how do consumers behave based on change in oil prices?
413918
From an economic standpoint they're actually quite IRrational.  Demand is almost inelastic.  While prices have risen drastically in the last few years, neither driving nor car purchase decisions have changed drastically.  While it is true that SUV sales are crashing, they're being replaced by cars that get marginally better mileage, at best.  The oil boycott of the 70s moved a massive segment of the market from big V8 sedans getting 11 mpg to tiny 4 cylinders getting 25 mpg.  These days it seems to be all image, trading the Escalade and Explorer that gets 15 mpg for the Freestyle or Pacifica that gets 18 mpg.  And there's still just one person in each vehicle...\n\nThis is, of course, the US.  But while the European model has better mileage figures and smaller cars, it is similarly stagnant to any real change.
586157
Fill your tanks only half full uneless you need to make a long trip.You do not need to stock Bush's & Cheeny's gas on your shelf.This will cost the oil company's $3000,000,000.00 a day and will leave only half the room in the supply tanks To but in new gas.The tankers will be stacked off the coast trying to unload.I remember coffee going to $5.00 a pound in the seventys.People stopped buying and in two weeks the price was down to $1.50 a pound.Lets go Amercians the power is in your purse's and wallets "Let's Roll"
317663
its mere speculation, \n\nthere is just no economics in the way oil prices are moving..there is no supply problem as of now..but still u can see this surge//\n\nthe prices are news based and manipulated, another interesting observation is that since US plan on IRAN is now more real and around the corner..u knw wat i mean..
382180
Of course not. \n\nUnlike the case of the 1970's embargo, there is no shortage. Oil and gas are abundant. The oil producers and their cronies realized that a demand for the product exists at a higher price, and have proceeded to manipulate the market to jack up the price. Of course, the government is looking the other way. In the past, everytime they tried to do that, a small portion of the Strategic Oil Reserve was released and oil prices soon dropped. \n\nWhy is that not being done now?\n\nCan anyone guess the answer? \n\n(A cue: remember Farenheit 911?)
43493
The argument is that if the price of oil is high enough we will turn to alternative energy sources, one of which is ethanol, made from agricultural products, primarily grain. This demand for high-priced fuel will raise the price of grain, which is also used for making bread.
513457
Law of Supply and Demand:\n\nIn a nutshell - If more people want something the more expensive it will be until there is more produced. When there is an excess amount produced (more than people want) Then the price will be less.
526788
Hrm... sounds like your mom is picking a whipping boy.  Oil companies are responsible for the price of oil.  Punishing charities for high gas prices is like beating your kids because your neighbors kids stole your mailbox.  \n\nOnly two ways I can think of for consumers to affect to price of oil:\n\n1)  Quit using so much.  When the demand goes down, so will the price.  Oil conservation and alternative fuel sources can do a lot to lessen the price at the pump.\n\n2)  Selective boycotting.  Boycotting is the consumer's most effective method of getting what they want out of the corporations that serve them.  Unfortunately, few boycots accomplish anything.  Much like a labor strike, a boycot must be well organized, direct, and limited.  For instance, a consumer protection union could organize its members to boycot one particular gasoline provider in a local area.  If they made it clear to the gasoline company exactly how much money they would lose, the company could be induced to offer a discount to union members.  This works out for both parties.  The union members get cheaper gas from a particular company, which gives them a reason to ALWAYS buy their gas from that company.  In this way, the company reduces it's margin but increases it's sales (including sales of drinks, beef jerky, cheap sunglasses, cigarettes, and all the other crap that gas stations make money on).  \n\nSlightly off topic, a few points to consider for those adherents of Marketpressurism who maintain that the federal government has no control over the price of oil:\n\nThe US federal government is the world's largest consumer of petroleum products.  Simply by increasing their consumption (such as by sending thousands of tons of people, vehicles, military and construction equipment, etc. halfway across the world) they can have a significant effect on global demand.\n\nThe US Strategic Petroleum Reserve is the largest government-owned emergency oil stockpile on earth.  By varying the rate at which we fill the Reserve or by okaying the release of some Reserve stock into the circulating supply, the executive branch of government can have a very direct effect on oil prices.\n\nSince the majority of oil consumed in America is produced abroad, the price of oil is very dependant on how much oil foreign countries are willing to sell to the US.  By pressuring or working out deals with foreign governments that supply oil, the federal government can have a large influence on the available supply, thus lowering prices.\n\nIf a government heavily funds and supports alternative fuel development and conservation measures, they can actively reduce oil consumption throughout the country.  This reduces the price of oil, albeit slowly.
661414
Rising oil prices are a result of supply and demand and lead to a rise in inflation and ensuing unemployment.  The US needs to become less dependent on imported oil.  Alternative fuels and using less will bring the price down.  Everyone in the US needs to help!
390170
They raise prices by restricting supply. They try to maximize their income without driving their customers to alternate fuels or into a depression. Either would reduce their income.
322803
The price of oil is based on supply versus demand.  As a consequence, there is very little that you by yourself can do to influence it's price on a global scale.  As a group, if Amercians could increase the national economy rate by buying more efficient vehicles and/or changing driving habits, then this would help to effect the price of oil on a global level.  However, there are other factors, such as the growing economies of both China and India that will also influence the price of oil.  Our cuts in consumption here may be negated by increased consumption there, thus allowing prices to remain the same per barrel of crude oil.\n\nBeyond the consumption aspect on price per barrel of crude oil, there are also other factors.  What with the turmoil in the Nigeria Delta region, Nigeria's production capacity has been lowered.  Couple this with what is going on in Iran now, and you have the effects of politcal action on the price per barrel of crude.  \n\nIt may seem like I'm going all over the place here, but there are many things that influence the price of oil.
183872
Well, actually it would depend on the rates of increase.  Theoretically, if demand and supply increase at matching rates, then the price should remain pretty stable.  This is assuming demand = 1 and supply = 1.  If demand increases at 1 and supply increases at 2, then the price might go down, for example.  (This also does not take into account marketing strategies and other variables!)
1002698
The thing is the oil compagnies don't want to lose money so they brainwash people into thinking the alternative isn't any good.\nMeanwhile the others are  powerless.\n(The Oil compagnies are more powerful than the latter)
131248
Consumer economy. Gas has historically been much cheaper than any other source of fuel. When it's price rose in those countries, only THEN did they move to alternative fuels. Same goes for what will happen here. Gas has priced itself out of our market now.
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
673683
Yes, because a small change in price will affect demand more.  If a product is inelastic, then the firm can charge just about anything and the demand will stay the same.
332181
Gas will stop rising in cost ONLY when people stop buying it at whatever price it has risen to...law of supply/demand.
474948
Well, it won't run out completely, but it is projected that demand will outpace production within that time frame.  This is based on Hubbert's Curve and if you're interested, try researching Peak Oil.  Regardless, when demand outpaces consumption, expect the price of gasoline, and anything else associated with petroleum, to increase in price drastically.