OT What year did they change EVERY

Gasoline prices have
declined sharply since 1981 when real pump
prices reached a high of
$2.64 per gallon (in 2001
dollars). Since then, the real
cost of gasoline has fallen by
about $1.25 per gallon (these figures need revision after last year spike after Katrina). On
average, 42� of every gallon
of gas goes to taxes. That�s about $300 for
every licensed driver in the U.S. per year.

If the Saudis charge 70 bucks for a barrel, thats what the going price is. Companies like Exon, etc. still make it for 40, but charge the going rate which is 70. That's one of the reasons American oil companies show record profits.

Three years ago they made about 30% profit. Now-adays they can get 85% and nobody bats an eye. I bought about $2500.00 worth of Exon stock 4 years ago. I figured out my average fuel usage compared to my dividend checks and my fuel bill is basically zero.

Fwiw,

Mel

The stock market sets the price of oil; gas and diesel. Naturally when a refiner has to pay more for the oil he holds out and does not sell his gas or diesel till his profit is good enough. Problem is there is more of a demand for gas and diesel than their are refiners. This is why refiners like Exxon are showing record profits.

The whole chain of oil well to gas pump is driven by supply and demand.
The demand for gas is GREAT so the price goes up.
The price goes up because those with oil only pump so much a day; only so many tankers to haul it and refineries to refine it.
Just like the store on the corner. As long as he is the only store for miles he can pretty much charge what he wants. But if they build another store next to it he will have to compete or close.

The problem with oil companies is there is not enough competition. Is that because of EPA regs or what ever; I do not know.

What a barrel of crude oil makes.
Product Gallons per Barrel
Gasoline 19.4
Distillate Fuel Oil 9.7
(Includes both home heating oil and diesel fuel)
Kerosene-Type Jet Fuel 4.3
Coke 2.0
Residual Fuel Oil 1.9
(Heavy oils used as fuels in industry, marine
transportation, and for electric power generation)
Liquefied Refinery Gases 1.9
Still Gas 1.8
Asphalt and Road Oil 1.4
Petrochemical Feedstocks 1.1
Lubricants 0.5
Kerosene 0.2
Other 0.4

I don't know the year, but I suspect that the primary driver for the change to gas pump readouts was the advent of cheap electronic displays. The cost of a gear-driven mechanical display is roughly proportionate to the number of digits displayed. Contrast this with electronic displays, in which the processor and supporting infrastructure is the bulk of the cost, with the cost of one additional display digit almost insignificant. If you are going to build a gas pump display with an expected useful life of 10 years, you might as well cater to many possibilities. The fact that this switchover came along at about the same time as self-serve, credit card scanners, and the first and second energy crisis probably helped drive a relatively rapid conversion.

"Just who are the people that cause prices to fluctuate with an upward average?"

I think it's the 6 billion people on this planet, all competing for a finite, vanishing resource in a world-wide market. With rapidly growing demand in India and China, we have accelerated the point of "peak oil" from maybe the year 2020 to ~2010 (or maybe even today). Once we hit "peak oil" it's all downhill, very, very rapidly.

"Who gets the money from $70 per barrel oil?"

Mostly, it is the owners of the oil and the folks that pump it. With the price of the raw commodity rising rapidly, there is room to "hide" substantial profit increases for everyone else in the supply chain (hence the record profits for the oil companies), but the most of the money goes to the owner of the oil.

"Will gas go up to $3.75 next year?"

Almost certainly. The only likely brake on rapid inflation of energy costs would be a massive world-wide economic slowdown.

"Looks like we'll all be using Italian motor scooters"

Yes, we will. The idea that we can have "developed" and "developing" economies which will all end up with an American lifestyle is fundamentally faulty. Instead, no one will have it. I predict that no large population on earth will have the "Mom's taxi, SUV driving, energy intensive" lifestyle typified by this country in the 1990's within the next 10 years.

Since God is not making more dinosaurs, and many people and cultures seem to insist on making more people over and beyond simply replacing themselves, the energy future overall looks pretty bleak. Imagine the squabbling masses all fighting over the last few drops of oil. This will happen within 50 years, unless something worse happens first.

If we could figure out effective power production from nuclear fusion before we kill ourselves off from global warming or fighting over the last few drops of oil, humanity might have a chance of surviving beyond 2100.

As things stand, I am glad I got to live in the era that I did. The long-term future doesn't look pretty.

Charles