The View-Point

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Yesterday I filled up my gas tank. $2.69 for a gallon of regular unleaded, 87-octane. But just now, as I was driving into The View-Point headquarters, a mere 15-minutes ago, I passed a gas station, where, to my mixed reaction, regular unleaded is now $2.59 a gallon. Why the mixed reaction? Yes, I am happy that prices are still on the decline, but I am also more than a little ticked that I missed the price change by 12 hours. This incident has spawned the following reflection:

If my memory serves me correctly (and it always does), it was just a few weeks ago that we were told by the schmucks in the ex-mainstream media that $4/gallon gas was on the way as a result of the Alaskan oil pipeline (supplying 1/8 of the US crude oil supply) being taken offline by BP for corrosion problems. But since that story was originally reported, I have seen nothing but a steady decline in gas prices at the pump, as evidenced this very day by the aforementioned anecdote. So what exactly is going on here?

QUESTION: Exactly what factors actually do contribute to gas price fluctuations?

I think this is a rather pertinent and meaningful question to ask, but I have not seen any substantive treatment of or reporting on this question done by the putzes in the ex-mainstream. Instead we are constantly assaulted with a stream of garbage information about Tom Cruise's new baby and Paris Hilton's brassiere color.

[RANT] I don't care what color panties some media slut wears! Do some useful reporting you degenerate, materialistic scum! I demand useful reporting on meaningful subjects that have a substantial effect on our lives! Do something useful to redeem yourselves, you ex-mainstream pukes! [/RANT]

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PRICE TRACKER:
10/5/2006 = $2.19/gallon

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QUESTION: Exactly what factors actually do contribute to gas price fluctuations?

ANSWERS:

• Oil jumps on OPEC cut (Reuters, 10/5/2006)
  "Oil jumped a dollar to above $60 on Thursday after OPEC officials said the producer group will cut output by 1 million barrels per day as soon as possible to prop up prices.... 'Prices would have kept coming down unless we saw concrete action by OPEC,' said Adam Sieminski, analyst at Deutsche Bank...." (emphasis added)
  
  How Hot Money Inflames Oil Prices (BusinessWeek, 10/4/2006)
  "...Without any major changes in supply or demand, the price of oil has been tumbling, dropping below $59 on Oct. 3. That's 25% off the peak of $78 in July.... Behind the price declines is a sharp contraction in the amount of money being invested in energy assets...." (emphasis added)
  
  Analyst predicts plunge in gas prices (Seattle Times, 9/14/2006)
  "The recent sharp drop in the global price of crude oil could mark the start of a massive sell-off that returns gasoline prices to lows not seen since the late 1990s — perhaps as low as $1.15 a gallon...."
  
  Opec concerned over falling oil prices (Financial Times, 9/10/2006)
  "Now ministers no longer think oil prices, at around $67 a barrel, are too high. Instead they are concerned that the recent $10 drop in prices could be a sign that the market is at the beginning of a larger correction, one that could eventually impinge on oil producers’ revenues." (emphasis added)

(Originally Posted: 9/9/2006 @ 1:25PM)

Labels: commentary