Without getting into the discussion of should they or who is or is not in office, I'm wondering if the government should decide to do something to control the price of fuel, what would it be? I'm not talking about drilling or opening up the reserves, I'm referring to direct price controls or manipulations. Is it possible?

Without getting into the discussion of should they or who is or is not in office, I'm wondering if the government should decide to do something to control the price of fuel, what would it be? I'm not talking about drilling or opening up the reserves, I'm referring to direct price controls or manipulations. Is it possible?

 

 

The government can set price ceiliings, but those offer little to no incentive for a business to produce much or to supply as much.

I think there is nothing the government can do about fuel prices. What they can do is fund realistic alternative fuel research. Give it a little more thought than they gave to ethanol.

They can just stay the heck out of it. The Oil industry is already regulated by the Government. If they just stay out of it and let it run like any other business, then competative pricing would take hold and prices would come down.

Breakdown of the cost of a gallon of gasoline:

 

Crude oil cost: $2.96

Refining cost and profit: $0.26

Federal Excise Tax: $0.18

Ky Excise Tax: $0.21

Distribution costs: $0.03

 

Total cost: $3.64

 

If the government enforces price caps below the oil companies' cost, they'll simply quit selling gasoline in the U.S. Most of the big oil companies sell internationally and make an even bigger profit on petrochemical revenues.

What about the sudden surge in the price of crude brought about not by shortages, but by speculation? I'm not a fan of government interferrence into any business but in this case their seems to be no free market competition to bring the price down or even stabilize it. It is as if it soley at the whim of various speculators and traders.

They can just stay the heck out of it. The Oil industry is already regulated by the Government. If they just stay out of it and let it run like any other business, then competative pricing would take hold and prices would come down.

 

Really? From what I'm seeing there is very little pricing competition. The only marketing being done is something similar to Shell's anti-gunk campaign.

Breakdown of the cost of a gallon of gasoline:

 

Crude oil cost: $2.96

Refining cost and profit: $0.26

Federal Excise Tax: $0.18

Ky Excise Tax: $0.21

Distribution costs: $0.03

 

Total cost: $3.64

 

If the government enforces price caps below the oil companies' cost, they'll simply quit selling gasoline in the U.S. Most of the big oil companies sell internationally and make an even bigger profit on petrochemical revenues.

 

 

You didn't have that finished when I posted earlier. That's quite a breakdown and of course we can not ask a company to sell at below or even near cost. So, if your equation is accurate, the solution is going to lie in the cost of crude.

You didn't have that finished when I posted earlier. That's quite a breakdown and of course we can not ask a company to sell at below or even near cost. So, if your equation is accurate, the solution is going to lie in the cost of crude.

Someone I work with suggested (jokingly) that we nuke China and India to reduce the demand and thus the cost of oil.

 

But that got me to thinking. The United States accounts for 21% of worldwide oil imports. What would happen to the oil market and oil countries if the U.S no longer required foreign oil?

Someone I work with suggested (jokingly) that we nuke China and India to reduce the demand and thus the cost of oil.

 

But that got me to thinking. The United States accounts for 21% of worldwide oil imports. What would happen to the oil market and oil companies if the U.S no longer required foreign oil?

 

 

It would probably drop dramatically in price and many other countries in the world would likely enthusiastically increase their consumption.

The best and only thing, despite what Clinton & Obama have been feeding us, the government can do is start drilling.

Would we have enough domestic oil to affect change without drilling in protected areas or offshore? Locally, there has been a drastic increase in the number of natural gas wells drilled with the reason given that the price has risen to the point that it is now profitable to go after some of the more difficult to reach pockets. It is my understanding that our own Southwest, (Texas, Oklahoma, etc) have many existing wells that have been abandoned due to lack of production but with a sizeable amount of petroleum still in them. It was considered too expensive to use pressure increasing methods to revive these wells at $30 p/barrell. Now that we are nearing $100 dollars over that amount, I wonder what is the magic number that would revitalize these holes.

If we had a stronger dollar wouldn't that decrease the cost of oil? Isn't the strength of the dollar related in part to the economy and the national debt?

If we had a stronger dollar wouldn't that decrease the cost of oil? Isn't the strength of the dollar related in part to the economy and the national debt?

YES! As many times as I have griped about it, you'd think I'd have thought of that.

 

The dollar returning to Jan 1, 2006 levels would hypothetically reduce the price of gas by 71 cents. If the dollar returns to Jan 1, 2001 levels, the price of gas could drop by $1.79.

YES! As many times as I have griped about it, you'd think I'd have thought of that.

 

The dollar returning to Jan 1, 2006 levels would hypothetically reduce the price of gas by 71 cents.

 

Seriously? Can you back that up for those of us who are mathematically challenged? That would resolve roughly 50% of the problem.