Energy / Gas Prices

• Gasoline is Expensive - Deal with it

  The White House announced it was getting into the commodities game in an effort to protect consumers from some of the geopolitical factors spilling over into the retail gasoline market. OPEC and the IEA both said in their monthly reports that market perceptions were behind higher energy prices, not physical shortages. With most U.S. consumers still economically gun shy, gasoline consumption is down amid high retail prices. But on the business side, protection against potential oil shocks in the long-term could help push a reinvigorated U.S. economy over the recessionary hump. Apart from the murky waters of economic nuance, however,…

• Don't Believe David Frum, War with Iran will not Lower Gas Prices

  I caught Republican strategist David Frum speaking on Erin Burnett’s magazine show on CNN Tuesday evening. I looked, but I couldn’t find a transcript yet, so this is from memory. Frum was a speech writer for George W. Bush and is said to have put the phrase ‘axis of evil’ in W.’s mouth. On the other hand, Frum has tried to stand against the Tea Party and the Palinization of the GOP. Burnett was making the correct point that President Barack Obama is not responsible for the price of gasoline, which is set by world markets based on supply and…

• So far High Gasoline Prices are not Affecting Inflation

  Recently many commentators have worried that rising gasoline prices will derail the fragile recovery of the U.S. economy. The latest inflation report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows little sign that any such thing is happening yet. The headline all-items CPI for urban consumers rose at a 3.54 percent annual rate in March, down from 5.03 percent in February. (I base these rates on the unrounded CPI data supplied by the Cleveland Fed and state monthly data as annual rates.) There are two parts to the concern that gasoline prices could harm the recovery. One is direct: Higher gasoline…

• Cheaper Gas for your SUV, Wade through the Politics

  Gas will play a significant role in the November election in the United States, and though there has been a recent gain in biofuels that could lead to some progress at the pump very soon, most economists predict that prices will remain high throughout the summer.The average US consumer will be guided by a bombardment of gas-related campaign advertisements, which flaunt a number of misnomers on both sides. The consumer/voter might also consider that spending on gas represents only a small percentage of consumer spending: In January, for instance, it was approximately 3.8 percent.  So why such a disproportionate significance…

• U.S. Corn-Ethanol Gas Push: Small Step in a Grand Project

  As efforts to reduce US dependence on foreign fuel imports gain momentum, along with soaring gas prices, the federal government is moving towards allowing the wide distribution of gasoline mixed with 15 percent ethanol, which could be ready for sale as early as this summer. It is a small victory in a much larger biofuels scheme, and there are still hurdles to get past. Registration will require a new set of federal tests, individual states still must make the mixed gasoline a registered fuel, and distributors must still be brought on board to sell to gas stations. The 15 percent…

• In Search of Big Oil Backing Romney Blames Obama for High Gas Prices

  After his wins on Tuesday, Mitt Romney is clearly the Republican standard bearer in the 2012 election, and he is already flailing about attempting to find some mud to throw at President Obama in hopes some of it will stick. He has trotted out a tired talking point attempting to blame Obama for high gasoline prices, saying that the president’s environmentalism has gotten in the way of US drilling. The charge is full of factual and logical holes. But the attack of Romney on Obama is undermined by the positions taken by Romney1. In 2006, Romney opposed temporarily suspending gasoline…

• Several Reasons Why Gasoline Prices are so High

  When President Obama took office, regular gasoline cost $1.85 a gallon. Now its hit $4.00 per gallon in many cities, and some analysts predict it could reach $5.00 or more this summer. Filling your tank could soon slam you for $75-$90.This winter was warm. Our economy remains weak. People are driving less, in cars that get better mileage, even with mandatory 10% ethanol. Gasoline is plentiful.  Misinformed politicians and pundits say prices should be falling.  They claim our pain at the pump is due to greedy speculators and greedier oil companies that are exporting oil and refined products.Their explanation is…

• Republicans Back Sanctions Against Iran, but Blame Obama for High Gas Prices

  President Barack Obama campaigned on energy issues on Wednesday, visiting a handful of oil wellheads on Federal land in New Mexico and a solar installation in Boulder City, Nevada. The subtext of this Obama campaign is public unhappiness with the price of gasoline and the hypocritical attacks on him over this issue by his Republican opponents. The fact is that there is only one thing Obama could have done to bring down oil prices, and that would have been to veto the National Defense Authorization Act until Congress took back out the provisions for crippling sanctions on Iran. Republicans back…

• Energy Secretary Chu was Right, US Gas Prices Need to be Higher

  Why would a president want to bring an eminent scientist like Energy Secretary Steven Chu into government? In the hope, one would suppose, that he would speak truth to power. Sadly, that hope seems to have been dashed in the case of Secretary Chu.  In 2008, before becoming part of the cabinet, he had said that as part of the effort to protect the environment and wean the U.S. economy from its energy addiction, “Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe.” But earlier this week, at a hearing of…

• The Ugly Politics of Higher Gasoline Prices

  The impacts of higher oil and gasoline prices are beginning to ripple across the economy.  Wells Fargo Economics reported today that higher energy prices increased the producer price index (PPI) by 0.4 percent in February 2012 which was the highest monthly gain in the PPI in five months. Wholesale gasoline prices were up for the second-straight month, increasing 4.3 percent, home heating oil was up 5.3 percent and residential electric power prices increased 0.6 percent.The growth in domestic natural gas production from shales has decoupled natural gas prices from global oil prices as supply exceeds demand helping to mitigate the…