Why Gas Prices Are So High – TheYoungTurks

THE SHOCKING TRUTH ABOUT GAS PRICES?

What is the deal with high gas prices? It seems like every spring gas prices go through the roof. We are misled to believe that it’s all about supply and demand, which ought to apply to oil and gas as well. But the reality is this — gas prices are connected to global prices.

The view of the speaker in this video suggests that the United States is producing more oil, there are more oil reserves than in the past several years, and no matter if we produced more than we are now, the price of gas would change little or none at all. True?

OIL TRADING
Producers and merchants — 36%
Speculators — 64%

In fact, according to a Bloomberg report — the U.S. exported more gasoline, diesel and other fuels than it imported in 2011 for the first time since 1949, the Energy Department said recently.

This fact pretty much nulls the argument that oil is based on supply and demand. Whether you want to bring the Iran threat into the equation, or some other nimble explanation , here is essential proof that there is plenty of oil going around at the moment.

One could argue that there is an increase in the demand of oil in developing countries, however, there is a decline on that demand in the United States.

If you add the fact that this was one of the mildest winters ever in America, this would lower the demand for oil more so than other years. Okay, why is gas so high if the demand has dropped exponentially?

An article in the Los Angeles Times reiterates the problem:

The House and Senate lawmakers — all Democrats — wrote to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to urge the agency to immediately put in place limits on traders in crude oil markets and take whatever steps necessary to rein in prices at the pump.

The lawmakers said it is clear that “excessive oil speculation significantly increases oil and gas prices.”

Sen. Bernard Sanders and Democrat lawmakers wrote a note expressing the need for a call of action in regards to excessive oil speculation.

As we all know, much more than this needs to be done to solve the problem.