Gas prices may approach all-time high within days

[Newsjock]

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_5399278

Gas prices may soar another 20 to 30 cents a gallon in California in the next few days - approaching all-time highs - to the frustration of motorists who have seen pump costs jump more than 40 cents in the past month.

A series of refinery problems and the conversion to the state's summer blend of fuel are the main causes behind the dizzy increase at local stations. Motorists were paying an average of $3.04 a gallon in the South Bay today up from $2.68 four weeks ago.

... Threatening the single-day record is "not out of the realm of possibility," added Mary Welge, an analyst at Oil Price Information Service.

Production of California gas dropped 7 percent last week and stocks of the state's reformulated gas were down 5 percent.

[Ilsa]

1. Yeah, gas is up 50 - 60 cents a gallon here in south Texas since

November 2006. Our gas dropped below $2 per gallon then. That increase didn't take long, did it?

[AnneD]

11. You'd think having the stuff refined in your own back yard...

would make it cheaper-They aren't paying much for transport. Lately we are the last places to go down and the first to go up. Wait till it is Hurricane Season. I am scrimping on my gas now and it isn't even summer.

[youngdem]

2. "A series of refinery problems" ?

Uh huh.

:eyes:


I hope the Dem Congress tears a new asshole out of these crooks. I am sick of getting cyclically raped and pandered to with my gas price.

Plus, it makes inflation BAD. Prices of all sorts of goods go up in response to higher gas prices, yet they don't seem to come back down when gas prices do. Now they go up again, and I bet the same damn items go up in price again.

:grr:

[dkofos]

19. Not if the govt doesn't use energy prices when they calculate inflation

How else are they going to keep inflation under control??

[FiveGoodMen]

27. Maybe they were just closed for maintenance

Like the power plants in CA six or seven years ago.

[kirby]

3. Free market my ass

This is where the so called 'free market' breaks down. What possible incentive does the Oil Companies or Gas Refineries have to prevent this? Its a higher profit margin for them.

[dkofos]

18. This is the free market at it's finest.

They are free to collude, free to manipulate the market, and free to get as much as they can!!

[UpInArms]

26. see how this works? If you don't want to pay the price

you will go down the street and get it for less. :crazy:

Except the price fixing fairy has already been down the street and around the block and has circled the entire country and voila! everyone has the highest price available.

Aren't you happy now?

:sarcasm:

[LiberalFighter]

4. Maybe I should fill up early this month

Takes me about a month to use about 13 gallons.

[orpupilofnature57]

5. Bringing back pride to America,,,suckers!!!!

[dkofos]

6. Sorry, PEONS, due to our poor planning, (again) we must raise the

price of gasoline again. We are sorry you might not be able to
eat next week due to your misplanned budget, but we have a huge
$400,000,000,000 pension to pay to FAT BASTARD lee raymond.

[tridim]

12. Someone needs to "render" Lee Raymond of his massive amounts of fat

and use the result to make bio-diesel.

[CrazyOrangeCat]

14. HA!!!

:spray:

[dkofos]

46. Are the Japanese whaling boats big enough to handle him??

[Broadslidin]

7. Tis a small price to pay for All The Middle East Blood On Our Imperial Hands

:nopity:

[Mojambo]

8. It's going up here already.

It's gone from around 2.50ish to 2.79 in less than a week.

Time to squeeze a few more blue collar necks.

[laylah]

9. Color me ignorant of

international finance "stuff" but what the hell is going on? Oil is "only" $72 a barrel, as of yesterday. :wtf:
Jenn

[dkofos]

17. The price of gas has little to do with the price of oil these days.

This price increase has more to do with lower supplies.

This happens every year now. You would think the refiners
would do a better job in adjusting the supply to meet the demand
but they don't ever seem to get it right anymore.

Of course maybe they are just manipulating the numbers to get the price they want.

[hack89]

20. Increased demand with no new refineries in a long time

is why we are in this situation. Do we really need 20, 30, 40 different blend of gas in America?

[dkofos]

45. No we don't. What they need are better planners.

Unless this is what they planned for all along.

[hack89]

47. California has a unique problem

The State of California operates its own reformulated gasoline program with more stringent requirements than Federally-mandated clean gasolines. I

California prices are more variable than others because there are relatively few supply sources of its unique blend of gasoline outside the State. California refineries need to be running near their fullest capabilities in order to meet the State’s fuel demands. If more than one of its refineries experiences operating difficulties at the same time, California’s gasoline supply may become very tight and the prices soar. Supplies could be obtained from some Gulf Coast and foreign refineries; however, California’s substantial distance from those refineries is such that any unusual increase in demand or reduction in supply results in a large price response in the market before relief supplies can be delivered. The farther away the necessary relief supplies are, the higher and longer the price spike will be.

It is not entirely the gas companies problem - they have to blend a unique gas for California yet it is impossible to build new refineries to meet the demand.

[dkofos]

49. I doubt impossible. Just more expensive to do it correctly.

Just like electric power plants.

[hack89]

50. Enviormental laws and NIMBY are a huge impediment

not that I blame Californians - who wants to live next to a refinery.

[LonelyLRLiberal]

10. Some of us could cut our driving quite a bit.

Carpooling, public transportation and similar measures could cut into oil company sales if enough people would do it. Some people living in rural areas don't have as many options, but they can try to combine errands into fewer trips. Economics eventually may force some of us to cut gas use, but it would be great if huge numbers of people decided to do a soft boycut of the oil companies.

[MADem]

13. I guess BushCo didn't do enough jawboning, to get 'em to open the spigots, see?? NT

[buddysmellgood]

15. That's still too cheap. $4.00 per gallon will force a lot of needed change.

[tridim]

16. It's too cheap for people who don't give a crap about conservation

That is, Hummer and Escalade owners.

Problem is that extra $2.00 per gallon is going into the pockets of already filthy rich oil men, not research.

[kestrel91316]

24. Eventually the folks in the Hummers and Escalades won't dare to

drive down city streets for fear of being hauled out bodily and beaten up for being pigs. The Little People are eventually going to run plumb out of patience.

[hack89]

35. All those Little People in their F150 pickup trucks?

I don't think so. Gas guzzling is not a class issue.

[kestrel91316]

36. Perhaps not yet. Give it just a little more time.

At $5.00 it sure as hell will be, at least where I live.

[BluePatriot]

43. Well,

around my office parking lot it might as well be...

"Look, I can AFFORD to fill my Tahoe's/Suburban's/Escalade's tank! Tee-hee! No problems here! I'm better than you and your '99 Mercury! And paid a lot more! No, we don't have anything for you to do besides make copies, continue paying your dues for 3-5 years, inflation, what's that?"

:banghead:

Gas as another symbol of status.

[buddysmellgood]

34. That does stink, but nothing drives change like angry masses of rank and file Americans.

Nothing pisses off rank and file Americans like the high price of gas.

[sarcasmo]

31. I second that motion. Would four dollars be enough to stop Hum V sales?

I think five is the magic number.

[hack89]

21. I didn't realize how unique California is.

The State of California operates its own reformulated gasoline program with more stringent requirements than Federally-mandated clean gasolines. I

California prices are more variable than others because there are relatively few supply sources of its unique blend of gasoline outside the State. California refineries need to be running near their fullest capabilities in order to meet the State’s fuel demands. If more than one of its refineries experiences operating difficulties at the same time, California’s gasoline supply may become very tight and the prices soar. Supplies could be obtained from some Gulf Coast and foreign refineries; however, California’s substantial distance from those refineries is such that any unusual increase in demand or reduction in supply results in a large price response in the market before relief supplies can be delivered. The farther away the necessary relief supplies are, the higher and longer the price spike will be.

http://www.eia.doe.gov/bookshelf/brochures/gasolinepricesprimer/eia1_2005primerM.html

[liberal N proud]

22. Are Exon's profits not breaking a record this quarter?

[primavera]

32. They have every other quarter

Why should this one be any different?

[liberal N proud]

33. I thought that if they were falling off target records it might explain the reason for the jump

They must increase their wallet
They must increase their wallet
They must increase their wallet
They must increase their wallet
They must increase their wallet
They must increase their wallet
They must increase their wallet
They must increase their wallet
They must increase their wallet
They must increase their wallet
They must increase their wallet
They must increase their wallet

[kestrel91316]

23. We're up 50 cents in a little over 3 weeks.

Time to top 'er off.

[theaudacity]

25. Wisconsin's Governor is going to make these guys give it back

with an assessment on their windfall profits.

[AndyTiedye]

28. They Are Making Up for the Election-Year Gasoline Sale and Punishing Us for Voting Out the Repigs!

They can get stuffed.

[orpupilofnature57]

29. Coool bike ,and your theory I like. Exacting punishment for dissent

It's communist.

[FiveGoodMen]

30. Well...it's anti-democratic

[orpupilofnature57]

42. Anti-Democratic?How?

[Telly Savalas]

37. Gas needs to be really cheap so we can use a lot of it and accelerate global warming.

[BlueIris]

38. Schyeah, really. I'm getting so tired of waiting until I can waterboard to work

instead of having to drive or walk there. Bring on the tsunamis!! NOW!!

[truthisfreedom]

39. Gasoline sucks and will always suck.

We need solar- and wind-powered electric cars and houses.

That's the only answer.

[all.of.me]

44. i agree. nt

[anotherdrew]

40. hmmm, gas seems like a utility to me, they should have to get permission for a price hike

just like electricity

[raebrek]

41. Why is it not in the news?

I mean it is in the news but every time the price of Gas has gone up for the past many years, all of the news sources have been all over it. Maybe the newsies just haven't gotten there yet this time?

Raebrek!!!

[stonebone]

48. kick