Can anyone explain (non-conspiracy) how gas prices have dropped so much?

Well to think that politicians really have control over the most fickle market mankind has ever had is amusing at best and at worst dangerously misinformative.

by releasing reserves the price can be artificially dropped...the reserves are held by the govt
 
Oh and all of our current suppliers are only dropping the electric contracts by about 4 mils because of the hits they took over the last couple years. Which gives you a small insight into what they think is going to happen to the market.

Edit for explanation: dropping by 4 mils is nothing compared to pricing last year...


In our current target market, BGE in Maryland they were paying around 6 cents per kilowatt hour last year and our current rate which is about 30% off of the utilities market rate is 10.25 kwh. Electricity is directly related to oil and if they thought there was going to be some large drop in the next year their prices would reflect to gain more customers.
 
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now how does anything regarding elections have to do with gas prices? i'm not buying that the elections have ANYTHING to do with gas.

It doesn't. Period.

Our government, even as a whole, does not have enough influence to alter a futures market in such a dramatic way. The only way one could claim that the elections have anything to do with the prices is if taxes had been reduced and my friendly neighborhood economist laughs at this. Taxes have not been lowered; prices have nothing to do with the upcoming elections.
 
You are right they do have us by the balls but they do have to show reasoning for it otherwise it would just be gouging, plain and simply ripping us off. "Most" people wouldnt stand for this and again this is my opinion but I do feel that they pressed as much as possible just before it would "break". That way by dropping prices they feel that we will be happy and stop yelling as much because of the constant "GAS PRICES DROP" headlines. When if you look at it we are still paying an astronomical amount for the current price but are getting baited into this whole we lowered prices for you BS.

Again this is just my opinion but its pretty educated from dealing with this annoying crap daily.


we're all getting played here and there is no way to definitively point to one answer so it's likely a number of factors

people can piss & moan all they want and the prices will not just magically drop though
 
George Bush directly controls the price of gas and everyone knows it.
He has one of them spinny dial-a-number things on his desk and just goes "WHEEEEEEEE!!!" every morning and shakes it up. Where it stops is how much gas is that day.
 
George Bush directly controls the price of gas and everyone knows it.
He has one of them spinny dial-a-number things on his desk and just goes "WHEEEEEEEE!!!" every morning and shakes it up. Where it stops is how much gas is that day.

GEORGE BUSH DOESN"T CARE ABOUT FORUM PEOPLE :mad:
 
1. We've moved from summer blends to winter blends. Winter blend gas is cheaper by 0.10 to 0.50 depending where you live.

2. Its the end of the summer travel season. Gas isn't as in much demand.

3. Less speculation in the market right now.
 
a month of oil? highly doubtful...if the shit hit the fan where we needed to release reserves, a month does NOTHING for us

scratch that, a couple years at best. I was thinking of the oil in anwar :o

but the point is that reserves have not been released in any significant amount to account for this. why? because oil prices are based on futures estimates, not current supplies. the only people controlling the oil prices are those buying and selling futures as well as the general public. price drops have jack shit to do with the elections.
 
WAIT, WAIT, WAIT! You guys are paying 2 bucks for gas? Ours is till sitting at high 2's low 3's. How can this be?
 
gas prices are dropping so you have more money to spend on games for the Wii $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
 
a month of oil? highly doubtful...if the shit hit the fan where we needed to release reserves, a month does NOTHING for us
The reserve isn't for you. The reserve is for the Armed Services and other first responders (police, fire dept.) in case of emergency. You think they're going to sell it to the general public if there was suddenly some state of emergency? HA!

And flynavy isn't far off. We have 7-8 weeks reserve. 150 days if you count private industry. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_oil_reserve
 
scratch that, a couple years at best. I was thinking of the oil in anwar :o

but the point is that reserves have not been released in any significant amount to account for this. why? because oil prices are based on futures estimates, not current supplies. the only people controlling the oil prices are those buying and selling futures as well as the general public. price drops have jack shit to do with the elections.

and how exactly would you know we haven't? you think you or anyone else in the US is privy to anything they don't want us to know?

we have roughly 1080 days worth of reserves btw
http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/..._oil_natural_gas_reserves/current/pdf/ch3.pdf
http://www.gravmag.com/oil3.html#reserves
 
3. Less speculation in the market right now.
the most important thing, right there. there are numerous factors but the most important one is the people who actually buy and sell the future commodities.

but no, politicians don't control oil prices. even if all our reserves were released today it would still take a significant amount of time to see any kind of significant price drop. crude oil needs to be refined and distributed. that shit takes time
 
WAIT, WAIT, WAIT! You guys are paying 2 bucks for gas? Ours is till sitting at high 2's low 3's. How can this be?
It costs money to move oil around. Costs even more to move gasoline around by tanker truck. The closer you live to a pipeline/refinery, the cheaper the gas.

It also is effected by your state's clear air quality laws. If you're tough like California, you have to lower sulfer emissions and that costs more money.