Got Gas?
So this past weekend I filled up my tank and saw the staggering number $50
to fill my tank. That was with a discount from grocery shopping. I have a small
SUV and can’t imagine what people pay for the huge ones. As we get closer to
having our second child we will be definitely looking into an upgrade in terms
of a vehicle.
Paying that much made me think back to Labor Day 2005. That was the real
first time in recent memory that gas prices were a common subject among people.
I remember everyone calling for President Bush to do something about it. His
response was not what people were looking for. He simply said, “…..just
don’t buy gas”. What else could he say? He does not control the price of
oil or gas. The media kept reporting that the President had to do something
because the oil companies from his home state of Texas were making money hand
over fist and he was just helping his buddies out by not doing anything. That
is the most preposterous thing I ever heard.
I am going to let you in on a little secret. Are you ready? The oil
companies are making more now than they ever did under President Bush. Here are
some numbers for you that are available to everybody on the U.S. Energy Information AdministrationWebsite . There is a vast amount of numbers and analysis on this website,
so I will just give you a snippet.
On January 20, 2009, President Obama’s Inauguration Day, a barrel of Brent
Crude was $38.74. Significantly down from the previous summer. The average
price for a gallon of gas in Massachusetts was $1.81 a gallon. Those are great
numbers and if it were still the same, nobody would complain. Last week
(2/13/12) a barrel of oil was $100.80, which results in a 160% increase and a gallon of
gas averaged out to $3.61 which is a 100% increase. Oil went up, gas went up,
that’s fair, and gas didn’t even increase at the pace of oil. Not happy about
it, but it is what is.
The height of gas prices during President Obama’s term was on May 16, 2011.
The average for a gallon of gas was $4.03 and the price for oil was $97.37.
Wait…What? Oil was cheaper in May than today and gas cost more? How can that
be? At the height of Bush’s presidency the average gallon of gas hit $4.12 a
gallon on July 7, 2008. Oil on that day was $141.37 a barrel, the highest price
for oil was 4 days earlier, at $145.29. So at what point are the oil companies
making more profits? So the question of the day becomes, why hasn’t President
Obama been peppered about questions about rising oil costs? Especially when he
vetoed the XL Pipeline which would have alleviated our dependence on foreign
oil, AND added jobs in the U.S. when our unemployment rate is still above 9%.
These numbers could be looked at by people who truly understand how the
gas/oil market works and say that the price of oil doesn’t necessarily reflect the price of
gasoline. They would be right, it’s not supposed to, but it does. That’s like saying there is a significant difference in roses from February 13 to the 14th and the prices are according to that difference. The numbers
above prove that when oil goes up, gas goes up. However, in recent months oil
has stayed steady but gas is rising at almost a record rate . Yet our President doesn’t have to answer any
questions about it. Another example of what’s good for the goose is not
necessarily good for the gander.
3D
Coming Right Atcha!!