I feel bad for all the damage and victims of hurricane Katrina, but I am fed up with the government and epa tree huggers not allowing us to build any new oil refinereys in the U.S. since the 70's. All east coast oil comes from the region that was hit hardest by the hurricane and now we all selfishly complain about $3.50 a gallon gas prices, when the government new dang well this could happen at any time and has done nothing for 30 some years but buy oil from iraq and making them rich over there. My point is here I am planning to cancel my vacation in two weeks because I don't want to waste the gas money. I am sure I'm not the only one to consider this and I hope there won't be a huge ripple effect, but it is kind of scary. Well I think I've complained enough, now I'm going to join the mountain bike forums cause that is what I will be taking to work at least until the weather holds out here in cleveland, oh. I love my F-150 and it will be staying clean and un drivin in the garage. And again I no I'm complaining when so many have lost so much and I do feel bad for those vitims also.

 

I agree completely...this country has more oil than it can imagine and if we would just start drilling for it instead of buying from other countries, maybee they would get the hint and barrel prices would lower. Funny how those liberal tree huggers complain about destroying the land for such purposes as oil but would never think of complaining about destroying my home country land where I live and hunt to build more and more houses or shopping centers, buildings etc, here in Indiana.

 

When all that was going on about Pat Robertson saying the president of Venezuala, Chavez, needed to be assassinated, I read that Venezuala supplies the US with 12-15% of it's oil supply. In Venezuela oil is so plentiful, you can FILL YOUR TANK for less than $2 (US) and that gasoline is cheaper than mineral water there.

What you guys are saying about oil supplies in the US is dead-on. We have our own oil, but we won't use it. Instead we are dependent on foreign sources of oil and we're sending all our money overseas. People say, "but we have oil for food programs" and "it's a global economy--we export food and they export oil".

Bullcrap! If oil is $70 a barrell, then by golly, Wheat should be $70 a bushell!

I also think the Iraqi government should reimburse the US for military expenses related to the country's security at least from the point the government was overthrown, but that's another soapbox.

 

I agree about the fact that we can't build any new refineries. The tree huggers get all over the oil industry, but when a place needs a new shopping mall or a few new stores, their tree hugging arms come wide open to welcome the new facilities with open arms...

 

waterdogF-150 you are dead right with the statement if they charge us $70 a barrel we should sell wheat and corn to them for $70. Better yet our #1 export to the oil countries is food so we should hit them where it hurts FOOD!!! charge them more lets play hard ball. I heard from a military buddy of mine that gas in iraq is 50 cents a gallon and they have more gas then they can use because they have the refineries to produce it.

 

hopefully this will all blow over and gas will go back down. Wishfull thinking. When was the last time gas was 50 cents a gallon in america???

 

THe cheapest I can remember is 49 cents a gallon. That was when I was a little kid and used to ride my bike to the station to get gas for the lawn mower. I believe it was around 1976 or 1977. The good ol days!

 

Don't hold your brathe, it will go down a little but not much. The oil companies know that we will pay $3.00 a gallon and will reap the profits from that as long as we still buy it. Ever notice that every holiday it will go up .10 then don .05, then up .10 more then down .05? That's still an overall increase of .10 and we barely notice it, but they are laughing all the way to the bank! Unitl we get some lawmakers that are not i the pockets of the oil companies, or owners themsleves we will continue to be at the mercy of these companies. Talk about looting!

 

How about we move this to the General Conversation forum?

 

We'll pay $3 a gallon because we have no choice. The USA is not set up like European countries with stellar public transportation systems.

Should gas be $1.59 a gallon? No, not really. It's been rediculously cheap for years. And don't get me wrong, I love it. Leaves more money for beer and performance parts for my car

They are talking about 'investigating the possibility of price gouging" here in WI. Well no kidding they are price gouging...wouldn't you? If I can sell my truck for $25k, would I sell it for $15k just to be a good guy?

 

The crappy part is that the law says true "price gouging" can only occur during a state of emergency (such as a natural disaster) in the area of the natural disaster.

So it would be illegal to charge $2000 for an $800 generator in New Orleans right now. But it isn't illegal to charge $2000 for an $800 generator in Maine or Tennessee or California, etc.

That's what's happening with gas. Gas wasn't short on Wednesday and Thursday of this week. The gas that was in the tanks in the ground had already been paid for at a lower price! To jack prices a whole dollar in one day on gas that was bought $1.50 cheaper last week is to me price gouging, even if the law says it really isn't.

If production is cut this week and that means there is a shortage next week then I understand the law of supply and demand causes prices to go up. But prices were raised THIS week using hurricane damage as an excuse to create panic and extort money from the public. Like somebody else said: "Talk about looting!"

There was no shortage on gas. There was a "run" on gas. Just like when it snows in the winter and people go to the store to buy milk, bread and eggs. There isn't a shortage of those items, there is just a "run" on them created by the weather. This "run" on gas was created purely by rumor and speculation that there would be a shortage.

The best thing we can do is not buy any more gas than we need right then. Buy 1/4 or 1/2 a tank at a time. This will help back up supply at the pumps. More gas supply than there is demand for the gas will result in lower prices.