I'm tired of all this crude oil. We should send it to finishing school to learn some manners.

West Texas Intermediate could drop $50 a barrel and the gasoline price wouldn't budge as it is priced off of the Brent crude price. When Brent falls you'll see US gasoline prices retreat.

Because oil companies make more money exporting it outside the US.

submitter nails it: why? because f*ck you!

StrikitRich: West Texas Intermediate could drop $50 a barrel and the gasoline price wouldn't budge as it is priced off of the Brent crude price. When Brent falls you'll see US gasoline prices retreat.

The WTI crude price is decoupled from Brent because it's based on delivery to an oil storage facility in Cushing, Oklahoma, which is landlocked and has been filling up with oil from Canada and North Dakota. That's why the price of WTI has dropped so drastically yet gas prices don't fully reflect it, because it's difficult to distribute the oil out of there. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange is considering establishment of a new futures contract that specifies the Gulf coast (home to the largest concentration of refineries in the world, and also next to the sea where it's easier to ship) as the destination for physical delivery. That contract would more closely track Brent and price fluctuations in it would more closely couple with gasoline prices.

I remember when oil went to 160 dollars / barrel. I'm paying the exact same price right now for fuel

But it's a good thing the oversight comitee never finds any faults.

I Can't get behind that!

Nice headline..accurate

jjorsett: StrikitRich: West Texas Intermediate could drop $50 a barrel and the gasoline price wouldn't budge as it is priced off of the Brent crude price. When Brent falls you'll see US gasoline prices retreat.

The WTI crude price is decoupled from Brent because it's based on delivery to an oil storage facility in Cushing, Oklahoma, which is landlocked and has been filling up with oil from Canada and North Dakota. That's why the price of WTI has dropped so drastically yet gas prices don't fully reflect it, because it's difficult to distribute the oil out of there. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange is considering establishment of a new futures contract that specifies the Gulf coast (home to the largest concentration of refineries in the world, and also next to the sea where it's easier to ship) as the destination for physical delivery. That contract would more closely track Brent and price fluctuations in it would more closely couple with gasoline prices.

The widening spread is a recent phenomena. The historic spread is usually less than $5 with WTI having the premium. The big reason for the recent drop in WTI was the Administration releasing 60 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Interesting how gasoline didn't drop a whole lot when WTI went from $100 to $76 and back.

Now, if that Keystone XL pipeline ever gets built, or that Conoco pipeline gets reversed next summer, you might see Brent fall in price as they could then cheaply transport the WTI to tankers and move it to Philly and New Jersey for refining.

lucksi: I remember when oil went to 160 dollars / barrel. I'm paying the exact same price right now for fuel

But it's a good thing the oversight comitee never finds any faults.

And when was that at $160?? Oh right, never.

Not so fast, subby. It was $3.7x and $3.8x for a long time around here (Eugene OR) now it's hovering at $3.50 at Fred Meyer at beltline/river road. Or $3.38 when I passed through Junction City last weekend. So the months-long trend is presently down from where I'm at.

/Which will lead to something resembling an economic recovery
//Which will send gas prices back to $4/gal
///Which will kick the economy in the nuts again...

Natural gas just fell again, down near 3.30 a therm...

If it keeps going like this, the economics of CNG cars will start looking really attractive.

Filled up yesterday at 2.97

meh, I'll take it. Better to be buttfarked with a kiss than buttfarked with a donkey punch. It's either that or walk to work

Why would gas prices go up? Don't we pump crude into our cars at the gas station?

What's that you say? We don't? There is a whole refinery and pipeline process that takes time a money? Well why don't we just skip all of that and realize the day to day changes in price at the pump!

Go look up the last time any refineries were built in the USA. That's why gas prices are high. The reason none have been built are the greentards and the Dems. Thank them for your high prices!