NEW YORK - Consumers can expect retail gas prices to rise to $4 a gallon soon, but whether they stay there depends on the long-term damage to oil facilities from Hurricane Katrina, oil and gas analysts said Wednesday.
"There's no question gas will hit $4 a gallon," Ben Brockwell, director of pricing at the Oil Price Information Service, said. "The question is how high will it go and how long will it last?"
Is the modern muscle car era over, and is return of the Mustang II just around the corner?
It's soon going to look like 1974 all over again. You remember, dwight. You couldn't give away a "gas guzzler." The old muscle cars were pushed out to pasture. It's now set to happen to our latest breed too. Not to mention the scores of overweight SUVs.
If gas prices continue to escalate you'll be able to buy any of those "big rigs" for the paper money you happen to have in your wallet. Imagine a big sign... Hummers, 80% off. And to think, GM recently put all their fresh eggs into the SUV market by killing investment in new sedans in order to rush a fresh set of big SUVs to market...
Take a close look at who's predicting this. What he's really doing is getting you ready for the next round of price gouging. It's like the farmer who's "predicting" that he will charge $2 an ear for his corn next month.
Yep, pretty dang ridiculous. One particular station near me went from. $2.89 to $3.47! sometime Tuesday. I think they are all past $3.00 for regular.
Hell, I gassed up the boat at the beginning of the season @ $3.00 marina price, which was high at the time. I'm thinkin' of drawin' down the tank to feed the cars, now. :(
Looting, unfortunately, is a normal reaction to a major catastrophe. In New Orleans it's expected. The times which surprise me are when people in ghettos burn down their own homes (such as they are) and loot and burn the only stores which will operate in that environment. An example is Watts.
It's kinda like unions. one union goes out on strike and the rest show support and solidarity by going out on strike even when they didn't need more benefits or pay. Here you have gas stations doing the same thing for their brother stations.
Major difference. Looters are doing something illegal, while what the gas stations are doing is legal. Looters can be shot legally. Gas station attendants can't.
It's already started. Car manufacturers have already begun downsizing SUVs models. They say because the price of fuel will really cut sales. As it was back then, I already see 4X4s and SUVs sitting along the roads with For Sale signs.
Gas prices will continue to rise, but the pundits have already said the high prices can not be sustained long term because of the impact on societies around the world, and the changes which would have to happen. That includes the possibility of world conflict over fuel.
One of the oil company execs just stated that he didn't believe the price per barrel could be sustained at even $50 per barrel. And OPEC is already hedging.
Nothing has changed yet, but it likely will. The damage brought by Katrina were not projected. In fact some believed the hurricane season was pretty much over. Meteorologists, however, say major hurricanes should be expected for up to another 40 years, if, as they suspect, the world is in a cycle of severe weather as has been recorded in the geological records.
Fair pricing? I thought for a business it was supply and demand setting the rates. If a station is paying X they need a minimum profit of Y to remain in business. And if it looks like they are going to have to pay even more for the next delivery (if and when they can get it) better for the to charge more than to lag behind the curve.
Here is a horrible situation, yet we see innumerable examples of heroism and neighbors coming together. The looters are the exact opposite - "what's in this for me?"
The station owners are the same. They see a catastrophe as an excuse to increase their profits on the gasoline they've already purchased. Sure, it's legal, but it's still looting. And it's despicable.
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