$4.50 a gallon here. this is what we get when the Bible Belts vote in a Prez from an old oil family, wanna talk conflect of intrests?

It's over $1.30 a litre here and we aren't even the highest in the country. They expect it to go up beyond $1.50 in some parts of the country during a "scare".

I think the whole thing is BS and the oil company exec's are just bending the world over.

It's not like Bush can wave a magic wand and make this go away. And it's not like it's all his fault either or the entire world wouldn't be having this problem. Believe me, I have my issues with Bush, but gas prices are largely out of his control (much of the blame here falls on Congress).

The prices are being driven up because of multiple factors:

-Speculators trying to make a buck by investing. If everyone sees gas prices going up, the richest will obviously invest in oil companies. That means that we're driving ourself into "more of the same" and are less likely to break the cycle.

-Lack of American drilling capacity (if the US would buy less foreign oil, prices would drop worldwide). We need to be drilling in Alaska, Montana and in the Gulf of Mexico. Cuba (and by proxy, China) will be drilling in the Gulf soon. Congress is solely to blame for this.

-Lack of action by companies worldwide to produce alternate energy means (I personally know someone who developed a new type of gas, but it's not profitable for cars right now, only industrial contracts are worthwhile.)

-Taxes, Taxes, Taxes, Taxes, Taxes, and Taxes.

-Environmentalists prohibiting just about anything we could use a short term answer. France gets most of it's power by nuclear. But yet America can't? The US Coast Guard has taken over much of the environmental protectionism since it joined Homeland Security. It will protect from oil spills in the water.

-Rising demand worldwide. Normally, when prices get too high, people buy less of it. Because America's (and much of the world's) economy is designed with low gas prices in mind (especially America's huge trucking industry) we are pretty much forced to continue to buy gas at a constant rate. It's not like other products - it's fundamental to our way of life. The very fact that people are still buying gas (and things like Grand Theft Auto...) means we are simply spoiled and gas prices aren't really that bad. Especially in America.

I drive a Dodge Ram pickup, and it costs me about 90 dollars to fill my tank, and that lasts me roughly two weeks with moderate driving. Guess what? I stopped going out to eat as much. Sure it hurts, but it's not bad. I have friends that are deep in debt and they're still going to be driving cross country for a wedding this week. I'm still planning on taking my summer vacation. If I'm going on a long trip, I trade cars with my grandparents because theirs are more efficient.

If you simply cut down your expenses in other areas and drive smart, putting as many things into one trip as possible, you'll be fine. 4 dollars a gallon is nothing. Just wait until hurricane season if we get a hit and it goes up to ten dollars a gallon and triple digit gas bills become the norm.

You can't blame the War in Iraq because there is plenty of other oil in the world we just aren't getting. We got lazy and dependent on the Middle East and other countries, and nobody expected the war to last this long. Now we're playing the price for the government's lazyness (Starting back when Bill Clinton veto'd the drilling bill in Alaska. If he had signed it, we wouldn't be having this discussion and gas would still be just above a dollar a gallon or so.

...add in a couple other factors, too.

Refinery companies make less profit on gasoline than they do on diesel, heating oil, and other products - which means they produce less gasoline, whcih means less supply, which means higher prices.

OPEC nations unfriendly to the US have cut their output and refuse to raise it to keep pace with demand. If they were subject to US law, they would be in serious trouble for price fixing, antitrust violations, etc. They are not subject to such laws; sucks to be us.

my big truck for my big horse trailer take 120 gallons. Diesel is not at close to 5.05 US dollars /gallon. Anyone want to do the math to figure out how much it will cost me when I fill up next time. Hmmm, could take out a loan on my house.

ALL of the above.

I don't like the gas prices either but it sure won't keep me from doing things I want to do. I'll forego my cell phone, movies, eating out, and any other 'non essential' in order to be able to go where I want when I want.
It's a matter of priorities for me.

Actually OPEC countries haven't cut production. Production now is actually higher than it ever has been.

The problem is that Wall Street is making trading on futures (ie. the future likelihood that there will be less production that there is now). That's what's driving up the price of oil from the demand side.

There's also other factors as well. The weak US dollar has made a difference given that oil is traded in that currency. And the Iraq War, while it hasn't led to a shortage of actual barrels produced, it has acted as a catalyst for futures trading.

Finally, the price of oil is being driven up by the increasing economic strength of China and India, both of whom are buying up larger and larger amounts of oil.

Ultimately there is no solution, other than for people to consume less oil (especially if they live in North America and Europe).

...is Zefram Cochrane when you really need him, anyway?

Not sure that a warp capable Chevy Avalanche is a good idea but boy oh boy is it fun to imagine.

Until then, I continue suckin' up the dino juice cuz...welll... I gotta work and my wife and kids deserve to go places other than school and work, themselves.

Heard tell recently of a guy in Indiana who, in reaction to the rise in gas prices, set up a rig in his own backyard and, lo and behold, struck a nice little patch... I think he cranks out something like 3 barrels a day (??? not sure that I remember that exactly right but it's something like that...)... Ohio's not far from Indy... wonder if I got enough lego's and stuff to make my own oil rig? Worth considering...

Improvise... adapt... overcome... that's about all we can do folks.

Momma if you strike oil I'm moving in. Alternatively invent a warpdrive, and I'll move really fast.

I am no vehicle-less because of prices. All live in fear of my walking ability.

Actually it's nice and Spring-like out. Is fun.

Here's a little something we CAN do...
for those who have no qulams about drilling in the US that is... a petition started by Newt Gingrich to drill here, drill now and save money.

find it @ Americansolutions.com

I have no problem drilling in America, just England, but fortunatly I'm not American so I can't put my name to the partition.

Why should we even bother getting our bloated government involved in trying to get this thing passed? They'll just talk it to death and nothing will ever get done... I say we all just start drilling on our own... they can't possibly stop us all!

*wanders off to design an engine that runs on BS... cuz I've got plenty of that*

$4.50 a gallon here. this is what we get when the Bible Belts vote in a Prez from an old oil family, wanna talk conflect of intrests?
It’s about £1.13-1.14 per litre over here. (Which works out at over $10/ gallon). More than two thirds of that is tax.

Enjoy your “oil family” president while you can. You can bet that petrol prices are going to rocket sky high once the left-liberals/ socialists get in and the green lobby get their foot in the door.

..... the price of petrol over here!

Super is 70 Dirhams per litre and it takes 100 dirhams to make 1 Qatar Riyal!

The Qatar Riyal is currently pegged to the US dollar 3.65 Qatar Riyals = 1 US dollar!

There has been talk of de-pegging from the US dollar, but I digress!

Anyway, I will let someone else post the math as to how much a gallon of Super Petrol costs over here!

Premium is 65 Dirhams per litre if you want to see a price differential to further boggle your senses!

where are you and why are you there?