up for labor day weekend.

i'll bet they fall by wed or thur, and a bunch of politicians on the left and the right take credit for reducing the price.

I predict President George W Bush will personally step in and lower prices of gas by next weekend.

Not if his buddies have anything to say about it,LOL. X

It is a vast right wing conspiracy.

With all of the oil we were supposed to steal from Iraq(wink wink)you'd think the price of gasoline would be .03 a gallon!

Yeah, why aren't we filling our SUVs with cheap Iraqi oil/gas?

Because we "promised" to honor the French and Russian oil contracts made w/ Iraq before out little incurrsion into the desert, before we get any.

Because Iraqi oil or the lack of it have absolutely nothing in the world to do with the price hikes ...

The oil companies do this every year and they've done it every year for DECADES ... it's just that since the gas 'shortages' of the 70s, they've become far more blatant about it ...

On Sat, there was an article in the papers here about the record # of motorists on the Calif highways this Labor Day weekend ... even the least cynical among us should readily recognize that the oil companies saw that coming and jacked up prices to make a little hay while the sun was shining ...

Individual station owners have nothing whatsoever to do with this ... it's the big oil companies who are responsible ... these boys are some sharp operators and are playing the public like a finely tuned violin in achieving 'record profits' every quarter and every fiscal year ... just wait ... you'll see those headlines in the months ahead, make no mistake about it.

Gentlemen...
1. Please refer to refresher course in Economics 101 padrticuliarly the chapter titled "supply and Demand" if anyone will not support new domestic drilling and consumption cont. upward the price will continue to rise especially during peak demand periods...period...when was the last rig producing of Calif?? When was the last refinery brought on-line in Calif?? Please provide the approximate date off the last Power Plant brought on line in sunny Calif...What is the corresponding population trend in Calif. over say the last 20 years....Hydrocarbon consumption trendline over the comparable trend???I only use Calif as one example to make a point that needs to be made....Help or at least don't hinder the supply/or substantially decrease production or shut the hell up...you could be producing your own...actually the producing and refining states shoud be charging consumption states a surcharge on consumption unless and until they pass some legislation that has a positive effect on the issue or at least not exasperate the problem....Iraq is producing almost nothing currently and has been producing about 15-20 per cent of the forign oil...it's amazing given that fact that prices aren't up much more...My .02

I'm sorry ... the normal rules of supply and demand are something I understand quite well ... they simply don't apply in this case, inasmuch as the oil companies are artificially manipulating the supply ... and it certainly isn't exclusive to CA ... it's true EVERYwhere ... big oil is extending it's hand deeper into my pocket and yours all the time ... their 'record profits' that one sees talked about are not the result of efficient operations but a result of money grabbing and profiteering ... pure, plain and simple. Anyone who thinks otherwise is extremely naive.

If we can agree that oil is a very fungible commodidty and I believe it is ...you are telling that all the produdcers in the entire world have come together and "fixed" the prices without one wanting to undercut the others and will store or curtail production rather than sell more oil...hell OPEC has never been able to control the curtailments...who's niaeve...doesn't virtually every product produce spikes in prices on a seasonale or high consumption period..not just oil...while you are at it please address your thoughts on my other comments re:calif and others on the production....i.e. was a refinery or power plant last brought on line and relate it to population growth and consumption....they whine and want someone else to bear the burden of solving their needs at little or no cost to them..doesn't worka and never will

Hello...anyone there....if you are going to make accusation please be prepared to address specifics rather than broad unfounded "conspircy theories" spoon fed by the media....they can't make a substaniated cases and neither can their "followers" reads well but no substance

yeah! what phenix said!

(how's that , carl?)

Ethan....your eloquence and verbosity are overwhelmingly conviencing...most thought provoking..CB

To be honest, I didn't have time to post, so I figured I'd come back and voice my opinion, but I think you put it pretty well, Carl. The method that supply is "manipulated" does not matter to the fundamentals of supply vs. demand. As long as the market is free to conduct business, capitalism will move towards equilibrium - the only time that doesn't happen is when the government steps in. Supply doesn't just mean supply of raw materials, but supply of a final product, and unfortunately there are many speed bumps from one to the other, but the capacity is there if we all took advantage of it. Whether that is done or not, price will always be what people are willing to pay. That is true in any market and has never been and never will be dishonest or immoral.

well put Ethan...I see you have had your morning coffee...where are the conspiracy mongers when one begins using facts rather than inflammatory spoon-fed BS.....Rick/Stevecare to comment???

Conspiracy mongers ???

Perhaps you're speaking to some other Steve, but I never said there was a conspiracy ... and I don't believe for a second that an active conspiracy exists ...

Don't believe what I'm telling you if you prefer some other explanation ... your choosing to believe that traditional rules apply as if they were immutable principals of physics does make me a conspiracy theorist who doesn't understand economics or know the meaning of fungible ...

And if, by asking for specific examples, you mean you want names and dates ... well, it's not going to happen, is it? ... neither I nor anyone else can cite such examples or there'd have been bigtime action in the courts long since ...

But let me say this ... the 'broken pipeline' in Arizona that was blamed by the oil companies for the sharp rise in pump prices from Colorado to California (conveniently, just as a record number of holiday motorists were about to hit the road) just doesn't support the sudden 'cause' of high pump prices in IL OH, or NY ... in those places, I'm sure some other convenient 'emergency' is to blame ...

And yes, the basic laws of economics DOES also apply to big oil ... some of the rise and fall of prices IS legit ... but the fact is, a lot of that rise and fall is pure manipulation of the market ...

In driving from my home in the East Bay on Monday, I passed through no fewer than 6 'marketing zones' in the course of my 40 mile drive to San Jose ... each of those 6 zones has pricing from the oil companies that is different from each of the other 5 ... a gas station near my home, for example, actually has to pay a higher wholesale price to the oil company than the pump price INCLUDING TAXES at stations only 30-35 miles away ...

While I know the price differences are real as they are here and probaly everywhere else ...it is not unique to oil&gas...Here in San Antonio there are differences in groceries for example from one side of town to another...vast differences in r/e taxes from one area to another can cause some differences....try taking a cab from a prominent busy spot (airport/cent.bus dist...etc...the will be a surcharge for the same mileage...is this gougeing are lower profile issues...
My point about user states such as calif. is that the oppose every effort to increase refinery and production capacities and scream when they must pay the price for such controls and restrictions...if they are sincere in carrying their own weight let the control consumption before crying foul...

A while back here in the Cleveland area, a minority mayor accused the oil companies of racism because prices in certain areas (da hood) were higher than others. As for profittering, the stations around here have jumped prices by .15-.20 in a matter of hours. Used to be only on Thurs night late. But now, there is no rhyme or reason. At least we still buy gallons and not liters!