For weeks now oil has been below $100 a barrel yet gas prices have hardly dropped at all in recent weeks. I keep expecting it to go down but nope.

Here's some statistics based on the gas prices here in Florida.

A few months ago, when gas prices where at there highest, a gallon of gas here on average was $3.95 a gallon. At that time a barrel of light crude was $110.

Yesterday light crude was at $86 and today it closed around $83 however the cheapest I can find gas here is $3.45 a gallon. Way too much if you ask me, so I did some math to see where current prices should be based on the prices we were paying when oil was $110 a barrel and gas was $3.95 a gallon.

This is simple algebra.

$3.95 / $110 = X / $85

X being the price gas should be based on what we were paying only months ago and $85 being an approximation of the current price of a barrel of light crude oil.

You get,

(3.95 / 110) * 85 = 3.05 or $3.05 a gallon and at today’s oil price of $83 you would get $2.98 a gallon.

So yeah gas needs to get down to at least $3 a gallon soon or people need to start speaking out.

Personally I think gas prices should be at or below $2.50 a gallon and people in this country should be taking measures to ensure that. It would be one of the best things we could do for our struggling economy. Damn you big oil, peak oil, and people who live solely on maximizing profits while the rest of us get bent over a barrel. Yeah, F—K You A—holes.

I know what you mean, I remember gas being at or lower the price it is now about a month ago. It was closer to $100 a barrel then.

It's the markets and the rampant speculation keeping these prices artificially high. I remember reading somewhere (sorry cannot recall where) that if you removed Wall Street speculation out of the mix that gas would be well under $2/gallon. I think your math proves this to be true.

Another wild stat is as of a few weeks ago the USA was a net "exporter" of gasoline. (Mind you this is different from oil as this is the finished product, but in addition to the math you provided it still paints a messed up picture.)

It just ain't right is it?

Just don't ever forget that the financiers and speculators on Wall Street are good old-fashioned Americans, complete with the little flag pin in the lapel. They want what is best for this country and nothing less.

Of course they are going to keep charging more than they should. How else do you think they keep making record profits for decades.

Ethanol production has an effect on gas prices as well. Also, the dollar is losing value, gotta remember that.

It also has to do with the season. Schools are out or letting out soon, and tourism is at one of it's bigger peak times. Therefore gas prices in the US inflate because there is more demand.

Don't expect these crude prices to stay low, because it costs around $92 per barrel for oil companies to break even.

Also, gas prices at gas stations are related to how much they paid for the gas. When the tank runs low at the gas station, and it is filled up again, it should be priced at the new rate (whether it be high or low).

That is how it is supposed to work. Now, whether gas stations play fair or not is another issue entirely. I notice that, often when the crude prices drop, the gas stations won't really drop their prices for weeks and weeks, and you know they have gotten deliveries of new gas since then.

After summer/closer to the election, all things being equal or as they are now, the prices will:

d
r
o
p

Don't let a good crisis go to waste...

Originally posted by FissionSurplus
Don't expect these crude prices to stay low, because it costs around $92 per barrel for oil companies to break even.

Also, gas prices at gas stations are related to how much they paid for the gas. When the tank runs low at the gas station, and it is filled up again, it should be priced at the new rate (whether it be high or low).

That is how it is supposed to work. Now, whether gas stations play fair or not is another issue entirely. I notice that, often when the crude prices drop, the gas stations won't really drop their prices for weeks and weeks, and you know they have gotten deliveries of new gas since then.

Can you provide proof for that $92 figure? Because I thinks that's an untruth.

Why I think that $92 figure is an untruth.

1. I doubt oil companies would release that info or be honest about.

2. It would make sense that an oil companies "break even" price would vary from oil company to company.

3. The number would not be fixed. It would fluctuate based on other factors. One of the factors is the current cost of gas and diesel fuel due to logistics. So if the current cost of gas and diesel were to drop so would an oil companies "break even" price.
4. People always stick up for the oil companies when I complain about high gas prices here on ATS and elsewhere probably because they have either been programmed to due so, are profiting from oil, or are paid to do so.