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According to a recent poll on Daily Fuel Economy Tip, nearly 80% of people believe that oil and gasoline companies have manipulated the supply of gas in order to cause prices to shoot through the roof.
When asked, “Do you believe oil and gasoline companies have manipulated the supply of gas to cause prices to increase?” 79% of respondents stated yes; 16% stated no; and 5% stated that they were unsure.
It’s pretty easy to see how so many people could believe that gasoline prices have been manipulated:
- The price of oil has remained relatively constant since the beginning of the year while gas prices are up over 40% – and it seems we set a new record high with each passing day.
- Sporadic problems at refineries throughout the country that have caused major supply issues, not to mention there haven’t been any new refineries built (which would increase capacity/supply) in many years.
- These huge multi-national corporations continue to rake in record billion dollar profits in the face of rising energy costs.
I think it’s this last item – the record profits – that’s causing so many people to be upset by the rising price of gasoline and lead them to believe that we’re just being gouged. It would be one thing if profits decreased or even remained flat in the face of rising costs to produce gasoline, however these profits have seemingly increased, both in percentage and dollars.
If it weren’t for these incredibly high profits, I think people would still be upset about paying more at the pump, however, they’d probably be a lot less suspicious too.
Personally, I’m in the minority here because I don’t think that oil companies have purposefully reduced supply to increase prices. While I voted that I wasn’t sure, I think the increased prices have more to do with the continued world-wide increase in demand for gasoline than it does with any conspiracy.
While there seems to be a lot of evidence pointing towards gouging, I think much of it is circumstantial.
However, the one thing that keeps me believing in the possibility of price manipulation is the fact that these companies know that even as prices shoot up we’re still going to drive our cars just as much as we did before. That being said, this probably would have also been the case 15 years ago when we were paying $1.25 per gallon. Why didn’t they jack up prices then too?
Long story short, I have no idea what to believe, but it certainly seems like most of us feel that we’re being screwed.
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Dont’ forget, for every penny increase in price of gas, the goverment gets 3 pennies in taxes.
http://www.gregpalast.com/british-petroleums-smart-pig
I sincerely hope that people are interested in saving money. I work really hard for money to support my family along w/my husb. We can’t hardly afford to take a road trip up to the city 40 minutes away. We go there for SPECIAL occasions like every 6 months! It just cost too much and that cost is keeping us AMERICANS cooped up at home or staying close to home. DO ANY OF YOU EVER FEEL LIKE AN ANT IN A CHILDS ANT FARM TOY?
What I don’t get is they say hurricanes like katrina are
a big cause because of refinery shutdowns. Well
hurricanes have always been around and devestating yes
there’s been more in recent years but why weren’t gas
prices higher earlier ? all the sudden 5 -10 years it goes up
about 1.50-2.00 a gallon.
War in iraq , hurricanes , bad relations either way like
is said oil companies sure aren’t hurting —hmmmm
The trick is to STOP using gasoline all together. We need a new “fuel” that does not make us dependent on a corporation. I have created a website for what I consider the most feasible solution to this. You will note that there is not a single ad or paid link anywhere on the site. Its archaically simple for good reason. ITs not to promote anything except ACTION to fix this problem. The solution is quite easy ORGANIZING said solution is another matter all together. I will be fixing all the spelling errors and crap but just wanted to get something online. I am tired of doing nothing. It has to start somewhere.
http://www.nonewcars.net
We can not stop buying gasoline. it just will not work we will blink first in that kind of encounter and lose. UNLESS we simply no longer “need” gasoline. When I say gasoline I mean ANY fuel source we can not self generate this includes bio fuels ethanol and hydrogen. As long as we must depend on someone else to supply us with it then it will be absolutely NO different than gasoline is now.
I agree with your post, from what I understand it`s not so much supply & demand for the most part that affects the price at the pump but the damn speculators who could`nt give a rats ass how much we pay per gallon as long as they are able to rake us over the coals and laugh all the way to the bank. There is a website titled Close the Enron Loophole.com Congress must act now or I forsee an economic disaster not too far down the road.
you should have BETTER INFORMATION
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