Forgive me for repeating myself, but stories like this drive in insane.

Gasoline prices in Amarillo have shot up dramatically in just two days. They stand at roughly $3.69 per gallon for regular unleaded. Three days ago they were – what? – $3.39, or something like that.

http://www.connectamarillo.com/news/story.aspx?id=898675#.UZV0cUoo6t8

I read something online that an Oklahoma refinery breakdown might be the cause. So what’s the deal? Do dealers panic? Is it the wholesalers who are panicking?

We motorists are now suffering a bit of sticker shock because of this dramatic jump in the price of petrol. But we all know what’s likely to happen if the prices start to recede. They’ll go back down, but the retailers sprinkled around Amarillo aren’t going to let the bottom fall out any time soon. They bring it down a penny or two at a time in most cases.

The cynic in me believes they’re hanging on for dear life to the profits they’re accruing from the price spike, although one of those retailers keeps telling me he sees little actual profit from the sale of gasoline. Whatever, dude.

An NPR story the other morning told an interesting story of how the worldwide energy market is changing. The world’s biggest consumer of oil – the U.S. of A. – is becoming one of the world’s biggest suppliers of oil. Shale oil discoveries in the Dakotas have uncovered a vast potential supply of oil that reportedly dwarfs what the Saudis have under their ground. The No. 1 consumer nations likely are going to be China and India, both with developing and rapidly growing economies.

NPR reports that the United States is moving toward self-sufficiency once the oil is developed and the gas starts flowing from pumps.

Will that allow us some price stability? Will it prevent the kinds of spikes we see whenever some potentate passes gas (no pun intended) in a Middle East nation?

I don’t know how many more of these price shocks I can stand.