Gas prices-they were going up till the "spill"-now are low...price fix because of the Gulf tragedy?

[old mark]

The oil corps traditionally raise prices for the summer starting before Memorial Day...prices WERE going up-regular gas around here (PA) was just under $3/gallon.
Prices after the blow-out in the gulf went DOWN, are now around $2.55 per gallon of regular and are NOT rising...


Is this price fixing to ease some of the anger at BP ane other oil corps by association?

This shows me some top-down collusion on pricing - the turnaround was at every brand station at almost the same time and prices are all about the same.

So they have been gouging us every summer since the beginning of time?


mark

[rucky]

1. Remember how low they were right before the 2008 election?

under two bucks.

It's a good sign, though. It shows that the Oil Mafia really does fear a sufficiently pissed off public.

[dipsydoodle]

2. World price of oil is down

due to overall reduced demand. Even our UK prices are dropping.

[NNN0LHI]

3. They should drop it down to 98 cents a gallon if they want some real good publicity

They could too. And still make money.

Don

[old mark]

4. Yeah - just not "enough" money......I was wondering yesterday just

how much of Europe's traditional very high gas prices was gouging...It should not logically cost more in Europe than here in the US....


mark

[Raster]

5. yes, the price of gasoline is truly that manipulatable. And yes, the peasants are already pissed...

...no one wants to encourage them to pick up pitchforks. And yes, crude and gasoline rise and fall per demand just like every commodity, HOWEVER, it has been documented that several of the large international banking houses have their own "offshore" facilities to influence price in collusion with the petroleum cartels. The last gasoline price spike that saw gasoline in the US at just over $4.00 per gallon was entirely due to speculation and manipulation.

[old mark]

6. Interesting -thanks for the responses and the rec. nt

[On the Road]

7. I Usually Don't Like to Attribute Things to Secret or Tacit Agreements

but this is actually plausible.

[old mark]

9. Recall the price change - opne day ,$3/gallon, next day $2.55...EVERYWHERE...

it was either collusion or divine intervention...

It ain't conspiracy-it's crooked business practices.
mark

[Warren Stupidity]

18. everywhere?

I doubt that. Please provide data that substantiates obvious price fixing.

[old mark]

19. I am speaking from recent experience - within a matter of several days, and almost

simultaneously, regional stations of ALL different brands, including non-brand (Wawa, etc) and generic brands (Coastal, Verio, etc.) seem to have been within 2 cents of each other all the way down to today's low price.

I have no "documentation" - if you want to believe it is all circumstance, or the alignment of the planets or whatever, please feel free.

Personally, I believe the oil companies fuck all of us every chance they get and I believe all energy companies should be nationalized, but hey, that's just me.

mark

[On the Road]

23. I Don't Believe This is "Obvious" Price Fixing

Retail gas prices generally track the price of crude oil. There was a sudden, major drop in late May:



The oil companies do not set the price of crude, but as a group, they do influence the price how much they pump. Lower retail prices may have the effect of offsetting some of the rage against the oil industry in general since the spill. I believe this kind happened in the past as a way of combatting OPEC price increases.

It could be tacit action based on a common understanding of politics and public opinion. No conversations have to take place. Technically it might amount to price fixing, but it would be difficult (and maybe not even desirable) to prosecute.

[HughMoran]

24. Besides that they make only a portion on gasoline and lower prices mean less profit

I'm scratching my head on this one too...

[Warren Stupidity]

27. which was my point

retail prices of this essential commodity are linked to wholesale prices, which in turn are highly volatile and change with every twist and turn of the Great Recession's tortured anemic recovery. It is not some vast conspiracy to manipulate the population by gaming the price at the pump, it is exactly the volatility predicted by peak oil.

[On the Road]

31. Yes, Retail Prices are Related to Wholesale Prices

which are part of a global market subject to all kinds of trading fluctuations.

Major oil companies do, however, have some influence on wholesale prices by how much product they pump and release into the market. They also have an incentive, at least temporarily, to reduce public dissatisfaction with retail prices. So the motive and means are there. Beyond that, who knows?

[Hubert Flottz]

8. They will keep gouging as long as the oil companies finance the

orgies, dope and other flashy or fleshy perks, to the crooked/on the take bandits, planted throughout the federal government by Big BushCo and their ilk.

[KharmaTrain]

10. BP's Loss Is Exxon's Gain...

I heard this from an economist the other day and kinda makes sense. There are no honor among theives and while BP has seen their stock tank since this disaster happened, the other major oil companies are standing very strong and probably getting stronger. The money that left BP went into Exxon-Mobil or Shell or Occidental...and BP's loss is their gain. They also stand to gain from additional business with their affiliated service stations and other ventures.

It's in their benefit to keep the spotlight on BP...raising prices right now draws attention to the industry in general. I do expect there will be future speculation on oil prices...based on trying to bust any drilling moritorium.

[izquierdista]

11. They are good capitalists

To paraphrase Lenin, "They will sell us the gasoline that we intend to incinerate them with".

[DailyGrind51]

12. My local BP dealer has been keeping his price in line with the nearby independent.

Prior to the spill, he was at least 3-5 cents more.

[old mark]

13. Yeah, I noticed that, too - all the stations are within a few cents of the cheapest,

"generic" dealers...

Do you think they gave us a break this year out of kindness?

"Gosh, there are SO MANY unemployed people....maybe cheaper gas would help them out..."
I somehow don't believe that is the reason...
but maybe I'm just old and cynical.


mark

[divvy]

14. That is the "Magic of the Marketplace" repubs want you to believe in

funny how they cry "socialism" until it involves bailing out an insurance company, bank, or oil company.

[Subdivisions]

15. Please explain how the "oil corps" controls prices. Please explain how

gas price gouging works.

Thanks.

[old mark]

21. There is ALWAYS a seasonally adjusted price (supposedly based on demand)

so that price per gallon works slowl upward in the weeks approaching Memorial Day, as happened this year, to remain high all summer as people drive more on vacations, etc. It happens all over, every brand, every dealer, pretty much all simultaneously...obviously it comes from above...

Are you so anxious to defend the energy companies?
They are no more your friend than are the banks.


mark

[northernlights]

16. stock market speculation.

Right now, the dismal global economy trumps the Gulf catastrophe. Commodity speculators expect demand for oil to remain low because, despite all the media cheerleading, the speculators expect the economy to struggle.

Medium term, *if* the speculators see sharp decline in production combine with hope of economic recovery, then they'll start bidding up the price again.

And remember, for speculators, short term is this week and medium term is next week. Long term is 1 quarter. There is no future past 1 quarter.

[Warren Stupidity]

17. gas pump price generally tracks oil price which tracks economic activity

with a lot of noise of course. There is no top-down collusion to fix prices at the pump specifically, there is top down collusion to screw working people in general, rape the planet while there is a planet left to rape, and sit around in their mercenary protected gated villas while the rest of the world suffers a huge die off due to their greed motivated bullshit.

[HughMoran]

20. nah, just supply/demand

The Gulf doesn't supply that much fuel and prices were already headed downward for various reasons.

[tammywammy]

28. +1 n/t

[Uncle Joe]

22. I'll play the devil's advocate on this one.

I imagine with tourism to the Gulf Coast dropping off dramatically, fewer people are driving and burning less fuel so the supply is larger than normal.

Thanks for the thread, old mark.

[defendandprotect]

25. yes -- noticed that ... think they worried about a backlash . . .

but sadly even if you're boycotting BP -- evidently their oil can be sold

thru other stations?

[Lucky Luciano]

26. oil spill also coincided with the European Sovereign debt crisis.

The crisis brought stocks down by 12% in a short time and the Euro was crushed. There was a big flight from "risky" assets, commodities (oil) among those "risky" assets. The idea being that a weak economy means weak growth means lower demand for oil (The Chinese also showed some economic numbers indicating their demand for oil was slowing down)...and the weak Euro, means a strong dollar and oil is paid for in dollars. Oil went from $87 to $67, but is back up to $75. On the other hand, 12-24 month futures (which are very illiquid) for oil have gone up a lot though in anticipation of the effects of the spill. If the SPX gtes back up to 1200, expect to see gas prices go up again.

The point is that in these very volatile markets, correlations among assets are very high.

[lib2DaBone]

29. I read it was because they are running out of places to store the oil...

..The underground wells are full.. the above ground tanks are full.. the tankers are full.. there is no place to store more oil until they can manipulate the commodity markets and raise prices.

[Blue_In_AK]

30. Unfortunately in Alaska our gas prices haven't changed in months.

We're still paying $3.37 a gallon here in Anchorage while we watch everyone down there get lower prices. There's something bizarre going on up here with our two refineries, serious price-fixing.

[laylah]

32. Of course! nt

[Raineyb]

33. Yes they've been gouging us every summer since the beginning of time.

Welcome to monopoly capitalism.