Why are Oil prices going up anyway? I mean it all just came up.?
142643
Oil companys aren't making trillions only billions that is why the price keeps going up
360118
The oil companies set a new record for profits every 3 months.Of course they are gouging us.Most businesses lose money when costs soar,they dont make extra profit but less.
781385
You expected otherwise?  The drop in prices was a ploy by the oil companies to help get Repubs elected.  Now that the election is over and the prices are going back up, look for them to hit $3 a gallon by Christmas.  Merry Christmas from the big oil companies.  And besides that, they need to make more money.
595280
My economic knowledge tells me that I hope it goes up up up. My company pays for my gas, and as a resident of Alberta, Canada I stand to share in the wealth that the province brings in from oil revenue royalties. My family got a check for $1600 this last time, but with the current (and rising) oil prices the next one could be much higher. \n\nMaybe people will stop buying stupid SUVs too. I just bought a Honda Civic and it gets great milage. \n\nIf the USA continues to try and clense the world of anti-western democracy govenments (Iran, N. Korea etc.) this trend will continue. If faith in the US dollar doesn't improve, people will continue to invest in commodities like Gold, Silver, and Oil, thus driving the prices up.
223519
Have you checked the fuel prices lately?  I think people are looking for an alternative fuel source because of the rising prices of gas.  Not only that, this whole gas exploration thing creates such a power play in the world and even causes wars and embargoes.
308833
Well don't we just have number of highly qualified liberal economists giving you answers!  Is there not one liberal who can actually give an intelligent answer - not just repeating Micheal Moore?  \nHave you ever heard of Economics?  Do you not understand that SUPPLY & DEMAND drive economics?  The high oil prices are pretty easy to understand if are open minded.\nCrude oil prices are set by OPEC (that's ORGANIZATION for PETROLEUM EXPORTING COUNTRIES).  China & India are demanding double the oil they once needed because of their rapidly growing middle classes.  The worldwide demand has gone up and the worldwide supply has not increased.  When you have more demand than supply then the crude oil price will go up.  If we had more supply than demand the price would go down.  It's pretty simple an't it!  OPEC controls part of the prices, refining crude oil is the other cost.  Since we have not built any refineries or explored for oil in the past 30 years because of enviromental wackos - that is contributing to the high gas prices.
1128861
its no coincidence\n\neven if he is no longer in the oil industry...which I doubt...  I am sure he has his dirty little fingers in there somewhere...  he still has all his friends and cronies in the oil business that are making money hand over fist with these price increases.
337915
First of all, we don't "have control" over Iraq's oil production.  We have a decent relationship with Iraq, but we do not control their natural resources.\n\nAlso, one of the main oil producing nation is IRAN, not Iraq.  And right now Bush is "evaluating" possible threats from Iran.  They are not our allies.  So everyone is scared of what might happen, so they jack up the prices just in case.\n\nThere is a supply and demand issue, which is why gas prices tend to go up on the weekends and over holidays, during the summer, etc.  Another problem is that the oil companies have learned that the market will support the high prices, so there is nothing to stop them.  I mean, how can they blame the increase on their costs rising when they made record profits last quarter??  Its not all a rise in cost, the oil companies are making KILLER profits.\n\nWhat can we do?  Short if walking, I don't know...
435302
It is more political.  Some of them are good companies with good earnings.  the mineral area the stock prices have shot up because of high demands from countries like India and China.  That translates in to more $$ for the companies.  The unrest in the middle east is also a reason.  When Iran starts flexing her muscles and Iraq is looking troubling the price of oil goes up in expectation of oil becoming riskier or scarce to get.  much more politics than what companies are really doing.
13552
You bet and it may become an increasingly important industry as we use up existing oil reserves while the demand for oil is still increasing.  See source.
877565
What, isn't it just coincidence that it dropped almost a dollar in the three months before the election, and has climbed 20cents or more since the election?\n\nYou think politics might have motivated the oil companies to make people less displeased with the government, on the chance that would help their buddies who are incumbents keep their jobs?\n\nPerish the thought.
10983
The total demand for oil in the US in the 4th quarter of 2005 was 21.33 million barrels per day. China was second with a demand of 6.55 million barrels per day. Japan was third with 5.45 million barrels per day. Total world demand for oil was 84.39 million bb/d. \n\nThe total world supply for that quarter was 84.04 million barrels per day. The supply shortage was -0.35 million barrels per day. Now, since supply obviously is not as large as world demand, does anyone still wonder why gasoline prices are going up?
502628
Not that I am for this--But dear it wouldn't matter and why you ask---well here is an article--this is starting to open up a new can of worms--please understand--Anyone in the world could have all the oil in the world..and it really wouldn't matter at this point...\n\n$3-a-gallon gas: Blame Washington, not Big Oil\nWhat's driving up gas prices? It's not just higher crude costs; it's new regulations.\nNelson D. Schwartz\nMay 3, 2006: 2:20 PM EDT\n\n\n(FORTUNE Magazine) - With gas prices roaring past $3 a gallon and consumer fury rising even faster, Congress and the White House are engaged in a Kabuki-like ritual: pointing fingers at each other over who's to blame, while furiously attacking Big Oil for reaping gargantuan profits - as drivers get hosed at the pump.\n\nIf the politicians really want to figure out who's responsible for the latest round of price increases, though, they'd be better off looking in the mirror. That's because the rise isn't only due to higher crude costs. It's also fallout from some little-noticed provisions in the energy bill passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bush last summer.\n\nBuried in the 551-page energy bill - which was supposed to ease energy shortages, not worsen them - were new regulations governing what additives go into gasoline and how it's refined. Corn-based ethanol is replacing the petroleum-derived additive MTBE, but Congress timed this logistically tricky switchover to occur just as demand for gasoline peaked ahead of the summer driving season - right about now.\n\nThe end result is an extra strain on the refining and distribution system when it can least afford it.\n\n"It's too late now, but Congress has consistently failed to sequence regulatory requirements in a responsible fashion," says Bob Slaughter, president of the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association.\n\nAdds Larry Goldstein of the Petroleum Industry Research Foundation: "The gasoline crisis is made in the U.S.A., not in Iran or Venezuela or Nigeria. At least half the increase in gasoline prices is due to unintended consequences of the energy bill, but no one in Washington wants to admit that."\n\nIndeed, while crude prices have risen 21% since the end of 2005, gasoline is up 37% - a sign of just how stretched the system is. Congress's mistake, says Goldstein, was setting the new law to go into effect 270 days after it was signed - May 5 - rather than waiting until fall, when gas demand is typically on the downswing.\n\nNow the big question is, How high can gas go? Well, perhaps the only good thing that can be said about paying three bucks per gallon is that it seems to be slowing consumption - which should, in turn, reduce prices. Over a four-week period in April, says oil analyst Jamal Qureshi of consulting firm PFC Energy, U.S. gasoline demand dropped by half a percent, to just over nine million barrels a day. That may not sound like much, but it's a reversal from the 1.7% average annual increase in gas consumption the U.S. has experienced over the past decade. If $3 is indeed the tipping point at which consumers change their behavior and alter their driving habits, it's the one silver lining in an otherwise very dark cloud for drivers.\n\nThe wildcard in this scenario, of course, is the increasing risk of a military confrontation with Iran. If that happens, says Qureshi, "all bets are off." Given that crude oil accounts for 55% of the cost of each gallon of gas (refining accounts for 22%, taxes for 19%, and distribution and marketing for 4%), an upward spike in crude oil would push gas up even if the bottlenecks caused by the energy bill ease this summer.\n\nThat's why Red Cavaney, president of the American Petroleum Institute, says the answer in the short term is conservation. Washington is indeed being turned upside down when it's left to Cavaney, Big Oil's chief lobbyist, to talk conservat
1148783
It is all about supply and demand. The demand is there and the supply gets cut back so the price increases.
1121329
The price goes up when demand outpaces the supply of gasoline.  and that would mean if we as Americans drove smaller cars than suvs we would have less demand.  Also we need a new fuel source other than petroleum.
1147879
Basically it comes down to supply and demand.  There is increasing demand for oil (mostly from developing countries like China and India, but demand in the US is increasing also).  OPEC is already producing near its capacity, coupled with no relatively new oil refineries having been built, this causes the an increasing demand against a slower (negligible) increase in supply of the refined oil used for gasoline.   Hurricane Katrina knocked out some production capacity which is still not completely up and running.  Also there are other less significant reasons such as the changing of fuel additives from mtbe to ethanol (this has been done for environmental reasons).  To put a few non-truths to bed...  The oil companies were NOT found to be doing any price gouging (illegally increasing prices beyond unreasonable economic fundamentals).  Second, everyone wants to blame President Bush for increasing prices when in fact he no longer has any personal investments in oil companies(he did this specifically to discredit these accusation most likely); in fact President Bush has probably more to lose from high oil prices than any other single individual alive.  He wants a strong economy, with little inflation and needs that help for party elections this fall.  If you want a specific group of people to blame, you should look at commodity traders themselves, they are the ones who control the international price changes from day to day and are the ones who fear supply disruptions (such as the one that occured in Africa, threats from Iran and Venezuela recently) and terrorists act which affect the flow of oil (the so called terror premium).
850775
they already started to go up, ON ELECTION DAY.  opec must be sick with the election outcomes.  i hope the investigate 4.00 a gallon last year, i hope nobody forgot