lol...is this post a joke? do you understand why refineries aren't being built? also, you understand that oil companies don't just increase the prices of oil and gas. it is a global commodity and OPEC is something we can't control.
sorry I never got back to this thread... anyhow, if you are trying to imply that katrina and rita did no damage to production and were only an excuse to increase prices then you are crazy. you do remember how energy prices prices fell back down before this most recent climb back up, right?
that's fine if you want to call the backing away from the production increase an example of manipulation (although a very weak one)... but where is the blackmail? I don't see any blackmail. maybe you should say horrible government planning and american wastefulness at its finest.
this is a totally ridiculous analogy. there aren't many workers in the american workforce who can demand a pay raise or leave their job anytime they're under paid.
Yep but there still over $3 a gallon. We've gotten use to higher and prices so while gas might fluctuate in price the trend still seems to be up, faster than inflation. Given that its non-renewable and that we get it from places that don't seem to be able to handle longterm stability I don't think we should ever expect it to trend downward.
I noticed that during the weekend it did drop but when I went out the morning I noticed most of the gas stations I passed had upped the price by a few cents.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/4843723.html Oil prices fall as Nigeria strike ends, president inaugurated By GEORGE JAHN Associated Press TOOLS Email Get section feed Print Subscribe NOW Comments Recommend VIENNA, Austria — Oil prices fell today, reflecting hopes that the inauguration of a new president in OPEC member Nigeria would contribute to stability in the market. Prices also have eased since last Friday in the United States on news that a Nigerian oil workers' strike ended over the weekend. Monday there was no floor trade and no closing price in the U.S. because of the Memorial Day holiday. Light, sweet crude for July delivery was at $64.21 barrel by midday in European electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That was down 99 cents on Monday, when the contract traded down to $64.55 a barrel. Before the long weekend, U.S. crude oil climbed more than $1 to $65.20 Friday. Brent futures for July were trading at $69.23, down 49 cents on London's ICE Futures exchange. Traders said Brent crude was better supported than Nymex crude as some 200,000 barrels per day of supply from the North Sea is likely to be off-line due to regular maintenance scheduled to begin this week. The Memorial Day weekend signals the start of the U.S. driving season, and traders are anticipating upswings in prices, believing that Americans are ready to take to the highways despite near-record gasoline prices. "Over the Memorial Day weekend, some 32.1 million Americans were expected to cover distances of 50 miles or more," Vienna's PVM Oil Associates said, citing the American Automobile Association. "This represents a 1.8 percent increase from last year's level." Still, developments in OPEC producer Nigeria appeared to dominate market movement today. In Nigeria, labor union officials ordered oil workers back to work Saturday after the government agreed to a 15 percent raise for all employees of the Nigerian National Petroleum Co. The unions began the strike Thursday and threatened to target exports in hopes of reversing the sale of government refineries. Nigeria's state oil company holds the majority stake in joint ventures with international oil companies that account for more than 90 percent of the country's oil exports. The strike did not affect crude output from Africa's biggest producer. PVM, noting that Nigeria's new president takes office today, said the oil industry hopes "that the new administration will manage to bring some stability to the country." Umaru Yar'Adua, 56, was sworn in as new president, replacing Olusegun Obasanjo who stepped down after eight years. It marked the first successful transfer of power from one elected government to another in Africa's most populous country with a history of long years of military rule. Heating oil futures were essentially steady at $1.9095 a gallon (3.8 liters) on the Nymex, while natural gas prices were up 2.6 cents to $7.546 per 1,000 cubic feet.
I think it really depends on the type of job you do. i don't think most middle class people can. it depends on the market of that job. for instance, registered nurses are in extreme high demand while IT people in the US pretty much have to take what they can get.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/06/05/oman.cyclone.ap/index.html a huge storm in the persian gulf...seriously, wow.
the bottleneck is bullcrap. I would even like to see a study on this whole "summer driving demand". I don't even buy into that logic. how many trips do families take during the summer. how man miles do these family drive. Alot of people fly now-a-days to places that are a substantial difference away. I don't think traders or oil companies are trying to manipulate the market, I believe they are all waiting for some catosptrophic event to happen that just hasn't happened yet.
