Gas Prices Now at $5 a Gallon Average, $6.40 in California

[LevelUP]

Gasoline prices hit a new all-time high with expectations of $6 a gallon by the end of the summer. 

https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/08/energy/re...index.html

AAA Gas Prices

https://gasprices.aaa.com/

I wonder who is to blame for these high prices?

[Flelm]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/eco...686761002/

In the first quarter, Shell's adjusted earnings rose to $9.1 billion from $3.2 billion in the same period last year. Net income rose to $7.3 billion from $5.8 billion in last year's first quarter.

BP posted its highest quarterly profit in over a decade – with the British energy company announcing on Tuesday that its underlying replacement cost profit rose to $6.2 billion in the first three months of this year, more than doubling the $2.6 billion from the same period last year.

At the end of April, Exxon Mobil reported $5.48 billion in profits during the first quarter of 2022 – also more than doubling its profits compared with the same period last year. Revenue for the Irving, Texas-based company was $90.5 billion, far exceeding the revenue of $59.15 billion during the same quarter in 2021.

I have no idea who's to blame.

[dfrecore]

Shell, Exxon and BP don't unilaterally set gas prices, they area also set by international bodies like OPEC.

But really, let's look at supply and demand. Just a year ago, we were energy-independent, and an oil exporter. We were producing enough oil in this country to provide everyone with it, inexpensively. Prices were extremely low (it was $1.62 when we moved to SC in July 2020). The new administration shut down the Keystone pipeline, and made it impossible for oil/gas companies to plan ahead and invest in continued production. You don't want to spend billions on an infrastructure that someone can shut down on a whim. So, gas prices immediately went up. We now are back to being an oil/gas importer, because we aren't producing enough for our own citizens. We've become hostages to OPEC and the Saudis and freaking Venezuela.

This was entirely our doing. Voting has consequences...

[Flelm]

But really, let's look at supply and demand.  Just a year ago, we were energy-independent, and an oil exporter.  We were producing enough oil in this country to provide everyone with it, inexpensively.  Prices were extremely low (it was $1.62 when we moved to SC in July 2020).  The new administration shut down the Keystone pipeline, and made it impossible for oil/gas companies to plan ahead and invest in continued production.  You don't want to spend billions on an infrastructure that someone can shut down on a whim.  So, gas prices immediately went up.  We now are back to being an oil/gas importer, because we aren't producing enough for our own citizens.  We've become hostages to OPEC and the Saudis and freaking Venezuela.

Do you have sources? Because I do.

The Keystone Pipeline was never shut down. It's still running today, bringing oil from Canada (not the US!) to refineries across the US.

 

What was shut down was a planned expansion (never built) of the pipeline that would have brought more oil (from Canada) to the gulf coast refineries quicker, and that refined oil would then be (mostly) exported overseas.

The US was briefly a net exporter of oil in 2020 and 2021. Right now, we import the majority of our oil from Canada. 4.34 million barrels/day from Canada, 0.96 from OPEC, 0.69 from the rest of the Persian Gulf, 0.43 from all others. Sorry, 0.96 million barrels/day from OPEC (mostly Saudi Arabia), and 0.69 from all Persian Gulf countries (including 5 OPEC countries). So there's overlap there.

https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/oil-...xports.php

We implemented sanctions on Venezuela in 2019, and in 2021 we imported no oil from them.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenroberts/...7e32d42e7c

[jsd]

Throw facts up all you want, but people are settled in on their talking point and won't budge at this point.

[Flelm]

Throw facts up all you want, but people are settled in on their talking point and won't budge at this point.

I've decided to give one or two chances to argue in good faith, then I wash my hands. There's a reason I have a few (maybe 4 or 5) people ignored on this forum.

[Alpha]

"Never let the facts get in the way of a good story."  Mark Twain

[LevelUP]

"Never let the facts get in the way of a good story."  Mark Twain

[Jennr2z]

Shell, Exxon and BP don't unilaterally set gas prices, they area also set by international bodies like OPEC.

But really, let's look at supply and demand.  Just a year ago, we were energy-independent, and an oil exporter.  We were producing enough oil in this country to provide everyone with it, inexpensively.  Prices were extremely low (it was $1.62 when we moved to SC in July 2020).  The new administration shut down the Keystone pipeline, and made it impossible for oil/gas companies to plan ahead and invest in continued production.  You don't want to spend billions on an infrastructure that someone can shut down on a whim.  So, gas prices immediately went up.  We now are back to being an oil/gas importer, because we aren't producing enough for our own citizens.  We've become hostages to OPEC and the Saudis and freaking Venezuela.

This was entirely our doing.  Voting has consequences...

Nailed it. And I can definitely blame my state government for at least $1 additional dollar per gallon for added state taxes.... The governor has also decided that its a great time to add on additional gas tax starting July 1st. I paid $6.98 today for diesel, can you guess what state I live in?? 

[LevelUP]

Now when I pump gas, I wear a mask over my eyes for my protection and for those around me.