Gas prices are insane!

The TDIs come with a small amount of hp stock, but can be made to be very very fast.....

Per month my gas is reaching 500 right now, just for my car!

Compared to two years ago demand is not significantly higher nor is supply significantly lower.

Some people and news agencies argue that labor strikes, hurricane threats to oil platforms, fires and terrorist threats at refineries, and other general problems are responsible for the higher gas prices. Critics argue that these problems periodically push price higher, but that they are not fundamental or long term enough to cause the large jump in gas price.

Others believe that the price of oil is almost entirely speculative, and that the increase in price is due to oil speculation extending into the long term. These people argue that speculators forsee increasing demand, decreasing supply, or both, leading to a long term increase in the price of oil. If these speculators are wrong, current prices may actually be a price bubble, and the price could thus collapse. A July 14, 2005 Morgan Stanley report[3] suggests that opinions of the oil market could burst just such a bubble if indications of declining Asian demand continue.




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Demand
High demand is led by the U.S. market, the source of an increasing percentage of world's demand for petroleum. The U.S. economy currently accounts for one-quarter of all demand. New demand is also coming from emerging industry in third world nations, including India and especially China which is developing a western-style car culture and whose manufacturing bases have grown very rapidly in recent years.

Sources of the world-consumption-increase in 2004 compared to 2003 (total increase of 3.4%), according to DOE EIA estimates: [4]

China: 38.9%
US: 19.4%
Asia outside Japan and China: 13.8%
Canada: 4%
UK: 3.5%
combined other non-OECD: 21%
Note: the total percentage exceeds 100 because the overall demand from all other countries decreased during the same period.


Average US retail price of regular unleaded gasoline[edit]
Supply
There are a number of reasons why oil traders feel that oil supplies might be reduced. One of the most important is growing turbulence in the Middle East, the world's largest oil producing region. The war in Iraq, Iran's nuclear program, and questions about Saudi Arabia's internal stability all could in the future lead to a dramatic fall in the supply of oil. Outside the Middle East other oil producers have worried investors such as the strikes political problems in Venezuela and potential instability in West Africa.

World supply (specification) came in at 83 million barrels a day during 2004 in department of energy EIA calculations ([5]). This rate of increase is faster than that of any other date in the past. Despite this there is increasing discussion of peak oil and the possibility that the future may see a reduced supply of oil. Even if oil supplies themselves are not reduced, some experts feel the easily accessible sources of light sweet crude are almost exhausted and in future the world will depend more expensive sources of oil.

The short term price of oil is partially controlled by the OPEC cartel and the oligopoly of major oil companies. One other important cause is the United States dollar's slump against the Euro. Since oil is traded in dollars, the price must increase for OPEC to maintain buying power in Europe.

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Spring & Summer 2005 increase

Overnight gas price hike shown at a Chicago area BP-Amoco station (background). The Shell station (foreground) has not yet posted the whopping 12 cent price hike.After retreating for several months during the winter of 2004/2005, prices rose to new highs in March 2005. The price of light, sweet crude oil on NYMEX has been above $50/barrel since March 5, 2005. On March 16, 2005, the price surpassed the October 2004 high of $55.17 to close at $56.46. In April 2005 the price began to fall, reaching $53.32 on April 9. It then reversed course and headed to an all time high of $58.28, driven mainly by lingering concerns of a prolonged weak dollar. In June 2005 crude oil prices surged to record highs eventually breaking the psychological barrier of $60.

King Fahd's death on August 1, 2005, meant a new regime that may be less amicable to U.S. influence. During mid-August, with a string of refinery snags (fires/other deterrents to oil refining), shrinking gasoline inventories, and a growing thirst for oil by American consumers, New York Mercantile Exchange traded crude oil futures surged past the $66 mark and briefly touched $67/barrel. Over the course of three weeks leading up to August 10, crude oil prices had risen by 13%. In August 2005 crude oil prices surged to record highs eventually breaking the psychological barrier of $70.

While the street price of gasoline usually corresponds to the price of crude oil, refinery capacity can become the governing factor, particularly during periods of high demand. In addition, there are different grades of oil and each refinery is typically configured to process a narrow range of grades. As a result, shortage of a particular grade of oil can keep street prices high, even when overall supply exceeds demand.

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Effects
There is controversy regarding the potential effects of oil-price shocks. Some see these increases in the price of oil leading to a recession comparable to those that followed the 1973 and 1979 energy crises or a potentially worse situation such as a global oil crash. Most economists see this as unlikely, partly because all developed countries have high fuel taxes that decrease as oil prices increase and can be eliminated in the event of a dramatic price spike. Nevertheless, such subsidies place a significant strain on government balance sheets. The American Strategic Petroleum Reserve could on its own supply current U.S. demand for about a month in the event of an emergency. While total consumption has increased [6], the western economies are less reliant on oil than they were twenty-five years ago, due to substantial growths in productivity. In the United States, for instance, each $1000 dollars in GDP required 2.4 barrels of oil in 1973 when adjusted for inflation this number had fallen to 1.15 by 2001. But oil's historically high ratio of Energy Returned on Energy Invested continues a significant decline. Despite the rapid increase in the price of oil, neither the stock markets nor the growth of the global economy have been noticeably affected. Inflation has increased. In the United States, the Consumer Price Index rose by 0.6% compared to 0.2% for September. This was driven by a 4.2% increase in energy costs. As a result during this period the Federal Reserve has rapidly been increasing interest rates to curb inflation.

Economists say that the substitution effect will spur demand for alternate energy sources, such as coal or liquified natural gas. The increased price of oil also make previously impractical sources of oil attractive to businesses. The most prominent example of this are the massive reserves of the Canadian tar sands. They are a far less cost efficient source of oil than crude, but at 60 dollars a barrel have recently become very attractive to businesses. Recent months have seen billions of dollars invested in the oil sands.

The increased price of oil might also encourage greater fuel efficiency. Recent years have seen a move towards more fuel-thirsty sport utility vehicles in the United States and Canada, and this may be stopped by the high price of gas. There is an increasing market for hybrid vehicles since they are more fuel efficient; since the 1973 energy crisis, the front-wheel drive passenger car has replaced rear-wheel drive as the preferred layout for energy efficient cars. There is an increasing demand of crossover sport utilities which are more fuel efficient - especially for those based on passenger car platforms.

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See also