They do now. They simply can't afford to continue to subsidize at these prices.
ITs amazing that we are the only country that forbids its own oil companies from building new refineries or drilling in new locations.
The price will come down simple because people will stop buying it. It dropped 4% in March..something that hasn't happened since the late 70's. Even though the BRIC countries consume a great deal of oil we still consumer 3x more gas than China so we are still in the driver seat. There is hope but the thought of $2/gallon gas is over.
Yup. Right now its estimated to take at least 10-15 years is litigation to even start building a refinery.
Agree on not having the cash to continue to hold mogas at a dime. Dunno if, say, Indonesia will want a repeat of rioting the last time they tried to raise the price.
I sure as hell know China isn't raising their price.
I don't know if anyone will change their pricing tactics anytime soon - you are right though, they should. Look at Venezuala.
I heard from a co-worker that went to an off-shore conference in Houston populated with employees of the so-called national oil companies (Pemex, PDVSA, etc).
They were all laughing at us because we have curtailed the vast majority of drilling spots.
We are the only country without it's own national oil company to do this.
Freaking hilariously stupid. We deserve $4 gas.
Period.
Agree that it should come down due to our and Europe's slowdown. I really don't know what is driving the price of crude right now. I know distillate inventories are a worry. (I keep seeing and hearing that - makes me more uneasy about speculation in the crude price. The forward looking prices 5/10 years from now have risen meteorically. Seems flat out strange or maybe bubble like. I dunno though.)
Seems like this fear of the non-OEC countries continuing to climb in crude oil consumption is keeping the price up. And this fear that supply is constrained.
I know gas consumption is down. I know a lot of people that are carpooling, stopping driving of the tank-like vehicles to take little Johnny to baseball practice.
The current price of mogas HAS affected daily life in the US. So - asking at what price it will stop people from driving has already been answered, now.
It's faster and cheaper to expand and existing refinery. Not that it's easy. Look at the fight BP has for it's Whiting, IN debottleneck. The evironmentalists that aren't picketing for ANWAR or the Canadian Oil Sands are picketing for BP to not get their permit to increase the through-put of that refinery. (Which means more gas and diesel.)
We hammer on the oil companies for not building new refineries - yet when we try to do something more simple in making a current one bigger, we get everyone and their brother filing a law suit.
Again - we deserve $4 gas.