Gas prices, HELP?

Question

Can someone tell me why gas prices are going up.

Answer 1

There are some pretty long answers on here about oil, but oil on the commodities market is volatile and trades up and down weekly. I'll keep the technicalities of the oil market out of this answer.

The reason gas prices go up even if oil goes down (take last week for example when oil tanked $12 a barrel but gas went up) is because gas prices still haven't caught up to the extreme oil surge. Gas has risen slowly but surely compared to the boom in the oil market and will continue to do so.

Gas demand has loosend 1.2% from the latest figures I've read, but prices are still going up. This will be the trend even if oil prices level off or go down. At the moment it isn't a supply and demand issue for gasoline.

Gas is just trying to bridge the gap.

Answer 2

because there is a virtual monopoly on oil in the US. We are buying almost exclusively from the middle east.

Furthermore, the World Bank and IMF recieve a lot of money not from crude oil, but from what we pay at the pump. (its more like taxation in my opinion.)

  Really... how do you think the World Bank and IMF could afford to forgive all participating 3rd world countries their debts?

You paid it bro, when you were filling up your SUV.

Answer 3

short answer in "human" terms

Here's what I and my business class came up with:

1. China and India are demanding more oil- Keep in mind  that combined, they make up a third of the earth's population

2. OPEC (basically where everyone gets their from oil in the middle east) is virtually a monopoly. They have slowed production of oil which increases prices for it