Well, I Spoke Too Soon

[ProfessorGAC]

Saturday there was a thread about gas prices going back up.
A fellow illinoisan reported gas jumped up 50 cents, but I replied that we had seen no such thing, 90-100 miles away.
Well, today gas at the Circle K went to $3.999. It was $3.629. So, over 10%.
Crude prices, all grades went DOWN over 2% today.
The market is still broken.
And, don't give me supply & demand. The number of refineries in the US operating at 100% is zero, and 100% is really 90.25%. (It's an accounting thing.)
This increase makes less sense than the original panic increase.

[onecaliberal]

1. It's over 5 dollars a gallon in California. I never expect it to go down again.

[SalamanderSleeps]

2. Bright side - At least California is taking the steps to get off oil.

[onecaliberal]

9. Definitely. We have a great Governor. I'm not complaining, it just never goes down once it rises.

[Srkdqltr]

3. It's totally greed. Cashing in because they can.

[ProfessorGAC]

12. Who, Though?

Refiners are just fortunate beneficiaries of high market prices. They don't set the price.
Sure, they're happy when prices spike, but if we're looking for the cause, looking at refiners isn't likely getting us anywhere.

[uponit7771]

26. Oil corps have their own speculators trading oil and gas ... some real insider shit there

[Beartracks]

17. It would be cool if workers could "pass their costs along" to their consumer/employer.

[babylonsister]

4. And then blamed on the hurricane.

That's the pattern.

[ProfessorGAC]

13. Probably So

But, half the refineries in those areas are nowhere near the path of the storm.
A normal overreaction by the marketeers.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

5. Our petro-corporate masters want GOP tax breaks and de-regulation.

Roe, Roe, Roe your vote
against theocracy!
Republicans revoke your rights
and kill democracy!

THESE are the races that will determine control of the House of Representatives:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100217192221

Stick 'em up for a blue wave: https://www.democraticunderground.com/100217078977

[moondust]

6. Election campaign?

Does "somebody" really really really want the "fossil fuel/deregulation/tax cut" party back in power?

[rsdsharp]

7. Last week, in the Des Moines area, gas jumped from $3.189 to 3.689 per gallon.

[niyad]

8. went from a steady downward trend the last couple of months. .3.54 on Friday,

to 3.67 again today (was 3.67 last Monday).

[ProfessorGAC]

11. Same Thing Happened Here

Dropped nearly $2 over 8-10 weeks, the shot back up today.

[SharonAnn]

10. It's 2.99 - 3.09 today in Chattanooga. TN.

[dchill]

14. Occam says politics is the answer.

[PatrickforB]

15. Two words: PRICE GOUGING.

Timing is good for the greed-heads, too. Right before the election. They will work to keep the prices high right through the end of October, while at the same time the right wing noise machine tries to deflect attention from the Dobbs decision.

Remember Dennis Nedry trying to get the dilophosaurus to fetch? It tracked the stick and then refocused on Nedry right away? This is how women are going to be come election day:

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

16. Why driving gas efficient cars has always been a priority for me.

I have NEVER understood the appeal of gas-guzzling vehicles. Never. Plus, you'd be surprised at how much cargo smaller cars can hold.

I had a Honda Civic that I often said was had a two, possibly a three body trunk. People would laugh, and then I'd open the trunk. Really, it would easily have held two or three bodies.

My current car is a Honda Fit, and while getting even two bodies in the back would be tricky, the more important problem is that anyone could see inside, and see those bodies. So body transport isn't happening anymore.

I do take relatively long drives a few times a year, which is why I'm not keen on all-electric vehicles. Next month I'll be having Thanksgiving in Belen, NM. I live in Santa Fe. I'll be going there with a friend, also in Santa Fe, who has a Tesla. I'm happy for him to drive, since I'm not keen on driving myself if I can get out of it. He told me we'd need to stop on the way home for about 30 minutes to recharge. I made some silly remark about reading a book or some such, but with a gasoline car, the stop to refuel would be about three minutes.

When I'm going from Santa Fe to Kansas City, I'm not about to stop several times for 30 minutes, or more likely more, just to charge up.

Hybrid cars do seem to make the most sense, and if I ever get another car, it will probably be a hybrid.

[ProfessorGAC]

27. Not Super Recent, But...

...I'll think you'll dig this story as it relates to your post.
Back when gas as still $5+ per gallon, guy at Circle K moaning about the price of gas for his huge 4 door Ram truck & he was filling the truck, then when in to get drinks or something, WITH THE ENGINE RUNNING.
The appeal of gas guzzlers notwithstanding (I don't get it either), this guy was burning gas for nothing.
That, I understand even less!

[Soxderrube]

18. Mid Terms

What better way to get voters to vote for the repigs, increase gas prices and blame the democrats

[lonely bird]

19. I get fuel efficient cars...

That said, I am 6’8” tall. About the only thing I really fit in while not being a real gas guzzler is a Toyota Sienna. I get about 25 mpg.

Now the gas price thing is something else.

There is no such thing as the “law” of supply and demand. There is no price fairy that raises or lowers prices. Only human beings can do that. They do it for a variety of reasons including declining margins. Basically, it is a psychological response of greed/fear.

[Lithos]

20. There are several "unplanned" maintenance activities going on

Only seems to happen when reserves are at their bottom.

“Oil Price Information Service reports that several local refineries are undergoing unplanned maintenance as fuel inventories are at their lowest levels in a decade, which caused Los Angeles wholesale gas prices to rise sharply this week,” said Doug Shupe, the Automobile Club of Southern California’s corporate communications and programs manager.

https://timesofsandiego.com/business/2022/09/24/sorry-san-diego-county-gas-prices-shooting-up-again/



L-

[ProfessorGAC]

25. I saw That, Too

I'm skeptical of that as a cause of a 10% increase.
The hurricane makes more sense as a cause because the commodity markets overreact to everything.

[Lithos]

28. Agreed

Gas also is regional/state formulated. Ie, there is a Summer season formulation for some areas. So, the hurricane should have minimal impact to California unless it impacted the pipelines (which it shouldn't).

[Rebl2]

21. Strange

Where I am in MO. it went from 3.34 last week down to 3.29 today.

[Cozmo]

22. High gas prices are nothing more than fucking corporate greed!

I'm so glad that the pandemic allowed corporations to take advantage of their customers and their government to such a lucrative shit show which is now our economy.

[crickets]

23. Oddly enough, our neck of the woods finally caught a break on the price of gas.

I noticed the highest priced gas station in town was posting $2.99 tonight. 🤷‍♀️

It makes no sense, but I'm going to take advantage of it and fill up tomorrow.

[moondust]

24. Crude oil & natural gas prices.

USD/bbl is now lowest in a month.

https://www.mining.com/markets/commodity/crude-oil/1-month/

[csziggy]

29. In the last two plus weeks my husband and I drove from Tallahassee FL to Minneapolis MN

Gas prices were anywhere from $2.99 to $3.89, depending on state (Arkansas was the cheapest). We saw stations across the highway from each other with prices as much as 27 cents difference. It was strange.