catholicsphere

Presently, the average US cost for a gallon of [tag]gasoline[/tag] is 2.929. A barrel of [tag]oil[/tag] is $71.65.

ExxonMobil reported [tag]record earnings[/tag] for the first quarter of this year — $8.4 billion.

Chevron, the #2 gasoline producer, posted a $4 billion first quarter profit.

The cost of oil has more than doubled in the last 4 years … and oil company profits have as much as quadrupled in the same period.

And, gasoline prices continue to push higher, even though [tag]demand[/tag] for it is down 0.6%, instead of the typical 1.5% increase in usage.  There seems to be some mention that there is a [tag]shortage[/tag] in [tag]supply[/tag] … but, that doesn’t seem to be the case.  Instead, it seems there is a certain “transitional” supply problem that is created by the gasoline producers when they have to transition to a “cleaner fuel” production.  This seems like a “built-in” to expand prices and profits, and get people talking about shortages …

But, is there any danger of running out?  Fears generated by everyone from media outlets to politicians have caused isolated cases for a short duration, but even Hurricane Katrina and Rita did not cause widespread exhaustion of supplies.

Therefore, there’s no real reason for prices to be at the levels they are — except for poor supply chains and advantage taken of the consumers.  And … something [real] needs to be done … now!