[RedBeaconNY]

And Europe has it worse.

Petrol prices hit record high and rising

[NaughtiusMaximus]

Live in the West and am starting to feel the pinch. My plan: Take up more "at home" projects, dump things like health club memberships which require driving, eat at home instead of going out for dinner, plan an austere Christmas season, schedule errands wisely.

[GR Freeper]

Though a record in absolute terms, the price is still well shy of a record, if adjusted for inflation.

Maybe, but unlike gas prices, inflation hasn't doubled in three years. Gas prices are still outrageous.

[redgolum]

I just wonder at what level prices will have to be to really slow the economy down.

I suspect it is starting to.

[BluH2o]

Hit a new bench mark this AM when I pumped $53.00 worth of
gas into my SUV ... that's a little about 22 gallons.

[sandbar]

It's $2,60 here in Atlanta. $2.29 last week. What the hell is going on? I have a 40 mile commute, one way. At what point does the government step in and help out? They are part of the problem in the first place with this by not allowing drilling in America. This is going to affect the economy at some point.

[Koblenz]

Typical car gets what, 25 miles per gallon? And average household drives what, 1,000 miles per month per car? So 40 gallons a month per car, typical family has two cars.

So 80 gallons, and if prices increase $0.50 per gallon, that's an extra $40 worth of gas per family. Not ideal, but not really budget breaking either.

[sandbar]

>>>The peak price would have been set during the Iranian revolution in March 1981, when a gallon of gas cost about $3 in today's dollars>>>

Give it 2 weeks for the $66/$67 barrel prices to hit. It's almost there now.

[IamConservative]

So, is:

1) The supply of crude being restricted?
2) Demand outstripping supply?
3) Nefarious trading activities manipulating the market?

Something certainly has made the price go up 40+% in recent months.

[subterfuge]

FWIW:

I'm sick of hearing that "if you adjust for inflation, gas is a bargain, crap.

No one cares what they are paying in friggin' Europe, it's irrelevant.

Build some Nuclear power plants near John Kerry's houses.

Hybrid cars are not going to solve the problem, so people should stop saying that.

[trubluolyguy]

Move along, nothing to see here....adjust for inflation and stick your head back in the sand to protect your favorite politician.

[Buck72]

You'll know it's really bad when someone siphons the gas out of your tank. Hasn't happened to me or anyone I know yet but I expect it will soon. Locking gas caps may be a hot seller before long.

[fish hawk]

Save this headline. You will be able to use it a lot in the coming weeks.

[FFIGHTER]

The MSM does not address the real issue, not the scarcity of oil, but the limited refining capacity. There is a shortage of gasoline, not oil that is leading to the large increases at the pump. We are losing refining capacity every year, not increasing capacity, as the not-in-my-backyard politicians and increased regulatory pressures, have all but dried up any hope for increasing refinery capacity. Add to this the numerous cocktail list of gasoline blends required around the country to comply with regulatory requirements. Several blends require extensive changeover, that shut down operations for considerable time to make the necessary change to prepare the gasolines that are utilized in this country. Even if every oil producing country maximized production, it would not effect the gasoline prices significantly. Only major, and regrettably long-term changes are necessary to address the problem.

[ZULU]

The continuing spiral in gasoline and heating oil prices, rightly or wrongly, will result in negative fall-out for the Republicans.

I don't know what, if anything, Bush can do about this, but the popular perception is he's doing nothing - which is bad news and may hurt us in 2006.

[backhoe]

Sticker Shock-$3 a gallon gas? Click the picture:

[GR Freeper]

The madness continues. Gas prices just jumped another 25-30 cents today here in Michigan.

I'm running out of arms and legs.

[IndyTiger]

Coming into work this morning in Cleveland it was $2.55/gal.

Driving home the price had jumped to $2.69/gal.

[Rightly Biased]

When is it going to be realized that the environmentalist wackos are not helping this problem.In fact they are increasing the problem

Until we all drive Yugo's they are not going to be happy.

[mudblood]

I have a Honda Insight. Sucks to be everyone else...