Oil Prices Tumble, Reserves At Record Levels, So Why Do Gas Prices Keep Rising?

The oil refiners reduced their profit margins considerably when the price of oil was high. (The oil producers were the ones making huge profits, not so much the refiners) So now they are trying to raise their profit margins back up again.

It makes sense I guess... at least from the refiners perspective. But it still sucks.

The rapists at Exxon etc. have to maintain their 48 billion per annum profits. Right on Badgewhore, I'm surprised they're not trying to blame it on the Saudis or Iranians. A windfall tax should be applied to all petrochemical companies. Fuckers, the lot of them!

language please...

there are some little kieds reading this...(EL34)

Just a bunch of greedy ass Mutha F@#$@. Gas right now should be about 99 cent a gallon if you factor in the amount oil cost when it first started to tumble about five months ago. Less folks are driving so they figured they would screw you and me.

Wholesale gasoline traded on NYMEX is at ~1.12, so how on earth can it be .99 cents at the pump? On average, pump prices are about .25 cents above wholesale, depending on locale. They do have to pay for rent, insurance, labor etc. at the end retail.

On a side note, Exxon Mobil and the gas retailers do not set the price of gasoline. That is set by the traders at the NYMEX, and those speculating its fair market value. Granted the gas companies do hedge their supplies, adding to the volatility, but that is peanuts compared to the global market which amounts to TRILLIONS of dollars.

Stop blaming Exxon for all of your problems, when gas was 4.50 a gallon, yeah it sucked but I chose to drive instead of car pooling, taking mass transit etc. My choice, my money. If spending 40 dollars extra on a tank is unaffordable, guess what, deal with it.

Exxon Mobil's profit margin is 9% compared to 22%+ for Microsoft and most other food/discretionary retailers. Do you know the profit margin of a slice of pizza? On average, upwards of 40%, do you complain when you swallow a slice?

Cry me river....

This is how the markets have worked for thousands of years, if you can't deal with it tough $hit.

seriously, people don't care what reality of the situation is. It's too easy and fun to point fingers and blame "big bad oil companies" for everyone's problems just like its easy & fun to blame GM for "killing the electric car" or "forcing people to buy big SUVs".

Big oil IS rather responsible however, they do manipulate futures markets and it was Enron's pushing of legislation that deregulated oil speculation under Premiere Clinton (uh oh, now Im in for it.. i just bashed bill clinton).

It is so complicated nobody can really figure it out and some real smart people have tried. I like the free market but when you start playing games with this stuff it can get scary buisneses start to go under food gets high and so on. Its a strategic asset we need this stuff to function like it or not so some control must be maintained.And drilling are owne is the way to go even if the (Gulp Almost Cant Say It)Gov has to do it.They would find away to screw it up. (Hell Neutral Il bash Clinton and the Pope of Hope all day if you want)

Once you get dependent on "something" ... watch out! You will eventually be taken to the cleaners and that is exactly what happened with our use (dependency) on petroleum products. Of course, one day there will be viable alternatives for our energy needs, but right now the folks with most of the oil are taking everyone else to the cleaners big time. Only way to take advantage of it is to buy some stock in an Oil Company and get a piece of that PROFIT.

Gas prices keep rising because Big oil companies and OPEC always find BS ways to manipulate the market by intentionally reducing oil supplies or exaggerating some political strife somewhere or this or that. It all boils down to greed and the science behind it is really more magic than fact!

It sickens me to think Presidents (Dictators) in countries like Venezuela and Nigeria that constantly syphon oil from their own pipelines to sell on the side in order to line their own pockets while 95% of their countrymen go starving. F'in punks!

haha, this is all for YOUR OWN GOOD guys! higher gas prices encourage people to buy more efficient cars and/or conserve more. even helps slow global warming. (otherwise, say goodby to new orleans and most of florida in a decade or two.)

and gas is STILL CHEAP compared to what it costs in other countries. americans are first class whiners.

Global warming does not exist.

Global warming does exist, the earth has been warming since the last major ice age. Ice Glaciers extended past Chicago and now you have political hacks from Chicago...direct correlation.

The cause?? Hmmm.... humans discovered fire about 1 million years ago...... that must be it, those damn humans and their camp fires!!!!

Badgewhore, let us be a bit realistic here and dig a bit deeper.

If you talk just priorities, hospital/emergency services, commuting(where there is no alternative ie. car pooling, mass transit etc.),freight,airlines etc. demand for gasoline would be down double digits, and gasoline prices would be >100 cents. Fact is, people choose to take joy rides, choose to drive to work alone, choose not to take mass transit, so guess what, fork up the cash and stop whining. I choose to drive to work alone and not sit next to some fat old lady with a GI issue, that's the price premium I pay for a fart free ride. Does it suck, yeah it sucks, but it would be a cop-out for me to blame the oil companies for my choice.

You can look at any of the big cities where mass transit includes redundant services, something like 55% of the people who live and work in the NYC area DRIVE TO WORK!!! granted it was some anecdotal NY POST or NEWSDAY(hate both) poll, but it gives you the general idea.

Again, what would you like the Oil Companies to make? Would 2% make you happier? Think about the end result, 2% or 9%, that is not the root of the problem. Are you a liberal? They love to blame everyone else for their problems.

You talk about gasoline being a priority, is food not a priority? Look at any of the staple food companies(unless you plant your own food) on the market, they make AT LEAST 9% YOY. No one complains about Kellogg making 9% on a box of cereal, 9% on a gallon of gas, lets get them! Not to mention, what the wholesaler makes, the distributor makes, then what the end retailer(walmart etc.) makes on that box.

You guys make me laugh.

Oh, for the love of god,

The fundamental answer to this one is simple: crude spot prices do not instantaneously impact gasoline prices. Crude oil does not magically turn into gasoline when purchased. The crude spot price is generally considered as an indicator of the one-month gasoline futures price (least we forget that there are actually fundamental economics that are occuring). There are some complications with upward trending vs. downward trending difference which result of price elasticity of supply considerations- it doesn't change the fundamental pricture.

Yes but RBOB gasoline on the NYMEX does.