If Words Could Talk





By Bill E Brock

Fill ’er Up?


California uses 1 million barrels or 42 million gallons of gasoline a day. A one cent increase at the pumps bumps the cost we pay by $420,000 a day—or more than $1.5 million a year.


The current cost of a gallon of gas has about 50 cents in federal and state taxes. So, do you seriously think that the government is going to intervene when the price of gas goes up?


Haven’t you ever asked yourself why our elected political compromisers never rant and rave about the price of gas?


The oil industry has been the subject of numerous investigations—yet the government always exonerates.


Have you ever noticed that every year there’s either a fire, an explosion or a refinery is out of commission for repairs just when the peak driving times arrive, forcing a "reluctant" gas company to "grudgingly" increase its prices?


Any business quickly learns that supply, demand, competition (and I like this one) "market forces" manipulate prices. Keep the supplies low and the price stays high is an oil company’s mantra.


Gas companies sell their product outside the state and country at a loss because the profitable California market makes up for that deficit and more by "improving market conditions." This "firming up the market" means the price of gas stays higher for a longer period, which is better for the gas company.


Have questions arisen as to why a threat of war can drive pump prices up five cents the very next day, but it takes two weeks for them to come down 3 cents?


Why in the world is gas priced in the tenths; $2.05 per gallon I understand, but what’s that extra 9/10 of a penny for? And while I’m on a rant, wouldn’t it be more logical for car designers to always put the gas cap on the same side of a car? The steering wheel doesn’t rotate sides.


I’ve been thinking about a column on gas prices for months but instead of quoting forgettable prices and percentages, let’s look at headlines from the Los Angeles Times dealing with gas prices from March of 2002 which tell the story quite succinctly:


Region’s Gas Price Hikes Expected to Slow; Gas Price Surges Will Moderate; Oil Prices Hit 4-Month High Amid Supply Curbs; Motorists to See Hike in Gas Prices; California to See Gas Prices Rise Again; Surging Crude Oil Prices Could Dampen Recovery; Consumers Will Feel Squeeze of Latest Price Surge; Crude Oil Prices Continue to Climb; Gasoline Prices Continue to Rise Amid Oil Worries; Rising Oil Prices Push Up Inflation;


Retail Gasoline Prices Drop; Crude Oil Hits 6-Month High; Gasoline Prices Likely to Keep Rising; Gasoline Prices Rise Less Than 1 Cent; Gas Prices Rise Half a Cent in 2 Weeks; Gasoline Prices Stay Steady for More Than 5 Months; OPEC Won’t Boost Oil Output; Report Foresees $3 Prices at Pump; Terror, War Worries Push Oil Up 2.5%; Oil Prices Dive on Easing of Iraq War Fears; Is Big Oil Lubricating War Drive?;


Crude Oil Falls on U.N. Iraq Debate; Gas Prices Hold Steady Except on the West Coast; State Could Face Gasoline Price Hikes; Californians May See Gasoline Supply Problems; Gasoline Prices Fall 5.56 Cents in 2 Weeks; Gas Prices Drop 2 Cents Nationwide; Bush Weighs Critical Decision on Oil Reserves; Average Gasoline Price Climbs 3 Cents a Gallon; War Fears, Unrest in Venezuela Help Drive Up Oil Prices; Oil Prices Rise 4% as Venezuelan Regime Is Restored; Crude Oil Prices Hit 2-Year High; Gas Prices Rise Nearly 1.5 Cents a Gallon in 2 Weeks;


Gasoline Prices Rise as Strike in Venezuela Limits Supplies; Oil Prices Jump on War Jitters; Oil Prices Hit 29-Month High on Continuing War Fears; State’s Gasoline Prices Skyrocket as Uncertainty Mounts; Los Angeles Sees a Rise of 12.7 Cents to $1.836 a Gallon;


Surging Gasoline Prices Drive Debate at Pumps; Per-Gallon Gasoline Prices Rise 7-Cents to Near-Record Levels; Making a Case for Gas Price Gouging Is Tough; and Oil Prices Hit Highest Level in (12) Years on Supply Worries.


So, last year about this time, gas was $1.34 a gallon and now it’s drifting over $2 a gallon.


The American Automobile Association said last week that nothing fully justifies the recent jump in gas prices.


Gas companies are careful not to violate anti-trust laws, but controlling the product output and ducking behind every market nuance to stuff cash in a brown paper bag and passing the rest to their government partners in appreciation of a nice seat at the table of greed is pure gouging, padding profits and market manipulation.


There, that’s my one and 9/10 cents worth.



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