Gas Prices

An everyday topic of conversation and concern these days is about the gas prices. There is constant complaining and worrying about the prices and how we are supposed to be able to afford it. And at almost four dollars a gallon and the price of everything else rising there may be some justifiable reason for the complaints. And with summer coming and demand increasing, there is a very good possibility that it will go above five dollars a gallon. What many people are wondering is why are the prices so high? What is causing them to skyrocket like they are?

A major concern by many American consumers is that the petroleum industry is price gouging. Price gouging refers to artificially inflated prices on necessities after a disaster. These disasters can be either natural or otherwise. But one article says that "as long as we have market-driven pricing, it's very hard to define "price gouging." It is argued that many things fluctuate the price of gas. These include the demand for it. If the weather is bad, such as snowy and icy, there is not going to be as much of a demand. However, now that summer is approaching, it is a major concern with summer coming that the price of gas is going to skyrocket.

Usually the price of gas rises when the demand is greater than the supply. However, that is not the case in 2011. Right now there is concern with the unrest over in the Middle East. It is said that gas has gone up because of the revolt in Libya. However, we do not buy a lot of our petroleum from Libya so why should this have anything to do with our gas prices in America? Sean Cota of the Petroleum Marketers Association of America said "it's unbridled investment money that is dominating the market, to the point where supply and demand doesn't matter anymore." If supply and demand does not matter, then there is nothing stopping the price from rising. Almost everything is dependent upon petroleum.

People are saying we need to switch to alternative fuel. What I do not think that most people realize is that we depend on gasoline and petroleum a whole lot more than they think. Think of everything that uses gas, four wheelers, lawn mowers, dirt bikes, boats, etc. Almost everything that people like to use on family vacations or that many people use simply for recreation use gas. You then add the things that require petroleum and the list gets even larger. Some of these are tires, petroleum jelly, antiseptics, basketballs, hair coloring, dice, paint, candles, etc. And of course there is heating. This is not too much of a concern now that spring is coming and warmer weather. That is an extremely small list. I think as Americans, we take many things for granted.

Part of the price comes from all taxes that are put upon the refining companies. People are saying that we need to find other ways for electricity and transportation. But there are so many barriers that