Tag Archives: gasoline prices

Wait for it: Obama to get blame for oil prices

A recent blog I posted wondered how President Obama could get so much blame when oil prices were skyrocketing and so little credit now that they’re plummeting.

https://highplainsblogger.com/2014/12/11/presidents-get-the-blame-not-the-credit/

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 300 points today, reportedly over concerns about those falling oil prices that are producing dramatic declines in the price of gasoline at the pump.

A USA Today headline suggested this week that the oil price decline threatens the U.S. economic recovery that’s now under way.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/dow-drops-more-than-300-as-oil-continues-to-plunge/ar-BBgGViU

Then it came to me.

Obama’s critics now have a hook on which to hang blame on the president.

They just might start harping about those declining prices, which are a result of too much supply and too little demand. They can gripe that the price decline is harming the recovery, which of course had nothing at all to do — in the minds of the critics — with Obama’s economic stimulus package enacted shortly after he became president.

So if they’re going to insist on blaming the president for every single bad thing that happens in the world, they can turn to the declining oil prices as one more sign of a “failed presidency.”

 

Presidents get the blame, not the credit

It doesn’t matter one little bit which party is in power, presidents of the United States become sitting ducks for snipers looking for someone to blame when times get tough.

Take the price of gasoline.

Flash back to 2012. President Obama was getting pounded, pilloried and plastered by his foes because gas prices were spiking. Republican challengers to Obama were quite quick to lay all the blame on him for being unable to control the price of fossil fuel and, thus, the price of gas at the pump.

Fast forward to today. The price of gas is falling. Crude oil is selling for about $68 per barrel, down about $40 from where it was two years ago. Is the president getting any credit for that? Hardly. Does he deserve credit? Not as much as he thinks he should get.

But neither did he deserve the brickbats that were being tossed his way.

The 44th president isn’t the first one to take hits unfairly. He won’t be the last.

We’re all just so darn fickle that we cannot bring much balance to the give and take, the ebb and flow of good times and bad.

 

Getting used to these gas prices

UPDATE: The price of regular unleaded gasoline dropped another nickel per gallon since this item was posted. The hits just keep coming.

My wife and I deserve some of the credit — maybe just a teeny-tiny bit of it — for the falling gasoline prices in Amarillo and around the country.

You ask: Why is that? I’ll tell you.

I went to the service station Saturday morning to put gasoline into my hybrid car, the one that runs on electricity as well as gasoline. It’d been 16 days since I last put gas into my little Prius buggy. I filled it up. Total cost? $15.95. That’s it. I burned less than 6.5 gallons of gasoline for the past two-plus weeks.

Therein lies one of the causes of this downward slide of oil prices, which means the price of gas also is coming down. Gas prices in Amarillo today average about $2.39 per gallon of unleaded regular. That’s more than a buck a gallon less than what it was a year ago!

We aren’t alone. Others are doing the same thing, buying fuel-efficient cars, which burn less gas, which means less demand on oil supplies.

Then came word this past week that OPEC — that consortium of oil-producing countries — won’t cut production. I guess they figure there’s still money to be made pumping oil out of the ground. So, OPEC won’t manipulate the supply side of this equation, at least for the time being.

My wife and I are happy to be doing our part. Now, if only we could get the price of diesel to come down a bit more so we don’t feel guilty driving our big ol’ pickup — which is parked most of the time.

You’re welcome.

 

Explain gas prices, please

My list of things that need explaining keeps growing.

I’ll add another item right here.

Why is it that gasoline prices shoot up a dime or more per gallon at one shot, but trickle back down a penny, maybe two, at a time?

It’s happening all over Amarillo. Gasoline dealers across town are advertising prices for unleaded regular gasoline at a penny less than they were, say, yesterday. The “new normal” for cheap gasoline, remember, bears no resemblance to what we used to call “cheap.” But that’s another story.

I’m trying to get a handle on why the price escalates so rapidly and then stays at that new level until someone up the gasoline sales chain of command decides to start ticking it back down.

I keep thinking there’s some kind of mind game going on. Gas dealers want us to get used to the higher prices, it seems, so that the next price spike doesn’t seem as painful.

Or … gasoline dealers want to hang on to their profits for as long as they possibly can before giving some of it back. Is that the case?

I know. I should call one of the gasoline dealers and ask them personally. I happen to be acquainted with one of the leading dealers in the city.

Maybe I can ask him. However, if I do, will he give me a straight answer?

Shall I take credit for gas price decline?

I am trying to decide whether to take credit for the decline in gasoline prices all across Amarillo.

My wife and I recently purchased a hybrid automobile, a Toyota Prius. It runs partially on gasoline and partially on electricity. It’s a nice little rig, a 2010 model with about 71,000 miles on it. A young sales rep at the auto dealership where I work told me the engine “won’t even get broken in until it hits 100,000 miles.” Good to know.

I filled up today. We went nearly two weeks since topping off the tank in the little bugger. The car consumed 3.6 gallons of gas during that time.

I’m not an economist, but I do understand a couple of basic principles. One of them is that when demand goes down, supply goes up. Another is that when suppliers have too much of something to sell, they tend to mark down the price to reduce their inventory.

President Obama touched on all of that Thursday when he toured a steel plant near Cleveland, Ohio. He talked about the decline in fossil fuel consumption and the decline in oil being imported into the United States, coupled with the increase in renewable energy and increases in fuel-efficient automobile production.

Do you see a pattern there? I do.

My wife and I believe we’re doing our part with the purchase of our hybrid car.

Look at the gasoline pump prices in Amarillo. I have read data that suggest the price could fall even farther, again as supplies increase because of reduced demand. My hope is that people don’t start driving a whole lot more as gasoline becomes more affordable.

OK. That settles it. I have decided to take some credit for the price decline.

Falling gas prices a boon or a bust?

A Bloomberg News Service columnist is issuing a warning about the falling gasoline prices.

They aren’t necessarily good for the nation’s economy or its long-term energy policy.

Pump prices in Amarillo now stand at about $2.92 per gallon for regular unleaded gas. That’s “cheap,” yes? And who would have thought $2.92 would be considered a bargain for gas?

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-11/beware-of-falling-gas-prices-ritholtz-chart.html

Barry L. Ritholtz, writing for Bloomberg.com, thinks the price reduction is going to produce a spike in driving. We’re going to forget that we have a limited supply of fossil fuels used to produce gasoline. It happens every time we see these dramatic dips in gasoline prices, as Ritholtz has noted.

Then comes the sticker shock when the next overseas crisis erups in an oil-producing region — Syria, Iran, Egypt, Libya, Yemen … they all come to mind.

I don’t want to sound like a know-it-all, but my wife and I have recently invested in a hybrid automobile. It runs on electricity and gasoline. Our Toyota Prius is our No. 1 in-town vehicle, and so far the investment is paying tremendous returns for us. We’re averaging about 47 miles per gallon and filling it up about every two weeks for a mere pittance of what we normally have paid for fuel.

Our 3/4-ton diesel-fueled Dodge Ram pickup, the one we use to haul our fifth-wheel travel vehicle? That’s another story. Won’t go there. Suffice to say it stays parked most of the time.

We’re all enjoying the relatively cheap fuel at the moment. However, I intend to take Ritholtz’s warning to heart.