Gasoline prices???

jato · Posted: Mon Sep 13, 2004 9:53 pm Post subject: Gasoline prices???

With the recent increase in crude oil prices why haven't gasoline prices increased? Here locally they have gone down a few cents per gallon!?!

When will we see an significant increase in price?
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NevadaGhosts · Intermediate Crude Joined: Aug 20, 2004 Posts: 752

I think it has something to do with oil reserves, stored in tanks. I heard someone say it takes a few months for gas prices to catch up with oil prices. Not sure though.

MonteQuest · Posted: Mon Sep 13, 2004 11:09 pm Post subject:

Keep an eye on those pump prices, Jato. It’s only temporary. One big reason gas prices jumped this spring was that there looked like there might not be enough gasoline to go around in time for the summer driving season. While those high prices made it a lousy time to fill up your tank, they made it a great time to make gasoline. Profits margins for refiners were huge because crude was still relatively cheap. So those refiners began cranking up production to near record levels — and they made a bundle of money by doing so. Now, with all that gasoline sloshing around the system, and the summer driving season wrapping up, prices are remaining somewhat stable. Here in Arizona where I live, not much has changed. Some places are even dropping. $2.09/gal here.

If unusually cold weather this winter cranks up demand for heating oil, there will be less crude oil available to make gasoline. And if gasoline supplies get tight again, prices could head back up. A lot depends on what happens to oil prices. So far, the recent oil price rise hasn’t yet moved through the system. But if oil prices keep rising through $50 a barrel — and stay there — the price of all refined products will go up.

What’s indicative about the current oil price run-up is that it’s not based on OPEC withholding oil. As we know, in the past, if prices rose too far, OPEC would simply pump more oil and prices would fall. But for the first time since the cartel was founded in 1960, oil producing countries are pumping as fast as they can. The good news is that the run-up in oil prices also seems to be coming from traders bidding up prices on fears that we may see actual shortages of oil. If the markets settle down, and this isn’t peak-oil time, and political stability returns to major oil producers like Iraq and Venezuela, we may see oil prices fall again. But from what I have been reading, oil could well hit $60 a barrel before it hits $30 again.
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EnviroEngr · Posted: Tue Sep 14, 2004 9:12 am Post subject: StockPiling

Aaron,

Does Valero figure into this? Haven't they built up motor fuel reserves in the last 3 or 4 months?

Don't forget also that we're (USA) importing significant amounts of gasoline from Europe. {aka: military-geopolitical shell game}
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