|
|
|
|
|
"Sump'n's gotta give on these fuel prices," Mel grumbled. "The pump shut 'er off at $50, an' it still wudn't close to bein' full! Somebody's gonna hafta put on th' brakes on these gas prices, or this country's gonna run off in th' ditch!"
My husband can get pretty worked up about a lot of different issues, but high gas prices is one that really sticks in his craw.
"Some fohks may not remember, but if you look back in history, ever' tahm it wuz excessive fuel prices that preceded a recession. It's gittin' to th' point now that truckers an' bidnesses, 'specially retailers, cain't keep absorbin' the shippin' charges—not with $67 a barrel oil. They been tryin' to rahd it out, but looks lahk thur gonna hafta start tackin' that on to thur prices. Ah wuz tawkin' to a manager of one nem dollar stores th' other day, an' he said if they didn't git some relief soon, they wuz gonna change thur name to the dollar-an'-a-half store!"
"Don't forget the farmers and ranchers," I said. "Diesel and fertilizer prices have increased right along with gas, and they don't have a way to add that on to their goods. By the way, have you noticed that when gas was cheaper, diesel cost less than gas. Now that gasoline has shot up, diesel costs more than gas. I haven't figured that one out yet."
I told Mel I'd been reading that global demand for oil has grown quickly in recent years, driven up especially by China's and India's fast-growing economies, although the United States by far remains the biggest oil consumer.
"I read that global demand for oil is about 84 million barrels per day. That almost equals the entire supply available; oil-production capacity exceeds demand by only about 1.5 million to 2 million barrels per day...so it's one of those supply and demand things, not really a cartel-driven thing like in the past."
Then we discussed the debate over whether or not refiners avoid adding capacity in order to create a tight market and greater profits or if environmental regulations and local opposition are why they aren't building more refineries.
"I heard a financial analyst on TV say low return on investment is the real reason that refineries haven't been built for years."
"Well that shore ain't the problem now, with $2.50-plus gasoline!"
"The fuel industry is trying to console people by pointing out that gasoline, as a percent of income, is cheaper today than it was in the 1950s."
"More than ever, it makes sense to produce ethanol. We got the greatest farmers in the world. Ah say turn 'em aloose an' let 'em feed our fuel supply with crops, poke them gas tanks plumb full o' cornflakes an' Wheaties!"
"Hopefully, the new energy bill and several ethanol plants underway in Texas will speed up the process," I said.
"Ah hope so," said Mel, grinning. "Otherwahz, looks lahk Ah'm gonna hafta resort to syphonin' gas from mah neighbors late at naht..."
"Either that, or you could cut your gas bill in half by simply slowing down to the speed limit!"
