Gas Prices: Who's to Blame?

[tw]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

This winter they closed down a shitload of refineries, so as demand goes up the supply will struggle to catch up.

Refineries were never the bottleneck. If refinery shortage existed, then refineries would have been making massive profits. Refineries have been some of the least profitable parts of the gasoline supply chain.

Real problem has been gasoline prices too low. Especially because demand is so low due to a recession. To fix the real problem means oil prices should have been higher.

Someone just told me his Ford Focus gets 24 MPG. Any car not doing at least 30 MPG is a symptom of gasoline prices that have been too low for too long.

Surprising how many homes I saw only this past year with heated rooms - and no insulation in the attic. In at least one case, why did the homeowner not insulate last fall? Energy prices are too low. Insulating was too much work.

Complaints of gasoline at $3 a gallon is silly especially when the same complaints were back at $1.50 per gallon. Now $1.50 is a preferred price? What changed? Only emotions. Energy is still too cheap when facts replace that emotion.