Why Gas Prices Are So High

[Southie]

Re: Why Gas Prices Are So High

@Ghost14

Short version:

Supply of oil has gone up, and demand has gone down but the prices have increased. The reason for this is oil speculation, which makes up 64% of the market. This has nothing to do with supply and demand, just banks and other investment firms buying futures and raising prices.

Just to put this in perspective, the Koch brothers’ fortune went from about 5 billion in 2004 to around 50 billion due to oil speculation.

I think this guys works with Current TV - Young Turk. Good guy.

Yes, Republicans dont make sense re: their “energy policy” where drill baby drill is the mantra. I was not aware of the stat that oil import has decreased from 60% in 2006 to 36% now. That is a huge improvement - probably due to more domestic drilling. I assume the steep drop in Nat gas price has somehting to do with it also?

Yes, speculation plays a big role. Not a fan of Koch bros, GS etal. There was one hole in the analysis. He said oil supply has increased oer the years worldwide, and demand dropped - then he added - in the last year. That is crappy reporting. Unless he gives multi year trends of supply and demand, the conclusin is meaningless.

While speculation (as I spespected in earlier post) is now playing a big role, it is my educated guess demand over say last 50 years as been trending up (as evidenced by higher amt of greenhouse gases). So in long run, cutting demand will still be the solution.

I agree that rebublicans are tryong to distract from speculatirs by briinging up “energy independence” issue.