Can anyone tell me why the price of oil has been going up? It is now higher than ever they are saying in the news--over $60 a barrel.

What is it that makes oil go up or down in price? It has been fluctuating so badly in the last year or so...it is SO expensive now to drive a car. It makes it much harder for those who must commute to work each day.

I always understood that it was the amount of oil being produced that caused the price to go up or down.

Back, I think, somewhere in the 1970s when the energy crisis scare took place, the price of gas increased sharply based on the fact that the world was running out of oil.

Since then the price went up or down based on the amount of oil be produced by the oil producing companies.

Lately, however, there seems to be another scare that the world is running out of oil that is driving the prices up again.

I wouldn't be surprised that the first scare and now this one is manipulation to cause the prices to go up, which sad to say seems to be working again now as it did back then.

Actually...the "supply is running low" theory could be artificial. Politics between oil producers and oil consumers...how is that today? Good? Nope...

Greed is more than likely the real reason...and politics.

I'm in one of the oil-kingdoms; new supplies of freshly discovered oil fields here are reported more regularly than I have ever would have heard in the States.

Well, and I'm not being bitter when I say this, it doesn't help that our president has a stake in the oil prices. I have a feeling he could be a political pressure on the oil prices. Just a hunch...

I have a friend who worked in Texas in the early 1970s, on an oil exploration and drilling team. This was during the so-called 'oil crisis.'

He said they'd strike oil, cap off the gusher, and move on to the next site to drill again. This would happen every few days or weeks. Never did he see them set up an oil well for pumping. They'd drill, strike oil, cap it off, and move on. The 'crisis' was man-made, in other words.

As for prices: gasoline now is about medium, considering all price history since there have been automobiles, and adjusting for inflation. Gas was a lot more expensive, in real inflation-adjusted dollars, in 1982 than it is now. It's just that we had all-time low prices in 1998, and we got spoiled! Things can't stay at all-time lows forever. Now prices are getting back to more normal levels, and it hurts comparatively. But in the overall scheme of things, prices are now about at their average historical real-dollar levels.

Price per gallon here in the State of Oregon is $2.29 per gallon. When my husband flew to Alaska it was over $5 a gallon for airplane fuel. This is just awful!!

In Kenai, Alaska where they have the oil wells it is just as expensive to buy fuel as it is in the lower 48! One would think it would be less since it is refined right there!

I read an article (when fuel prices were first rising higher)about a CEO who worked for a large oil company that said their profits have skyrocketed and "they don't know what to do with all the extra money." What a sad picture.

The demand for oil has gone up thanks partly to China's booming economy. And why is their economy booming? Because they are selling their inexpensive goods to the US. So we are, at least in part, responsible for our high gas prices. As a bee keeper we spend a lot of time on the road driving trucks and the price of desiel fuel is really hurting us, that coupled with a decline in the price of honey the last few months. But the Lord does provide so I can't complain.

Redfog

Yes, blame it all on the chinese

Naw...it's all the Belgian's fault....

Now I didn't say it was ALL the fault of China Actually here in the US we can take plenty of blame: SUV's, not developing bio-fuels, heating our houses more than is necessary, not developing alternative sources of power like nuclear, wind, tides, fuel cells etc. There is plenty of blame to go around, not to mention plain old greed, theft and wastefulness.

Redfog

Excellent reply Redfog. I have always HATED the blame game being played upon a people either nation, culture et all. I grew up in a Chinese society, and am maybe a bit hypersensative when people point fingers and make comments against China. Maybe the scripture has an answer to this crazy Gas and Oil situation?