Quote:
Originally Posted by widgeon13
In rough figures, regular gas has gone from $2.80/ gal to $3.45 in the last twelve months and in that same period oil futures have gone from $70 to $115/barrel. That is a 23% increase for gas vs a 64 % increase for oil. Why the discrepancy, is it just because oil is based on futures and if that is the case will we see $5.00/ gal in the next 3 months?? due to summer demand.
I purchased 100LL aviation yesterday for $4.83, at the same airport I paid $4.70 a year ago? That was a pleasant surprise but don't expect that to last for long.
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The price of a barrel of oil has gone up when the actual physical indicators suggest it should be going down, in fact the supply and inventory suggests it should be around $70 a bbl and gas should be around $2.70 a gal.
Some folks (including me) suspect underhanded actions by huge brokerage houses have manipulated the oil market and artificially drove the price up. They leak BS info, the media jumps all over it, and the price goes up. They slowly sell off, the price falls about $6 or $8 a bbl, then they buy and drive it back up, lather rinse repeat. If that aint illegal it should be.
I follow the markets pretty darned close (spend more time doing that than i do at PPOT) and i've noticed things that simply shouldn't be and wouldn't be under normal circumstances.
I've seen reports from so-called "expert analysts" that say the opposite of what the department of energy's enery information association's report. They put out very clear and consice and accurate reports, but often the market will make a big move on some BS report put out by an expert the day before, only to dip after the EIA report comes out. I watch the volume of trades and the patteron of trades, and can almost see their fingerprints it's so obvious.
Oil should not be over $70 and lots of us think it will soon fall to that level in a really big hurry, and lots of regular people with 401ks will be the ones hurt, not the big boys who are playing with the price.
As a comparison, the price PER GALLON of light sweet crude oil is around $2.74.
The wholesale price of gasoline (what the refineries sell it for) is around $2.88. The difference between that price and what you pay at the pump is taxes, and profits from the suppliers, transporters, and retailers. Yes, the retailers are making a killing right now. If they say they aren't they are lying.
The difference between what the oil costs and what they sell the gas for is 14 cents. Onliest problem is, it takes around 13 to 15 cents to process the stuff so if they are lucky they are paying the bills and breaking even.
Yup, the big bad refining guys are not making any money, or if they are it's not very darned much.
The guys pulling the stuff out of the ground are still doing pretty good though.