Home, Automotive Repair Library, Auto Parts, Accessories, Tools & Equipment, Manuals & Books, Car BLOG, Links, Index
When I first wrote this article back in July of 2006, the price of gasoline has just rised above $3 a gallon for the first time. People were screaming and thinking it was the end of the world (myself included). Little did I know this was just the beginning of a wild roller coaster ride fueled by fears, speculation, price gouging and outright market manipulation.
Unfortunately, most of us have no say whatsoever in what we have to pay for fuel. Why? Because unless we walk, ride a bike, use public transportation or get a ride with somebody else, we have to drive our cars virtually everywhere we go.
The modern American cityscape is NOT the least bit pedestrian friendly. Heck, it isn't even car-friendly. Parking lots rarely interconnect, forcing you to drive all the way around to get from one trip mall or big box store to the next. It's rare to drive more than a couple of blocks without getting snagged up by stop signs and traffic lights. And during much of the day, it's gridlock in the big cities.
Urban sprawl makes an automobile an absolute necessity for getting to work, school, shopping, entertainment, you-name-it. And except for some of the larger cities like Chicago, public transportation is nonexistent or a complete joke.
DRIVING GREEN
Most of us would like to drive a fuel-efficient car so we can save money when we fill up at the gas pump. But hybrid cars are in short supply and high demand. Consequently, car dealers are usually getting full list price for such cars.
Driving less, car pooling, and trading in your old gas guzzling SUV or large vehicle for a pint-sized fuel sipper is about the most any of us can do to minimize the impact of soaring gas prices.
THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF HIGH FUEL COSTS
Back when I first wrote this article, I accurately predicted the severe economic impact high fuel prices would have not only on individuals and families, but also the American economy. It was the straw the broke the camel's back. With so much money being spent on fuel, there was less money to spend on everything else. Major purchases were postponed, people maxed out their credit cards, then borrowed more, and then began to fall behind on their mortgage payments and other monthly bills. It all began to spiral down, and today (February 2009) we were in a severe recession.
Although fuel prices are holding around $1.80 to $2 a gallon, Americans have not resumed their old driving habits. Most people are driving less, which is keeping demand and prices down, at least for awhile. Crude oil prices continue to flounder in spite of cutbacks in production by our Arab friends and others (some friends these people are!).
What follows is a summary of my posts tracing the history of what has happened to gasoline prices over the past three years:
Who would have thought that gas prices would drop as much and as quickly as they have in the past few months? As I write this, the price for unleaded regular in Chicago is around $2.38 a gallon -- and as low as $2.01 a gallon in rural Iowa.
Why the sudden drop? Could it be there is an election coming November 7th and the current administration is asking their oil buddies for some help? Hmmmmmm. Wonder what the price of gasoline will do immediately AFTER the election?
Pardon me if I'm a bit skeptical but since the price of gasoline is TOTALLY MANIPULATED by those who have the oil, they can charge us whatever they damn well please and we have to pay it -- that, or move to oil-rich Venezuela where the price of gasoline is reportedly 12 to 15 CENTS per gallon! You can fill up your SUV there for less than $5 in gringo dollars. Maybe we should make them a deal: we'll trade them our gas-guzzling SUVs for their cheap gas.
Hmmmmm. Why am I not surprised by this turn of events? Looks like President Bush's oil buddies couldn't help save the incumbent Republicans from losing their seats. Time to start sticking it to us again.
These are not good economic times! The price of crude recently hit $117 a barrel, gasoline is back up over $3.65 a gallon in our area, and has hit $4 a gallon in some parts of the country (California & Florida). The Presidential election is coming this fall, but none of the politicians are saying much of anything about (1) how to end the war, (2) how to restore the value of the dollar, (3) how to bring inflation under control, and (4) how to drive the price of gasoline back down so Americans don't go broke at the gas pump.
We have over 100,000 combat troops in Iraq who have been playing hide-and-seek with a bunch of crazies for over five years now, which is a year longer than it took us to win World War Two!. Why don't we let those people sort out their own problems, and shift our military efforts to "managing" the oil supply in the region for our own best interests. Without cheap energy to fuel our vehicles and economy, America is in deep trouble!
At least on BP station in Chicago is selling regular unleaded for over $4 a gallon ($4.02 to be exact). The average price in the suburbs is still around $3.69 to $3.89 a gallon, but it's headed up.
Congress is finally talking about restricting arms sales to Saudi Arabia in an effort to put pressure on the Saudis to increase production. Some are also asking why President Bush is not releasing any oil from the DOE Strategic Petroleum Reserve to increase oil supplies and drive down prices. Both of the measures might help a bit, but the REAL problem is commodity speculators driving up oil prices and oil companies manipulating supplies and prices for their own profit.
As public anger grows over soaring fuel prices, some are calling for price controls on gasoline and diesel fuel. It might help, but it would probably only create shortages. Others say we should slap the oil companies with windfall profit taxes, or regulate or nationalize these monopolies for the good of the country. Nationalizing is an interesting idea. They've done that in Venezuela and the price of gasoline there is only 12 cents a gallon! The only drawback with this idea is that our government usually screws up every program it tries manage. Imagine bureaucrats like those from FEMA running the oil companies. The price might be a lot cheaper than it is now, but there would likely be shortages all over the country.
The real solution to this mess is to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. That means switching to smaller, fuel-efficient vehicles like they drive in Europe, using more alternative fuels and biofuels, increasing the production of hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles, building new nuclear plants to provide clean, low-cost electricity to power plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles, living closer to where we work so we don't have to burn so much fuel commuting back and forth, and doing something (anything!) to stop urban sprawl. The more our cities continues to spread out, the more gas it takes each and every one of us to travel from A to B.
In response to direct customer feedback citing the prospect of rising gas prices as a top concern, Chrysler LLC today announced its own economic stimulus package: an exclusive gas price protection policy that eliminates the risk of further spikes in fuel prices. With the U.S. purchase of eligible Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge vehicles, customers can enroll in the Let's Refuel America program and receive a gas card that immediately lowers their gas price to $2.99 a gallon, and keeps it there for three years. The offer is available at 3,511 U.S. Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge dealerships through June 2, 2008, and is available on vehicles ranging from popular new compacts, crossovers and minivans to full-size diesel-powered pickup trucks.
"Today we are proud to introduce an unprecedented program to help put customers' minds at ease and do something to help working people who are worried about the volatility of fuel prices and vehicle cost of ownership," said Jim Press, Vice-Chairman and President, Chrysler LLC. "The Let's Refuel America Price Guarantee puts money in your pocket today, and allows our customers to better manage their fuel expenses. And you can't get it anywhere else besides a Chrysler, Jeep or Dodge dealership."
This is the kind of action we need to see from our "leaders" in Washington D.C. So why aren't we getting it???
On a recent trip to Iowa to visit relatives, I saw gas prices in the $1.50 range all across the state. For some reason, the price of gas in Illinois has remained in the $1.80 range.
Since the economy tanked, states are looking for ways to replace lost income and sales tax revenues. So guess what? They are jacking up gasoline taxes. Illinois now has one of the highest gasoline taxes in the nation at $57.9 cents/gallon. Car-crazy California, by comparison, is up to 63.9 cents/gallon. Federal gasoline taxes are still lagging at 18.4 cents/gallon (where they have been for years), but will soon be going up too as politicians in Washington D.C. scramble to dig even deeper into our pockets.
As crude oil prices rise and fall, gasoline prices are averaging around $3.54 per gallon nationwide. Prices range from over $4.00 a gallon in the Chicago metro area, and $3.73 a gallon in California to a low of $3.31 a gallon in the Gulf Coast area.
Higher fuel prices in some areas are attributed to higher taxes (see chart below) and reformulated fuel requirements to reduce exhaust emissions.
Also of note is the fact that U.S. gasoline consumption is DOWN significantly according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration:
"In 2011, the United States consumed about 134 billion gallons (or 3.19 billion barrels) of gasoline, a daily average of about 367.08 million gallons (8.74 million barrels). This was about 6 percent less than the record high of about 142.38 billion gallons (or 3.39 billion barrels) consumed in 2007."
Much of the drop in consumption can be attributed to the sluggish economy, and a slight increase in the use of hybrid vehicles and smaller, more fuel efficient cars.
So the question is, why are gasoline prices still so high? Apparently, Big Oil can ignore the basics laws of supply and demand, and keep their prices artificially high. The only explanation we've been able to come up with (besides outright price fixing by the oil companies) is that the refineries are selling their surplus gasoline stocks to offshore customers to keep fuel prices high, rather than lowering their prices for U.S. consumers. Screwed again......
Related Articles: 
Click Here See More Carley Automotive Technical Articles
