I agree with this statement, but would replace greedy and self-centered with uneducated. People just don't grasp the concept of supply and demand anymore. The only reason the oil companies are making such high profits is because they are selling so much gas!! SUV's and huge trucks litter the roads and highways, getting terrible gas mileage and sitting in gridlocked traffic for long hours. The ones to blame for our high prices are our representatives in D.C. that tax the @$#& out of every gallon of fuel that is sold in the US, and the US consumers for creating a market for gas guzzlers and suburban sprawl.

This just in...just heard on the news that the big oil companies are expected to announce their first quarter profits of $19 Billion....$19B!

Meanwhile, on the way home from work tonight, I saw gas at $3.57 a gallon here.

UN security council deadline for Iran is set for Friday.... after that oil prices could skyrocket in the wake of sanctions.

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You mean....they haven't already?

Traffic won't head down. If gas prices raise, so will the cost to travel cross country in a car. In europe, gas has always been high, but that hasn't been stopping people from traveling, in fact its just gone up.

TankerDriver, I just thought it needed that clarification, for the uneducated who may be wandering by. You are currect.

But with all respect, we need to see that number as it related to profits per gallon (which various sources peg at between 9 and 20 cents) and on a percentage of total revenue (under 10%). [Compare that against 40 to 65 cents per gallon of government taxes! ...and the percentage against other industries, which range upwards of 25%!]

The problem is that too many gallons of gasoline are being purchased, not the profits of the oil companies. They are just making it up in volume.

I agree Pharaoh, people need to cut back and drive as little as possible. But we're talking about 19 Billion just for 3 companies and just for the 1 quarter of this year? Let's just say that I'm not crying in my coffee this morning for those guys. I am choking on my coffee however, when it takes me over $50 to fill my Toyota Avalon.

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The obscene profits being posted by big oil is happening only because we allow it. Curtail the demand - supplies go up and prices come down. Economics 101. There will be a time in the future that the oil cartels will not be able to hold us hostage. Unfortunately, it will take a lot more pain before we wise up and seek alternate paths to oil on a serious and committed basis.

This is a brief summary of an analysis I heard on NPR a few days ago:

It is important to understand that demand has a huge impact on price. For instance, a 5% drop in demand will send the oil prices crashing.

Up until recently we've seen the consumers ignore the price hikes. The demand, in other words, was unaffected as the price crept up. Finally we've reached a price point where the consumers are starting to pay attention. For the first time oil consumption in the USA dropped 0.6% on a month-to-month basis.

This is huge. What it means is that any further price increase will result in less consumption which in turn will reverse the price increase. The demand won't drop by 5% thus sending the prices crashing, but it will drop more than the 0.6% if necessary and keep the oil price in check.

In other words the current market has reached its peak.