MrBigglesWorth

I thought gas would come down but I never thought it would near $2.00 per gallon. So I began to think why.

Seeing that GM suffered quarterly losses and will likely be short on cash with the possibility of going bankrupt could it be the oil companies plan to make driving SUV's and gas guzzlers more possibly.

Why make your money source extinct which will usher in more fuel efficient vehicles that will kill their profits in the near future? I think they are trying to save the big three and resurrect their gravy train

__________________
"There are two categories of superbowl participants that nobody remembers:

The team that lost the game and the team that only won one." Dwight White- Steelers

PatriotsReign

In my opinion, it is a combination of factors.

1. The run-up in prices may have been partly due to a scam by oil futures investors to make money

2. In early 2008, oil consumption was increasing at rates never seen before. When considering economic growth of the "emerging markets", one could easily see oil becoming a scarce resource

3. In my opinion, it's NOT the failure of the auto industry but rapidly decling world demand. Just because consumers aren't buying motor vehicles doesn't necessarily affect demand for petroleum products. But worldwide economic decline does. Since the future economic landscape looks very dim, so does the future's market for oil.

People are still driving as many cars as they would if they were buying new ones, so new car sales have little to do with oil consumption. My car has 160K miles on it. If I bought a new car, I wouldn't be using any more gas.

cupofjoe1962

I just hope we get though the winter before the prices spike again.
I got gas for 2.09 in Norwood this afternoon.

PatriotsReign

It'll be a long time before you see prices spiking again. At least that is my strong opinion.

BelichickFan

It's about 2.75 here in CA - BECAUSE WE HAVE SPECIAL GAS TO REDUCE EMISSIONS.

cupofjoe1962

I hope you are right.

MrBigglesWorth

I just don't think world wide consumption has decreased that much. I'd have to see some figures on consumption but I have to think 10% or so and that doesn't really correlate with a spike in $4.00 down to almost half price.

it is was the specualtors then we just got scammed big time and the government was complicit

__________________
"There are two categories of superbowl participants that nobody remembers:

The team that lost the game and the team that only won one." Dwight White- Steelers

PatriotsReign

My corp. office is in Northridge, CA. Everytime I go out there, I can't believe how much more you guys have to pay for gas. To me, it should be the around the same price all over the country but I guess state taxes & emissions policy can a big effect upon the price.

BelichickFan

We do have 35 cents or so in state tax. But when I keep yaking about being careful what you wish for with strict carbon emission rules, I know what I'm talking about because I pay for it. It ain't cheap.

sdaniels7114

The number of Stage 1 smog alerts in LA has gone from 100-200 per year to just a few. What's that worth? One's left to wonder just how many people spent their lives as sickly and weak because they just couldn't breathe properly during their childhood development. Aside from humanitarian concerns, what's that worth in lost tax revenue?