Gas Prices And The Election

hypoc8

Experimental Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2007
Posts
717
Media
0
Likes
14
Points
238
Location
SC
Sexuality
100% Straight, 0% Gay
Gender
Male
Just curious if others here have found it rather strange that even though we have had terrible destruction up the east coast due to Sandy, gas prices continue to fall?

Usually even the slightest hint of a storm like this and prices jump up but not this time.

How many here believe it's all due to the upcoming election?

Just wonder how fast prices will jump the day after tomorrow?
 

hypoc8

Experimental Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2007
Posts
717
Media
0
Likes
14
Points
238
Location
SC
Sexuality
100% Straight, 0% Gay
Gender
Male
i was not aware the NE was a hot bed for refining and drilling...

Never said nor did I imply the NE was, although there are two refineries there that have been shut down. Has nothing to do with the region of the country.

It just seems strange that any other time we have a natural disaster or threat of one prices automatically go up. Why not now? Seems a little fishy to me.
 

tamati

Sexy Member
Verified
Gold
Joined
Jun 6, 2011
Posts
1,875
Media
7
Likes
94
Points
308
Location
NorCal
Verification
View
Gender
Male
Never said nor did I imply the NE was, although there are two refineries there that have been shut down. Has nothing to do with the region of the country.

It just seems strange that any other time we have a natural disaster or threat of one prices automatically go up. Why not now? Seems a little fishy to me.

no one is driving? supply/demand?
 

b.c.

Worshipped Member
Verified
Gold
Joined
Nov 7, 2005
Posts
20,540
Media
0
Likes
21,779
Points
468
Location
at home
Verification
View
Gender
Male
It must be an Obama conspiracy to lull the populace into some kind of complacent STUPOR immediately before Election Day, since we KNOW how much in he must be in "cahoots" with corporate America, big business, and the oil companies. :rolleyes:
 

Justin87

Legendary Member
Verified
Gold
Joined
Nov 28, 2011
Posts
505
Media
16
Likes
1,029
Points
313
Location
Arizona (United States)
Verification
View
Sexuality
90% Straight, 10% Gay
Gender
Male
There may be less people using gas in the NorthEast coastal region right now.....Something about a hurricane and citys being shut down.

Less demand = More supply = Lower prices


When you reduce the amount of gas being used by several million people it probably makes a difference.
 

hypoc8

Experimental Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2007
Posts
717
Media
0
Likes
14
Points
238
Location
SC
Sexuality
100% Straight, 0% Gay
Gender
Male
no one is driving? supply/demand?

No one is driving? Are you fucking kidding me? The streets are full of cars!

I never said, thought or implied that I thought the President had control over lowering gas prices.

I'm not the only one that thinks its kinda suspicious that gas prices have fallen right before the election and we have had a hurricane that has caused major damage to the east coast of the country. As I've said before, any other time we've had a disaster like this or even a hint of one on its way prices always jump up.
 

b.c.

Worshipped Member
Verified
Gold
Joined
Nov 7, 2005
Posts
20,540
Media
0
Likes
21,779
Points
468
Location
at home
Verification
View
Gender
Male
Tonight, after your guy takes over, we'll see what happens to the price of gas, and the cost of your health insurance, and your taxes, and your credit card interest rates, and all the rest, ok?
 

hypoc8

Experimental Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2007
Posts
717
Media
0
Likes
14
Points
238
Location
SC
Sexuality
100% Straight, 0% Gay
Gender
Male
Tonight, after your guy takes over, we'll see what happens to the price of gas, and the cost of your health insurance, and your taxes, and your credit card interest rates, and all the rest, ok?

My guy? Who is this supposed to be?
 

CraigS41

Superior Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2006
Posts
1,075
Media
12
Likes
2,698
Points
368
Age
59
Location
Weaverville (California, United States)
Sexuality
100% Gay, 0% Straight
Gender
Male
Gas prices have dropped in the last several elections. Over here in North Idaho, we haven't had any storms that have caused damage, people haven't stopped driving and the price has dropped 35 cents in the last week and a half. I bet they start going back up real soon.

Craig
 

FuzzyKen

Sexy Member
Joined
Nov 10, 2006
Posts
2,045
Media
0
Likes
97
Points
193
Gender
Male
There was a news report on this issue in the Southwest. Right now the demand is down because of the storm on the East coast. This is in a sense artificial in that what they mean to say is that we can't pump gas if there is no electric power to the gas station, we can't pump gas if tree limbs are blown all over the place and blocking streets. We can't put gas in the tanks of gas stations that have no power and we can't get the tank trucks through the downed power lines. If the stations can't pump it the trucks can't deliver it and the oil companies cant eat it so this is an artificial kind way of talking about supply and demand. The electrical power outages which are still in effect in some areas have created this situation and the wording is shall we say "questionable" because demand is there the ability to pump it out of the ground is what is lacking. There are more storms predicted for the East Coast so if power is knocked out again which is of course possible prices could stay down. Price hikes tend to become a problem when storms hit the gulf. In that case you have an incredible quantity of both off shore drilling platforms that are shut down for the safety of the employees and at the same time refining capacity is substantially reduced because the refineries are also shut down for the same reason. One then has a lag period to get the whole thing back up and running. This creates a demand for which there is not sufficient supply.

The President can only control prices in one way and this is as has been said by opening up reserves for public sale. Historically this has been done but it has not been done a great deal and it has been used as a shock absorber to prevent incredible spikes in price during the lag times as refineries are restarting.

The other thing that most do not consider is that most major US elections take place in November and in the first weeks of that month. At that time travel is normally down and does not start picking up again until the Thanksgiving Holiday weekend. It then continues on until after the New Years holiday and then drops off again.

This has been a historical norm for decades in the US.
 

cruztbone

Experimental Member
Joined
May 22, 2004
Posts
1,284
Media
0
Likes
11
Points
258
Age
70
Location
Capitola CA USA
Sexuality
90% Gay, 10% Straight
Gender
Male
gas prices are now below $4 a gallon in CA, and show signs of falling further. it has nothing to do with the election. it has everything to do with weather, refinery issues and the commodities market.
 

MichiganRico

Superior Member
Joined
Mar 18, 2007
Posts
2,802
Media
0
Likes
3,884
Points
258
Location
SW Michigan
Sexuality
90% Gay, 10% Straight
Gender
Male
no one is driving? supply/demand?


That's the way a capitalist market should work, but doesn't. Global petroleum usage is way down--depressed economies in Europe and declines even in India and China. The world is awash with petroleum. US and Canadian production is at a high mark--world petroleum prices should be falling drastically but are only declining slowly. OPEC controls oil production and pricing is basically worldwide--no matter where the oil is produced. Its monopolistic grip on production and pricing would give the remains of John D. Rockefeller a hard-on. If our petro companies cannot gouge us at the wellhead, then refinery capacity mysteriously dwindles. It's a no lose proposition--just look at profits. (It reminds me of the electricity shortages in California which were completely engineered by Enron to gouge California power consumers after the state legislature deregulated power utilities.)

If we were truly "energy voters" as portrayed in the ads sponsored by the American gas and petroleum industry, we'd throw out every politician who's in big oil's pocket. That would leave a whole lot of Democratic and Republican desks empty in the Capitol and state legislatures throughout the U.S..