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It's not all OPEC or the war.  This is simple corporate greed at work.  If you're considering buying that big gas-guzzling SUV be prepared to pay through the nose to keep it fueled.  They'll have $5.00 a gallon in the US, just like in Europe, before this is over with.  I can't wait to see what this does to the mighty US economy that everyone's always so worried about.

They're gouging you Phoenix, are you gonna let that slide? Let's go stick some pigs(just kidding). Another problem is the Arabs lighting up the stuff right in the ground. As we all know pure capitalism uncontrolled and fueled by pure greed quickly becomes medieval fuedalism with the richest tycoon controlling the lesser ones all the way down to us peasants. We may have some freedom and swords may not swing, but capitalism is a fragile balance. Once unbalanced it reverts to tribal economics and survival of the most ruthless. I think the present administration is the dumbest and most brutal ever to reach the white house. But, we're all gonna die of smog poisoning anyway. I must say that post was a little warm though. Are you a Limey Phoenix? Don't hate America, just hate Dubya.

Oh how stupid. Its very simple why gas prices are getting higher theres more demand for it. The same way stupid little kids buy more pokemon cards and the comic shop tyrants jack up the price because they know the kids will buy them anyway. People drive big vehicles that suck up alot of gas and the oil companys raise the price acordingly.  Its called supply and demand and it comes at a cost. Theres no mystery no intrigue no conspiracy by "Dubya". Its not terrorism its not the war in iraq.  Its just like every stupid fad item that comes around (like those tiny remote control cars that were popular for awhile) if they can jack up the price they will.

 GET A JOB YOU SELF RIGHTEOUS CONSPIRACY THEORISTS.

It's a combination of all of the above, actually, although some factor in more than others.

My ex-girlfriend has a job. My parents both have jobs. My sister has a job. My friends have jobs. They all have to re-adjust their budgets to factor in the sudden increase in the price of gasoline. "Get a job" is not the solution.

Woodsman:  I hope that wasn't directed at me.  I said the oil companies want more money so they're jacking the prices up.  I hope you read the article.  You'd have caught the part about the EPA regulations driving up refinement costs as well.  There's one other factor to consider here - markets.  Gasoline refined for distribution in, say, Florida cannot be sold to Minnesota due to the "environmentally-friendly" additives that are put in for specific markets.  THAT is where the supply and demand problem crops up big time since it bottlenecks distribution.

if that was directed at you phoenix i would have said so.

bah

didnt yall watch the today show about a week ago??
There's a conversion kit out there that lets your car run on Vegtable oil, at around 50MPG..

Im suprised that it's not like, a huge topic yet... at this rate, vegtable oil will be cheaper then gas in a few months ;)

plus, Vegtable oil is more environtemtnaylly friendly... and a renewanble resource!! (Plant more canola)

and i know i cant spell today

Woodsman:  Ok, sometimes it's just hard to tell in your rants who the subject is. :)

the reason supply cant keep up with demand is because the oil companies would rather max out their 40 year old factories then build a new one that meets EPA standards AND would produce more gas quicker.. why? simple, because as long as they arent forced to build a better plant that would lower gas prices, they can keep raking in the dough and jacking the prices up.

This wouldn't solve anything, either. Sure, they could all build more efficient refineries that could produce more of the product over a shorter period of time. And while they spend that money, they can raise the price of gasoline even more to compensate for the cost of the new refineries. That is exactly what would happen.

it would go up for a short time, for sure, but it wouldnt go up for ever and ever... honestly we need some government regulation brought to it, imo.. but thats nevre gonna happen.

Stop Press:

a gas station (we say petrol station) is now charging ?1.10 a Lt. over here!

this is the only one I know of so far.

It really is time to get that bike.

What is needed is an alternative to fossil fuels, and the problem is the oil companies have too much power.  They have an oligopoly on the entire world's energy resources, and private development into alternatives is almost always squashed, either directly due to their massive cash reserves or indirectly through lobbying pressure on governments (please, no Bush or Cheney comments this is a world-wide problem!).  The most common gripe I hear about alternative technologies is they are either too expensive or too inefficient.  The reason for all of that is lack of serious development funding.

The way I see it, if this spiral of war, production cuts, and the like continues in the middle east the cost of fuel is just going to continue to spiral out of control.  The world's delicate economic balance is going to be upset, and somebody's going to end up paying for it.  Take a major country, throw it into economic chaos and hard times, and watch what happens afterward.  War often follows hard times.  Anyone remember Germany's situation prior to WWI and WWII?

I heard all the ranting about "no war for oil" prior to the Iraq war.  So far no oil seems to be coming out of Iraq.  However, if production were to stop in the middle east due to a radical coup or continued terrorist activities, wars, or the like I don't see it being too long before ALL the world goes to war for oil.  Stop the flow of fuel and NATIONS die.  You cannot ship food to grocery stores, power heating and cooling for homes, power water distribution plants, or anything else.  There is not a nation on this earth that does not need it right now, and unless someone develops an alternative that is cheap, clean, and readily available everywhere pretty quick this delicate balance runs closer and closer to being more upset.  When people begin to starve and freeze to death or die of thirst then leaders act quickly to appease them, lest it be they who pay for it in the form of violent revolution.  What is right will go out the window in favor of what is needed.

Terrorism has made the old game of paying off leaders in oil-rich Arab nations in order to maintain the flow of fuel a very risky venture, and one that cannot be maintained for much longer.  I don't wish to be a doom-and-gloom prophet, but I can see how the worst-case scenario could easily play out if this keeps going the way it appears to be headed.

you mean mad max style , war over every last can of fuel ?

www.greasecar.com

www.greasecar.com

www.greasecar.com



I WANT ONE!!!

greasecar == diesel. 99% of cars on the road == gasoline

What I hear is that the Oil producers often buy these new inventions because they would ruin profit if they were to be released on the world market.

Aye, there is truth to that.  The only reason fuel cells are even being toyed with is because of strong governmental regulatory pressure, and the fact that the hydrogen is still going to come from gasoline for the time being.  I would rather see these new "cheaper" plastic-based solar cells improved upon and coupled with water separators to produce hydrogen directly from water.  Use ovonic storage modules, which are safer and better than pressure tanks, to store the hydrogen and include solar regenerators into automobiles so they can make their own fuel when just sitting around doing nothing so long as they have some water in an auxiliary tank, which I might add that sitting around doing nothing is what they do for the bulk of the day anyway.  Water and sun are everywhere.  Sunshine is free, and water is fairly cheap outside of the deep desert areas.  Only the technology to utilize them is lacking.

I hope the "Limey" comment wasn't too offensive. It's just that I was a wee bit offended because of being born and raised on this side of the ocean not to mention having voted for the other guy in the first place. Maybe I' could be a wee bit O' me Scotch Temper Firin' up, but the truth is laddies I say Dubeeya has betrayed almost every quality that made America to begin with and his supporters are just as guilty. I notice every year the SUVs get bigger, uglier, and thirstier than any before. My cousin drives a Ford Bronco2 which is small by today's SUV standards and has a "puny" V6 engine. These new sluggernauts should have over a thousand horsepower but I'm sure they don't.

Maybe I should release the secret of commercial fusion to the world...

nah...

Diesel all the way , and I still want my old american muscle car .
( I saw a plymouth roadrunner on NOS last week )


and yes  it makes an awesome sound .

lol.  You guys have some funny comments.

I agree with you guys that this is a global problem.  Although the US has some oil reserves they are uesless compared to the Middle East's precious bounty.  

I mentioned vegtable oil cars in my own topic before I read this topic.  I really think that SUVs should just be taken off the road and more hybrid/veggy cars should take their place.  

What are those things... gysers? The are in the ocean that are spewing energy that we cannot harness, but are constantly spewing energy that we dont know how to harness, but still spewwing energy, which we should harness, but we dont know how to harvest.  Get the point?  There ios a MASSIVE amount of energy that can be gained by these (i belive fissures in the Earth's crust) ghysphers.  I cant do the spelling and I dont wanna do any research right now.

btw , question , a ford mustang or any other old car out there . on what does it drive , diesel or gasoline ??? .

Nearly all American made cars have always been gasoline powered. Usually all American diesels are trucks. The only diesel sedans I've ever seen were of European origin. One was a Peugot and the other was a Benz.

While I definitely agree that we desperately need an alternative to fossil fuel, I can foresee another barrier in the way of progress,  employment.  Thousands of jobs will be lost once the gasoline industry finally kicks the bucket.

:offtopic:


Don't forget to shield that inhibitor chip if you do ever decide to ;)

 :offtopic:

Petroleum will always be needed, due to the fact that it's used in manufacturing of just about everything that involves polymers.  The chemical industry will always use it for that reason if for no other.  Fuel is where the big money is though, and let's not forget how many gas stations there are around the US and around the world.  Still, even hydrogen powered vehicles would need fuel, so you'd still need filling stations no matter what you used to power automobiles.  The only way you'd kill off ALL the jobs related to the fuel industry is if you had some kind of ultra-long-lasting power source that would make vehicles last almost indefinitely without the need to refuel.  Economic factors would not permit that, even if such a source were readily available.