Will wonders never cease!? I was going on about $2.329 gas and today I managed to fill up for even less! I suppose in Kansas and Indiana gas is back to 25 cents a gallon, right???
Still...it's nice to think that there's gas under two bucks somewhere!
So tell me....have we hit the Mother Lode of oil somewhere in the US? What was all the $3.15 gas about other than the oil companies wanting to get richer? I can't see that anything has changed in terms of supply and demand other than we have gotten through the summer. I know the oil companies think we use more gas in the summer as we go on vacation, but I'll bet you anything that $3.15 gas curtailed a LOT of vacations.
I believe in the concept of supply and demand, but I'd like to see a little less GREED at work here. And, I'd also like to see natural supply and demand, not those which are artificially created. It's almost as though we are returning to the era of the robber barons.
It's nice to see the cost of gas dropping. Now, what would be a reasonable cost for a gallon of gas?
Comments (3)
Elder Brother didn't go anywhere this summer--partly because of the cost of gasoline (at least, that's what he wrote me!) I drove more than usual--as you well know. Regardless, I hate to sound paranoid but I have to believe that there is a political element to the price manipulation. Am I just cynical?
Posted by Cop Car | October 5, 2006 8:14 PM
Posted on October 5, 2006 20:14
OPEC raised their production levels - now they want to lower them again to raise the prices. Don't know if the members will go with it, but speculators may quit jumping ship and between the two it will keep the price of oil per barrel from going any lower - and perhaps start it headed the other way.
Speculators can do a lot on the market (remember the housing boom where speculators were running up the housing prices).
There is also more supply becuase of higher production, for now, and less use (kids are in school so mom doesn't have to drive them to the beach, the mountains, to camp outs etc - plus, not many people go to Niagra falls after Labor Day).
And, we aren't the only ones using oil - China has been slowing down on their need for oil (which had been increasing at an astounding rate) - although how long that will last is anyone's guess.
Posted by bogie | October 6, 2006 7:37 AM
Posted on October 6, 2006 07:37
No, Cop Car, I don't think you're the least bit cynical. I agree with you.
Bogie, yes...there are a number of things we aren't doing now that we might have done in the summer, but we are now into the season of "Mom as Chauffeur," where mothers are taking kids to and from school, going to sports and band and dance and all sorts of other obligations, so there's more travel around home on a daily basis. And, as weather gets worse, people are more likely to drive or take public transportation, rather than walk or bicycle. I agree that most of us are not taking long car trips right now, but they will be around Thanksgiving and Christmas, so is there really a difference in the amount of gas use by season? For farmers, yes, but I'm not so sure about the populace in general.
I didn't know that China was slowing down on oil consumption. I thought I'd NEVER hear that!
Posted by buffy | October 6, 2006 3:13 PM
Posted on October 6, 2006 15:13