CINCINNATI -- Gas prices vary depending on where you live, but a report released Monday showed that average prices have set a new record in Ohio and across the nation. The nationwide Lundberg Survey finds the average price of self-serve regular gasoline is a record $3.18 a gallon. That's up more than 11 cents from the last survey two weeks ago. Nationwide, the lowest average price for regular fuel is $2.87 in Charleston, S.C., and the highest is in Chicago at $3.59. AAA said that in Ohio, the cost of gas also has hit a new all-time high, averaging about $3.23 a gallon for regular. A gas price Web site showed prices ranging between $3.08 and $3.41 a gallon Prices continue to rise on concerns that U.S. refiners aren't producing enough gasoline to meet peak summer demand. BP said last week that two refineries in Indiana and Ohio were only producing 50 percent of their full capacity.
The problem is so far the demand did not go down when the price go up. We are going to raise the price until demand go down significantly!!! Thank you!!!
What you are witness to is the basics of Economics 101 in relation to product pricing in the hands of an oligopoly or shall I say "oilogopoly". This is the best and the worst of the capitalistic model. Oil production is a capital intensive operation which weeds out the small producers and refiners and favors larger organizations with deeper pockets. Only the strong survive. Without the competition variable in the equation for product pricing the current major oil companies can now join hands, set prices and enjoy record profits. All the while market to you an entirely different story through their advertising. To quote Wile E. Coyote "Genius, simply genius!" Just, my2cents
Allowing Exxon and Mobil, two giants of the industry to merge a couple years ago sure is not helping prices go down.
How can demand go down when most people have no choice but to drive to work, so they are forced to take it up the ass and pay whatever the price is. Once gas is $20/gallon (not sure why the oil companies don't charge that much now, when they could probably get away with it), auto manufacturers will need to come up with cars that get 200 mpg, otherwise, the streets of this country will be littered with horse shit.
$3.69 here in NYC, happy I ride the NYC subway for $76 a month...seriously, maybe these refineries should step up their production a little, although I have a feeling they dont want to
The issue is not the oil companies propping the price up, or the speculators driving it up, it is an issue of refining capacity. We have not built a new refinery in 30 years in the US, and our demand (and the rest of the world's too) for refined products increases every year. Not only do we not have enough refineries, but the ones we do have are aging and beginning to fall apart. There have been a huge number of hiccups at refineries this year which has limited the refining industry's ability to build stocks to sufficient levels to meet demand for the busy summer driving season, and that is why prices have been rocking. Note that today prices are pulling back, with gasoline down 6 cents on the Nymex currently, and it has been off as much as 8.25 cents.