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2009-02-18 Home Front Economy

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Posted by Steve White 2009-02-18 00:00|| || Front Page|| [2 views ] Top

#1 Required cranky comment on price of gasoline not matching exactly the price of oil. I blame big oil gauging the little guy.

There done.

Posted by .5MT 2009-02-18 05:41|| www.cybernations.net]">[www.cybernations.net] 2009-02-18 05:41|| Front Page Top

#2 What was REALLY weird was a couple months ago when (wholesale, pretax) gasoline was sold for LESS than the cost of the crude it was made from!

I know, I know: The refineries were making heating oil, with some gasoline as a byproduct. More than the market needed. But still, it was WEIRD. Things are getting back to normal now.

Posted by Minister of funny walks 2009-02-18 08:15|| 2009-02-18 08:15|| Front Page Top

#3 Yes and no. WTI spot price is $34.93 - $2.58, yet Brent spot is $40.93 + $1.72. It says there is an oversupply of Texas oil, but that doesn't determine the supply or price on the east and west coast consuming hubs where most of the oil is imported or from Alaska. As Steve said, Brent is a better benchmark. WTI is for the commodity options traders.

Posted by ed 2009-02-18 08:38|| 2009-02-18 08:38|| Front Page Top

#4 The whole oil-gas price thingee sounds a lot like a stacked deck con game--tell the people (us) anything you think they will accept as the truth. Not exactly another Ponzi scheme but similar. The current story is that we get oil from the North Sea and other places where oil is $10/barrel higher and therefore gasoline is higher. No matter that inventories here are bulging. So much for supply and demand theory--just a theory.

Posted by JohnQC 2009-02-18 08:41|| 2009-02-18 08:41|| Front Page Top

#5 In a perfectly efficient market, JohnQC, you might have a point. Unfortunately there's a whole lot that goes into business that gets in the way. WTI has maxed its storage cause you can't move it to where it might be efficiently used so, the demand for it goes down as does the price.

We can't build pipelines fast enough to send WTI to the coasts cause the expense is huge and the risk that the situation would change quickly way too high. So, Brent is in more demand and hence has a higher price.

Posted by AlanC 2009-02-18 10:10|| 2009-02-18 10:10|| Front Page Top

#6 The bench mark price is West Texas Intermediate which is only a pittance of the crude used in refined product like gasoline. Most of our gasoline production is dependent on imported oil which has a higher bench mark plus transportation. That is the primary reason gas prices remain static or increase while WTI goes lower.

Posted by Jack is Back!">Jack is Back! 2009-02-18 10:23|| 2009-02-18 10:23|| Front Page Top

#7 Heh heh... and ummm.... gasoline has a seperate market from oil.... :)

Posted by .5MT 2009-02-18 11:16|| 2009-02-18 11:16|| Front Page Top

#8 So, how does it affect suicide boomers' fees?

Posted by g(r)omgoru 2009-02-18 12:01|| 2009-02-18 12:01|| Front Page Top

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