Price of gasoline

Or they could just bring the prices up and have us pay directly for the disaster in the gulf ourselves!

I honestly think that the push to end oil speculation has probably done more for gas prices than anything else. I like the prices low, and not having the 'wild ride' of low, high, low, etc. is a definate benefit.

It's simple supply and demand. Gasoline demand is down, and continuing to decrease. And locally, Marathon's Garyville refinery just doubled their capacity, adding to the glut, along with Europe dumping gasoline in the US as most of their vehicles go the diesel route. I am sure that few will believe it, but the refiners in this country are bleeding red ink, and there will be more rationalization (shutdowns) before it gets better. And poof, there go more jobs, direct and trickle down. And Obama and the EPA will dance on the refiners graves.

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it is not that doom and gloom

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Valero has already shutdown their Delaware City refinery and I thought their Aruba refinery. And it ain't over yet. Once more capacity is lost to permanent shutdowns, then the graphs might turn up, but not likely until then.

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Valero has already shutdown their Delaware City refinery and I thought their Aruba refinery. And it ain't over yet. Once more capacity is lost to permanent shutdowns, then the graphs might turn up, but not likely until then.

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Yes they did initially shut down a process unit in Deleware City but then decided to shut it down and sell it. It was no longer working in ther overall plan. Aruba was becuase it is a pain in the arse to do business there, corrupt, they want as many locals in technical roles (which they are not skilled at) so it was a no brainer. That was a mess with Coastal Refining had it.

Valero is talking about going back to the 2b expansion at St Charles Refinery here in NOLA metro. Not sure when that will be done but there is a lot of equipment being stored on site. Crack spreads are low, refining is not good, but it will not go away. Demand has to raise and that is the overall economy and the administration is not doing much to make people feel comfortable on that. Especially with they way they are spending and digging us up to our eyeballs in debt.

Damn it's $2.56 south of Lafayette ... and aren't we closer to the refineries? Oh, wait ... damn taxes.

2.48 in Covington

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Oil brokers and futures traders dictate the prices

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Correct. And while gas prices are down some now, futures seem to point to a spike a few years down the road because of the drilling moratorium. If we fall behind in exploring/drilling new deep water sources, as the current ones are used up supply then drops and prices go up up up.

Enjoy it will you can. The moratorium is going to limit supply in the future and prices will likely go up above 3 dollars a gallon and will never return to the 2.50 price we see now. It is going to take a while for this to affect supply. Probably a year or two or three. But the effect whenever it reaches the pump will be felt by everyone.

Most people will not like what I am about to say, but if we are to really address our long term energy consumption and wean ourselves from foreign oil this is what we need to do:
Gas and diesel prices in this country should have a cost at the pump of minimal $3.50. It is the only way we can truly develop alternative energy and support domestic production. The govt can use the present difference in price to support alternative energy of biodiesel and ethanol and others. Domestic drilling can have confidence that they will be able to drill in more difficult and expensive areas.
I know people will scream about paying higher prices, but the truth is they will be paying that in the future anyway and we will have done nothing to reduce our dependance on foreign oil.