Posted on 05/22/2008 12:18:00 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
Oil Cracks $135 Per Barrel, Motorists Beside Themselves
CHICAGO (CBS) ― As Congress grills oil executives from Shell, BP and ExxonMobil on Capitol Hill, people who are feeling the pain of astronomically expensive gas prices in Chicago are speaking out.
As CBS 2's Kristyn Hartman reports, a survey reported Sunday that gas prices in Chicago are the highest in the nation, and motorists' anger is rising even faster than the prices.
At the Shell station at Congress Parkway and Plymouth Court, a gallon of regular unleaded was going for $4.39 Thursday morning. If people were not thinking about pricing before, they most assuredly are now.
"A hundred and forty-one bucks. I had to fill up the van and a five-gallon gas can. I had to swipe the card twice," said motorist Mike Napier. "I'd say it's getting ridiculous. I'm having to work overtime just to pay for fuel."
Some experts say the cost is only going to increase. Some experts are forecasting that prices could reach $10 to $15 per gallon.
Phil Flynn of Alaron Trading said the price hike may not end up being quite that severe. He thinks the seemingly never-ending spike will top off soon, but that it's a recurring cycle.
He said world demand has a lot to do with it, and so does energy policy and how the U.S. reacts to depleting oil fields.
One driver, Jason Pavalon, said the gas price crisis will ultimately force him to go green, and he'll have to go and change his lifestyle.
When asked whom he blamed for the high gas prices, he said, "The industry. They're driving it; the oil industry."
Flynn said it's not that simple.
"We should be embracing our U.S. oil executives, but make sure they do what they need to do by bringing us more oil. We are more dependent on foreign oil because we haven't been producing enough oil," Flynn said. "We want our cake and eat it too. We want to consume more energy, but we don't want to drill for more energy. We don't want to build more refineries."
Flynn said oil companies need their profits to pay for their investment in future energy, which he said needs to happen so the country does not need to maintain dependence on foreign oil.
Oil prices fluctuated Thursday after setting a new record of $135.09 in overnight trading. A stronger dollar gave some investors reason to sell oil futures to lock in profits from crude's record run. But concerns about falling supplies and rising demand are expected to keep propelling prices higher in the days and weeks to come.
Oil prices rose to $135.09 a barrel in overnight electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange before retreating to trade down 51 cents at $132.66 a barrel.
Analysts said oil futures are caught between the supply and demand concerns that boosted crude to its latest record, and a desire by some investors to cash in some profits. The dollar, one of the factors that has fed oil's rally from about $65 a year ago, strengthened against the euro Thursday. When the greenback gains ground, commodities such as oil lose their value as hedges against inflation. Also, a stronger dollar makes oil more expensive to investors overseas.
Analysts viewed oil's decline as temporary. The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that the Paris-based International Energy Agency is trying to comprehensively assess the condition of the world's top 400 oil fields, a review that could lead to a sharp downward revision in its estimates of global oil supplies.
For years, the IEA has predicted that supplies of crude and other liquid fuels will arc gently upward to keep pace with rising demand, topping 116 million barrels a day by 2030, up from around 87 million barrels a day currently.
The agency is now concerned that aging oil fields and diminished investment mean that companies could struggle to surpass 100 million barrels a day in production over the next two decades, the paper reported.
ok at what point can I make wood alcohol from my lawn clippings and save money?
I heard the break-even point for increased US production was $70 per barrel... so how do I get started?
There’s a Drudge link to an article that says gas taxes are 20% of the cost of a gallon of gas in Chicago, the highest in the nation.
Like most things I blame the Democrats and the greenies.
Oh? And where is the consumer rage at a Dem Congress that has put all domestic oil off limits for drilling?
That's correct. Without the oil industry there wouldn't be all these gas stations with gasoline and therefore there would be no gasoline prices, high or otherwise.
Blaming oil companies for high oil prices is like blaming farmers for high food prices.......
One of most heavily demorat areas in the country receiving their just reward for supporting politico’s blocking domestic development.
It would immediately solve the state's budget crises, bring much need jobs to middle income workers, and lower the price of oil. They would be heroes... well perhaps not to the green nut jobs in the state, but to everyone else and the nation.
ck #7........
There you go again.....thinking.........
Sorry, but no. No time to riot when American Idol is on, Grand Theft Auto 3 is in the slot, the local crack and meth dealer just got a new shipment and did you see that article on Britney in People? Shameless, I tell you!...........
If you like $4/gal, Thank Congress in Nov.
Pray for W and Our Troops
>>a gallon of regular unleaded was going for $4.39<<
And worth every penny!
Normally, I’d agree with you. Too much bread and circuses for anyone to get organized. But gas prices are a unique animal. You raise them fast enough, and people will react.
But, apparently, not furious enough to vote out enviro-whacko liberals.
We need to keep splaining the democRat followers that their leaders are taking them off a cliff. Sooner or later..maybe we can get them to hang a few Congress Critters from a Citgo Sign.
The City of Chicago opposes the expansion of a nearby refinery in Indiana that would process heavy crude from Canada.
http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=22605
I say Chicago deserves the higher gas prices.
At $35/Barrel, diesel from coal (Fischer-Tropsch) is still economically sound. Drilling needs to be opened up in Alaska and the Continental Shelf. More nuclear and FT plants should have been built 20 years ago.
If you are looking to save money through ethanol or some similar renewable I hope you are being subsidized by the Government. That is how you break even.
There is a guy that has a miniature ethanol machine for 10k. 10-15 pounds of sugar for one gallon of ethanol. So, considering the price of sugar, surely you can see what a great money saver that would be ? :)
Well, I say BS. They weren't furious when THEIR elected representatives were laying the ground work for this mess.
People get the government they deserve, and this is more true in the incompetent non-response to our critical energy needs since 1974 than anywhere else.
Ethanol is not wood alcohol and if you want to make ethanol then make it from pure sugar, it is easier and more economical than making it from corn or some other grain. You will need a still however and a permit from the government(naturally) to make fuel, making moonshine is illegal, no matter what reason you have for making it.
The oil exec’s need to be able to ask Congress questions...Like “Why won’t you allow us to drill? Why won’t you allow Nuclear Plants? Why won’t you allow more refinerys?
Wonder if these people remember the gas lines of the ‘70s. I would gladly have paid 10.00 a gallon for gas if I could have gotten it. There are worse things than high prices.
As an aside, I drove through New Jersey on I-95 (from NC to NH) a couple of weeks ago and was suprised that they had the lowest prices of anywhere along the trip. We had to stop along the Interstate for gas and were stuck in a 45 minute wait because the illegal that could only pump gas for one car at at time was required to pump gas for me. On the way back, I paid the higher price in Maryland and pumped it myself rather than set in a gas line.
I was just about to post that very thing.
I don't think the President can justify it now but at $7 he better get out the Executive Order pen. There is a LOT he can do with that, just like Billy Klinton did, he can undo.
Oh, good move. Let's punish the people who actually produce oil and ignore the idiots who passed legislation that prevents us from drilling for oil in ANWR, offshore, and anywhere else in the US. Let's ignore the dimwits who passed legislation that makes it impossible to get construction permits in less than 8 years for power plants, refineries, and the like. Forget the oil execs...the proper place to put the cross hairs is on the foreheads of the legislators on Capitol Hill.
How? and what good would it do? All the protests and yelling at the convenience store clerks (he doesn't speak English anyway) won't accomplish a thing. People inherently know this. The only thing that will alleviate the situation is more oil on the market, more gas/diesel in the supply line and more mileage from the autos................
Yes, they are even higher than California’s, because Chicago itself tacks on 12.75 cents per gallon. Based on a $4.00 gallon of gas, the total tax is just about 20%.
Federal is 18.4 cpg.
Illinois State is 19.0 cpg....and there’s ALSO a state sales tax (6.25%) in addition to the per-gallon tax (few states have the percentage sales tax on gas).
And there’s a minor Underground Storage Tank (UST) fund tax of 0.3 cents per gallon.
But Illinois allows local authorities to tax, too...and so when Chicago throws on 12.75 cents per gallon, it is adding more than 2/3 what either the state or feds tax.
Breeder reactors should be allowed, too, IMO.
But it will not stop them when they don't have enough money to buy gas to go to work to make money to buy gas to go to work. Never mind food and such.
Absolutely.
Right now Regular is 4.11 in CA at the highest pumps, a lot are lower. So CA is not the highest, nor do we have the highest Gas tax. We are second in the nation on Gas tax, which isn't anything to brag about but still it is not number one!
“...you’re talking riots.”
Or carpools.
Of course, both California and Illinois have a PERCENTAGE-BASED state sales tax on gasoline. The federal government and most states have only a per-gallon tax. With a percentage-based one, they are making higher revenue from the higher prices.
Local municipalities in these statesare the ones making out like bandits, though...many have their own percentages on each dollar, too.
California is higher, in general, when you look at the state sales tax and the county taxes by percent. That is, gas taxes in California are higher than in Illinois and the highest in the nation, in general. But the city of Chicago passes the California average because the local per-gallon is so steep.
I don’t think it will get that far, even if gasoline comes to $10 a gallon. There will be armed guards at the pumps before that happens. Now, stealing in neighborhoods, poking holes in gas tanks, that’s a different story.............
How many of these people who are frantic about $4.00 for a gallon of gasoline are drinking a $5.00 cup of coffee?
Or carpools...
Screw 'dat! Hand me my pitchfork!
If folks weren’t so spoiled and greedy and scared of their shadows, everyone in the country would not buy gas for at least one day to boycott whatever/whomever is at fault for the high prices. It is also about time the GOP starts faulting the Dems and Enviros for halting/limiting drilling in our own lush reserves.
I’m very sorry, but it just doesn’t work that way. 50 years ago, most countries relied on their own resources and traded globally on a small to moderate basis. Today, it is a totally global market.
We also ship our domestically produced oil overseas at the going rate. Most Alaska crude is shipped to Japan and always has been. It has mostly to do with shipping distance, logistics, refining capability, etc.
We buy crude from Canada through their intercontinental pipe line system and get it cheaper that way than the World market dictates.
There is much ignorance and lack of responsible information as well as opinion about this subject. Any one who says that “Big Oil” is gouging and fixing prices is simply ignorant or a flat out lying demagogue. Nothing of the sort is happening. It’s all about supply and demand. Speculators only control about 20% of the market. They have a minimal effect on the price.
Difference is, you don’t need a $50.00 fill up when you go for coffee.
I agree...been wondering if and whether anyone else thinks as I on this subject...CONGRESS should get the lions share of blame for our shortage of oil...it’s not that we ...our nation, doesn’t have oil coal, natural gas on our own soil...BUT we’ve had Congress and others in regulatory positions who absolutely refuse to grow a spine...tell the tree and bunny huggers to go take a flying leap...and start drilling.
And I think it’s Utah that has scads of coal..that they have even gotten a way to LIQUIFY it and when asked why they haven’t proceeded with this....the answer is ....federal regulations and the lack of response from the feds.
The countries of the rest of the world surely must be shaking their heads at the antices of our gov.and calling us “dumb as posts”...we say oh, we can’t drill in the ocean...off the coast of Ca. and of course not between Cuba and our country...meanwhile we sit here as CHINA gets the rights to drill right at our back door between Cuba and Florida...that’s smarts.
What hypocrisy to observe Shumer,Durban and that ilk...working over the oil CEO’s yesterday...the audacity, the nerve...who the H*** do they think they are? If you ever doubted we are being governed by a bunch of shameless idiots...watch them in action some time...frankly I couldn’t ...but Glenn Beck played clips of the “inquisition” on his radio program this morning....pathetic.
Gas was going for over $5/gallon in Canada for the past 18 months or so. The level of whining has not appreciably changed.
People are just cutting back on the $20/gallon Starbucks Grandissimo Lattes and the $25/gallon Evian and filling their tanks as usual.
We’ll be able to tell when prices are too high. People will drive less, causing the price to come down due to oversupply. Let’s look out the window...nope, prices still reasonable, they’re driving all over the place out there. I’m going to the mountains for the weekend, and I bet the traffic is heavy.
is this saying less than 7% wrong? not sure, just asking.......
http://ncseonline.org/NLE/CRSreports/natural/nrgen-25.cfm
You see? Propaganda does work! When the Democrats lie often enough, the sheep believe it.
So if I need to shop for groceries, I need to wait until I have like-minded neighbors? If I want to visit a park, or go to a movie, I have to wait until others are going in my direction?
Until we have the technology to replace the functionality of gas-power cars and trucks, we need to provide a supply of oil. "Functionality" is more than just the transport of one individual from point A to point B.
People in our country should expect some autonomy within their form of transportation, they should expect reliability, safety, the ability to travel with friends, family, or cargo. They should also expect to be able to travel at previously established speeds.
I'm willing to forgo some "creature comforts" to have these things, but I'm not willing to give up a lifestyle of having the freedom to travel. In our country, the US, the freedom to travel IS freedom. Being restricted to our homes, or being told we must live in the cities, or that we must wait for a bus or train is anti-American. It's fine to voluntarily do those things, but not when it's insidiously forced upon us by a do-nothing Congress.
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