POLL: 2 Of 3 Americans Blame Gas Price Hikes On Big Oil ‘Taking Advantage

[cal04]

POLL: 2 Of 3 Americans Blame Gas Price Hikes On Big Oil ‘Taking Advantage Of The Situation To Make More Money’
http://thinkprogress.org/green/2012/03/14/444512/poll-2-of-3-americans-blame-gas-price-hikes-on-big-oil-taking-advantage-of-the-situation-to-make-more-money/

A new Bloomberg poll shows that two-thirds of Americans blame rising gas prices on “oil companies and Middle East nations who are taking advantage of the situation to make more money.” Meanwhile, 23 percent cited the Obama administration’s policies. The findings echo yesterday’s National Journal poll, where a combined 66 percent blamed “the manipulation of prices by large energy companies” or tensions in the Middle East, whereas 14 percent cited President Obama’s policies

http://media.bloomberg.com/bb/avfile/rNQ19FPBKQG0

[librechik]

1. see? Americans aren't all dummies. Only about 1/3 of them. n/t

[zbdent]

2. Well, when you consider that the price of oil isn't at the level it was in 2008

but the price of gasoline IS near the peak of the price reached in 2008 ... and that there were hardly any raises for the workers in the industry (other than the CEOs) ...

the oil industry IS taking advantage of the situation.

[Spider Jerusalem]

5. The price of oil is not far off of 2008 levels.

Brent crude is at $125 a barrel; Light Louisiana Sweet is $128. Retail gasoline prices are in line with what they were in 2008 when oil was at similar levels. Nymex crude doesn't set gasoline prices; the "oil price" you see quoted on American television news is off by about $20 a barrel.

http://www.bloomberg.com/energy/
http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/USCRLLSS:IND

[zbdent]

9. amusing ... since the source I have been tracking by hand for years had $145.29 as the high in 2008

(July 3, 2008), which was when everybody was screaming about the "record high" price of gas, nationally averaged about $4/gallon.

And as of yesterday - the same source had the price listed at nearly 40 dollars less - $106.71. And yet, the gas prices were not off by much from that $4/gallon. Locally, the best I saw was $3.799/gallon. The average locally was more like $3.859. Which, when reported on Fridays (in general), is not too far off from the national average.

And by your notation, that would mean that the "record high" in 2008, $145.29, was not really the "high" oil price everybody quotes ... it would be much higher ($169+). And thus, still, the price of gas per gallon STILL would not in line with the historical prices ...

My resource? Akron Beacon Journal. Which actually uses the EIA for its numbers.

http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=RCLC1&f=D

[Spider Jerusalem]

15. Actually, not true

the divergence in price between Nymex crude (West Texas Intermediate) and Brent and other crude oils has only become pronounced in the last three years or so; it has to do with an oil glut at the WTI delivery terminal in Cushing, Oklahoma, and a lack of pipeline capacity to move oil out. Cushing is landlocked and there are very limited transport options for crude deliveries there; Louisiana Light Sweet and Brent are delivered at terminals in the Gulf and North Sea, respectively, and transferred to tankers that can go to any port in the world (and not just to refineries that Cushing has a pipeline to, unlike WTI).

Brent and WTI tracked closely in 2008 (record Brent crude price from 2008? $145.91 a barrel; record Nymex crude price from 2008, $147.27 a barrel); they no longer do, and it's Brent and LLS that set retail gasoline prices.

So let's look at the gasoline price per gallon in 2008 when oil was at $125 a barrel, shall we? Here's 12 May 2008, when oil was at about $125 a barrel; US national average retail gasoline price, $3.72 a gallon. http://news.consumerreports.org/cars/2008/05/gas-prices.html

Current average prices, with oil at about $125 a barrel, $3.81 per gallon: http://fuelgaugereport.aaa.com/?redirectto=http://fuelgaugereport.opisnet.com/index.asp

Not really very much difference at all, honestly.

[boxman15]

3. Americans understand what's going on.

The 14-23% that blame Obama blame him for everything anyway, so it's not going to affect the president in November (as most recent polls show), despite what the media spin is on the outlier CBS/NYT poll.

Maybe this can spur Congress to action to end oil subsidies and end Wall Street oil speculation/manipulation. (Seeing what this Congress' record is though, I doubt it.)

[MellowDem]

4. They're wrong...

Oil companies do not set the price of oil. Neither does Obama for that matter. The American people, like on most subjects, are terribly ignorant when it comes to oil prices. Better that their ignorance is directed against oil companies than the administration I suppose, but ignorance is ignorance, and it allows people like Moon colony Newt to claim he can lower the price of oil to 2.50.

[banned from Kos]

6. Supply/Demand sets the price of course

But there are factors that affect supply and demand.

[zbdent]

10. you mean, like the demand that has slowed down?

and the fact that the supply is there?

I don't remember seeing any signs at the gas stations like "No More Gas" ... like in the 70s ... or the fact that people with odd-number license plates bought gas on odd-number days, while evens bought on even days (which meant that the odds get an extra day to buy gas at the end of the month).

[MellowDem]

17. Demand is up....

in other developing countries, and will continue to grow. Part of it is also speculation on the oil market that causes price volatility, due to international affairs.

Oil companies can't set the price of oil. They don't have the power to.

Oil companies take their profit and reinvest it for the most part right back into more oil exploration and drilling, which is getting ever harder to do and ever more expensive.

[joeybee12]

7. Problem is the entire media is part of that 1/3...

doing their best not to expose the truth.

[zbdent]

11. bingo.

the "liberally-biased media" ... that wants to make sure they keep raking in the $$$ if the race is "tight".

[woo me with science]

8. America is catching on.

Apparently some of the corporate sheep in faux blue costumes in Washington are still fooling them, though, because the war and economic policies are increasingly and disturbingly bipartisan.

Occupy. Fix our party. Make them represent us and not the corporate one percent.

[bhikkhu]

18. Over 80% of the world's oil is controlled by national governments

stats here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleum_industry

The share controlled by corporate interests is pretty small in comparison, and they are less capable of manipulating prices. Not that that makes everything fine, but I think the high prices are a wake-up call - oil isn't getting cheaper, and the transition to alternatives is overdue.

Positive action is better for everyone.

[fascisthunter]

12. blame the folks who invested in big oil as well

[Xyzse]

13. Another Aspect that many don't talk about...

Would be the fact that even if we have a lot more oil today, we have become more of a supplier of oil.
In doing so, we sell to the world market which then drives local prices up, as we now get charged with the upward cost.

This is not something that can be solved by Obama or any other Republican unless they prohibit such a thing. Which they won't.

By all intents and purposes oil prices should drop as we have more supply and less American demand. Again, since oil from the US is sold elsewhere for a much higher price, since America who used to be an oil importer has become an oil exporter, it is one of the factors that drive prices up.

Opening a pipeline to Canada, ANWR or anything of that sort will not drive down cost. Particularly as the market is elsewhere and exported. Oil companies rake profits by selling outside the US, and they have a huge incentive to keep the price up.

All one will get is environmental effects that should be considered.

[nobodyspecial]

14. But I thought they all blamed Obama

and it will cost him the election?

[emulatorloo]

16. Lots of interesting stuff in that poll. See Obama supporters

At any time since 2007, have you considered yourself a supporter of Barack Obama?

If yes, ask:

How would you describe yourself now? (Only among those in general population who ever supported Obama; n=514. Margin of error: ±4.3 percentage points.)

Yes, I still support him as much as I ever did - 58%

Yes, I still support him but not as much as before - 33%

Yes, he disappointed me and I no longer support him - 7%

Yes, I am angry and now actively oppose him - 2%

===

So we have 91% of Obama supporters who continue to consider themselves as Obama supporters. Versus 9% who no longer support him.

Gives me a little perspective on DU.