Gas Prices // Current

Oil Industry Baron Reveals Truth of Deception of American Public

This is the story of a blood feud, a battle between brothers. As we told you when we... more

korourke
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5 months ago
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Fortune Global 500: 2009

Here are the top five: 1. Royal Dutch Shell 2. Exxon Mobil 3. Wal-Mart Stores 4.... more

islek
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5 months ago
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4 comments

Rebels in the Pipeline

Current's Mariana van Zeller travels to one of the most unstable regions in the world... more

MarianaVanZeller
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1 year ago
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55 comments

Algae Farm Aims to Turn Carbon Dioxide Into Fuel

1) Use algae to produce oxygen and Ethanol. 2) Feed oxygen to coal plant - get CO2 in... more

atomiclegion
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5 months ago
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Obama's (Unintentionally?) Brilliant Strategy on -and-Trade

We've been focusing so much on health care (and Iran) that we haven't written very... more

atomiclegion
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5 months ago
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A Perfect Storm Could Shed Light On Secretive Energy Markets

When Olav Refvik wanted to boost the price of heating oil to make a lucrative energy deal even more lucrative, the Morgan Stanley trader locked up several storage tanks the bank owned near New York Harbor to squeeze supply. Far from being illegal, the maneuver -- which earned him millions and the moniker "King of New York Harbor" -- is business as usual in the "regulated" commodities market.

The rough-and-tumble Chicago-based commodities market is an unusual beast on Wall Street, where practices that would be frowned upon at the flashier New York stock exchange, are considered quite acceptable.

While less glamorous than its East Coast cousin, the commodities markets are critical to most Americans. That's because its traders are integral in establishing the price we pay for oil at the pump each day. When Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and Royal Dutch Shell squirreled away 80 million barrels of crude oil -- nearly enough to supply the entire world for a day -- in supertankers off the Gulf of Mexico last January, they too profited as the price at the pump rose.

But now, as a comprehensive climate bill wends its way through the House of Representatives, some of these aggressive commodities practices have come under scrutiny. New legislation proposed by Rep. Waxman (D-Calif.) and Rep. Markey (D-Mass.) would create a system of carbon allowance permits that the government would sell to companies that want to circumvent new emissions requirements. These permits would end up spurring as much as $2 trillion in new carbon-based "derivatives." In this case, these new derivatives, so-called because they derive their value from something else, would be traded on the commodities markets, and without proper regulation, critics worry their prices could be manipulated much in the way that traders influence the price of oil.

With the combination of the upcoming climate bill that that could create a major new commodity derivatives market, in addition to a new focus from the Obama administration on derivatives, experts are hoping that regulation will be strengthened. Experts and legislators say these two forces have created a perfect storm, and that the opportunity is ripe to take a broader look at the overall commodities market rather than be limited to reforming only derivatives.When Olav Refvik wanted to boost the price of heating oil to make a lucrative energy... more

atomiclegion
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5 months ago
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10 Things Gas Stations Won't Tell You

Article Source: http://linkbee.com/ReduceUrGasPay 1. “Good luck finding the best... more

Viper7
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6 months ago
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Would a Carbon Tax Make Higher Gasoline Taxes Unnecessary?

As I argued in an earlier post, any serious effort to bring deficits under control... more

atomiclegion
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6 months ago
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Crude oil is getting cheaper; so why isn't gas?

Crude oil prices have fallen to new lows for this year. So you'd think gas prices... more

Future_America
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9 months ago
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No memory: lower gas prices cause SUV's and Trucks to outpace car sales

The price of fuel has fallen to the point that it's no longer financially ruinous to... more

agreenblinker
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11 months ago
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Gasoline prices lowest since February 2004

Hopefully this trend will continue. "The average price for a gallon of gasoline in... more

NFUSA
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11 months ago
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Cheap Gas in Montana

Taken in Montana's largest city of Billings.

spooly
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11 months ago
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Should we feel good about low gas prices

It's hard to shake a certain amount of glee that gas prices are much lower than months... more

jdimino
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11 months ago
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Have gas prices bottomed out?

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Gas prices rose for the second consecutive day following eighty-six consecutive declines.

The motorist group AAA reported Sunday that the national average price for a gallon of gas rose to $1.663 a gallon from $1.66 the previous day. The reports are based on a daily survey of credit card swipes conducted for AAA. The average price of gas was $1.656, according to AAA's Friday report.

During the nearly three months that gas prices were falling, prices decreased by $2.199 or 57 percent. The current national average is now $2.451 below or 59.6 percent off the record high price of $4.114 that AAA reported on July 17, 2008.

Two states still have average regular unleaded gas prices of $2 and higher. The highest gas prices are in Alaska, at $2.689 a gallon. The remaining 48 states and the District of Columbia have regular unleaded gas prices below $2. The cheapest gas prices are in Missouri, at $1.477 a gallon.

On Friday, Jason Toews, co-founder of GasBuddy in Minneapolis, warned that gas prices may be bottoming out.

Lower gas prices are starting to spur demand in many areas, which could mean gas prices will pop back up again when the spring and summer driving season hits next year, according to Toews.

"Enjoy the gas prices while they're here," he said.

Since July, the price of gasoline has fallen along with the price of crude oil, gas's main ingredient. Crude has fallen more than $100 a barrel since July as investors worried that the U.S. economy was consuming less fuel.

However the decline in the price of crude may be setting us up for a gas price "super spike" in two to four years, said Toews.

"A lot of oil fields are not economical at these lower prices," he said.

As crude prices have fallen, oil companies have cut back on exploration, and shut down production at expensive operations like the oil sands in Western Canada.

"Once demand comes back, it will make supply even more tight," said Toews.

And the greater the current recession is, the greater price spike we may see in the future, since the lower oil prices are, the more oil companies cut back, he added.NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Gas prices rose for the second consecutive day following... more