40 mpg won't get you a high performance car. You may not want a high performance car, but many people do.
If you are working 12 hrs/day, 7 days a week with a 64 mile commute, I certainly hope you are making enough money to buy any car you want with a couple of paychecks.
Other places have their own problems. Duh.
Odd how their "problems" happen at the same time ours does. The price of gas increased both places at the same time as here.
I think a lot of that has to do with the speculators in the futures markets, and there are definitely ripples that spill over.
But that's not what you said:
The speculators thing makes much more sense.
Both can be true. The current issues with supply in the US are a combination of factors, some of which I'm aware of but can't discuss due to a contract, but I fly in the Permian Basin on a regular basis.
Maybe, maybe not.
This makes more sense than some mysterious secret US government rules that somehow affect the prices world wide
FYI: global crude pricing only affects about 50% of the domestic gasoline price. So while you see both chart price lines move in similar fashion, its the other 50% of the price which is domestically affected for various reasons. In comparison from pre-pandemic gas prices to prices just prior to the Ukrainian invasion there were several domestic gasoline price increases that were not directly related to crude oil price. When the current oil/gasoline futures prices started their increase our domestic gasoline price/futures were already higher by a buck or so depending on location. So, in general, instead of pushing $5/gal gas right now we should only be pushing $4 gas.
I’d buy that but the largest electric car brand is apparently shunned by this administration.
Perhaps that's because the owner of that EV brand doesn't automatically fall in line behind the administration.
So, what's the other 50%? Is it government, or corporate greed?
While I don't follow the "greed" part unless you think individual companies don't deserve to make a profit, that 2nd portion covers refining costs/profits, distribution/marketing costs and profits, and federal/state taxes. The refining costs are the most volatile as there are a number of variables that affect them.
Its not a multiplier. In general, once the crude is bought at its going price that cost is basically "locked" in then the 2nd half of the cost is applied as the product moves downstream. And since US gasoline is usually not "finished" at the refinery that cost can further vary depending on the region/blending facility. Then whether the raw or finished gas is offered to the market as an option, futures, or spot contract further tweaks the price. So there really is no linear connection other than the oil cost is the starting point prior to refinement.
Can't answer that as I don't know what is being compared. There are variances in the US of up to $2/gallon due to regional differences. Compared to Venezuela their gas has been $0.12 USD/gallon for the last month with no changes. So it depends on a number of things.
"Greed" was worded poorly, companies and shareholders deserve a profit just as surely workers deserve a salary. However, you still haven't shown anything as indicated by this comment:
As for stuff with refineries, we really only see a price jump when one or more need to shut down because they had an unexpected problem or an expected issue, such as a hurricane, that flooded the area and kept the refinery open.
Of course it is. When you said the cost of oil is 50% of the cost of gasoline, that also means that the price of gasoline is 2x the price of oil. That "x" means multiplication. However, this explanation quoted above only says there is an expense to go from crude oil to a finished product, and the "50%" was just an approximation. I don't see anything other than the free market and speculators at work. No secret government agenda that people can't discuss. Those options, futures, and spot contracts are probably affecting the price more.
The prices in those other places increased as did the USA.
Not quite. More than physical stoppages affect refinery output. One of the reasons the domestic gasoline price was elevated in the last 6-8 months was due to a higher than expected demand for domestic heating fuels and jet fuels during that same time frame. Given there is only a certain amount of refining capability in country there was an increase in refining these fuels that put the gasoline refining at a lower rate. Hence affecting the gasoline prices. Whether you don’t want to believe the other points I bring up that’s fine too. The data is out there.
I guess I missed this part as I was replying to your posts. But if you think any administration that is publicly against oil and gas exploration will bring lower fuel costs you’ll find history to be against you. And one can track those subsequent price increases with a calendar.
Yes, the data is out there. I believe you are posting in good faith, but I feel your data sources (whatever they are, as you don't cite them) are flawed.
I never thought such a thing. I merely questioned the existence of mysterious rules that are so secret you need to be in some sort of contract with some shadowy authority to know what they are.
Yeah, that too. Maybe mostly that.
Nothing but in good faith. Most of my info comes from subscription level or higher industry sources which I can’t provide links to for obvious reasons. However, there are public references that I will cite below but may require additional digging to get the same info I have.
This link touches on the heating oil and jet fuel comments I made previously. Its not as detailed but industry specific. In general, the industry looks at daily demand based on “heating days” which are then calculated to existing product inventories. As mentioned in this link, Jan 2022 was exceptionally cold, in addition, the January 2022 fuel oil inventories were at a 8 year low which helped trigger the heating oil demand I referenced before.
True, but its the initial cracking that drive those product levels. Actually, it depends on the refinery capabilities, target profitability (crack spread), market volatility, etc. that determines the levels of which product is produced/refined. In general, when they start a run (crude oil input) they can adjust the levels of which specific product they crack from that crude oil input. While they cannot technically “zero” out one specific product like diesel from the process they can increase or decrease those refined levels by various means like moving distillate pools around. However, in some cases those initial product levels can also be limited by their existing secondary processing capabilities such as desulfurization. So yes a refinery can adjust the amount of specific product is finishes.
As far as I know there are no secret squirrel requirements as all this information/process is out in the open. So I don’t know what you are referring to. But to simply say petroleum price is merely a function of free market is not correct either. And one of the larger influences on that global pricing structure comes directly from the policies, processes, requirements, etc. of the #1 consumer and producer of petroleum products in the world: the US.
But our ban will stop the cash flow that other countries purchasing Russian oil will have to work around to pay plus it will apply influence to others who want to remain in good standing. However, as of 2021 Russia contributed to 8% of our domestic petroleum imports. Not 1%. If you want specific amounts the 2nd link should provide that info.
Even so, it is just the markets responding and not "the government's capricious actions."
And none of this applies to the other refineries in the rest of the world? All of this still isn't "the government's capricious actions."
I agree there are no secret squirrel requirements.
The second link shows a total imports of 265,228 of which Russia contributed 12,569 for 31 Dec, which is 4.7%, which is probably within the noise level of 8%. However, I phrased my comment incorrectly. The USA produces oil, and we use it too. The Russians probably provide 1% or less of our usage.
“No more subsidies for the fossil fuel industry, no more drilling on federal lands, no more drilling, including offshore, no ability for the industry to continue to drill,” he declared. “It ends.”
I'd argue that this Ukraine war deal is just a pretext for a lot of stuff happening. The state was set long before Russian troops crossed the border. It's just accelerated nervousness in the market and pre-existing instabilities. We've been in a cold oil war for quite a while.
The 2 comments you mention here were merely replies to your questions concerning heating oil demand not accurate and how refineries can adjust quantities of finished products. Nothing more. As to overseas refinery operations I’m sure some are similar to US ops and some are not when it comes to adjusting refined product quantities. However, I do know that a number of refineries in the EU are having to shutdown due to high natural gas fuel costs as they must import all the fuel to run/operate the refinery. This only makes a bad problem worse in the EU as it costs them more to run the plant than what they can earn refining.
I was just tweaking at someone who posted something that read very much like it came from QAnon. They will probably claim that some mysterious group set the stage for the current Ukraine war so prices can be raised.
