How Gas Prices Work

[John Larkin]

Howstuffworks "How Gas Prices Work"

Of course, you can always blame Bush instead of trying to learn something. Matter of fact, Bush would be the busiest guy in the world if he accomplished half of what he's accused.

 

[turbofrank]

Not too much i didn't already know bottom line we pay too much for gas. Oil companies make too much profit and how can executives retire and walk away with millions.
enough said do not get me started!

 

["Turbo-T"]

Yep I think it's the oil tycoons that see they can begin to make more money off of us by slowly raising the prices to eventually get us to spend $10 a gallon.

Of course I'm sure the was in the middle east helps to fuel this situation.

 

[jdpolzin]

Lets think about things generally:

Bush is an oil tycoon ----- Gas sores out of control

Bush/Cheney have many millions invested in oil/war companies --- hmmmm?

Bush's old man hated the middle east/Saddam ----- we are in war and what happened to Bin Laden? ----- Never hear about him Weapons of mass destruction?? ----- Non existant but hey they got saddam! hmmm?

Where is the majority of the oil? ---- middle east

We are all much poorer, the value of the US dollar is horrible, jobs and companies are across seas, our soldiers are getting killed ----- but hey, the Bush family is now super wealthy.

The comment about our insatiable thirst for gasoline------ do they realize we are 45% more efficient than 10 years ago?

I'd hate to be the next president, nomatter who or what party he/she is, they are going to have one hell of mess to try to clean up.

 

[Gothmog]

;1883681Of course, you can always blame Bush .

But you left the Bush part out....GWB in an attempt to stave off recession due to the mortgage crisis and other miserable failures, has his friend Bernake lower interest rate- which in essence is like printing more money. More money means less value, and the dollar was already dropping due to our 10 trillion dollar debt. So Bernake lowers rates, the dollar drops, oil is traded in dollars, and now you need more dollars to buy oil


BUSH'S FAULT!

 

[jasjamz]

There will always be someone who will stand up for Bush. You guys are beating a dead horse.

 

[UNGN]

Lets think about things generally:

Bush is an oil tycoon ----- Gas sores out of control

Bush/Cheney have many millions invested in oil/war companies --- hmmmm?

Bush's old man hated the middle east/Saddam ----- we are in war and what happened to Bin Laden? ----- Never hear about him Weapons of mass destruction?? ----- Non existant but hey they got saddam! hmmm?

Where is the majority of the oil? ---- middle east

We are all much poorer, the value of the US dollar is horrible, jobs and companies are across seas, our soldiers are getting killed ----- but hey, the Bush family is now super wealthy.

The comment about our insatiable thirst for gasoline------ do they realize we are 45% more efficient than 10 years ago?

I'd hate to be the next president, nomatter who or what party he/she is, they are going to have one hell of mess to try to clean up.

Iraq is shipping 2X as much oil now than before the Iraq war. If the Iraq war had anything to do with gas prices, wouldn't gas Prices have been higher back when things were REALLY bad there?

I'm going to get a gas well in my backyard (actually about 1/2 mile away) and they are going to actually drill under my house (6000 feet down). I'm totally fine with this. But try to put a gas well on the north slope of Alaska in a barren wasteland and people 5000 miles away are complaining about it. It's Bush's Fault!!!!!

The majority of Oil in the world is actually in the US in the form of Coal and shale that can be recovered using the Fischer Tropsch process, but OMG this might release CO2 into the atmosphere, so we must not pursue this!!!! (though it would make the US energy independent for at least 200 years and probably closer to 400 years)

Bush or Cheney's family wealth increase in the last 5 years pales in comparison to Bill Clinton's or Al Gores. It's not even close.

But hey, don't let facts get in the way of a mindless rant.

 

[John Larkin]

Does CO2 cause global warming? Hmm, humans exhale lots of CO2. Maybe global warming is influenced by humans after all, at least those of us who find breathing necessary.

 

[jdpolzin]

Iraq is shipping 2X as much oil now than before the Iraq war. If the Iraq war had anything to do with gas prices, wouldn't gas Prices have been higher back when things were REALLY bad there?

I'm going to get a gas well in my backyard (actually about 1/2 mile away) and they are going to actually drill under my house (6000 feet down). I'm totally fine with this. But try to put a gas well on the north slope of Alaska in a barren wasteland and people 5000 miles away are complaining about it. It's Bush's Fault!!!!!

The majority of Oil in the world is actually in the US in the form of Coal and shale that can be recovered using the Fischer Tropsch process, but OMG this might release CO2 into the atmosphere, so we must not pursue this!!!! (though it would make the US energy independent for at least 200 years and probably closer to 400 years)

Bush or Cheney's family wealth increase in the last 5 years pales in comparison to Bill Clinton's or Al Gores. It's not even close.

But hey, don't let facts get in the way of a mindless rant.

You say the war has nothing to do with oil prices? BUT, they'll raise oil prices becuase a bird took a sh*t on an oil tanker. How about pipelines getting destroyed by terrorists and raising oil prices because of this? They are the whole reason we are at war right now right? I hate excuses. Mindless rants? No, the well being of our country is pretty important.

 

[Gothmog]

The majority of Oil in the world is actually in the US in the form of Coal and shale .

Yeah, and the extraction of oil from shale used to be too expensive.....not no more thanks to $4 a gallon

 

[UNGN]

You say the war has nothing to do with oil prices? BUT, they'll raise oil prices becuase a bird took a sh*t on an oil tanker. How about pipelines getting destroyed by terrorists and raising oil prices because of this? They are the whole reason we are at war right now right? I hate excuses. Mindless rants? No, the well being of our country is pretty important.

"they'll raise oil prices" because even at $4.00/gallon, people still drive around in 10 mpg pick-up trucks and SUV's and act like gas is still $1.50/gallon.

They'll stop raising oil prices when we stop using so much of it.

No George Bush or Iraq war required.

 

[1QWIK6]

"they'll raise oil prices" because even at $4.00/gallon, people still drive around in 10 mpg pick-up trucks and SUV's and act like gas is still $1.50/gallon.

They'll stop raising oil prices when we stop using so much of it.

No George Bush or Iraq war required.

So your BLAMING the people who bought trucks/SUV years ago??? Isn't that like closing the barn door, when the horse is already out??

You need to accept that G.W.BUSH has given BILLIONS in TAX BREAKS to Oil Companies and does NOTHING to help the avg. Joe.

 

[jdpolzin]

So your BLAMING the people who bought trucks/SUV years ago??? Isn't that like closing the barn door, when the horse is already out??

You need to accept that G.W.BUSH has given BILLIONS in TAX BREAKS to Oil Companies and does NOTHING to help the avg. Joe.

Exactly! Where are all the gas stations that have lines of cars waiting to fill up their tanks like back in the last oil crisis? There is no oil shortage, thats a fact. There is a control on how much oil is mined and produced though. Sounds pretty simple to me, dont produce as much which is cheaper for the oil companies, and charge more, tax it more. Our country uses much less fossil fuels now a days. Our cars are much more efficient, our houses are extremely more efficient, our industrial plants dont use half the fossil fuels they used to and relly on electricity more than coal. The plants electricty from nuclear power plants now. Excuses are like as$holes, look at the facts and follow the money trail. Thats the only way to get to the real answer.

 

[UNGN]

Our cars are much more efficient, our houses are extremely more efficient, our industrial plants dont use half the fossil fuels they used to and relly on electricity more than coal. The plants electricty from nuclear power plants now. Excuses are like as$holes, look at the facts and follow the money trail. Thats the only way to get to the real answer.

You really aren't the sharpest tool in the shed, but you are a tool, I will grant you this.

The above sentences shows you have ZERO idea what you are rambling about. Seek professional help.

 

[UNGN]

So your BLAMING the people who bought trucks/SUV years ago??? Isn't that like closing the barn door, when the horse is already out??

You need to accept that G.W.BUSH has given BILLIONS in TAX BREAKS to Oil Companies and does NOTHING to help the avg. Joe.

How exactly does raising taxes on oil companies "help the average Joe".

The Oil companies would just pass the tax onto the average Joe and the Average Joe would pay more for gas.

Somehow the government would then magically give this tax money back to the "average Joe"... doubt it.

How about instead of Eliminating tax breaks, we allow them to drill for more oil and then tax them on the extra oil they give us? This sounds like a Win-win, to me.

I have a well going in under my house, why can't one go in 1000 miles from the nearest town in a barren wasteland?

 

[jdpolzin]

You really aren't the sharpest tool in the shed, but you are a tool, I will grant you this.

The above sentences shows you have ZERO idea what you are rambling about. Seek professional help.

Hmmm??? A tool huh? Explain how I'm wrong? Do you know much about todays industry? Obviously not. My job is to give power to industrial plants but i guess I dont know much? I guess you Texans must be smarter than the rest of the nation.

 

[UNGN]

Hmmm??? A tool huh? Explain how I'm wrong? Do you know much about todays industry? Obviously not. My job is to give power to industrial plants but i guess I dont know much? I guess you Texans must be smarter than the rest of the nation.

60% of the electricity in the US comes from Coal.

Start from there and work your way back.

 

[jdpolzin]

Post your facts? Maybe in your area but not in mine. We have 2 nuclear power plants within 2 hours from my house. Every plant locally except 3 has been retro fitted with either it's own Co-Gen or is directly run from the nuc. plants. It's not 1940 anymore. If you would like more info, look up Cordova Nuclear Power plant an Byron Nuclear Power Plant. Then look at its feilds for power supply, then look into MidAmerican energies substations, then look into it's web. If you can back up anything you are saying, please do, I'm definately interested in upgrading from a tool into at least a power tool. But hey, I'm only a Journey Lineman and a Journey Wireman, what would I know about power????????? Give me a fuc*ing break. Try to see outside of your political party and look into the well being of our country.

 

[jdpolzin]

Here's a little info to feed on: Nuclear Energy

Powering Our Economy:

Since the oil embargo of 1973, Americans have used energy more wisely and more efficiently. During this time, our population has grown from 211 million to almost 280 million, our economy has grown about 50 percent, but our use of energy has grown only 10 percent. But our economic growth, however, has been fueled largely by electric power.

Between 1973 and 1990, our GDP, which is the measurement of a nation's wealth, grew by about 50 percent. In the same period, electricity use grew by 58 percent. From this information, we can conclude that in order to meet the needs of our strong economy and our growing population, we must have reliable supplies of electric power. The nation's nuclear power plants produced 674 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in 1996. This was more electricity than the entire country consumed in the early 1950s. Worldwide, there are 442 nuclear power plants at work, contributing about 19 percent of the world's electricity supply.




Reduction of Dependence on Oil:

At the time of the 1973 oil embargo, oil accounted for about 17 percent of US. electric supply; nuclear energy was about 5 percent. In 1990, however, oil represented only about 4 percent of U.S. electric supply, while nuclear energy accounted for about 21 percent. Consequently, the U.S. imports 20 million barrels less of oil each year. For example, since l973, nuclear energy has displaced 4.3 billion barrels of imported oil and reduced our trade deficit by $12 billion. This decrease in our trade deficit causes a direct increase of our Gross National Product, which is also measure of a nations wealth.

 

[jdpolzin]

This chart from the same page shows the cost comparisons between Oil, gas, Nuclear, and coal. Notice the cost difference between Coal and Nuclear energy is pretty much the same. Although, they are coming up with much cleaner ways to utilize coal energy, coal is a huge polutant. This is exactly why our local plants have been retro fitted with their own Co-Gens, becuase they are relying primarily on Nuclear power and using their own Co-Gens as back up. The governments clean air/water acts make it harder for plants to comply, which is a good thing. The fact is that we are becoming less dependent on fossil fuels and finding alternative means for power.