I've been telling my buddy this since Feb.

$5.50 before the end of summer, $6.00 if we have a hurricane.

/we live in alabama

meh, $2.00 by July

$6.00 gas will just gar-un-tee project mayhem.

Today CBS radio news was puffing and wheezing about gas being about $9/gal equivalent in the UK right now. Then they went on to say that over $6 of it was taxes. Then they continued with breathless excitement to post high gas prices from other places like France and Sweden, where, of course taxes have NO part in gasoline prices. In some parts of the US taxes are about 40% of the price of gas, which is just great for states that compute it on a percentage. Juuuust great.

My dad and I were discussing this. He asked, "How is it possible, other than a scam and farking greed, that the price of oil is going down, but the price of gas is expected to hit over $6/gallon?" I answered, "It's all speculation. People are putting their money into it, betting that it will go up. Similar to what happened in the 1800s with silver speculation. Eventually, the bubble on silver burst, a few people made a fortune, most lost money, and silver has never been as valued as it was back then. If in one year gas jumps from $3/gallon to $6/gallon, then the bubble's going to burst, and this time next year we'll be back to a dollar/gallon."

My dad thought about what I said, then he replied, "Well, investment experts are telling people not to invest in any fuel source that's not renewable, warning that they could actually be losing money, so that's a strong possibility."

/really, really, I hope I'm right on this one

Great Janitor: My dad and I were discussing this. He asked, "How is it possible, other than a scam and farking greed, that the price of oil is going down, but the price of gas is expected to hit over $6/gallon?" I answered, "It's all speculation. People are putting their money into it, betting that it will go up.

I'm STILL waiting for CNN/Time Magazine/etc to throw up the following headline a few times:
"The Oil Futures Market: Is the Bubble About To Burst?"

Come on. Print the farking story already. That's all it takes...

What does the media have to do with the price of gas?

hmmm maybe the dollar will rebound against the euro too

I kinda want it to get up to like $20 or $30 a gallon, because maybe once it actually starts bothering the civil servants and governance, they'll do something about it.

like lower it back to $15 where they can use cars, but the rest of us can't. ha.

randomstranger: What does the media have to do with the price of gas?

shhh! it's an election year so it's always the fault of the media. duh!

I'm just waiting for the moment all those soccer moms snap at the thought of renouncing their SUVs because gas prices reached horrifying heights.

/Soccer momocalypse?

That's just capitalism in action. Stop whining.

Is nothing sacred to The Liberal Media™?

/got nothin'

Why is it that a country with low gas taxes and most most enviable position in the gas market complains about gas prices? Could they be spoiled?

Great Janitor: My dad and I were discussing this. He asked, "How is it possible, other than a scam and farking greed, that the price of oil is going down, but the price of gas is expected to hit over $6/gallon?"

Umm we've hit record oil prices for 20+ days straight. What is your old man smoking?

Just on my block, it went up 39 cents in one night.

One night.

I sure hope you're right, Great Janitor.

My estimation is $5 by Labor Day, $6 by Cristmas followed by a crash dropping it back to something between $3 and $4 by next Summer followed by a slow but steady raise in price.

I am a guy who thinks we haven't seen anything yet, and we are witnessing the beginning of a seismic, permanant change in American culture. It will take decades for current society to adapt to this new reality.

Sometimes the future is now. It's now. Don't think you'll ever pay for cheap gas ever again.

You want cheap gas? Buy a Taco Bell bean burrito.

I love that the headline seems to imply that $4/gallon gas is an invention by the media. I'm currently paying $4.13/gallon here in Oregon.

Scifientologist: You want cheap gas? Buy a Taco Bell bean burrito.

Or visit the McDonald's Dollar Menu.

$7/gallon by December.
Merry Christmas.

Surely the Free Market^TM will solve this problem.

Regular Unleaded is $4.30-4.35/gal here in Seattle now.

this is why I got hack into cycling...

Shaggy_C: Great Janitor: My dad and I were discussing this. He asked, "How is it possible, other than a scam and farking greed, that the price of oil is going down, but the price of gas is expected to hit over $6/gallon?"

Umm we've hit record oil prices for 20+ days straight. What is your old man smoking?

Clearly you're not paying much attention to Fark. This was posted Friday: Oil prices continue to freefall, dropping below $126 a barrel on news that... er, (shakes a Magic-8 ball)... um... well damn, nothing makes sense any more, mommy, make it stop, make it stop

And the article even says: Retail gas prices jumped a cent Friday to a new national average over $3.96 a gallon, putting them on a course to hit $4 by early next week. Oil futures, meanwhile, traded in a narrow range as investors tried to determine whether recent price declines were temporary.

Did any of you Farkers notice the article was written July 2007?

xor_4200: Good night, and good luck.

howdoibegin: Why is it that a country with low gas taxes and most most enviable position in the gas market complains about gas prices? Could they be spoiled?

No. We just only recently really started getting screwed over. Once the constant raping has been going on for a decade or so we'll calm down about it like y'all have.

Or we'll start shooting oil execs and their puppets in government. Could go either way.

Great Janitor: Clearly you're not paying much attention to Fark.

Ah, I see. I didn't realize it had dipped back down a few dollars. The reason gas prices aren't going down immediately is because of the supply chain lag in the refining process. The actual barrel of oil probably has a good couple weeks between getting turned into fuel, getting transported to the gas station, and then ready for you to fill up with. The raw materials price goes along with the oil at each step of the way. Even worse, a lot of gas stations use FIFO inventory valuation methods, meaning that there is even more of a delay because they charge you for the oldest gasoline on hand at all times.

Great Janitor: My dad and I were discussing this. He asked, "How is it possible, other than a scam and farking greed, that the price of oil is going down, but the price of gas is expected to hit over $6/gallon?" I answered, "It's all speculation. People are putting their money into it, betting that it will go up. Similar to what happened in the 1800s with silver speculation. Eventually, the bubble on silver burst, a few people made a fortune, most lost money, and silver has never been as valued as it was back then. If in one year gas jumps from $3/gallon to $6/gallon, then the bubble's going to burst, and this time next year we'll be back to a dollar/gallon."

My dad thought about what I said, then he replied, "Well, investment experts are telling people not to invest in any fuel source that's not renewable, warning that they could actually be losing money, so that's a strong possibility."

/really, really, I hope I'm right on this one

I think your dad is mixing apples and zebras. You may want to add something along the lines of the following in a conversation with him. Investment experts are giving advice for the long term. Generally when you seek out an investment advisor you do not get advice for 30 minutes, 2 days or just a few weeks, you get it for the long haul, so its there for retirement. In that situation yes I agree to go with something that has a long future and is backed by a good company (be wary of alternative energy startups, some like the guy turning turkey remains into oil completely misgauged things and ended up having a lot more debt and far less profit than originally estimated).

When you talk about oil futures, which is what the price on TV ticker reports will be, its a contract to buy some large quantity of oil, wholesale, usually in just a few weeks. If you buy one and the price goes up, you can sell that contract before delivery for a profit. If you forget to sell it, you will get a friendly notice that your tanker of oil is at the docks and they want to know where to dump it. This is generally not a good situation as you will end up losing money almost guaranteed. Now if you are a speculator as you referred to in your post, then buying them and convincing others on as many TV shows as you can be invited to, that the price will continue to go up, you will cause others to want to buy them, driving the price up, giving you your profit, and somehow seem magical because of the self fufilled prophecy.

Now that you are armed with the difference between a speculator driving the price of oil up and hoping the sheeple will listen, and an investment advisor, you may want to have a further talk with your father and see what he has to say then.

I do believe that market speculation is responsible for at least 20% of the current price of crude oil, possibly more (I dont have real numbers in front of me right now to compare actual output against current demand).

Also oil prices and gas prices are not directly linked. Yes oil will influence gas, but lets look back to say 2002. Oil was about $25/barrel, gas was about $1.50/gallon (los angeles). Oil went up about 5 times in price, gas went up about 2.5 times. Oddly the oil companies profited about the same (Exxon was $11B, they were $13B in 2007, or a 20% increase not counting the weaker dollar now vs then - being international that does matter for bottom lines). These are not real numbers, but close estimates based on my memory, feel free to look them up and correct me. 20% profit increase on gas going up about 250% with oil going up 500%. So most of the increases arent going to the oil companies so they have to be going somewhere (speculators are a big part of that, although not the only part).

Commander Lysdexic: Surely the Free MarketTM will solve this problem.

Already on the way:

Vertigro Algae Bioreactor(finally an efficient way to produce biodiesel)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVJyoYC8O7A&feature=related

Synthetic crude from waste biomass(table scraps, lawn clippings, ALGAE)
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=59402

As it goes up, politicians will feel more pressure about drilling in the Alaskan wildlife reserve. At some point, probably a little north of $5.00, they'll come up with some "relief" package that will start the drilling and start releasing oil from the US' strategic reserve until the Alaskan wildlife wells start producing.

Not sure how I feel about this, since it's good in some ways and bad in others. Overall I'm hopeful that oil prices start pushing nuclear power more, since that's the solution to much of this (gasoline still requires oil, but electric cars would increase in use with cheaper electric prices and rising fuel costs).

Of course, that means the environmentalists would have to agree that nuclear power is the solution, but they'll continue pushing wind, water, and solar. :(

Does anybody else think perhaps this crazy increase in gas price isn't corporate greed alone but a combination of greed AND 1)reaction to environmentalist activism and 2)retaliation for our military's extended length of engagement??

/not trying to be political
//just bitter becuase my 'lil celica GT-S takes premium
///Exxon-Mobil's profit margin for the first quarter this year makes me physically ill

MrKraclenutz: I've been telling my buddy this since Feb.

$5.50 $6.00 before the end of summer, $6.00 $7.00 if we have a hurricane.

/we live in alabama

ftfy

Now that it's past $4.00 it's going to zoom to $5.00 and then whatever. Glad I can walk to work.

krupintupple: I kinda want it to get up to like $20 or $30 a gallon, because maybe once it actually starts bothering the civil servants and governance, they'll do something about it.

like lower it back to $15 where they can use cars, but the rest of us can't. ha.so that society will crumble and anarchy will reign.

FTFY.

I see riots @ $5. I'm curious to see where the crime rate goes with the simultaneous sudden homelessness of a few million Americans plus across the board inflation, especially of essential goods.

Occam's Chainsaw: I see riots @ $5. I'm curious to see where the crime rate goes with the simultaneous sudden homelessness of a few million Americans plus across the board inflation, especially of essential goods.

It's ok, we have the North American Security Agreement so now the US Government can bring in Canadian troops to subjugate..er, I mean, 'protect' citizens from themselves. The Canucks won't give a fark about shooting you in the face if you step out of line.

Run for the hills becomes literal rather than metaphorical, since no one would be able to drive to them.

Shaggy_C: It's ok, we have the North American Security Agreement so now the US Government can bring in Canadian troops to subjugate..er, I mean, 'protect' citizens from themselves. The Canucks won't give a fark about shooting you in the face if you step out of line.

You think anything with the acronym NASA is going to actually function?

Shouldn't we be laughing at the fact that this doomsday article which was written in 2007, was very wrong?

Great Janitor:
/really, really, I hope I'm right on this one

I like what you say normally ... but methinks you are severely wrong on this one.

You might not be taking the spiraling dollar into account (due to legal counterfeiting), our loss of face (Japan shiat, ala Bush), and holy smokes -- if this happens -- the global shift from pegging all industry (cough, oil) from the dollar to the bye-bye Euro. Hold onto your house, it might go up in value sometime soon, somewhere around 2025.

Three years from now, I'm guessing taxes are going up. A socialist will be in office (either way -- one wants heavy foreign welfare, the other wants domestic and foreign welfare). I'm outta here.

/here's where I get called mega-dumb by retarded Farkers
//sorry, maybe not dumb, but I'll just be called a troll by all the 13-year olds
///nah, I'll be called dumb

Occam's Chainsaw: You think anything with the acronym NASA is going to actually function?

Fark...That's not the official name, it's Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America

THIS JUST IN: Using up non-renewable resources makes them more costly! Tune in tonight at eleven for a special on "supply and demand!"

YoggiSothoth: Three years from now, I'm guessing taxes are going up. A socialist will be in office (either way -- one wants heavy foreign welfare, the other wants domestic and foreign welfare). I'm outta here.

We've already had a socialist in the last 7+ years - the corporate welfare type.

Part of the problem is that our massive debt is contributing to the weakening of our dollar, which in turn increases the amount of dollars we have to pay for each barrel of oil. At some point we probably should do something about that..

Shaggy_C: Fark...That's not the official name, it's Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America

In that case, glad I stocked up on Canadian Repellent.*

*Canadian repellent: dry county with a hot, humid climate.

YoggiSothoth: /here's where I get called mega-dumb by retarded Farkers
//sorry, maybe not dumb, but I'll just be called a troll by all the 13-year olds
///nah, I'll be called dumb

Hate to burst your persecution complex, but I think you're pretty close. Hell, I lean even more apocalyptic than that. It may very well get so bad that it makes the Great Depression look like a market correction. Our current economy and way of life just aren't sustainable, and the people who do the most damage have no need to change.

On a semi-unrelated note, whoever wins the election is getting handed an epic mountain of turds. I get the whole picture in the history books, incredible power, chance to make your mark on society bit, but really, who would want to be responsible for the aftermath of this disaster?

Peak oil is real, it is a term I am sure all of Fark is familiar with. If anyone is not I recommend looking into it since it will no doubt be a huge debate in another couple decades at most. There are tons of other factors involved with todays gasoline prices. but would it be worth speculating on if it wasn't on it's way out the door with civilization as we know it by the balls? Don't get me wrong alternatives in transportation will begin to arise before oil / gas reach completely insane levels and society breaks down.


\Hydrocarbon man is on his way out!

Occam's Chainsaw: Shaggy_C: It's ok, we have the North American Security Agreement so now the US Government can bring in Canadian troops to subjugate..er, I mean, 'protect' citizens from themselves. The Canucks won't give a fark about shooting you in the face if you step out of line.

You think anything with the acronym NASA is going to actually function?

Sure, for 67 seconds, then it'll be a FARK headline.

SustainedHavoc: The other problem with all this I've been talking about for awhile: credit. My sister has worked for years in the audit division of her company's petroleum distribution network, and a simple query of mine brought unsettling answers:In 1978, payment for retail gas sales by credit card: less than 5%. In 2007, that number has gone to 78%, and that includes NO debit cards.In the previous gas crisis, credit was harder to get, so, when you ran out of cash you ran out of gas. That's not happening this time, so a decrease in demand or the number of cars on the road isn't happening as drastically.Not the end of the world, but riots @ $5.00? Don't think it'll happen, but I would like to know where the breaking point is. My guess is that it'll be when the cards are all maxed out, whenever that is.

I agree that it may be a bit of a problem, but that number is misleading, since most of the time people run their debit cards as credit cards. Mine gets run as credit, even though it comes out of my checking account.