borneo_cyclist

scientist has predicted that the price of oil will raise sharply between the year 2000 and 2020. And gas will get very very expensive day by day. It is the point where oil production are not enough for the demand. They have predicted the year is 2010.

But look at the gas prices today. Is it happening earlier then we think it is ?

One guy that I have met said, " Don't worry, there will be solution !". But I doubt it. How do you think ?

cyclezealot

I have felt one person per car getting millions of people into the urban work place, to be a tremendous waste of the planets resources for a long time. Traveling on freeways that don't move is an obvious waste of lots of resources- including our own time. Mass transit a human need when and where possible. Even vital to the interets of the state.
Solutions? If so, will not be in time to prevent an economic crisis.

Chris L

What we need to remember here is that higher fuel prices alone won't cause this. Heck even five years ago people who couldn't really afford fuel were making other sacrifices to ensure they got it (even if it meant expecting their own children to skip meals and so on. Yes, this really does happen). About the only way it's going to have an impact is if it goes so high that people simply can't make the necessary sacrifices. And even then, they'll probably try to steal for it.

Of course, in these days of government by opinion poll, is it not possible that there will be pressure on governments to increase the existing fuel subsidies to cover the price increases? I expect there will be more than a few calls for them to absorb at least some of the impact (so much for capitalism).

And if you think fuel prices are expensive now? Just wait. We aint seen nothing yet.

ruirui

well... i don't know about elsewhere.. but in california, the reason for why gas prices are going up is not because of oil shortages or opec not pumping enough. california alone has 5 oil refineries and produces more than enough oil per day. so why is price going sky high in cali? simple... because all the gas station owners feels that consumers can and willing to accept higher prices. last year when gas prices shot up to $2.20 per gallon, consumers complained.. but that didn't stop them from buying.

therefore, this time as the price is raised up by gas station owners.. they think people won't complain too much again either. another reason why gas station owners say it's going up is because cost of living in cali is too high, therefore they need to pay their employees more money. but the thing is.. majority of the gas station owners here operates with 1-3 people only. most of them are either their relatives or their their family members. so i guess they need a raise eh?

the cost for the gast station owners to buy the gas didn't go up either.. thus the cost of raising price is just out of pure greed. therefore, unless everyone stops driving and ride.. price will just go up as they please. now my commute is 4 miles one way... so i just ride instead. but by june, i'll be moving into my new house which is 11 miles (22 miles round trip) from my work. the worse thing is... the fastest way to get there is by freeway (which i doubt they will let me ride there... haha). i had a dream that everyone boycotted against gas prices and everyone started riding on freeways... that would be soo awesome to riding the the freeways...

soylentjosh

About the price fixing...I really just don't believe it.

ruirui

believe it yo! otherwise they wouldn't have mentioned it on KRON Channel 2 News from the bay area. also, they interviewed 3 gas station owners whom made the same statement of having to raise up gas price so they can afford to pay their employees. if that's not price fixing what is? i was shocked when i watched that too.. and didn't believe it.. but just take a look around.. what else is driving the price up except price fixing?

soylentjosh

How bout the fact that demand for gasoline is steadily increasing and the supply is steadily decreasing?

cyclist2

Gready fuel companies and goverments go hand in hand, srangle the private service stations market then hold punters to ransom to pay over the top prices for there b@#$it election promises,proffits and wastes..

Also over here gas for cars was cheap ,then gov ofered $500 to convert to gas lots of punters changerd /Yes you guest it up went the price of gas with no other market influenceces .Gas is exported
from Western Australia over to chinna Etc for 1/10" of the local cost.Once our resorces are pillaged the gov will decide whats next that will make them loads of cashwith little social consiance.

The other thing is the amont of cars with only one occupant this happens allot in perth and possibly els where.
The major companys want to strangle out the family ,small buisness to maximise there greed and so as theres is no competition.

Chris L

That's not price fixing, that's just maximising profit - which is what a capitalist economy is all about. It only becomes price-fixing when all of the oil companies get together and agree to charge a certain price. I've not seen any evidence this is happening. You can't have it both ways. Either we are capitalists and thus allow firms to charge whatever they like for goods and services, or we go down the road of communism and freeze prices.

Don't think for one moment that the "private" service stations are any less greedy than any of the others. They're only in the business for one reason -- and no doubt they're just as glad as anyone else about the government subsidies keeping fuel prices artificially low.

cyclist2

O yes price fixing is allive and well, no one will really takle the problem because it offers huge the proffts to just a few in that market, and gov taxes so there not going to look to hard.While the punter gets ripped off.

At the LBS there sales have gone up why has'nt the prices of tyes ETC reduced or stayed the same, cheaper bying in bulk for them to pass on savings,or is that being to synnical?

Allister

Sounds like normal market forces to me. Businesses have always charged as much as they think people will pay.

Yes. Why wouldn't they?

cyclist2

So true some punters expect to get ripped off in affluent earas.Expensive places to go are high tourist destinatoins because people go to these in droves ,owners go come in suckers.

cyclezealot

Crude prices have reached $40 a barrell..Omen of trends to come..One of biggest worries is that Saudi Arabia is facing increased internal insecurity. The domestic situation is not good there...Any production problems with Saudi Arabia- some oil predictions as to futures..SOme estimates have been as high as $100 a barrell.
Maybe local distributors will not be able to gouge us, when demand falls because people can't afford the stuff.

cyclist2

Less cars the more air to breath, now that'l be marvlouse.
The arrabs would'nt mind they havent got cammels that run on petrol?

chadlewis76

Capitalism is the answer. Gas prices are rising, but some experts are saying that hybrid cars will out number stricly gas powered cars within the next five years. Hydrogen and purely electric cars are expected to be mainstream in ten.

Unfortunately bicycles have never, and will never, figure into the equation for most people. Let them get fat and waste their money, it makes no difference to me.

freerangemike

There are some X-Files conspiracy theories on this stuff. . .

If you compare our gas prices to what they pay in Europe, there is definitely evidence of price fixing. . .the US government has been artificially holding the price down. By using the IMF and sanctions (or lack thereof) on things like the Valdez oil spill, the Government pressures major gas companies to hold the price down. The government does not want it to be economically feasible to drill for the US oil reserves in the Gulf, Texas, and in Alaska. By pressuring the Middle East into keeping oil cheap, we can continue to drive around our urban sprawl until their oil is depleted, then weild a strategic advantage in the global economy, especailly militarily, based upon our oil reserves.

I don't subscribe to that theory. The government can't even cover up affairs with teenage interns, let alone smelly oil tycoons. But it does seem odd that we all acknowledge that US gas is cheaper than in Europe but that the need to drive everywhere is greater in the US. That violates capitalism if there is truly a global economy linking Europe and the US.

alexatbike

I used to look forward to the time when a gas powered car would be too expensive for the everyday person. Until I realized that people will never ever ever stop driving! Today gas powered, tomorrow hybrid, next week hydrogen/solar (even coal).

Last year there was a problem in Phoenix: I believe a petroleum main that supplies the city broke. I remember reading that people where driving for miles, many to other cities, just to fill up their tanks. There was a quote on cnn . com from a naive women complaining that gas was getting to point of being almost like gold. Gas has been, for almost a century, second only to water as the most important substance on earth.

If the petroleum were to dry up within 10yrs I think we will all revert to small self sufficient medieval type towns. Including the archetypical blacksmith and town crier. Except they'll be replaced by the town computer guy and telephone guy.

Zaphod

Greed, Schmeed... It is the American way. Capitalism is all about balancing supply and demand. With fossil fuel, there is an almost infinite demand. Therefore, the only limit on price is competition. Company A raises prices to match company B, but then company C starts selling at a lower rate to "buy" customers away and company A and B lower prices. It's a big cycle where prices slowly inflate, then drop, just to inflate again. I just laugh when I hear about how unfair it is that a company is maximizing thier profit by balancing the price a customer will pay with what their competitor can sell it for. I mean give me a break, is anyone here willing to take less pay to make it more fair for an employer? You have a service to sell and you price yourself at the highest level that an employer is willing to pay you... Gasoline companies are doing the same sort of thing. In fact, I would love to see prices go higher. It makes me sick to see these suburbanite losers commuting (one per car) to work in Yukons, H2's, Expeditions, and anything else that can suck up several gallons on their 20 mile each way trip to the office. So let the gas companies inflate prices, let the SUVers get penalized, and let more people at least consider a bicycle commute... even if it doesn't work out for many of them, they might understand one of the many reasons we commute by bicycle

zoridog

We live in a time when milk is $3 a gallon, cigarettes are $6 a pack, cable TV is $65/month, Starbucks coffee $2 a cup, $100 for a pair of sneakers ...

Not only would we pay $3 a gallon for gas, but we would send our young men and women overseas to die for it. I'm ashamed to be human.

borneo_cyclist

hybrid, electric and hydrogen car are not the solution for transportation problem. First, hybrid car still using gas, only a little bit less. electric car can only goes for 30 km when charged full ! u can get even further with a bicycle ! And the last one...hydrogen....there just not enough electricity to generate enough hydrogen for everybody. And hydrogen car is bloody expensive.

rgarza28

What are punters? Is that slang for comsumers?

bentbaggerlen

"Gready fuel companies and goverments go hand in hand" You hit the nail right on the head....

But we have pumped out most of the easy oil, for the last twenty years or so we have been pumping out oil that more costly to recover. So the price is higher.

Dahon.Steve

This made me laugh. The situation reminds me of the movie "Road Warrior" where people will be riding around town with shotguns and weapon on top of the cars, searching for the last tank of gas. HA HA..

Dchiefransom

Actually, the Bay Area poster is incorrect. The number of refineries in California are just adequate to keep up with normal demand. Due to NIMBY problems, and hammering the oil companies over environmental quality, they haven't built any new ones here in a long time, while the number of cars just keeps increasing.

Dchiefransom

Where will you be living and commuting to? Eleven miles isn't a bad commute unless you have to climb one of the ranges of hills around here. I'm trying to work up the fitness level to go from north Newark to San Jose past downtown as many times as possible a week.