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Old 12-19-2007, 11:05 AM   #3 (permalink)
kevenj
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Car: 2005 Chrysler 300C
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tinstar View Post
They can make cars get better mileage. But the oil industry will just continue to raise the price for gas. The oil ceo's will maintain their profits.
"They" can't raise the price if the demand isn't there. The price of gasoline is a function of (a) crude oil price, (b) demand and (c) refinery capacity (or lack of).

The simple fact is that as much as I don't like paying $3 a gallon for gas, the "good ol' days" of the late 1990's, with $1 a gallon gas and $10 a barrel oil, are actually part of the problem we face now, because at those price levels there was NO incentive for oil companies to explore for new sources of oil or to build new refineries. That is a big reason we are feeling the pinch now. And nobody cried 7 years ago when the oil companies were losing money either.

If we want the stuff we have to be willing to pay a price that makes it possible to get it out of the ground and then refine it into a useful product.
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