Why is gas going back up?

[BillR]

Help me to understand.

When gas was high this summer - we were told supply / demand and high crude oil prices.
However, that was BS - it was due to speculators.

Now the demand for gas (globally) is down, crude is hovering around $41.00.

Gas is going up. It has gone up about $.09 a week for the last 2 weeks.

WHY? What is the BS reason this time. I think the refineries are cutting back or oil companies are raising prices. Will they not be happy until they drive this fragile economy into a depression?

 

[Tommy Gun]

Gasoline: The EIA report also said stockpiles of gasoline rose by 300,000 barrels last week, with the total supply being in the upper half of the average range. Analysts were looking for an increase of 1.3 million barrels.

"Gas demand is weak, and this gives operators a tough time because profit margins are so low," Lafakis said. "If that continues, the U.S. could be drowning in crude oil."

The national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline increased to $1.90, up 1 cent from the previous day, according to motorist group AAA.

Prices at the pump may have been boosted by a slight uptick in demand and by refinery operation cutbacks, said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Alaron Trading.

"The market is going through an adjustment period that will average out over the long term," Flynn said. "As the price of crude continues to fall, it will weigh on gas prices."

Flynn expected gas prices could continue to edge higher over the next week before stabilizing and ultimately sinking.

 

[cigdaze]

Because the phuckers are parking their barges offshore, withholding supply to drive up price!


http://www.seriousoffshore.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3432&highlight=MANIPULATION

 

[HiZ]

Because the phuckers are parking their barges offshore, withholding supply to drive up price!


http://www.seriousoffshore.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3432&highlight=MANIPULATION

You got it!

 

[Griswald]

also shutting down plants here in TX

 

[buck]

You want the real reason? I know why.

We had a MAJOR ice storm here in the midwest early last week. We still have thousands of homes without power. I was down for five days and consider myself to have been one of the lucky ones. Everyone is buying fuel like crazy to power generators on their homes right now. It was costing me around $40 a day to keep my house powered up.

Probably not the real reason but it damn sure makes sense.

Buck

 

[Sea-Dated]

And they need to start getting the prices back up for summer......

 

[tommymonza]

My dad has about 15 oil wells that he drilled in Kentucky.He said the reason gas has gone up while oil has remained steady is because as of the 1st of the year the refineries are mandated to refine the oil to a much purer state.

 

[mosi]

It's Bush's fault !!!

 

[Chris]

Fuel prices move for two basic reasons- because sellers want them to and market pressures.

In a supply-stable market, there's the temptation to edge the prices upwards to yield higher profits. If we're on opposing corners and you go up 2 cents, why would I not? People won't drive out of their way for 2 cents. then the guy 2 blocks down moves and so on. Pretty soon, those prices are inching up. When a saturation point is hit, someone blinks and the market moves again- chasing volume lost to the increases. You can expand that from the micro of a small town and see it on a national scale.

If you overlay that model into supply constraints and surplusses. you can fairly easily track fuel price moves. If a supplier has pipeline trouble or a refinery issue, you can see localized or regionalized shortages that drive prices up. Face it, if my competitor doesn't have fuel, mine is going up. Same for diesel/fuel oil. All it takes is a couple of unusually warm or cold weeks and supply forecasting goes out the window. There's only so much storage and pipeline capacity and it doesn't start or stop on a dime.

 

[mosi]

and there is also a 'threat' of workers going on strike at BP.

They are still negotiating !!

 

[Chris]

BP has shed all of their retail operations to private ownership and is exiting the transport business right now. I don't know if this is a good time for their refinery staff to be getting antsy.