[magellan]

Originally Posted by marcopolo

Interesting. Are you saying the laws of economics do not apply to energy markets? That would certainly explain mainstream Democrat energy policy.

Gas and energy prices don't have anything to do with who's in office. They're all crooks taking payouts and giving subsidies to energy companies. Stick to the topic. Thanks.

[Hemlock140]

Distance from the refineries makes a big difference in prices. I think there is only one small one in Michigan, while we have 6 of them here. Our prices have not gone below $3 (with the highest gas taxes in the U.S.) but have remained from $3.05-$3.25 for many months now. Some of the cheapest gas in in Texas, where they have 30 refineries.

[detwahDJ]

Originally Posted by marcopolo

Interesting. Are you saying the laws of economics do not apply to energy markets? That would certainly explain mainstream Democrat energy policy.

Don't know what the "mainstream democrat energy policy" is. Sounds like a RW media invention. The real culprit, trickle-down corporate deregulation, is a Democratic initiative??

Originally Posted by Hemlock140

Distance from the refineries makes a big difference in prices. I think there is only one small one in Michigan, while we have 6 of them here. Our prices have not gone below $3 (with the highest gas taxes in the U.S.) but have remained from $3.05-$3.25 for many months now. Some of the cheapest gas in in Texas, where they have 30 refineries.

There's more to it than that. For instance, Big Oil has been caught parking oil tankers offshore in order to lower supply. Shutting down refineries for "repairs" does the same. There is a lot going on under the radar that is not being widely reported by the corporate media.
Kickbacks, lobbying deals, favors, cushy industry jobs for friendly congresspeople, does not add up to either a competitive market or a representative government - it adds up to attempted market manipulation.

[snuffit]

Gas prices will slowly go down. No more 4 and 5 dollar gas. USA has now become the number 1 crude oil producer in world. Prices will decline even further in the next decade after a major new gasoline refinery on the east coast is completed. The main reason gas prices are this high is that the draw on supplies exceed the output that US refineries can put out. In other words: We have not built a new refinery in 25 years, so there is a extreme tightness of supply through out the whole country (especially the south). Index funds and hedge funds are responsible for over doing it on the fundamentals in the derivatives market, thus causing price volatility. This is good to point, because it doing what a market should do--price discovery. Energy companies CANNOT legally speculate in the energy market. Energy producers are actually short the gas an oil market whereas the index and hedge funds are either long or out. So when the prices of oil goes up the energy producers actually lose money. So the retail price has to go up. So, before you shoot you mouth off, do your research, because the energy market is VERY dynamic and complex....just don't blame the ignoramus politicians.