We've been over and over this. The first step in a supply reduction isn't just a sudden and near-total absence of a product from the market. The first step is drastically increased prices due to lower supply. We have seen that in spades. In the 1970s you also didn't have a coordinated release of 400 million barrels from the strategic petroleum reserves to try to mitigate the most extreme consequences of the shortage. But any way you slice it, remove 20% of the world's production of a commodity, unless there was a ridiculous overcapacity beforehand, and you have some degree of shortage. Just basic supply economics.

There are also other countries besides the US, and it is worse in some than it is in others. As I've mentioned previously, my employees in India have experienced rationing of both fuel and food in the past few months. Airlines are slashing flights and routes, particularly transatlantic ones due to the jet fuel shortages on both sides of the pond, but moreso in Europe.

You see this in other industries too. The AI/datacenter boom is driving huge shortages in memory/cpu/storage components. It doesn't mean we can't still get them. But the prices are up >400% and when we get a hardware quote from a vendor, instead of being valid for the usual 45 days as has been the case for the past 4 or 5 decades, we have to execute in 2 days or it gets re-priced.

 

May as well be talking to a wall lol, his skull is a foot thick.

 

I'll take that as a compliment. A thick skull is more resistant to injury.....and protects the brain.

 

First of all, we have not been over it numerous times.....I have only mentioned it once or twice at the most. And what your explanation fails to address (and the point I was trying to make) is why, with the release of the oil from the SPR, the pump price remains high despite no shortage in the U.S., although there are some signs lately that it is coming down.

 

Sam's gas $3.49. Down 14 pennies.

WTI last 30 days.

 

That's a good price by today's standards ....almost $1 less than what we've seen in my area lately for Top-Tier brands.

The downside, though, is that Sam's is not Top-Tier fuel, so, it may work in the short run, but over time, you may need to use fuel-system cleaners to compensate.

 

Not a compliment lol. You refuse to accept that your understanding of things may not be correct regardless of how much information is presented to you to show you that it’s not, that’s not a positive trait. Your continued refusal to accept the many correct explanations for supply and how it impacts gas prices which you could easily corroborate with any small effort or research is comically ignorant.

 

I addressed that in my reply to geko. We only discussed this facet of the supply/demand situation in the U.S. once or twice at the most. In fact, the CL staff actually wanted a new thread on gas prices, partly because they felt that we were not adequately or properly discussing it in the old one....it was getting too political.

 

No thanks.

My Tundra is 26 years old with 300k miles. Never used so-called Top Tier fuels (though I might have unknowingly filled the tank with it while out of town now and then), nor fuel additives. 4.7 V8 runs like new.

 

None of which has anything to do with the fact that your assertions about supply and gas prices remain wrong.

”twice” is “repeatedly” by the way.

 

It's still way too high but it has come down 20 cents or so here.

 

Yes, that's just about what we're seeing at the majority of (not all) of stations in my area.....about 20 to 25 cents.

 

Mine hasn't come down at all but thankfully it seems to have steadied out and I don't see it rising.

 

With all of the complaining about the gas prices, an interesting question is..............Have any of you actually taken steps with your vehicle to REDUCE your fuel consumption? We may not be able to control prices at the pump, but, in many cases, we CAN adjust our driving habits.

 

Not really changing the way I drive, but certainly what I drive. I normally drive the Tundra as my daily/commuter, but I've been taking the GS way more to try to save some money. I get about 22 mpg commuting in my GS vs. about 14 in the Tundra, so the Tundra has been staying home a lot more. We also cancelled plans for one of our summer flying trips as air travel is getting to be too much. We are currently still planning on Hawaii in December but we'll have to see what happens between now and then.