So, why is gas so cheap now??

[rob2001]

I mean really..... it can't be just supply and demand. It's half of what it was 2 months ago.

I smell a rat somewhere.

[LIGHTNIN1]

Shhhh.... Be quite, the speculation may bring the price back up.

[DaveF]

Because the illuminati saw that we had reached peak oil and decided to reduce demand by manufacturing a global recession to hide that fact.

http://img246.imageshack.us/img246/5123/hattinfoilsmileynv0.gif

[spectreman]

There was a bubble, and it was pricked by the financial crisis.

We will see $1.50 very soon, and if it gets worse we could break the buck.

Remember in 1998 when we were paying $0.80?
There was a financial crisis then too (LTCM, Russian Ruble, Thai Baht, etc).

[DaveF]

I thought "big oil" controlled the price of gas. Why would they let it fall this low? fear of being slapped with a windfall profits tax?

[spectreman]

I thought "big oil" controlled the price of gas. Why would they let it fall this low? fear of being slapped with a windfall profits tax?

I don't know if you are joking, being sarcastic, or serious.

The market determines the price. Sometimes the market is wrong.

[lcjc800]

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f66/LCJC800/untitledcat.jpg

[Bones]

they got all of our money already.


i think it's interesting that the prices of everything that went up because of fuel prices have not come down and i'm still being charged a fuel surcharge on my garbage bill.

[JELLIS]

they got all of our money already.
i

And that is the real and only answer. Until next time....We will all get screwed again.

[xntrick]

just wait till all those chinese and India drivers start hitting the road again, their demand will push up the price in a big way...

[Sir M]

I don't know if you are joking, being sarcastic, or serious.

The market determines the price. Sometimes the market is wrong.

you'd think so... but wrong... the inflation to $147 barrels of oil was pure speculatory predators... the buyers and sellers of oil, not "big oil"...

[Butterfly]

The self correcting nature of economic systems. Don't be fooled by talk of deflation.

[DiazDude]

Simple..everyone is driving less.

[spectreman]

No question there was speculation.

But when the margin clerks are calling, you sell what you can (I can speak from experience at our firm and the funds we manage). Oil was sold because of this.

We knew it was overvalued (I wrote a column in 2006 about how oil over $50 was unsustainable). It still is.

[rob2001]

you'd think so... but wrong... the inflation to $147 barrels of oil was pure speculatory predators... the buyers and sellers of oil, not "big oil"...


Thats what i'm thinkin and why I say I smell a rat.

[BobbyFudge]

Of course now SUV sales are picking up :jo

[MagicNelson]

Yep, they realized that nobody has the money to pay for gas at $3+ per gallon anymore, so down it goes.

[rob2001]

Whats freakin me out is to think of the amounts of money we're talkin about here. Billions? Trillions??

I don't think this is a "sky is falling" thread.... more like a WTF thread.

[mike barth]

Hey,There really is no such thing as "Big Oil" I can't find their website anywhere .
Seriously, most commodities are way down, from the what I call the China Spike. The world price of oil is subject to the same market forces as all other commodities. Just like buying and selling corn, copper or soybeans. There really is a global market. Try to stay calm.

[XKnight]

It's all part of a much larger conspiracy.

[semore butts]

Your calling 1.99 cheap?

Boy it didn't take em long to train you!:dunno

50 cents a gallon? Yeah, I'd call that cheap.

[hellbender]

Yep, they realized that nobody has the money to pay for gas at $3+ per gallon anymore, so down it goes.

Ding, ding, ding. Tell him what he's won Bob!

[rob2001]

Your calling 1.99 cheap?

Boy it didn't take em long to train you!:dunno

50 cents a gallon? Yeah, I'd call that cheap.


LOL!! I don't think I remember EVER paying less than maybe 70 cents a gallon. Anyone remember how much gas was in 1982??

[DaveF]

it's all part of a much larger conspiracy.


:aok

[66fs]

So is the theme song still "drill baby drill"? If we start punching holes everywhere will gas prices fall further? How long will "our" oil last us. I've read that what's in the ANWR would last us a few years at most. Could someone please post where our oil imports come from? I don't think most of import comes from the middle east. Correct me if I'm wrong. $4/gallon or $2/gallon...someone is still getting rich.

[XKnight]

Could someone please post where our oil imports come from?

They come from the third stone from the sun.

[FlyingDutchman]

I was thinking the same thing on the way home tonight as I saw gas below 2 bucks for the first time in awhile..Im just waiting for market correction..I think 2.00-2.50 is gonna be the norm..

[Solomon]

Until there is a real substitute for oil I am not sure you can rightly call it a commodity. If the price of wheat becomes to high people can switch to oats and other relatively equal grains. Makes it hard to manipulate the market (or not profitable enough to do so) when there are substitutes.

[stratocat63]

i think it's interesting that the prices of everything that went up because of fuel prices have not come down and i'm still being charged a fuel surcharge on my garbage bill.
I was thinking about that too.

[JoeP]

Speculators and the stock market got too greedy, and they jacked the price up until those prices of fuel, was the catalyst in making the recession happen so deeply, and in the end they lost their ass.

Good for them. I hope they now feel like the general public felt the whole time they were speculating their own ass a huge paycheck.

It's already 1.40 in some places here. But the majority is in the 1.60 - 1.70 range..

[dhodgeh]

LOL!! I don't think I remember EVER paying less than maybe 70 cents a gallon. Anyone remember how much gas was in 1982??

Who remembers gas wars?

I think the lowest I ever paid was $.03 (3 cents) a gallon.

But that was many, many moons ago.

D

[jbird327]

This was from my cross country trek in 1972...
http://www.bobnormal.com/images/Tour1.jpg

[JoeP]

Cheapest I've ever seen it, was when I was a kid, many moons ago. Pop would pull into the Rose gas ("Ride with Rose") station, and get 10 gallons for a dollar.... When I started driving, it' was about 20-30 cents a gallon...

[rob2001]

This was from my cross country trek in 1972...
http://www.bobnormal.com/images/Tour1.jpg


Awesome!! Geeze, I was only 8 then.

I remember the big gas crunch but I was too young to understand what was going on.

Did prices shoot thru the roof then as well? That may be a dumb question but I think it's relative to the topic. There was obviously a supply issue, (man made).

[The Golden Boy]

I remember in the late 70s, my dad passing stations because .89 was too expensive.

[rob2001]

Cheapest I've ever seen it, was when I was a kid, many moons ago. Pop would pull into the Rose gas ("Ride with Rose") station, and get 10 gallons for a dollar.... When I started driving, it' was about 20-30 cents a gallon...

Thats about as low as I remember. There was a Sunoco station that had an NFL sticker book and you'd collect stickers to put in the book. I've still got it! But i'd always go to the station with Dad to get more stickers and those numbers are what I remember.

[The_Whale]

So is the theme song still "drill baby drill"? If we start punching holes everywhere will gas prices fall further? How long will "our" oil last us. I've read that what's in the ANWR would last us a few years at most.


Yep.

The sooner we drill in ANWR the sooner we become totally dependant on OPEC.

might as well burn opec's oil now if they sell it cheap.

The real solution is for us to consume less oil.

[pir8matt]

I was thinking about that too.

Our power company just hiked rates 25% because of the 'rising price of fuel'. Guess they dont read the news much.

And of course there is no competition, and our public service commission unanimously approved it. Gotta love a monopoly.

[bluesjuke]

It's all part of a much larger conspiracy.



Larger than most can imagine.
All part of the big "Puppet Show".

[frisco]

Actually a "dumb show". Shakespeare's lessons are always repeated.

[Old Tele man]

...simple as SUPPLY and DEMAND

...we're not SUPPLYING our $ these days for the gasoline that they used to DEMAND too much $ during the past months/years.

[Mark Ray]

One station here had 87 octane for 1.59 last weekend, and I'm sure it's dropped since then. Amazing that about 10 weeks ago Knoxville had the highest gas prices in the whole freakin' USA!!!

Oh yeah, when I was 14 and had a Honda CL70 (street legal), I used to fill up the 2.5 gallon tank for 50 cents and ride 250 miles on that tank!

Mark

[nsureit]

Political deal making. The Dems and Republicans let oil and gas prices inflate so the oil interests could make huge gains, in exchange for a rapid deflation of pricing just prior to the general election. Either party could claim credit for the price drop.

[fredgarvin]

Simple over-valuation, just like housing. It's a market folks. Frankly, many people saw this coming. I'm waiting for metals to drop. Copper for bullets and yes, gold is going to fall. Might think about selling...

[pir8matt]

This was from my cross country trek in 1972...
http://www.bobnormal.com/images/Tour1.jpg

In a vee dub microbus no less. Very cool. I bet it was a pretty leisurely trip. A friend of mine had a '76 with the westfalia pop-top, and it was a chore to get that thing over 55 mph.

[davecan]

Now that gas prices are coming back to earth, I wonder - will the recent push for more energy efficient cars fade away (until the next time they jump up)?

Will we ever learn our lesson?

[nitehawk55]

We are still around .76-.80 cents per litre here in Ontario ( 1 US gal = 3.8 litres ) which I feel is about .20 per litre too high :huh