PORTLAND, Maine — A price-monitoring website is warning Maine motorists that gasoline prices could rise sharply during the next few days and through the weekend in Maine.
GasBuddy.com Senior Petroleum Analyst Patrick DeHaan says he expects stations to increase prices from 5 to 20 cents per gallon by the end of the weekend.
DeHaan says a refinery fire in Washington state is boosting prices significantly throughout the entire West Coast, and prices in the Great Lakes area rose 30-45 cents per gallon Wednesday in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky. Prices have also been reportedly rising fast in New England, Florida and other areas of the East Coast.
GasBuddy operates MaineGasPrices.com and more than 250 similar websites that track gasoline prices in the United States and Canada.
Where is the outrage at Obama and his oil cronies. How much is the White House getting back from these prices.
You know comments like yours really reflect an amazing lack of knowledge. To suggest that the president, or any president can magically change gas prices is foolish. Remember we all love the free market, and we are seeing what a free market does. It responds to changes in market conditions.
It doesn’t help when Obama and his administration publicly support higher gas prices. He doesn’t feel your pain.
Exactly, who do you think is paying for all his travel costs right now?
Somehow I don’t think these issues are really a concern for the Obama family.
Okay so he supports it, doesn’t change the fact that he doesn’t control the free market.
There ain’t No such thing as a Free Market!
Price Manipulation happens every day!
Hey, but he’s for windmills and solar panels (Solyndra failure to the tune of 500 million) and his latest cure ALGAE production to make oil.
What a tool.
Why isn’t the media beating the crap out of Nobama the same way they beat the crap out of Bush over high prices? When Bush was President the media blamed him as the reason for high prices, why is Nobama being given a free pass with the suggestion that its the free market? Wasn’t it the same market when Bush was President? BTW, I used to trade commodities on Wall Street so have an intimate knowledge of the free markets
Because they’re too busy focusing on the War on Contraception.
LOL. You mean the war on the Catholic Church and religious freedom by Obama and his cronies right?
How about his attack on gun rights also……….How about his attack on the constitution which he swore to defend ? This guy needs impeachment , not a reelection !
You leftists think magic fairy dust and unicorn horns are probably preferable to “evil oil” in running cars and heating our houses. I will have fun mocking you Obamadroids all the way to $5 gas…at least that will somewhat make up for the pain in my family budget.
Unless you are B. Hussein O. then you blame everyone else for everything and take responsibility for nothing. Now that reflects an amazing lack of knowledge!
Ummm I wonder if you said this when George W. Bush was president?
So you would be in favor of nationalizing the Oil Industry so that Obama could lower the cost of gas?
My only point is that when Bush was in office he had the proverbial crap beaten out of him over high gas prices by the media every day. Bush and his oil cronies was all we heard. Why isn’t the media focused on the boy President the same way?
It was wrong to blame Bush in 2008 just like it is wrong to blame Obama in 2012.
You did more than point out the hypocrasy of Obama not getting the blame like Bush did, you implied that they were somehow benefiting monetarily from it and I quote “How much is the White House getting back from these prices”.
And since when does anyone call a 50 year old man the “boy President”. I thought calling a black man “boy” was a white southern thing.
Your Jim Crow reference is reprehensible (and very outmoded).
Any credibility your comments may have held, was lost after that.
I think he means boy as in child. Your political correctness is showing and is laughable you liberals.
So I guess he was calling Bush Jr, “boy” when he was president as well?
Being PC and being civil are really in two different places. Your failing to understand that is NOT laughable.
However, you defending his position by suggesting YOU think that YOU know what HE means…is laughable!
Good day
That is exactly what I would be in favor of. If we did not allow speculators and their ilk get a piece of our hides we would all be better off, except the speculators of course.
In Dubai, the average net worth is over $1 million. That is because the oil wealth is shared, as it is in Alaska to a more limited extent.
Just why do a certain few get to lay claim to the oil that lies beneath these United States?
We are just the serfs that slave away for the masters because we never challenge that paradigm.
You are absolutely the single dumbest human I have read on the Internet.
Were you born that way, or did you go to college to become that way?
LOL. I bet he went to Harvard. Just like his failure-in-chief.
Hope you feel better after that. Any ideas on anything? Just attack. A good conservative never bothers to think, just attack. Good boy!
I would be in favor of the Canada to Texas pieline. I would be in favor of coastal oil exploration. Obama stood in the way of both ! Can you imagine all the jobs that would create even if we found no oil reserves. I think that at least it would look like we are trying to gain independance of foreign oil ! I don’t for some strange reason think that Mr. Obama wants that.
So in order to create 150 or so permanent jobs you would allow a pipeline to traverse the entire US over some pristine lands and over an aquifer that feeds a large part of the midwest. Would it still be favorable if said pipeline had a spill and destoyed said land and aquifer? If you think that is unlikely, do some research on just how many oil spills there are from the Alaska Oil Pipeline and read up about the damage to the Yellowstone River in Montana/Wyoming as the result of an oil spill last summer.
As for offshore oil exploration, even if there was no oil found, are you willing to see tar balls coming onshore in Maine. Would you like to visit OOB, Sand Beach or Popham beach and see oil rigs off in horizon and the chance to see tar balls washing up on those beaches for a few jobs?
Contrary to want Republican’s think, we cannot drill our way to energy independance. We simple do not have the oil researves to do this. We need to conserve more and start to develop renewable energy resources that we have an abundance of.
I’m not on any side of the aisle, but really? It’s not like we as Americans consume the hell out of Oil with no mercy and no will to explore other alternatives of energy or drill on our shores because it either costs too much or it’s “too liberal”. Well you know what? It’s going to cost us more and more in the long run as Oil continues to sky higher and our pockets get emptier. Several wars in the middle east and the conflict in Syria….It’s as easy to blame Obama for this as it was to blame Bush when Gas was about to exceed $2 per Gallon.
A Republican accusing a Democrat of having “oil cronies”? Your bridge to crazyland has defifinitely been crossed.
January 20, 2013 can’t come quickly enough.
The End of an Error…
This time we should wish for hate, high inflation prices, $8 gas. Look what this era of “Hope and change” did for us? If we start thinking for the opposite, maybe things will go for the better instead.
………..and a village in Kenya will soon be getting back their ………………
And you are calling others fools? Sounds like you have first hand experience.
Thanks for the racism. You should be so proud.
Yes, Obama’s re-inauguration will be a splendid event. Glad to see you are looking forward to it.
If you think the president has any influence over gas prices, you are a fool. OPEC doesn’t even give the US with its paltry 2% of reserves a seat at the table.
Several presidents have implored the American people to conserve and to seek alternative energy sources. We scoffed at the idea and now we will spend the last of our empires days fighting bloody war after war to steal what we don’t have enough of.
We had the chance to do something about this and the stubborn and entitled Americans opted to sit on their hands and pretend we will always be fine.
“Put on a sweater!”
Take a look in the mirror when calling someone a fool.
This Pres. is a ONE Termer….Good Day!
So you would actually support one of the four fools running as republicans? Are you serious? Gingrich, that adulterous champion of morality? Santorum, who has the bible stuck so far up his behind he sneezes tracts? Romney, who isn’t just two-faced, he’s four-faced? Ron Paul, the white supremacist? Are you completely out of your mind?
Any of these four fools would be better than the community organizer fool currently passing himself off as a president.
Obama has shown himself, through his policies, to be essentially a moderate Republican.
Careful Northern. You’re letting your ‘Moderate’ show. And good for you !!!! I thought I was the only one up here who saw this one.
See you November then, and it will be so fun to watch your entire Goofy Old Party get pounded into oblivion.
yea….remember the good old days when our prez lied to the country about the wmd’s to lead 5000 service men and woman to their death? Remember the “patriot” act that decimated our beloved constitution? Remember when we had the village idiot from Crawford in the oval office? Yea….those were the good old days. Oh how do I miss thee…let me count the ways.
You’re the fool for believing that a messiah was elected for president in Nov. 2008.
I heard him singing the blues the other day on the news , perhaps just practicing for after the election !
Nobody thinks he’s “the messiah”… However, I do remember “W.” saying he was appointed by god.
A the rally in Dallas for candidate Barrack Obama you would have thought it was a religious revival. People were swooning and raising their hands to the almighty Barrack Obama. People were shouting to the Lord for Barrack Obama. It was weird and uncomfortable because it was suppose to be a political rally.
It’s a pity that a country the size of this one can’t come up with a candidate ( incumbant included ) who has any leadership capabilities or any gonads for that matter. I happen to think Paul or Santorum would most closley qualify !
Keep dreaming. The TeaNuts and their crazy train are going get pounded in November. And the Goofy Old Party presidential candidates are a joke.
Get ready because you haven’t seen anything yet, the Tea Party supporters are gearing up, come join the party. Most Americans by November will be drowning from debt due to gas prices, they will run to the polls to get rid of President Obama. Anyone at this point would be better than President Obama.
He does have a lovely family and a great singing voice, so he’ll do just fine. I actually think he wants out of Washington.
We’ll see!
I am so sick of this petty childish squabbles and pointing fingers. THAT is what will be the downfall of our America. You all act like a bunch of school kids fighting over the sand box. PITIFUL. You bone heads are Americans worst enemy. Congratulations. I hope you are proud of yourselves.
Weren’t you the guy all over GW Bush four years ago blaming him for the high prices. You liberals are all hypocrites.
It seems odd that someone would nothing better to do than recall 4 year old opinions posted on BDN’s comment board.
I remember both of our senators saying that they were going to back/ introduce legislation to limit speculation in the oil market. It’s Wall Street again who is dipping into our pockets with oil speculation. Whatever happened to those “bills”? I suppose one can’t multi-task, of course when your true reason for being is to get reelected. How soon they forget, but if you’re a millionaire , the price really doesn’t matter. And who would ever wish to regulate Wall Street.
Nope. Not me. When I studied petrochem engineering in the 80s I knew the deal about oil. It is something we depend on the world for. We just don;t have enough for our needs.
No hypocrisy here.
Funny how so many of the liberals were blaming Bush for high gas prices when he was in office, and now suddenly the president has no control over the prices simply amazing isnt it . We would have no energy issues if we were allowed to use our own resourses, sorry dont want to tie up too much of your time go back to worshiping your Al gore statue!!!
Don’t look at me. The “so many liberals” thing is silly. There are many confused people on both sides.
I have long understood that oil prices are not something the US has much control over. We are at the mercy of OPEC, like it or not. That will not and cannot change with changing presidents. that is unless we attack the OPEC countries. Since we can’t win a war against Iraq, I think that would not work for us.
Our own resources are being tapped. They are not enough for our appetite. We have 2-3% of reserves and consume 25% of the worlds oil. You can’t drill your way out of those facts. You have been lied to.
What have you done to conserve and what alternative energy sources are you using? Barrack Obama will not be reelected president.
Remember the words of James Carville, “It’s the economy stupid”.
Wow you have it bad…… Bush isn’t dead so it must be his fault…….yea that will work.
If you mean the deficit, YES IT IS BUSH’s FAULT, at least 80% of it is. How can you cut taxes, increase spending and think it won’t create a deficit. The Bush years were fraught with delusional thinking. I’ll bet you were on board with all of it.
By disallowing the pipeline from Canada, He’s done more harm to gas prices than other presidents…
I for one have no problem with the pipeline. That it needs to be re-directed, around the Ogallala Aquifer, is beyond question. Having it come out of Canada and being routed around the northern edge of the aquifer and then turn south doesn’t seem to me to be a huge problem. That it’s been turned into political screaming and melodrama festival is the really sad part in all of this. The south end of the pipeline is a simple issue, one that’s well within the current abilities of both the Oil Company’s and the labor force out there, namely welder’s, pipefitter’s, rigger’s and the lot. The land issue is even simpler, given that the pipeline is being run thru current pipeline easement’s. But the issue needs to be decided, once and for all, and then moved on.
But to let the pipeline die simply because of political pandering is not just stupid. It’s criminally idiotic. The Country needs it, it’s within our ablity to build and operate safely, it’s profitable (yes, I can say that without turning into a pumpkin !) and it’s is needed to both keep the economy up and running but to provide a much needed additional capacity to an admittedly currently over-age pipeline system. Keystone can provide a much needed safety alternate by providing the current system a way to cycle some of the current pipeline’s for replacement ( and we all saw what happened in Michigan and Wyoming) while not disrupting supplies to the refineries. Disruption is one of the major, if not the major, cause of price spiking. Keystone could go a long way toward keeping this from happening.
What makes you think the pipeline would make a difference? We refine plenty of foreign oil, that does not give us much leverage on prices.
If only 2% comes from the US and dosen’t influence the prices why does a fire in Washington state have sugh a drastic effect on prices. Why does a man with the power that Obama has not just tell them to stop ? Could it be perhaps that he too is supported by big oil businesses.
Crude production comes from all over the world, refining happens mostly here in the US. Thats why a fire or storm can affect prices.
You do not seem to have a clue as to presidential powers and I don’t have time to explain it. You should start with a quick read of the Constitution.
Because obviously President Obama started the refinery fire causing this to happen.
I hadn’t heard that but thanks for the tip. We’ll look into it.
Nothing is ever Obama’s fault with these liberal tools. How bout his pushing Cap and Trade? Thank god that thing got killed, but it shows you where his loyalties lie.
That thing, like so many other policies, that Republicans actually used to be FOR until they decided to become insane TeaNut ultrahypocrites. See you November. The voters are going to send the Goofy Old Party crazy TeaNut train back to crazyland where it belongs.
I wouldnt count any chickens… That crazy train is still running along pretty well…. And its running on a reason…
Obama is a miserable failure. I agree, he promised too much and can’t even deliver the most basic economic good news..unless your some welfare deadbeat.
Yeah, keep deluding yourself. Obama saved the auto industry, prevented a full depression, has added over 3 million jobs, and the unemployment rate continues to fall. And the stock market is around 13,000. So you can live in RushLimpmind TeaNut land if you want, but your goofy nutty candidates are just that, and Obama will crush whichever of these idiots you people nominate in November bigtime. In addition, the Maine TeaNut party is going to lose at least the state House and very possibly the Senate too. See you in November. PS: The deadbeats are the deatbeat silver spooned millionaires like that goofball fourfaced fool Romney to whom you love to give endless tax breaks which break the bank while Romney and his buddies hide it in the Caymans and you KoolAid drinkers worship at their job-killing feet. Yeah, where are the job these deadbeat millionaires you love so much are supposed be creating? In the Cayman Islands, that’s where.
Please tell me exactly how this hopey changey crap is working out?.. Im sure .. O im sure from you wine e$$ liberals this is somehow some way Bushes fault.. 4 years later.. Maybe Obamas plan will be just give the gas to us .. or a free Prius .. . Seems as tho its all he knows how to do..
Whatever happened to the good ol’ days? Gas would go up a nickel and Clinton would say, “Oh yea, well here i’ll just put a few million barrels of the reserve on the market to get it back down.”
Using the national strategic reserve for political purposes is trick used by Nobama and Clinton
and Bush and Reagan and the other Bush. This is one of many games our politicians play because we cannot handle the frightening truth of how screwed we are because of our energy dependence. Obama has made progress on this issue but it is much too little and a couple of decades too late. No president can change these facts. We just don’t have enough and we use too much!
I’ll bet you are still driving an 8 cylinder pickup……
Dam straight I am. Not only that I have 5 trucks. My business revolves around it. I havent seen an electric car that can haul my 4 ton excavator or 10 yards of loam . Not only that they are all Chevys. You can roll around in your electric car. But you arent going to get anything at the store unless some 8 cylinder truck brings you the cheetos or your liberal magazine. Unless you can haul 200 gallons of heating oil in the back seat… We are all in this together .. You arent doing a thing by rolling around in your Toyota.. Be in your best interests to want to see these prices get back in check or you better get a trailer hitch to pull harrow around your lawn so you can plant something to eat.
Some need them, most just waste gas with them. Our culture is about to be disrupted in a serious way.
There is nothing that is going to get prices in check, ever again. If you can’t see that you haven’t been paying attention to the facts surrounding this issue. We don’t have much oil, so we import it. The world is getting hungrier for it so the prices are going up. OPEC is not going to cut us a special deal, ever, so we will have to adapt or perish.
Nobody wants to deal with the problem, just deny it.
If you need those big trucks, your business plan should be based on $5 a gallon within a year or two. IF that is too high, diversify your business. The price will climb to near $10 by 2020, guaranteed.
AS far as your toyota and magazine comments, you can assume what you want but I am probably the only one telling you the truth.
As gas prices rise, more people will use public transportation. This is not entirely a bad thing.
I recognize that this is an unpopular position, especially in a rural state, but we have made our own bed by putting all our transportation eggs in the automobile basket. Hey — two cliches in one sentence!
Perhaps it is time for the Bangor City Council to extend the BAT service hours later in the evening.
OK, fire away — just don’t tell me that public transpo is a waste of money when 9 of every 10 tax dollars for transportation go to the car.
It would be a waste of money in a rural state like Maine unless it was completely subsidized. There would never be enough ridership
When gas crosses $5 a gallon, heating oil will move with it. Northern, rural Maine will be deserted by most. It will simply not be economically possible to live there. In case you haven’t noticed, there is a very pronounced trend towards urbanization. People are moving close to cities because they need the jobs, can’t afford the commutes and need access to natural gas for heat.
Wake Up!
We will do what we have to do to survive, to be sure. That will include riding buses. By 2020, buses will be available to get people from Presque Isle or Caribou to Bangor and Portland. Nobody will be excited to ride them but gas will likely cost $10 a gallon by then and it will not be feasible for people to pay $100 to drive to Bangor in a quad cab, alone.
Uhhh, you already *can* take a bus from PI or Caribou to Bangor and Portland. Cyr’s coaches are quite clean and comfortable too.
I would abdolutely ride the BAT to work if the hours and route matched my work schedule. I live in Old Town, work on campus, and I can’t make it work. Only 1 or 2 more runs in the morning and afternoon, and I would ride faithfully. One opportunity to catch it each way just isn’t enough, and I couldn’t get my full workday in with that one route. I believe that if the routes were available, a lot more riders would present themselves.
Great comment. I believe many residents of Greater Bangor are in your same situation. The BAT is a good service as far as it goes, but we do need longer hours, especially in the evening. One thing the stimulus helped with was to purchase newer and more reliable buses. I am lucky that the schedule works for me.
Citizens like you and me need to make our wishes known to our municipal governments. Public transportation can be a tough sell, given the free ride the car has enjoyed for more than half a century, but perceptions change over time. I remember when bars and restaurants were full of cigarette smoke, for example. It’s a lot nicer to go out to eat or drink now.
Exactly where is all this public transportation you speak of??? If it existed, it could be used. However at the moment there is none.
That’s what you get when all your politicians are harlots for Israel.
It’s time we put America first and acted on our own interests.
This is not so much reporting the news, but creating it. Once the news prints this stuff, Big Oil is given carte blanche to raise them whether they need to or not.
When BofA said it was raising fees by 5 dollars a month, public outcry cause them to detract it. Where is the outcry over an extra hundred bucks a month for gas?
Not many people try. People are too dependent on gas still, cutting back, clunkers traded in, etc has done nothing and anyone in their right minds would have known that. There is always an excuse each and everyday why gas prices are high “Iran said something” Ohh they might block a straight quick raise prices. A refinery in the West Coast caught fire, the nation can go up overnight on gas prices. The Gov’t knows you and I are getting the dry shaft when we pull up to the pump, if our tax dollars fatten their wallets, there needs to be a way we can withhold their pay, just like any other employer would. I would suspect with the story of gas prices hitting $5 by summer happening, won’t. Obama will go kick out some reserve supply, convince OPEC to pump out more oil, and then we see gas prices go down right before we go and cast our ballots.
That is very well put. You hit the nail on the head in your first couple sentences. We as People are EXTREMELY Dependent and get into a comfort zone we don’t want to leave. i.e.; the GOP since the Regan years.
That’s Reagan to you kid.
now your talking!
Gas was $1.89 a gallon when the community organizer usurped office.
People like you forget that it fell to $1.899 in the few months prior to the ’08 election. During the previous admin, it hit $4+ in some parts of Maine and $5 in some other parts of the nation.
The current prices can be blamed on unregulated speculators and corporate greed. Any excuse to jack up the prices.
It no longer is supply and demand. We have so much supply the corps are SHIPPING IT OVERSEES from our refineries.
They don’t forget, they just hope people reading their posts forget what was really going on in 2008.
Correct !
Us Demand was at 86 % of US refinery capacity at the last time I checked.
I hope someone speculates on it right up till the second day in November so we can ditch this failed joke.
Are you suggesting that this president has something to do with the price of oil and the price will drop just before the election so he can take credit for it ?
We could rely on the tried and true Republican method of crashing the economy to lower gas prices.
Supply and demand. The environmentalists were pleased with the reduced consumption. Aren’t environmentalists mostly Democrats and Leftist Liberals?
So then there must be more of a demand for gas now then there was in 2008 when gas was at $1.89. I guess Obama knew better then the Republicans how to get the economy going.
Unfortunately you are right that environmentalists are mostly liberals. You would think that keeping the only planet that humans can exist on as clean as possible would span all political leanings.
where did you get gas for 1.89 in 2008?
bdn seems to support sub $2 for a short period of time in 2008
http://bangor-launch.newspackstaging.com/2009/05/10/news/gas-prices-creep-up-but-still-well-below-2008-costs/
wait…. 2009 prices well below 2008 prices. just cause the price dropped around election time does not make bush era an era of cheap gas
Was in response to April Rainfrette stating that gas was $1.89 when Obama took office and the implication that before Obama was in office gas was always cheap.
If you don’t like it, don’t drive.
Oh, you decided to live somewhere where you are chained to your car? Sorry about your luck… Maybe you’ll make a better decision next time.
like we are going to move in a drug infested place like yours.
You may not think so yet, but you will. Northern Maine is about to experience mass outward migration. Economically, this region will be largely uninhabitable, as Sen. Snowe pointed out in 2008.
good i like peace and quiet , go away.
Hey, I’m doing fine. Enjoy obesity.
ha i weigh 150
More to the big picture – inflation on goods, groceries, etc. Hurts everybody regardless if you drive or not. Yes lets all quit our jobs and not work
Wow. Just .. Wow. Your ignorance astounds me. We CHOOSE to live somewhere where we are “chained to our car” because Maine is a beautiful place to live. Has nothing to do with luck, and our decision is fine, thank you very much. Not as many drugs, gangs, or hateful people to contend with. Unfortunately, we are a predominantly rural state, with huge swings in weather (well .. usually), which means that there is little in the way of public transportation except in our urban centers, which are mostly at the southern end of our state. We have to drive to get anywhere, and we need our “big trucks and SUVs” so that we can get over the snow, around the potholes, and through the mud. And in case you haven’t noticed, Maine also happens to be a state with one of the largest senior populations per capita, and they are all on fixed incomes. So before you get all snarky, pay attention to the facts, and don’t tell us that we should “make a better decision next time”. We have made a good decision, and we don’t need any haters telling us that we didn’t.
Um… I live in Bangor and yes I do have a car, but I use it about once a week. I can walk to a Shaws, Rite-Aid, True Value, Banks, Post Office, City Hall, all the otehr stuff downtown in about 10 minutes.
Being stubbornly resigned to living in the willywags and then complaining about gas prices is like smacking your thumb with a hammer and then complainig it hurts…
You do choose where you live… Or perhaps chose at one time and are now stuck someplace. Either way, you made the choice for the luxury of a petroleum-based lifestyle. You chose it…. so just please stop whining that gas is expensive.
…and if price is really all about supply and demand, then your excess and unnecessary demand is part of the reason gas is so expensive!
I choose to live in the “willy wags” because thats where I grew up thank you very much. I dont care if you live IN The Shaws parking lot. You will feel the gas prices just the same as us. Its funny to those who think they will escape it by riding their bikes walking to where they are going. Everything and I mean everything is chained to oil . You will pay right along with the rest of us. You are JUST as chained … do not think you arent
Sure I am, I don’t claim to not be impacted by it.However, it is ludicrous to complain about somethnig that you are using mindlessly, with little regard to conservation, efficiency, or household economics.
Its like cranking up the furnace, opening all your windows, and then complaining that your heat bill is so high.
In fact, the reckless use of a finite resource only serves to reduce supply while increasing demand. End product: higher gas prices. As they say, “you made your bed….”
The unfortunately thing is the people in a position to actually do something about it (Congress, President, etc) make so much money that gas prices are the last thing they notice. In our area we don’t even have the luxury of mass transit to offset things.
Well actually they can’t do much. Its up to OPEC. If prices drop then they can just raise the price by cutting production.
None of what you are saying is true. The US doesn’t have the goods. WE only have 2-3% of the oil reserves. We are DEPENDENT on OPEC, like it or not. If anyone tells you otherwise they are lying to you. I wouldn’t invest in Houlton, neighbor. Gasoline and heating oil will hit $10 by the end of this decade (which isn’t really that far off). Do yourself and family a favor and consider what your exit strategy is now. As these prices rise, people will flee and even the service jobs will disappear. You really ought to start demanding mass transit from your representatives. The writing is on the walls and I hate to see my rural Maine neighbors suffer.
Are you the same person, who in the 70’s said there is only 20 years supply of oil left in the planet???
IN the 70’s I was more about kickball than oil industry analysis, must have me confused…..
Now that speculation has turned into another story, everyone will now dart for the gas station and buy more gas then usual, which will create a “sudden spike in demand” giving another excuse for gas prices to rise even higher.
Our tanks only hold a few days supply anyway…not that much of a spike.
It will add up if a lot of people hit the pumps, these people only need an extra gallon over their so called estimates on supply and demand and they will use that as leverage to make prices go up.
Every year the oil companies post record profits and the people are sick of it! If our Government doesn’t do something soon the American people are going to rise up, revolt and throw them the hell out of office not waste time and effort to try and vote them out !
People in Europe having been paying double what we pay for decades and they survive rather well Our gov doesn’t control the prices, if they did the prices would be higher
True, but Europe also invested heavily in public transportation. It is easier to crisscross all over Europe in a train rather than your car. We do not have that same infrastructure here in the States. I don’t get why people live 60 miles from where they work, but the fact is they do. We have modernized this country on the backs of Ford and Chevrolet. Eisenhower chose roads over tracks (Eisenhower Interstate System). Like it or not our country runs on gas, and as such the price of gas is one of the most significant players in our economy.
They had foresight and planned. This is what we should have done twenty years ago but scoffed at. We should be figuring out how to build rail from Quebec clear to Miami right now. We are too distracted by the culture wars and other nonsense to unite around this imperative.
Correction, we used to have grea transit systems here in the USA. Heck, even little Bangor had a great little streetcar system. What happened? Well, the Blue Line Company (a subsidiary of GM) purchased the vast majority of them and purposefully bankrupted them. There’s a good movie about it called “taken for a ride”. The rest were put under by the political will (aka campaign contributions) of the rest of the automobile industry. Our taxes subsidize roads but not rails. We’ve purposefully designed transit to fail.
Check out how much you pay in taxes per gallon. Who really benefits when you buy a gallon of gas? Oil companies make a mere pittance compared to the our state and federal governments. The price could be cut dramatically tomorrow if you took out those taxes. Stop the oil companies from making profits and see where the price goes.
You’re wrong. Taxes do not make up the majority of the price of gas. Plan & simple. Its even listed on hte pump if you don’t believe me.
A little research on this point of contention lead me to a
couple of sites: Mainers are currently paying about .31 cents in state and local
taxes per gallon of gas as per http://www.mainegasprices.com/tax_info.aspx.
Here in Maine that brings the
total of combined Maine and
Federal taxes to .49 cents per gallon as the Federal excise tax rate is .18
cents per gallon as per http://energyalmanac.ca.gov/gasoline/margins/index.php.
I know, I know…this is a California
site but the Federal tax rate should not differ.
This site also reveals that by subtracting the cost of crude
and marketing the average company earns roughly .37 cents per gallon if I have read
the data correctly, which is less than the .49 cents that Mainers pay in taxes to
the state and federal governments.
Towards finding the truth please correct me with linked proof if I am wrong with any of this.
Where does much of Maine’s gasoline come from? (Irving) Where is Canada’s largest oil refinery? (Irving – in Saint John)
Irving is going to be very excited. This is like our (mostly Brazilian) orange juice going up in price when Florida has a frost.
It doesnt matter how high fuel goes, too many dumb —es wont cut driving because we cant shop on m-f while we are in town anyways. Lets go on sat and sunday cause im getting board watching tv and playing on the puter ! We are our own worst enemies when it comes to fuel prices . Cant sell fuel if people dont buy it, and if people dont buy it we will have a glut, then we will have to discount it to get rid of it ! STAY HOME GYPSIES OF THE HIGHWAY ! A little planning on monday will save miles on tuesday thru sunday ! I remember when most houses had one car and momsie waited till dadsie got home from work to go shopping while dadsie watched the kiddos ! I have been plowing commercial parking lots and seen people risk their lives and others just to come and buy a new set of shoes for the point-setter ball a month in advance, god is good , beer is great and people are crazy !
The idea of the Oboma admin. has always been to get gas to $5 per gal. to force you stupid Amerikan’s into little green car’s made by FOO. The only people left who will allowed to drive SUV’s are you’re benovlent leaders. By the way we will have to check your 4 year old’s lunch box to make sure it meets government standards.
Just tell me why the president wants this. I hear absurdity like this daily and I want one person to think this through to a logical conclusion. What does Obama gain by high energy prices? Anyone else can chime in here as well……What is the payoff for him? I just have to know.
Maybe you think he really cares or isn’t plain dumb on economics. I think it’s both of those things.
economics? what are you complaining about ? let the market work, its simply CAPITALISM at its best, what do you want, socialist regulations?
BTW the US is EXPORTING gasoline and fuel oil so what part of”there is no shortage” dont you understand?
We send 8 billion out of state for gas and other forms of energy. The market sets the price we pay not the government. We have ways to keep our energy money in state.
Become super efficient, produce electricity where it is used from renewables and make the switch to a clean energy economy.
Under $4, we are lucky we lasted this long. IF you think this is a bad thing for the country, wait until we hit $5 and $6 which could both happen within a year or two. Still drivin’ our big trucks and making excuses for being ignorant of thirty years advance notice that this time was coming.
The president cannot help us, regardless of who we elect in November. We don’t even have a seat at the table where they dictate pricing and supply. We are a greedy and wasteful lot and we will suffer the wrath of our ignoring the clear economic danger we placed ourselves in. Jimmy Carter lost his second term in large part because he told the American people what they could not handle. We have 2% of the worlds oil and consume 25% of the worlds production. To say we are in a bind would be a gross understatement. Obama has increased production and promoted renewable energy, basically all he can do, but it is not enough to protect our economy.
Oil will be the death of this country. We will be perpetually at war trying to steal what we can’t produce. The empire is imperiled and how do the people respond? Still driving wasteful trucks and cars, not building rail, blocking wind projects and supporting politicians that tell us what we want to hear, which ain’t the truth. We are on a sinking ship and we rise to the challenge of our shared future by blaming the blameless and failing to act on what we can do to promote renewable sources.
How long until we have to declare war on Canada to get to their precious reserves? The Canada part is a joke but we are screwed and few are willing to acknowledge it. If you think you can vote for a different president and we will be okay, you are very naive about our predicament.
Tried hauling wood in a Prius?
Using less oil doesn’t necessarily mean driving a prius. It could mean consolidating trips, actually getting out of your car once in a while, or perhaps not choosing to live way out in the willywags 25 miles from where you work.
Yes and it sucks. Even if I need to haul wood a few times a year I don;t need to burn fuel by driving a pickup to the grocery store or on vacation.
People are going to have to learn to adapt. Like it or not.
Well, Obama did sort of screw us over with the pipeline thing. You are right that we need to conserve, though. Get on natural gas if you can, wind and solar, geothermal if you have the means. Insulate and increase efficiency as much as you can. Part of the problem is that with the swift rise in inflation, many cannot afford to make these changes. Most people don’t realize that they have options, either. Carpool. Ride your bike. I do, even in the winter, and aside from heavy snow days, it is really not as bad as it sounds. But hey, I need to stay healthy because pretty soon, I won’t be able to afford health insurance anymore. Move closer to work if you have a secure job so that you can walk/run/bike/carpool, etc. Don’t buy/rent a huge place with space you don’t need that you will then have to give up your firstborn child to heat come winter. Don’t drive a big truck if you don’t need one. You can rent a truck for the 3 days out of the year you need to move furniture or go to the dump for a lot cheaper than owning that gas guzzler. The more affordable the model of car that you own, the less you pay for gas (most likely), insurance, excise tax, repairs, etc. The less you actually drive your car, the more money you save. Look into a heat pump. Wear a sweater. Americans absolutely have to plan ahead about what they would do if the day comes that they cannot afford their current lifestyle. Can you rent out part of your house to pay that huge heating bill? Switch fuels? Could you possibly live without a car if you had to? Could you take in a boarder or live with relatives? Being prepared and armed with a contingency plan is never a bad idea.
By “the pipeline thing” I assume you mean allowing a Canadian company to export oil through American territory to the refineries in Texas, after they have seized private property by eminent domain. They then would refine the oil and export most of it to Europe. Trans Canada has already stated building the oil pipeline will increase the price of oil now stored in the midwest. None of it will stay in the US.
In Texas, local landowners, people from the Occupy Dallas movement, Teaparty members, democrats, and republicans, are suing TransCanada to stop the seizure of land by eminent domain. You can find out more by googling ‘Julie Trigg Crawford’ and ‘David Daniel’. Both are land owners in Texas, not some radical “enviroterrorists” as the oil shills claim. David Daniels runs a website ‘Stop Tarsands Oil Pipeline’, which voices the concerns of the landowners.
The claim that allowing the pipeline will reduce oil prices and increase jobs is an idea fostered by national republicans and some democrats who are shills for the oil industry.
State and local politicians in the effected states are opposed because their constituents, farmers, ranchers, and other land owners, are opposed.
Hey, don’t do anything to increase production at Texas refineries and ship the oil to China. Duh…supply and demand is not in the economic vocabulary of Obama and his cronies..just more pain for the working man as they pursue their progressive utopian views.
Obama has increased oil drilling and exploration more than Bush. The US is the #3 oil producer, and predicted to be #1 by 2020, and already the #1 oil consumer in the world. Since oil is an internationally traded commodity, and with China and India becoming manufacturing economies and therefore requiring more oil, there is little the US can do to reduce the price of oil. It is a question of reducing our demand, not increasing production. Thanks to the warm winter this year, I have not turned the furnace on at all. I have burned wood for heat.
Make sure you throw those Obama re-election signs in the woodstove too. At least you can get something from the Miserable Stuttering Failure of a President we have.
I, and I’m sure many other readers here, really appreciate it when someone like you makes stupid statements like today. It provides proof that people with your mentality are incapable of carrying on an intelligent discussion. Obviously you could not add any useful information so you resort to name calling and hint at something you cannot back up. You cannot refute (or “refudiate” as another right wing nut prefers) my statements and prefer to rant in order to try to appear intelligent. You failed.
I always admire the attitude of my liberal friends. Their always so quick at the put downs and slip into their mode that they know more than anyone else. This kind of superiority complex is laughable but understandable in people who cannot fathom why others would hold opinions and have reasoned arguments that differ from them. From the liberal point of view anyone who doesn’t see eye to eye with them must be “stupid”, “incapable”, or “non-intelligent”. It is a sad statement on modern liberalism really.
I made the comments because occupier could not add any useful information or post a coherent argument against what I had previously posted. Instead, they would rather post irrelevant statements and resort to name calling than carry on a civil discussion. That is a sure sign of an immature mentality. As far as an attitude of superiority, my original post simply stated facts as are readily available using any search engine. Occupier did not post any “reasoned arguments”. Read again their post and see my original one. You will see the difference.
anyone that has as a handle “occupiers aka communists” is stupid . no other word for it.
o Despite the rising prices, there seemed to be ample supplies available. A report showed U.S. crude stockpiles growing more than expected last week, suggesting demand remains sluggish.The American Petroleum Institute said late Wednesday that crude inventories rose 3.6 million barrels last week while analysts surveyed by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos., had predicted an increase of 1.7 million barrels.”–“Inventories of gasoline added 314,000 barrels last week while distillates rose 630,000 barrels, the API said.””In other energy trading, heating oil rose 2.5 cents to $3.29 per gallon and gasoline futures added 1.08 cents to $3.2738 per gallon. Natural gas added 1.8 cents to $2.661 per 1,000 cubic feet.”Futures is Speculation — enjoy it tea partiers, it’s CAPITALISM at it’s best
I dunno.. Oil is a finite resource… I’d rather buy and use everyone else’s now when its cheap, and hold onto ours to sell to them when its expensive.
Drill in areas off limits due to Obama’s drilling moratorium, OK The KeyStone pipeline, stop holding up permits for natural gas drilling. Obama stinks as he has his hand in all those things and is too beholden to his enviro buddies.
The only thing the Keystone Oil Pipeline would do is make it easier to export the oil to other parts of the world.
Why does the oil from tar sands have to go to Texas to be refined? We have refineries in the upper Midwest but that would still make it too expensive to ship the oil overseas, wouldn’t it?
Don’t confuse people with facts or reason. They have a position and will defend it no matter what.
The pipeline will not help us, only Canada and the world markets which we are just another customer in.
What moratorium? The one that was lifted after the oil spill was cleaned up? Hmmm. Guess you are behind the news by about a year. Go buy yourself a big quad cab and buy a house up north. In a ten years you will be bankrupt and in foreclosure. Good luck.
I’m going to vote for a different president just because I don’t like Obama !
The gas stations might as well get the jump on it… Put the price at $4.50! Oh, and if Augusta adds another $1.00 per gallon, it should cover the DHHS shortfall…
If the Israelis bomb Iran-and they will-$4.00 gas will seem cheap.
I was just wondering why so many people are quick to blame
President Obama for rising oil prices?
There are 435 members of the House of Representatives and
100 Senators that is total of 535 people who are supposed to work for us. You
would think that with all of those brilliant minds someone could come up with an idea to
stop the wild price increases of petroleum products?
Opps….for a moment I was dreaming.
Well… same logic applies to blaming bush last time.. Liberals cant have it both ways… blamed bush then now and forever.. so .. My B. Hussein O.s turn
My point exactly stop putting the blame on anyone and just get down to business and fix things.
If the media says the price will rise than it will regardless of the cost to the suppliers. Thanks, I really can afford another 20 cents a gallon.
Well you obviously supported Obama who hasn’t a clue, and please do not use the word adultress without inserting the names Bill Clinton, John Kennedy etc. in the sentence.
Don’t let the left coast sharks bite your feet.
I suppose if it does go up 20 cents a gallon because of the refinery shutdown, when it starts back up again it will go back down, right, you have got to be kidding. This is just more BS to screw the Maine people with higher gas prices. Once they bring it up it will stay high. Thank your local useless Washington Representatives for letting Wall Street and Big Oil have their way with the American Consumer.
When adjusted for inflation, gas prices are about where they should be. The problem is that the wages are not keeping pace with inflation and the current gas prices are taking a bigger chunk of everyone’s budget. The fact remains that we have but one option, conserve. We have no control over the price of gas and we still pay about half what the rest of the world pays. If you are outraged, use less. It is really that simple.
There are a bunch of cars getting 60-75 mpg in Europe that aren’t imported to the US. We like big vehicles that go fast and our gas is a lot cheaper (and they pay an additional tax in the UK to drive big cars). I personally would like to have the option to purchase a VW Polo or Lupo with that 3 cylider eco diesel but not enough people are like minded in this country.
High gas prices are going to really hurt the economy in much of Maine.
I read an article once about Mercedes that stated that they sold vehicle with two different types of engines, they were talking about the 1990’s but I would almost bet it still holds true. The car with the European engine got over 35 MPG but the car they sold in the US only got around 20 MPG. There was not any real difference in performance between the two engines except for mileage.
The reason they had two different engines was that the American market would not accept the more efficient engine. Therein lies our problem.