[Cliff Dweller]

Da Man keeps puttin' me down

Obviously, as any Conservative hating, visually challenged, socialist can see this is an Administration plan to disenfranchise the poor because we all know that if the poor can't afford gas they won't drive, if they won't drive they will be stuck out of the affluent areas of the US.

I am just getting prepared to walk the 50 miles to the office (one way)... think of the stories I can pass along to the grand-kids... "you think you have it hard...when I was younger I walked 50 miles to work, uphill... both ways..."

[TaxRelief]

We went to Iraq for oil, so why are we having a problem?

It was all about oil, wasn't it?

</sarcasm

[cynicom]

Slim Pickens or some oil billionaire said after Katrina that oil would be 4 bucks a gal. So much for his expertise.

[A CA Guy]

Great time for legislation to fast track some new refineries.

[redgolum]

Fill up today, and fill up all extra gas containers you have.

Of course if we really hit $5, stock up on ammo because as NOLA showed us the thin veiner of civilization is running thin. The economy would crash like you wouldn't believe.

[JustRight]

Wouldn't the CEO of a publicly traded company making speculative statements about the future price of his company's product run afoul of SEC rules or federal law?

[Praxeologue]

Most of the posts on this thread are what might be expected on DU.

The invisible hand works in the oil industry, as elsewhere. The only threat to free markets is government.

There is no such thing as price gouging. It is a polemical term, just as the Sherman (anti-trust) Act was demagoguery. The FTC and its masters should butt out.

I neither represent the oil industry nor own any energy stocks. I pay 50% more for gasoline than a few months ago, affordable historically, and drive less. So does everyone else, so my competitiveness has not been affected.

The sometimes violent swings of the market may be hard for many to absorb, but they are by far preferable to the long-term stagnation caused by government intervention.

I think some of us are too accepting of the opinions of friends and neighbours who are locked in a socialist mindset.

[thoughtomator]

"If it hits the refineries, and we're short refining capacity, you're going to see gasoline prices well over $3.00 a gallon at the pump," Greehey said in a Tuesday night interview.

I've been seeing that since Katrina.

[jb6]

Well ghee, you mean if I don't bother to build new refinery infrastructure for 15 years while demand goes up I might be vulnerable if something happens? Oh, well no shiete! And what are our God like leaders doing? Definitly not making it easier to setup a refinery, why that would make sense or something.

[montag813]

I own Valero. They have done quite well off the overblown Katrina/Rita reactions...

And have been on fire for over a year...

[operation clinton cleanup]

Maybe some of that 200 billion could be spent to construct new refineries further away from the ports.

[NatsFan]

I wonder if any of these people complaining about price gouging are the same people who drive huge SUVs along the flat paved roads of their suburb.

If there is a shock to our supply, as would be the case if our refining capacity was destroyed, that is going to drive up prices.