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Posted on 08/14/2006 7:27:58 PM PDT by LouAvul
The nation's journey to $3 per gallon gas has been more like a drag race than a meandering road trip.
With the partial shutdown of Prudhoe Bay last week, motorists who have felt the pain at the pump had more to moan about as the simple dynamics of supply and demand kept the prices hovering at a level that seemed unfathomable a few years ago.
"I complain when I can, if anybody will listen," Victor Gianotti said Monday in Raleigh, N.C. "As long as we're involved and we stay involved in the Mideast and we're not self-sufficient we're going to have to take it in the teeth."
The latest target of drivers' venom is BP PLC, which admitted it failed to properly test and maintain pipes that became corroded and leaked twice this year near the edge of the Arctic Ocean.
While the loss of about 200,000 barrels of Alaskan crude a day will contribute to the high price of gasoline, $3-per-gallon gas is likely to become the norm until the desire for it declines.
"The real story here is this is demand price shock, not a supply shock," said Severin Borenstein, director of the University of California Energy Institute. "$3 a gallon is not much of a story anymore. People don't like it, but they adjust and go on with their lives."
(Excerpt) Read more at modbee.com ...
Homes with three and four cars (mom and dad and kids) continue to operate.
The demand is as high as ever and, although people moan, they continue to "live in their cars."
U.S. demand is not the problem.
It is CHINA and India sucking up the resources as they become an economic giant.
Boats gulp gasoline.
We can thank Richard Millhouse Nixon.
We keep buying the gas.
The free market seems to be working.
If other technologies are profitable, they will surface.
If prices escalate to a consumer breaking point, then perhaps enviromental concerns will be abandoned.
Europe has begun to embrace our gas-loving life-style, despite the still double price of fuel in europe.
Quityerbitchin.
Do you have some examples of this in Europe? Just curious.
Now that they know we will pay $3, it ain't never gpoing down.
"We can thank Richard Millhouse Nixon."
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Europe has been paying HIGH gas prices for YEARS!
Compared to Europe, our gas is dirt cheap.
Amazing how many people don't grasp the concept of supply and demand.
That's what I'm afraid of. We've cut our driving back to just what we need. We combine trips; instead of taking separate trips to the store, I plan and make one loop and hit everywhere I need at one time. We also plan our vehicle use so that whoever has the most driving to do uses the car. But there's only so much cutting back one can do.
Sad but true
...$3-per-gallon gas is likely to become the norm until the desire for it declines.
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The entire American economy is built on the ability of people to move about independently. Until THAT changes, the demand for fossil fuel will stay high. America did not have the foresight of other nations, when it came to the insistence of rail for the average guy's needs. But then again, we are a much bigger country (physically) than most that do have adequate trains, etc.
I lived here for several years and then left in 1994.
I returned in 2004 and still live here.
The culture is now more automobile focused. Highways are move crowded as are city streets. Outside the large cities, 2-car families are the norm. a/c is the norm in cars - it used to be rare. Gas is $7 a gallon and it has not stopped anyone. Large cars and unneccessary SUVs (SUVs just for the sake of having a nice big car) are also very normal. While the gas price does have lower end consumers (and granola heads) very interested in fuel-effiency, beyond that market people have generally adopted the US attitude of "comfort/safety/quality/speed/status first" before fuel economy.
Correction: $6-7/gallon
I was in Holland a few months ago and was surprised to see some larger cars on the streets, e.g. Jeeps, Chrysler Minivans, and even a Hummer.
England has recent laws (despite the high fuel prices England has always had compared with the US) that ban cars from city centers (or charge huge fees for those who want to drive in).
This is due to increased driving - despite the high fuel prices.
Hey, the poor oil companies are apparently finding ways to cut back. On the paultry 9 cents a gallon profit that they make per gallon sold, still manage to make a tremendous profit increase on their bottom line. Which is a neat trick, given how much their raw material, (crude oil) cost has increased.
| FINDING DEAL$ ON GA$OLINE: |
Consider the upside of the "high" gasoline prices.
THERE ARE NO SHORTAGES!
Apparently, with gasoline hovering around the $3+ per gallon price, fuel refineries and transportation facilities can keep up just fine, thank you.
We would have serious shortages in supply if prices were to be forced down to the $2 range.
So take care what it is you believe to be the greater injustice.
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