Update: This was a story originally posted in August of 2006 (Wow, that’s been the fastest year of my life), but E3 Biofuels has come up in discussion quite a few times lately. I am going to be traveling over the next 5 days with intermittent Internet access, so I thought I would bump this [...]
Gas Prices,Gas Prices >
Please Make it Stop 
The pandering, that is. First up, the presidential candidates take turns accusing each other of not having a plan for high gas prices, which the accuser of course has a neat solution for that will be painless for the public:
Obama presses on gas prices, Clinton highlights energy bill
INDIANAPOLIS – Democrat Barack Obama on Friday blamed [...]
No Price Manipulation
I have lost track lately of the number of people who think oil companies are deliberately dropping prices in order to influence the election. I have close ties to the product pricing group, and I can tell you that these assertions are ludicrous. In fact, I mentioned these conspiracy theories this morning in a meeting, [...]
How Quickly We Forget
Retail gasoline prices in the U.S. peaked back in July at $4.17 a gallon. (Source: EIA). At the end of 2008, gasoline had fallen to $1.67. We typically use about 140 billion gallons of gasoline each year, so that $2.50 drop amounts to an annualized difference of $350 billion in the pockets of consumers – [...]
Prop 87 Post Mortem
Well, I was wrong. I have consistently predicted that California’s Proposition 87 would pass. I knew that support had been slipping as gas prices have fallen, but I still thought that when the time came to vote, the voters would choose to punish the oil companies. But Prop 87 looks to be headed toward a [...]
This Week in Petroleum 9-06-07
Another week, another all-time low on gasoline inventories. As I wrote last week:
Gasoline inventories were not this low following Hurricane Katrina, and yet we have had an uneventful summer. It is very possible that we will not dig ourselves out of this hole for a long time. In the short term, an upturn in gasoline [...]
Gas Taxes and Long Range Energy Planning
I consider the level of dependence of the U.S. on imported petroleum to be a very large financial risk endangering the country’s future. There are certainly other import-related risks as well, but here I want to talk about the financial risk.
I consider it similar to having a mortgage upon which you pay interest each month [...]
The Fault of the Government
I have long maintained that the root of our energy problems in the U.S. stems from our failure to enact a consistent, long-term energy policy. Big energy projects generally take years to complete, and when there is an extra risk that the government will change the rules halfway through the project, companies are going to [...]
Why Gas Prices are Rising Again
Every time gas prices start to go up, my essay “Why Are Gas Prices Rising?” gets a lot of hits from Google searches by people looking for an explanation. Because the supply/demand dynamics have changed, that essay needs dusting off, especially in light of stories like this:
Pros puzzled by gas prices
Fuel industry pundits have been [...]
One Confused Economist
This story baffles me.
High fuel prices are puzzling
The middlemen who buy and sell fuel on the wholesale market have seen Los Angeles gasoline prices plunge more than 50 cents in the last two weeks.
Too bad drivers aren’t seeing the full benefit at the pump.
On Friday, the most recent trading day, the wholesale gasoline price in [...]
