There is a bullshit story being spread around by the corporate media about why gas prices are rising. The propaganda story below is from US Today. In parenthesis below most paragraphs, I’ll tell you the truth. The corporate media throughout the nation will be repeating the same lying talking points.
Oh, by the way, the price of gasoline is determined in one of two ways; in the financial markets, not by any fake supply and demand between drivers and the gas pumps; or for political purposes.
The most likely reason this time for the rise in prices is a conspiracy by the oil companies to bring pressure to bear on politicians to approve the Keystone pipeline. The oil companies want it built from Canada to Texas. Obama delayed the decision on it. Guess what? The oil corporations decided to go ahead and build the southern portion of the pipeline from Oklahoma to Texas earlier today. And the Obama administration supports that decision. That means only one thing, and we’ll get to that in a little bit. (click here for the story from Newsweek).
All of this means the oil barons figure they’re putting enough pressure on D.C. politicians and consumers to generate enough support in the white house and in the halls of congress to ensure the pipeline will be built across the Canadian/US border. Why else would they build the southern section of the pipeline and not the important main part that begins in Canada? And why else would Obama approve of building the southern portion?
You know the drill. The ditto heads in print and television will say crap like, “Oh my! We need that pipeline to lower prices!” They’ll do this to generate sympathy for the pipeline even though building it will result in exporting more oil from the United States to wherever. In other words, building it will likely increase gasoline prices in the USA. Click here for the story of how the pipeline will raise your gasoline prices because it will enable the Oil Barons to export more oil from the USA
It’s obvious the oil corporations have already made a deal with Obama to approve the pipeline, but right now they’re trying to convince the public of the need for the pipeline by saying or implying that it will lower prices that always go up in the long term anyway. And did I mention the pipeline will allow the oil barons to ship more oil from the USA, thereby making it easier to raise gasoline prices? Obama, of course, wouldn’t dare alienate his base before the election by approving of the pipeline, unless it was a dire, national emergency. This situation may become that even as we speak.
The big question is this. Is the US government so corrupted by big money that the Department of Justice is not going to investigate this obvious conspiracy in restraint of trade and violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act that they will not act? The answer is yes. All levels of government, especially the Koch Brothers wing of the Supreme Court, is rotted to the core. Obama is a plutocrat in reality, although he’s trying to be a fake populist because this is an election year.
Anyway, here is the propaganda piece from US News.
Turmoil abroad and rising costs at home means consumers will have to shell out more for gas this summer. (This is an obvious lie. The media always says the same thing whenever big oil decides to jack up their prices.)
Gas prices–already the highest they’ve ever been in January and February–shot up nearly 30 cents over the past month to a national average of about $3.70 per gallon, sparking worries that a steep increase in fuel costs could crimp consumer spending and hobble an economy that is just starting to show signs of life.
(In other words, “Look out Obama! You don’t approve that pipeline and we will sink the economy under the weight of artificially high gasoline prices and destroy your reelection chances! Play ball with us or die politically. The latest news indicates the president has decided to play ball.)
Unfortunately, those fears may be grounded, experts say. On top of typical seasonal increases in fuel prices, a host of other factors threaten to disrupt supply chains and make financial markets nervous, pushing up the price of crude oil, which determines the bulk of what Americans pay at the pump.
Here are a few more reasons why even higher gas prices may be on the way this spring and summer:
Volatility in the Middle East.
If it isn’t Egypt, it’s Libya, and if it isn’t Libya, it’s Iran. After several countries imposed sanctions over Iran’s nuclear program, the fifth largest oil producer in 2010 halted shipments to some European nations, putting more pressure on oil supply and causing crude prices to spike. Since crude oil prices make up nearly 70 percent of the ultimate cost of a gallon of gas, even tiny disruptions to supply can cause a spike in prices when consumers fill their gas tanks.
(Oh, Jesus Christ! We can’t say volatility in Syria is the problem since they have no oil! So it’s got to be these other countries! They may not have any volatility, but who cares! Just have our corporate media say they do! If we tell the same big lies often enough using all media outlets, people will believe them. Didn’t Adolf Hitler say that? Yes, he did.)
“Under ordinary circumstances we would expect prices to climb incrementally from now through May,” Gregg Laskoski, senior petroleum analyst at GasBuddy.com, told U.S. News. “What’s exacerbating that is the situation in the Middle East. It’s becoming a very dangerous waiting game.”
(See the paragraph above about Syria. Oh, by the way, notice we have to wait for that volatility since it isn’t there, not yet anyway. The most stable nations in the middle east are Iran, Saudi Arabia and Iraq. But the corporate media can’t be honest about that. Hey, maybe Obama is planning an attack on Iran. That’s a great reelection strategy. Maybe that’s the volatility we have to wait for.)
Escalating tensions between Israel and Iran have also added to worries about the future of gas prices. An Israeli attack on Iran could push crude oil prices to $200 a barrel, if not higher, according to recent comments from Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, causing gas prices to spike to $6 per gallon or more.
(The administration is in on this oil price increase scam, so let’s make it Iran’s fault. They’re horrible and vicious and crazy, even if they haven’t attacked another nation in hundreds of years. The American public better be scared because some of those Iranian women look awfully bad ass!)
Growing demand from Asia.
The Department of Energy reported that the United States became a net exporter of oil for the first time since 1949 last year. But if we have all this “extra” oil to be exporting, why are prices at home still going up?
(Even though everybody knows the US is a net exporter of oil, we need to manufacture a plausible explanation for this.)
A lot of it has to do with demand for gasoline, which has been declining in the United States for the last 10 years, while shooting up by leaps and bounds in places such as Asia and South America. As demand has tapered off here due to more fuel-efficient vehicles and, more recently, the weak economy, oil companies have had to broaden the scope of potential markets–bad news for American consumers.
(Demand for oil by these countries haven’t changed much at all in the last year, if at all. In fact, it’s possible oil use has gone down because of the weakening economies in Asia, like China; but the media can’t let US citizens know this. So the author of this article decided to say something stupid because the American people will believe a big lie spread by the corporate media. There are no statistics available to support or refute this claim about increased oil use in South America and Asia since gasoline prices have begun to rise in the USA over the last few weeks.)
“Oil companies that have increased their exports overseas essentially are depleting the U.S. supply [and] in doing so it’s creating an artificially higher price for American consumers,” Laskoski says. “When consumer demand is weak [in the United States], it’s a very attractive option to export and get those healthier profit margins.”
(So all of sudden in the last few weeks, a massive amount of oil has been shipped out of the United States to foreign users, raising the price of gasoline in ways not seen since the last artificially created oil crisis. People will believe anything, especially that demand overseas have shot up a million percent during the last two weeks. The propagandists can’t tell people that the conspiracy among the oil corporations took time to plan and execute and that the first meetings or telephone calls likely took place shortly after that Obama bastard said “no” to the pipeline on January 18, 2012.)
That trend isn’t likely to change with a burgeoning middle class in Asian economic powerhouses such as China. According to the EIA, Asia surpassed North America as the largest petroleum-consuming region in 2008, gobbling up 25 million barrels a day in 2010.
(We can’t let people know that the latest statistics show that the United States still consumes more oil per day than China, India, Japan and Brazil combined. Also, we don’t want to let on that the latest statistics we have on oil consumption for the nations in question is 2008 and not 2012. Otherwise, we’ll look like propagandists of the corporate media. And we can’t have that happen. Our credibility is at stake.)
Gasoline formulation requirements.
Although crude oil prices account for the lion’s share of what consumers pay at the pump, the process of refining crude oil and making the right formulations to produce gasoline costs money–about 7 percent of the price Americans pay per gallon.
Prices head even higher going into the summer months because refiners have to transition from a winter blend–required by law between Oct. 1 and April 30–to a more eco-friendly–but more expensive–summer blend.
“[The summer blend] has additional additives that add to the cost of producing the product,” Laskoski says. “Not only do the refineries have to go through the process of ramping up production for it, but they’re doing this at a time of year when consumer demand is starting to increase. This is one of the key reasons why the United States sees this cyclical up and down trend every year.”
An improving economy. A growing economy is supposed to be good for everything, right? Not necessarily for gas prices. With economic growth pegged at more than 2 percent this year and a rosier employment outlook, more Americans will have the means–and confidence–to consume more goods and services such as gasoline.
(We’re not going to mention that this contradicts what we wrote above about Americans consuming less oil because they’re using more fuel efficient vehicles. And we won’t mention that the economy is still very weak because that would make this point stupid.)
It’s not just consumer demand for gasoline, either. As the economy picks up, businesses will likely have to produce and shuttle more goods around, putting pressure on gasoline supply and prices.
Summer. Warmer weather and peak driving season usually coincide as Americans take vacations and hit the road. Coupled with an improving economy, more drivers should be on the road this summer, which will boost demand, and ultimately prices.
Taxes. If you take a look around the country, gas prices aren’t uniform. A lot of the variation has to do with supply lines and transport, but a chunk of it has to do with varying state and local taxes. As government budgets have been strapped in the wake of the recession, some states and cities have looked to gasoline taxes to bridge budget shortfalls.
According to GasBuddy.com, Virginia is considering a gas tax hike, which would index the tax to inflation, generating an extra $124 million in revenue each year until 2018. Michigan, Maryland, and Iowa could also face increases on gas taxes.
This story was written by a complete idiot named Meg Handley, a propagandist for USA Today.
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