Modern Energy Crisis Cause by Oil Companies Essay

High desiel prices are a consequence of capitalism. As all fuel prices have been going up people are blaming the federal govenerment. They believe the president has influence of derterming the outcomes of tensions betwwen Israel and Iran. Some people blame incrased prices based on fears around the world. It all comes down to one thing to blame, capitalism. Calitalism can be great to an economic system because of its emphasis on efficienc and inbradible success rate at allowing those who control the means of production and resources to meet the demands of those with purchasing power. Capitalism is constantly evolveing and will impact the gap between current and future goals on oil prices.

Despite the real life anecdote described above, a lot of people don't understand why and how gas prices rise and fall. There's an increase in attention to gas prices when they're higher or lower than usual because that directly concerns them as a consumer. Even when gas prices are higher, consumers keep paying because there's not really an alternative out there besides buying a new environmentally friendly car. However, there's currently a much deeper problem in the United States related to gas prices. Today, in particular, gas prices are a lot less than they have been but most Americans brush it off and wonder something along the lines of ""Who is that bad for?"". I mean, fuels costs eat up a large share of earnings in the

Gas is something we need in our day-to-day life to operate vehicles that bring us places we need to go. Without gas we can't go on living our normal lives. Sadly the prices of gas are not pleasant to the consumers at times, but we have to deal with it. Around the year 2012 gas was a staggering $ 3.60 average and was $4.00 at time, the people were asking the government to mandate gas prices. Although if the government were to mandate gas prices, the prices would be more appealing to the consumers, but not for the long run.

Central Idea: Gas prices are on the rise in the US recently because of three major factors: the price of crude oil, the increase in internal regulations, and the increased demand for the gas.

There has been some talk about an “oil-extraction tax.” With this tax in place, it would force companies to fork out more of the tax instead of the consumer. If higher taxes are put in place for the producer ultimately they are not the ones paying the higher price the consumer is. Either way producers will receive revenue and in order to do that they will just raise their prices. The demand for fuel is based on necessity forcing consumers to pay outrageous prices because they need it. In addition to the tax, oil companies would have to disclose more information about their supplies and prices. Since the companies have market power, some believe with the tax in place it would reduce the price of the good.

Oil is the product that each and every one of us use. It can be used for fuel, heating and even cooking. The most often known for unstable price is crude oil or gasoline. According to the The Economist, The main reason for price shifts of oil is oversupply. The oil production in Saudi rose 10.3 million barrels per day. This increase is the effect of a new method that I being applied to oil extraction. This method is called fracking, fracking is where they drill into tight-rock formations then gradually turning horizontal for several thousand feet more. This results to accommodations to multiple oil wells. This new approved method of oil harvesting has raised the productivity gains and reduced the cost of harvesting oil.

The consumption of the oil cause changes in the supply and demand. The United States produces 11 million barrels of oil every day. We are one of the biggest countries to have a big influence on the production and prices of the oil. The basic supply and demand theory explains that the if a product is produced more, the cheaper it should sell. If a country were to double the output of oil day, prices would fall and the Production is high, but the distribution of oil isn’t keeping up with the market. The United States builds an average of one oil refinery per 10 years. This is a net loss due to the fact construction has slowed down since 1970s. Since 1970s, the United States has 8 less oil refineries today. The reason why we are not oversupplied with cheap oil is because of the other countries’ higher net margin and the only operate at 62% of their capacity. Excess capacity is only there to meet future demand. With demand moving accordingly, oil prices will continue to be set mostly by the market — despite external players’ best efforts. (McFarlane)

Competition in the oil industry is separated by about 10 cents here in the US. The difference between ARCCO, Shell, Mobil, and Chevron, is between 1 and 10 cents. Oil companies don’t compete with each other. With gas prices constantly fluctuating towards the $3 mark, there is little room to raise prices. Consumers will not pay 25 cents more for a gallon of gas. Although Chevron Texaco and ExxonMobil make have a slight difference in price at the pump, the will not try to do anything to rock the boat.

If the government decides to continue with the drilling of new sites or expand the Keystone XL Pipeline there are environmental dangers and concerns to follow and still not enough oil production to fuel the countries demand. The importing of oil from foreign countries would still be a necessity. For now the prices of gasoline are still on the rise and with use of the oil money future tool prices are sure to continue rising. As it seems in this current economic crisis, consumers need to make their voice heard with the government and hope something will change with the way oil is produced and imported to lower the cost for everyone.

On Monday October 31st, 2016, a pipeline exploded and shutdown the flow of gasoline and diesel on the East Coast which could effect pump prices for a couple of weeks. The explosion took place near the site of a gas spill that happened back in September that caused supply shortages and also an increase of prices in the Southeast. The Colonial Pipeline was forced to shutdown both of their mainlines. The New York Harbor’s gasoline soared from anywhere from 15% up to $1.64 a gallon. A little before 3 pm, the explosion occurred. Gasoline was lit and set off a huge fire that was not controlled and it continued to burn for almost the rest of the evening. Anyone who drives should expect price increases. The fire and emergency persons allowed the fire

The demand of gasoline has increased steadily over the last twenty years. In 1981 the U.S. averaged 6.5 million barrels of gasoline consumption per day. By comparison, in 2004 the U.S. averaged 9.2 million barrels of gasoline consumption per day. For most of this time period, gas prices stayed relatively the same. This is because the U.S. refineries increased their production to meet the demand and maintain the equilibrium price. Also during this same time period worldwide demand for crude oil increased 27%. Crude oil producers also increased their production to meet the demand keeping prices the same.

Over the past two years, oil prices have increased very rapidly. “With OPEC production cuts and a growth in crude oil demand,” oil prices went from a 25-year low of $11 per barrel in February 1999 to a peak of close to $36 per barrel in December 2003 (Jablon 1). “Some analyst, however, said the cut could soon push crude prices above the psychologically important threshold of $40 per barrel and worsen the pain for U.S. motorists” (“Rising Prices Fuel Gas Clash” 1). During this winter, the price of natural gas has gone through the roof. This brings many questions to mind. Are the companies just raising prices? Is there actually a shortage that is causing the raise in price?

From the recent case data, ExxonMobil has not acted irresponsibility in pricing its gasoline products. Outside of the grocery industry, I have not heard of any business segments surviving on less than a 5% profit margin. In reading that ExxonMobil reported only a net profit of 8.5%3, it is difficult to state that the firm over priced its products to reap abnormal profits. Although Mr. Lee Raymond’s $400 million retirement seems grossly out of proportion in utilitarian terms, adding these funds back into the firm’s bottom line would not change the profit results. With profit margins of less than 10%, it is unlikely that ExxonMobil would be able to keep the price of gasoline fixed if sweet crude oil were to increase from $80 per barrel to $88. This 10% increase in raw material cost would have to be passed through to the customer in the form of higher prices for the firm to survive.

While the first article I concern myself with predicts an increase in gas prices, the second article confirms an increase in the price of oil. From the onset, the first article, titled Increased Gas Prices? Don't Blame Unrest in Egypt, points out to readers that they could soon find themselves digging deeper into their pockets for a gallon of gas. However, even though it acknowledges that the unrest in Egypt could be to blame for the increase in gas price, it warns against apportioning all the blame to the said unrest. The second article, titled Market Watch: Oil Prices Rise on US Economic Outlook, confirms an increase in the price of oil most particularly in the London and New York markets.

The US consumed 142 billion gallons of gasoline in 2007 and the tax applied on it is 18. 4 cents on one gallon. All around the US, there are around 162,000 retail gasoline outlets. With the price of crude oil hovering around $100 a barrel, it is no wonder that concern is growing about the gas prices being so high. After all, modern economies are kept moving by this lifeblood. For instance, in the United States alone personal vehicles consume more than 140 billion gallons of diesel fuel and gasoline per year.However, there are several factors that contribute to the gas prices being so high. Given below are a few of them. Increasing Demand for Oil One of the main catalysts for the incessant rise in gas prices has been one of the most