$4 A Gallon: National Gas Price Average Reaches Record

NEW YORK — Drivers are paying an average of $4 for a gallon of gasoline for the first time. AAA and the Oil Price Information Service say the national average price for a gallon of regular gas rose to $4.005 overnight from $3.988. But consumers in many parts of the country have already been paying well above that price for some time.

Gas is expected to keep climbing, putting greater pressure on consumers and businesses, because the price of oil is soaring in futures markets. Light, sweet crude shot up nearly $11 a barrel Friday and approached $140 for the first time.

Along with higher fuel costs, consumers are also contending with higher prices for food and other goods because of rising transportation costs.

Comments

[nancytheragingliberal]

Bend over, all of you Americans who voted for the oil and gas "men." Twice. What did you expect? A decrease in your taxes, energy costs, any cost? Not under repubs. When will Americans wake up and stop voting for these thieves? Say what you will about "Bubba", but all of our energy costs were stable for the eight years he was in office. Gas was between $1.25 to $1.50. Ah, the "good old days."

[FreedomCorpse]

Don't forget the effect of 8-11% inflation rate has on 401k's and any savers money....inflation the hidden tax

[mergina]

Blatant theft. All fabricated greed fueled profits. Will humanity ever be released from greeds grip?

[KillTheMessenger]

Buy a Prius. Be happy. Stick it to the man!

[LITU]

Goodbye retirement account! Hello despair.

[CaptainHowdy]

The problem isn't so much the increase in gas prices. Food and otehr commodities are seeing a dramatic increase in price.

The problem is that the dollar has lost HALF it's value since Bush took office in 2001.

That would put gas at $2 a gallon, in 2000 prices.

Why isn't this being discussed much in the corporate media?

[ErnestineBass]

Because Brittney got another DUI?

[insanityfollows]

Good one!

[EndAllWars]

If most of the elements of this nightmare scenario we're facing wasn't in large part due to the excess of this evil administration I would call it a perfect storm. But storms are forces of nature, not man-made, while this nightmare is all man-made. Even our global warming, the loss of shorelines and the coming superstorms and water shortages are due to our own ignorance.

I still like what Bill Moyer said to that idiot producer of Bill O Reily show, Porter Barry, about Rupert Murdoch's claim before the Iraq invasion of how it would result in "20 dollar a barrel oil". The whole media needs to be rerunning that over and over the same way the reran the Dean Scream.

To all the idiots among our citizenry, this is your payback for when you sat their and believed the cheap propaganda that they threw at you in the run-up to the war. You believed it and you became the instruments of the ruin of this economy. Yeah. Saddam was a threat to this country. We're all safer. Much much safer. Let's go start a war with that other "threat to our national interests", Iran. Let bomb them so we can have 500 dollar a barrel oil. Welcome to dystopia.

[ndolomar]

Frankly, these gas-price hikes have my anus hurting, and you'd think with so much petroleum rolling around, that shouldn't be the case.

(*little Monday humor)

[CaptainVideo]

One thing that has been driving the price of petroleum up are the scares that the U.S. and/or Israel will attack Iran before the end of the year. Statements by Isaraeli and/or U.S. officials that this should be done will then cause panic buying. This seems to be the cause of the last run up.

One way to reduce this problem is for Congress to pass a resolution that the U.S. government may not attack Iran, or help any other government in attacking Iran, without express prior approval by Congress. The bill should also include a provision that anything added to it by the President, other than his signature, shall not be valid, to make it absolutely clear that any signing statement has no validity.

The provision that the U.S. government may not help other countries in attacking Iran would probably prevent a preemptive attack by Israel, since their planes would need to be refuled by U.S. tankers to get to Iran and back.

That would help reduce the price increases resulting from panic buying. But the Congress would probably be too scared of the Israel lobby to pass this.

[BlueStateMan]

Nonsense.

It's being driven up artificially by the Big 5 so as to make the extraction of oil from shale & sand deposits economically viable.

[ErnestineBass]

And T. Boone Pickens is laughing all the way to the bank!

[swooge]

We don't yet have the technology to extract large amounts of oil from oil shale. The 400billion bbl Bakken deposit in Montana/Utah has only 1-2 billion bbls of recoverable oil.

[insanityfollows]

"Could be a weight on the economy". YA THINK??? I used to work in transportation, and I can say with complete knowledge that margins on truck loads are razor thin anyway. The only way to really make money (and this is why so many drivers log illegally) is through sheer volume. Even large trucking companies with fuel contracts but mostly the independent carriers, short haul carriers and the cartage drivers that pick up and deliver all of those containers from China are taking it in the you-know-whats. If oil continues to climb freight is going to come to a standstill. Things are not warehoused anymore-all inventories are rolling on trucks. If freight stops, we will have sudden and severe food, fuel and supply shortages, and will go into a depression overnight. Truly, we are on the brink of a possible nightmare scenario. This sounds like a movie-1)The banking sector melts down in spite of the Bear/Morgan deal because Lehman fails to remain solvent and no one has enough cash or is willing to bail them out. 2) Gas prices top $5 a gallon and freight stops. Food, medicines and coal for power all run out and everyone is hungry, hot/cold and using kerosene lamps (if they can afford the kerosene), people don't have access to antibiotics, surgical anesthesia or band-aids. 3)The dollar collapses, becomes as devalued as the afghani dihnar, so even people with millions in the bank are reduced to utter ruin.

[Mattatat]

It'll be 5 bucks in time for the 4th of July and Labor Day driving weekends. Watch.

[cultkicker]

STOP SPECULATORS FROM BIDDING UP THE PRICE OF OIL. OIL IS A NECESSITY, IT ISN'T A COMMODITY OR LUXURY LIKE COFFEE, TEA, OR EVEN SUGAR. Oil should be regulated by governments, and the ppg should have its limits based on government mandated guidelines. The oil companies have PROVEN BEYOND A SHADOW OF A DOUBT THAT THEY ARE IRRESPONSIBLE AND GREEDY, AND COULD CARE LESS ABOUT THE COUNTRY IN WHICH THEY DO BUSINESS.

[raw915]

"Oil should be regulated by governments."

In which way? Proportion oil according to population? That sounds fair. Then the U.S. with 5% of the world population would get 5% of the world's daily oil production or .05x80+ million barrels per day (mbpd) = 4+ mbpd. This would only amount to a 16+ mbpd reduction. Okay. Next idea?

[BlueStateMan]

Oil should be OWNED by our Goverment... the industry needs to be NATIONALIZED as it affects our National security.

[GeoLee]

I would be willing to bet Koch Industries of Wichita Kansas is leading the speculation right here in their corporate stock exchange offices. Considering that they own almost every pipeline in the country along with so many brand name chemical companies in the world, is a privately held company that reportedly funds every anti tax campaign in any place in the country their lines pass through, were reportedly major contributors to the scamming of California a few years back and realizing that two of the brothers quadrupled their wealth on the Forbes Billionaire list in one year, how could anyone not believe they are highly involved in doing this. They only care about keeping a republican in office, so I think around september we will see the bubble burst for a few months and somehow give the republicans credit. when the prices go down and stupid people with poor memories vote mccain in.

[SiberianRat]

Yes, and the "leader" of our country is their biggest supporter. He'll do nothing to stop this since he and his friends are profiting tremendously...

[CaptainVideo]

We tried price controls on GASOLINE in the 1970s and the result was long lines in front of gas stations.

PETROLEUM is traded on world markets. No single government has any ability to control its price. However, OPEC can affect the price by restricting supply by its member countries. Bush tried to get the most important member of OPEC, Saudi Arabia, to increase production and they told him to take a hike.

[BlueStateMan]

Ever hear of Venezuela?

[swooge]

BIg Oil controls the price of oil through dummy corporations that feed the specualtion frenzy.

They also have been, since the early 80's, buying up small refineries and closing them down. US refining capacity has been cut in half. Not because of environmentalists, but because Raygun deregulated the industry and allowed mergers that allowed bigoil to create an artificial choke-point--lack of refining capacity.

[Annette]

The oil companies drill for the oil, they pay royalties ranging from small to none. They then sell the oil to themselves"on the open market" they refine it and sell it for what they want..
We have seen the fleecing of Americans under Bushie and friends. McCain has handed out copies of his tax policies, involving a huge tax cut for the oil companies at a time when they are making the largest profits in history, McCain is certainly following in Bush's footsteps. We can expect much bigger profits for oil companies at the same time there is no oversight. We can expect there to be no or very little research into alternative fuels on the scale that is needed to be sucessful. Elect McBush and watch the dollar fall more, unemployment to rise, medical insurance coverage to decrease, longevity to continue to fall in the US.

[swooge]

The truth is that energy costs are not likely to ever come down as long as we remain dependent on a finite fuel source like fossil fuels and as long as we do nothing to change our way of living. Even if we found 50 billionnbbls of oil somewhere on American soil it would not relieve our dependence on foreign oil. The US uses 9 billion bbls of oil every year, 60% of which is imported. That means that the US produces 3.6 billion bbls a year by itself. Even if we could increase that by 50% to 6.4 billion bbls we would still be importing 40% or our oil and be dependent on the whim of oil exporting countries.

Food sources are going to have to start coming from local farms.
Public transportation is going to start being the main mode of moving people, including rail and boat for long distance traveling.
Conservation should become a national concern. A smart President would start the country on a national energy conservation crusade much like Kennedy's push to the moon.
All these people who live in outlying areas and commute in to large cities will have to move and start living near their work.
Two cars will be a luxury people will not be able to afford.
Recycling and renewables should be given priority and fossil fuels taxed to wean the US from them.
Plastics will start being replaced by glass and wood.

The times they are a changing.

[raw915]

Yes. Gas rationing is just over the horizon. Will the rich SUV owners get twenty times more gas than the poor slobs with motor scooters?

[sdskelton03]

Please clarify your comment for me. You say that finding 50 billion barrels of oil wouldn't relieve our dependance of foreign oil. You also say we use 9 billion barrels per year and 60% of which is imported.

By my calculation, that would mean 50 billion barrels of oil is at least the equivalant of eight or so years of imports.

How could that not make a difference in our need for foreign oil?

[raw915]

Easy.

1) If there really was 50 billion barrels, very little of it would become available before ten or twenty years, primarily because of the lead time needed to bring it on line.

2) If we really believed there was 50 billion barrels available, it would only delay our sense of emergency, and we would delay even more years before doing anything positive to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

[swooge]

Sorry I didn't get back to you earlier.

50 billion bbls of oil would not be used all at once. Let's say that we could pump all that oil at once and consume it in eight years. What then? We would be right back in the same boat. Energy crisis, no long-term plan and no relief in sight.

If we pumped it and comsumed it at a billion a year for 50 years we would STILL be dependent on foreign oil and to the whims or foreign governments.

This isn't brain surgery. It's logic. You don't continue a destructive action, you change your behavior or you perish.

[Kman2]

Do you realize your comments are exactly the same ones made in the 1970's? We've been here before folks. We'll never learn.

[FreedomCorpse]

oh we learned, the politicians only represent corporate interests not the peoples, that's why nothing changed

[CaptainVideo]

"Food sources are going to have to start coming from local farms."

Not neccessary. Food can be transported long distances by trains, which are very fuel efficient. If diesel fuel gets too expensive the railroads can be electrified, as most are in Europe.

[BlueStateMan]

Diesel fuel is the MOST expensive there is these days.

Localized farms would be a BOON to our economy (not to mention our HEALTH).

[swooge]

Yes it is necessary. First, we don't have the rail to transport large amounts of food around the country. Second, small towns would STILL need trucking of foodstuffs. Even with electric trains, that electricity has to be generated somehow. Right now it's mainly coal-fired power plants. Local growers help the local economy. They help the environment by using less fuel for transportation. Local food means that food doesn't have to be converted into processed foodstuffs for transportation (i.e. canned goods). Local governments can better regulate and inspect the food.

[CaptainVideo]

"All these people who live in outlying areas and commute in to large cities will have to move and start living near their work."

That is already happening to a considerable degree. It's called GENTRIFICATION of the inner city neighborhoods, which causes left wing do gooders to get their panties all in a bunch over it.

[BlueStateMan]

What happens to the people already living there?

[swooge]

NO. it doesn't. What it does is pump money into the local government and inner cities. It saves fuel and helps the environment with less miles driven.

[Annette]

Actually it is those do-gooder lefties who are moving into the inner city The right wing is not driving gentrification, you wouldn't catch them living with "those sort of people". The right wing do-badders are still driving their big cars in from the outlying fringes.

[aceholiday]

"This could be a real weight on the economy..." how do numbskulls like this get a forum before everyone else???? REVOLUTION

[Mattatat]

No surprise here at all, folks. The gravy train ends in November for the oil companies, and their plan is to clean up while they can.

Everyone knows that all Bush and Cheney were ever about was oil, and moving the country's money back into the pockets of the wealthy. Sadly, they succeeded, and our country is worse off for it.

[KillTheMessenger]

Is the revolution coming in November? Far from that they oil companies won't care. Especially not the one called Aramco.

[peaceandfreedom]

Aramco-49% owned by British and American Oil Companies!

[Mattatat]

Cheney dictated our energy policy. No surprise what is happening.

Both sides have to work together and get legislation passed. My radical bipartisan solution? 100% American energy independence by granting Alaskan drilling rights to companies that will finance building of wind-power infrastructure and fuel cell technology, and mandate they enable us to cut our oil-consumption by half in 20 years.

[abirato]

Mattatat: I think you have nailed it.

[OkieMon]

shut down commodities futures markets....capitalism can take a hike because of national/world crisis...the constitution took a hike because of terrorism.

[KOisGod]

right on !

[SCG]

They could at least return the supervision over these markets, that Senator Phil Gramm (Mc Same's advisor currently) helped to remove in 2000 .

[Kman2]

Welcome to the commodity markets folks.

Conservation and alternatives are the key to solving supply and demand issues of oil. Problems will never be solved by filling up the gas hog SUVs with gas that has costs lowered by artificial price controls (that is called taxation by the way).

[raw915]

Get the facts.

One barrel (44 gallons) of good quality oil produces about 19.5 gallons of gas plus some other products such as Diesel, jet fuel, kerosene, engine oils, tars, asphalt, etc., and waste. If oil is $136 a barrel, and gas is $4.50 per gallon, the difference after gas is $48.25. How much of the remaining 24.5 gallons goes into useable products and contributes to the cost of refinement depends on the quality of oil, which has been declining due to reduced availability of sweet crude. Obviously oil companies make money on every barrel of oil, but how much can they cut from the price of these products? Remember, it's not just the price of gas, but all the other products that are impacted by the price of oil.

[SCG]

And yet they are making record profits.

" Obviously oil companies make money on every barrel of oil" - Bingo!

[raw915]

Well, what could they afford to knock off the price? We (the U.S.) burn on the order of 100 Billion gallons of gas a year, which corresponds to a quarter of world production. According to http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/103679.pdf major oil company oil profit for 2007 was $155 Billion. Assuming half of that profit came from the sale of gas, and estimating their gas sales as 400 Billion barrels, that would amount to $78 Billion/400 Billion barrels or about 20 cents per gallon. Even if they made twice that amount or $300 Billion, that would amount to about 40 cents per gallon. So they might be persuaded to knock off ten or twenty cents per gallon, but what would the stock owners say when their returns shrunk to nothing?

[FreedomCorpse]

but when will condi's name go back on that tanker?

[TxAggie]

They make 8 cents per gallon. They make higher profits on the crude and natural gas they produce. The industry's rate of return (the Windfall profit) is 10%. Chevron's last year was 7%. Is profit a bad thing?
Are we going to put a windfall profits tax on the high price of food then use the tax to underwrite the development of alternative foods?

Are we going after Berkshire Hathway, WIndows, Google not to mention the drug companies.

Record profits great!!! it means our oil companies are healthy and they can continue to drill for new reserves, oh wait, there's that access problem...geez..whose fault is that?

[KillTheMessenger]

You might want to take the tax out of those $4.50. Then the cut of the gas station owner. Then transportation cost from the refinery. Then refinery cost. Then transportation cost to the refinery... etc.. And soon it ads up and the total earnings on the product are not that great.

[TxAggie]

i visited with a service station owner last week. Each load of gasoline cost shim $31,000. His profit is $81 per load. If it weren't for twinkies, milk, beer and ice he couldnt make a living.

Do him a fovor and pay cash- the credit card companies make more money on gas thatn he does.