiculously Thin"-Barclays

Global spare oil production capacity is running "ridiculously thin" at less than 2% of demand, potentially offsetting the impact on overheating oil prices of any further increases in supplies, said Paul Horsnell, head of commodities research at Barclays.

Perceptions in the market that the volume of spare capacity, or the amount of production that can be brought onstream within 30 days, has almost completely dwindled could even push oil prices higher if additional supplies are released on to the market, he added.

The 2% figure represents around 1.6 million barrels a day to 1.7 million barrels a day.

"Below 5% it starts getting a little tight because there's no slack for anything to go wrong. I think the general theme right across the oil industry is that it is running very hot indeed at the moment," Horsnell said.

[RebelOne]

18. It is averaging $3.78 here in the Atlanta area.

Fortunately, I am retired, so only have to fill my tank once 1 or 2 months. I do not have to the daily 30-mile round trip to work and back any longer.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

20. It's approaching $5 in California for premium

which is what I have to use in my ancient cars.