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Retail gasoline, diesel prices set records
Mon Apr 14, 2008
By Tom Doggett
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The average price U.S. drivers paid for gasoline climbed to a new high of $3.39 a gallon after rising 5.7 cents over the last week, the federal Energy Information Administration said on Monday.
The national average price for regular, self-service gasoline is up 51.3 cents from a year ago because of high crude oil costs, which on Monday traded at almost $112 a barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The price of crude oil accounts for about 70 percent of the cost for making gasoline.
Gas Price Forecast Grim: $4 a Gallon This Summer
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WASHINGTON, DC, (ENS) - Gasoline prices could top $4 a gallon this summer, with prices expected to average $3.54 over the summer months, and a peak, monthly average of more than $3.60 in June, predicts a new report by the federal Energy Information Administration, EIA, issued Tuesday.
The EIA numbers for diesel are even higher, with a predicted average of $3.90 during March and April, and a summer average of $3.73, an increase of 88 cents over the 2007 summer average.
At these prices, the average cost to fill up a 300-gallon tank in a typical long-haul tractor trailer would reach $1,170.
U.S. consumption of liquid fuels and other petroleum is expected to decline in 2008 by about 85,000 barrels per day as a result of the economic slowdown and high petroleum prices, the EIA said. "After accounting for increased ethanol use, U.S. petroleum consumption is projected to fall by 210,000 barrels per day in 2008.
As part of a three-point plan to alleviate the strain on consumers and move America towards renewable alternatives to oil, Chairman Markey called on the Bush administration to stop filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve at the rate of 70,000 barrels per day to send a signal to oil speculators.
He also called on the oil companies to increase their investments in renewable alternatives to oil and to drop their defense of billions in tax breaks.
"While the financial commitment that American families are being forced to make to drive their cars and heat their homes keeps rising every month, Big Oil's only commitment seems to be to opposing the renewable energy investment package that would provide American consumers with relief," said Markey.
Last week, Chairman Markey and the Select Committee held a hearing with top executives from the world's five largest oil companies, which brought in over $123 billion in profits last year and spent more than $50 billion on schemes to prop up their stock prices.
At the April 1 hearing, Markey called on the companies to invest 10 percent of their profits into renewable energy alternatives to oil, noting that the bottom 20 percent of wage earning families in America are now spending 10 percent of their income on gasoline due to the current high prices.
The five largest oil companies spent only about one percent of their profits on alternatives last year, with ExxonMobil making more than $40 billion in profits, while spending just $10 million on research into alternatives to oil.
The companies are currently defending $18 billion in tax breaks that they receive but that Congress is trying to shift towards renewable energy.
J. Stephen Simon, senior vice president of Exxon Mobil told the Select Committee that currently the energy industry pays record levels of taxes.
"While our worldwide profits have grown," he said, "our worldwide income taxes have grown even more. From 2003 to 2007, our earnings grew by 89 percent, but our income taxes grew by 170 percent."
SOURCE
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Mon Apr 14, 2008
By Tom Doggett
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The average price U.S. drivers paid for gasoline climbed to a new high of $3.39 a gallon after rising 5.7 cents over the last week, the federal Energy Information Administration said on Monday.
The national average price for regular, self-service gasoline is up 51.3 cents from a year ago because of high crude oil costs, which on Monday traded at almost $112 a barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The price of crude oil accounts for about 70 percent of the cost for making gasoline.
Gas Price Forecast Grim: $4 a Gallon This Summer
WASHINGTON, DC, (ENS) - Gasoline prices could top $4 a gallon this summer, with prices expected to average $3.54 over the summer months, and a peak, monthly average of more than $3.60 in June, predicts a new report by the federal Energy Information Administration, EIA, issued Tuesday.
The EIA numbers for diesel are even higher, with a predicted average of $3.90 during March and April, and a summer average of $3.73, an increase of 88 cents over the 2007 summer average.
At these prices, the average cost to fill up a 300-gallon tank in a typical long-haul tractor trailer would reach $1,170.
U.S. consumption of liquid fuels and other petroleum is expected to decline in 2008 by about 85,000 barrels per day as a result of the economic slowdown and high petroleum prices, the EIA said. "After accounting for increased ethanol use, U.S. petroleum consumption is projected to fall by 210,000 barrels per day in 2008.
As part of a three-point plan to alleviate the strain on consumers and move America towards renewable alternatives to oil, Chairman Markey called on the Bush administration to stop filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve at the rate of 70,000 barrels per day to send a signal to oil speculators.
He also called on the oil companies to increase their investments in renewable alternatives to oil and to drop their defense of billions in tax breaks.
"While the financial commitment that American families are being forced to make to drive their cars and heat their homes keeps rising every month, Big Oil's only commitment seems to be to opposing the renewable energy investment package that would provide American consumers with relief," said Markey.
Last week, Chairman Markey and the Select Committee held a hearing with top executives from the world's five largest oil companies, which brought in over $123 billion in profits last year and spent more than $50 billion on schemes to prop up their stock prices.
At the April 1 hearing, Markey called on the companies to invest 10 percent of their profits into renewable energy alternatives to oil, noting that the bottom 20 percent of wage earning families in America are now spending 10 percent of their income on gasoline due to the current high prices.
The five largest oil companies spent only about one percent of their profits on alternatives last year, with ExxonMobil making more than $40 billion in profits, while spending just $10 million on research into alternatives to oil.
The companies are currently defending $18 billion in tax breaks that they receive but that Congress is trying to shift towards renewable energy.
J. Stephen Simon, senior vice president of Exxon Mobil told the Select Committee that currently the energy industry pays record levels of taxes.
"While our worldwide profits have grown," he said, "our worldwide income taxes have grown even more. From 2003 to 2007, our earnings grew by 89 percent, but our income taxes grew by 170 percent."
SOURCE
: It would be a good story to tell my neighbors in two years that i am still using gas the only cost $3.45 a gallon since im sure prices will be 5$ plus by then.
