Originally Posted by
jungle
Oil companies, speculators, Saudis, special interest groups and the government. Can you think of anyone else to blame for a free market in which the demand has increased with supply remaining steady?
None of the entities you mentioned control oil prices. Demand and supply do.
The oil companies are about mid-pack in the corporate world in terms of profit margin. The US government confiscates two to three times what the the oil companies do on every gallon of fuel sold.
Wrong Wrong Wrong Wrong!
In 1998, the average price of a gallon of gas was $1.20.
In 2004, the average price of a gallon of gas was $1.85.
In 2007, the average price of a gallon of gas was $3.00.
In 2007 the price of gas was 2.5 times what it was in 1998.
It was also 1.7 times the price that it was just three years ago, in 2004.
The demand for oil has not risen 70% in the last three years.
Don't be ridiculous!