For goodness sake ~ petrol (gas) prices

When are petrol (gas) prices going to stop rising ?
This is totally ridiculas beyond belief !!!

Last night I filled up and it was 92.9p per litre ($1.66 per litre), so that makes my weekly commuting cost now £62 ($110) just for petrol !!! Its not as if I do a huge milage either. I think my commute is around 330 miles a week.

Admitedly I don't have the worlds most economical car, but it isn't completely silly either being a Saab 9-5 doing around 25mpg.

I just can't get over its costing me over £60 just to get to work every week.

Madness......

its because were delpleting the worlds resources. if we happen to find alot, the prices would go down

When are petrol (gas) prices going to stop rising ?

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1. once people start taking a stand for them selfs and actually speaking up about it , nothing gets done setting around doing nothing , if and when people start speaking up about it and actually trying to get heard about it , maybe something will change ...

2. Getting U.S. out of other countries .. as well as getting rid of our oh so great president , he's worthless ... im sorry i dont want to bring my political believes to the forum , but face it once he's out things will be different possibly , there is no reason what so ever for the prices to be so high , there is enough oil and so on , it's just the big ole blood / oil / hungry king george on his high horse ...

i know your not from the U.S. , but here that's the problem it really is .

i know it takes the biscuit

now if only we lived in the US or spain

Ghostshadow said:

2. Getting U.S. out of other countries .. as well as getting rid of our oh so great president , he's worthless ... im sorry i dont want to bring my political believes to the forum , but face it once he's out things will be different possibly , there is no reason what so ever for the prices to be so high , there is enough oil and so on , it's just the big ole blood / oil / hungry king george on his high horse ...

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That is absolutely not a reason oil prices are high, not even close. How exactly will be oil prices be lower if we leave other countries? Oil is high because of supply and demand. There's a whole lot more demand than supply right now thanks to our friends in India and China.

In the US another problem we have is that successive Administrations and Congresses for decades have failed to recognize that this problem would be coming (I'm talking about both Democrats and Republicans) and taken action on it. Simple things like encouraging alternative energies in a serious way, more research into fuel cells, and comprehensive conservation policy, and the simplest of all would be required higher gas mileage on vehicles.

However as things typically seem to work in American politics regardless of party the old slogan of "why do today what you can ignore is happening and put off until there's no good solution tomorrow and you're not in office any more" seems to be all too prevalent.

Apparently the UK would have some of the lowest petrol pump prices in Europe if it wasn't for the duty and VAT applied.

In 2003 taxation made up over 75% of the pump price that we pay in the UK, since then there have been a number of duty increases with another one (2 ppl) due sometime in September.

This is why I ride a mountain bike. There's nowhere I can't get without my mountain bike and the British rail service.

Ghostshadow said:

2. Getting U.S. out of other countries .. as well as getting rid of our oh so great president , he's worthless ... im sorry i dont want to bring my political believes to the forum , but face it once he's out things will be different possibly , there is no reason what so ever for the prices to be so high , there is enough oil and so on , it's just the big ole blood / oil / hungry king george on his high horse ...

i know your not from the U.S. , but here that's the problem it really is .

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This argument makes no sense, whatsoever. The President has no direct control over oil prices, but his policies may have longer term affects on supply. This is a market correction that's been coming for a long time. The cost of fossil fuels in has been undervalued for many years, and now refinement capabilities are maxed out. Don't forget that China is now one of the 'hungriest' countries in the world. Manufacturing output has escalated tremendously in Asia over the last 10 years so their need for fossil fuels has increased, as well.

badmojo said:

This argument makes no sense, whatsoever. The President has no direct control over oil prices, but his policies may have longer term affects on supply. This is a market correction that's been coming for a long time. The cost of fossil fuels in has been undervalued for many years, and now refinement capabilities are maxed out. Don't forget that China is now one of the 'hungriest' countries in the world. Manufacturing output has escalated tremendously in Asia over the last 10 years so their need for fossil fuels has increased, as well.

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Yeah, the huge raise in demand in Asia is the major reason for the price increase, along with a few other factors. Unfortunately, it has become fashionable in a lot of places to blame the USA for everything under the sun. It'd be nice if people could understand complex problems and actually figure out that there are usually quite a number of factors involved in creating a given situation. But there it is, people prefer to bleat with the rest of the sheep instead of thinking for themselves.

I agree with a lot that has been said, but I think a good amount of it can be attributed to the oil companies themselves. The USA has huge oil reserves that could have held the price of gas at previous levels for years. The oil companies choose to ignore that, and charge increased prices, because honestly, people will pay whatever they ask, because so many people rely on gas. Also, don't forget that a large portion of gas price is Tax. This varies both between countries, and in the US, between states. Gas is about .20 higher in Wisconsin than Michigan. Michigan caps their tax when the price reaches a certain level. WI does not.

Even the people who work for oil companies drive cars too, and they have to pay the same as all of us.

I know some people that work for oil companies, that don't pay for gas. What I see in California is alot of new drivers, which is helping in driving the demand up. Most of these young drivers, have not been around when the prices of gas was around a dollar a gallon.

easy solution...make more gas efficient cars by either making legislation to get all cars to a certain MPG or the car companies themselves have to become socially responsible and create better more efficient cars for us. i do believe that a 6 or 7 MPG increase for all cars made will almost eliminate the need for foreign oil (forget where i read this but a teacher confirmed it)

also we can blam the president for not aiding with gas prices....there used to be a tax break for people who buy fuel efficient hybrid cars but he got rid of that tax break and in turn gave tax breaks to people who purchase the least fuel efficient car on the market, the hummer.

-chris

coach_z said:

also we can blam the president for not aiding with gas prices....there used to be a tax break for people who buy fuel efficient hybrid cars but he got rid of that tax break and in turn gave tax breaks to people who purchase the least fuel efficient car on the market, the hummer.
-chris

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You might want to note which president to blame-- the "Hummer" tax break was passed in 1997, which would mean that Clinton signed it into law. It was actually supposed to allow farmers and small businesses to deduct all of the cost of Vans and Trucks used in their business, but the way it is set up, any self employed individual can take advantage of it (such as doctors or lawyers, but not your average joe working for someone else).

Also, the hybrid and electric tax deduction was originally scheduled to end in 2004, but was extended by congress to 2006 (and it should be extended far beyond that).

I just started commuting to work in my car, and now I really know why everybody's so concerned about gas. Wow. And I definitely agree that the solution starts with people. Don't drive when you can walk or ride a bike, or carpool. My landlord hasn't been driving for 5 years and he gets around fine. I only drive because I have to commute 12 miles each way to/from work (housing is tight down here.)

Drive the most economical car you can. IMHO, vehicles like the hummer serve no purpose whatsoever. People who actually need off-road or towing capabilities buy Jeeps or trucks. Why have an SUV or 4WD vehicle if you never use it for its intended purpose? I drive a station wagon because I need the space. If I didn't need to haul a lot of stuff around, I'd drive a hybrid or ride a motorcyle to save gas. Plus, my big Taurus wagon gets 27 mpg and I keep it in tune for that very reason.

Can we all make a promise to check our facts before posting in this thread so it doesn't degrade?

i am sorry, but i cannot make that promise

furthermore, i think gas prices are rising because we have upset the mole people who live in the center of the earth and control the amount of oil near the surface of the earth. I warned those scientists, but like in all science fiction movie, they didnt listen until it was too late. and then mankind as we know it was killed off except for one man, me of course, with 100 women all over the earth, and it was my job to re-populate the entire human species.... the end

source: the most reliable source of information on the internet

Bush's former oil company, Arbusto, was funded by Bin ladin's brother. Wonder why he havent cought him yet?
check out: (or just google "bush's oil company")
http://www.rense.com/general14/bushsformer.htm

Think about alternative energy sources for a moment and our President's former job. Why would the president encourage energy sources other than oil when his company is making a profit off of it?

It's the same debate with any product. The first lightbulb is still going, and has never blown out. Of course the manufacturer can produce a light bulb to last forever but why would they? They would not make any profit after every consumer has one, and they would eventually go bankrupt. Oil is too hot of a commodity right now with the technology of alternate sources dragging because GM and other companies dont want to fund the other sources, because they would be shooting themselves in the foot at the moment with their new Hummer that gets 6-9 miles to the gallon. But hey, if you can afford a hummer, you can afford to put the gas in it.

Thats just my .02 cents.

Brian

Last week was my last week working as a store clerk in a gas station, & my stress level has dropped way down. People are upset about petro/gas prices, & the people who complain the most are those driving the SUVs. Then they got even more upset when i told them that they needed to prepay before they pump their petro/gas. They would say "I want to fill up my tank, & don't know how much it will be." , "If i have to prepay, i'll just go someplace else." My reply "Have a nice day." As if i really cared if they went someplace else or not. Sometimes people would tell me that they would talk with the store manager & get me fired. "Please do.", i would tell them, "I could use the time off from work, & i have another job." lol

When i actually decided to wear a name tag, which wasn't often, i wore one that said Tyler Durden. My last day of work, the store manager asked me where my nametag was because some oil corporate zombies were visiting the station. My response was "But sir, in Project Mayhem we have no names". Blank stare, mouth opened in disbelief, the manager walked away. Later when he saw my Tyler Durden name tag, he gave up. Oh yes i loved my barely above minimum wage job, & took every opertunity i could to be that wrench that fell into the gears. I don't think i will be missed. lol

don't the people across the big pond drive mostly diesel vehicles cause the price of petrol??

I have a VW jetta diesel that gets about 40 mpg. I get about 600 miles per fill up, and fill it up every 3 weeks. But it still costs twice the amount it was last summer.

funny how the oil companies want to drill in the wild-life reserves, but don't want to build more refineries. very reminisint of the self made enron electricity shortages...

prices are only going to go up, the easy to get to oil is already gone.

my advise: buy a diesel vehicle, maybe if enough people get them, bio diesel (made from organics) will get cheaper and mass produced.

interesting thread so far. i have one question though..anyone remember reading something about the gov't wanting to tax or make some way to make money off of alternative energy source cars? like charging tax on the mile on hybrid or hydrogen cars? the very thought makes me pretty angry.