Parked my 99 250sd. Can`t afford to drive it on soc. security and they want to change that too. 2.06 per. gallon here 2 days ago.

As polarbear mentioned no new refinery capacity added since the late seventies and none have been refitted to deal with anything other than U.S. light sweet crude.
China's main source of fuel is home mined coal which is creating its own issues. Pray they don't run out!

An interesting fact to find out is how much refined fuel is shipped out of our country to other countrys where the price of fuel is higher then ours?

Well for our allies in Canada and Australia who comment about paying $4/gallon now (because of the taxes to support their socialized-type governments) will pay 60% or nearly $6.50/gallon. The current problem is in globalization and these third world countries playing catchup to the USA. As a result you and I will be watching the signage of gasoline prices going in one direction and that's up!!! Bush has been put on record that the strategic reserve will not be tapped; he needs it for emergency purposes. Well the salt domes are getting full to capacity and we do have an emergency. I as a Republican and an American want this resource to be used. Clinton broke the backs of the OPEC cartel when he flooded the market with USA stockpile of oil.

Sorry but that wasint particularly smart of GW to come out with that very reassuring (for opec countries) statement regarding not tapping into federal reserves. He would have been smarter to use the reserve as leverage to bargain prices down, even if he knows himself he'd never do it. GW isint the kind of guy you take for a bluffer, everyone knows at least that much, that would make opec take the threat seriously, but he squandered any advantage he could have used to bargain for us.

Short and simple BEND OVER GRAB YOUR TOES DONT LET GO.This is going to hurt...lol

one thing we(united states) need to do is stop!!! buying crap

made in china...
they are using oil like it is going out of style and they are foolish with it they don't care how much they use and when they make electicity they use three times as much oil as we do. if you stop buying made in china then oil will go down a little bit...

one thing we(united states) need to do is stop!!! buying crap

made in china...
they are using oil like it is going out of style and they are foolish with it they don't care how much they use and when they make electicity they use three times as much oil as we do. if you stop buying made in china then oil will go down a little bit...

I really don't want to sound like this, but the US almost as much energy energy and natural resources as the rest of the world combined. The average Chinese isn't driving a 10 mpg Excursion- he might be riding a 50 mpg moped...if he's well off.

We have had to add 3% to all our setup prices, and that is just in the 1st Quarter. I feel that if things progress at this rate thru the 3ed quarter we will need to add another 3% then as well. I have no dought this will have a big impact on our sales. The same addition was made to service areas and will run at the same pace. This will be a do or die year for business in general and a very hard pill to take as new unit sales were running at about 2 1/2 to 3% profit before setup fees. That increse was as much as our profit margin last year and could be double that in just one year! Something must give and I am sure I know what it will be!!

This has little to do with the availability of oil. The American government is putting something along the lines of 1.3 million barrels a day into reserves. As already stated Bush has said he won't tap into those reserves which has emboldened speculators to drive up the price under the premise of "supply side fears" without fear of losing their collective arses. One side of the political fence is happy about the current prices as they will be receiving record dividends at the end of the year while the other side is still a little angry about last November and will do little if anything to help. OPEC has little if any blame in this fiasco as they continue to have more than enough reserve to keep the world in oil and they have stated as much. I almost guarantee that if Bush came out today and said enough is enough and we are going to tap the reserves and flood the market the price would be back to "normal" within a week. Therefore as a straight ticket conservative voter I have no choice but to place the blame where it belongs ....... myself.

*sorry if this is to political but it's hard to discuss the current gas prices without bringing politics into it since they are directly related*

keep the politics out guys or the mods will lock the thread

Actually, it has EVERYTHING to do with availability. Availability and reserves, to be more precise. For many years discovery of new, untapped oil reserves more than compensated for usage. The chart "curve" indicates that as discover peaks and begins to decline, consumption will continue its upward trend. We have now passed that point. Like anything else, scarcity drives price. Prices will only get higher from this moment on. Goverment intervention (such as releasing amount from the strategic reserve) CAN affect prices, but only temporarily. I'm not convinced that tapping the reserve (which isn't really that large when compared with our current consumption rate) will be anything more than a bandaid on an amputation. AND squanders what may indeed be a critical reserve for an immediate and temporary political gain.

Interesting article from a decade ago concerning future world oil supplies makes good reading today. http://dieoff.org/page85.htm

The American economy will be able to easily absorb the shock of fuel at five dollars per gallon. That's not to say there won't be hardship, but let's look at history. Fifty years ago it wasn't all that uncommon for homes in the Northeast to be built without insulation (or a minimum amount of it). The logic being that insulation was far more expensive than was heating oil. Today there a few houses built without 18 or 24 inches of fiberglass insulation in the ceiling.

In short, our practices adapted for a change in priorities. There's no reason to think we won't adapt for fuel at five bucks. In fact, opportunities will arise as a result of the increased prices. Alternative fuels will be developed, and higher efficiency utilization of fuels will become economically viable to be explored.

While your personal finances may allow you to adapt to $5 gallon gasoline mine will not without a serious increase in funding. I recently purchased a Super Duty with hopes of helping the meager economy and my fellow employed Americans in the manufacturing business with the purchase of a camper. However, due to the rising cost of gasoline coupled with the rising interest rates I will not be making that purchase. Instead, I will be placing more money into savings to prepare for the rapid rise of inflation that is sure to arrive at our doorsteps in short order.

But you could adapt to the situation while still keeping your original plans. I pretend to know nothing about your finances, but if you planned on camping at a lake 200 miles from your home, you could still camp at a site 100 miles from your home and spend about the same (in the near term).

This is the kind of adaptation I'm talking about. Nobody can eliminate driving, but there will be a financial incentive to plan a little more.

If fuel prices double and you drive half your usual miles, your cost is the same.

There's no question that the high prices will put a serious crimp in the finances of many families and individuals. Particularly those who have a big commute. The change will force nearly everyone to evaluate their options. Prices for everything will go up as a result of this. We all just have to adapt...with or without our trucks. :-X15

If there is truly a oil shortage as you suggest then the sky is the limit on how high it will go. This will change everyone's life as they know it and it will be a world wide change. World wide think of all the homes being heated with fuel, even most "total electric" homes derive their heat from oil. More and more things are being made with plastic which derives from oil. The list goes on and on. Whether it's $2 a gallon or $10 a gallon there is still the same amount of oil left the only difference being the profit margin. My take on it is if there was truly an oil shortage then $50 gallon gasoline would be cheap. If there is in fact a shortage what is keeping the prices down below $100 per gallon now and what will stop the price at $3-$5 per gallon?