Alamo

World Series of Crude Oil: Winner Decides Winter Gasoline Prices

The author's premise as well as the commentary by the responders all offer further rationale for effectively ending our dependency on crude oil refined products, gasoline and diesel, which the average American has little, if any, control over. "Any" control is reduced to paying for or not paying for the posted pump price. Fat choice that situation represents---either pay or park!

On the other hand there's the real possibility that utilizing our abundant natural gas reserves in the transportation sector could provide a measure of control through "demand" constraints. At the very least, transportation expenditures ought to be reduced in that scenario due to the complete disconnect in the equivalent heat value of the fuels: 8 gallons of gas or diesel at about $3.60 per gallon ($28.80) versus the current cost of a mcf of natural gas at $4.75. (I am aware that the gas and diesel price quoted are retail prices and the natural gas price is the comodity cost, but it illustrates an extreme unbalanced phenomenon in the two energy sources).

More demand---almost any additional demand can be expected to increase natural gas prices, but regardless it can double in cost and still be far cheaper than foreign sourced---and foreign priced crude. Include the adverse health and environmental aspects, the cost of keeping the Straits of Hormuz open, the Somalian pirates off the tankers and the shaky excuse of a democracy in Iraq and the cost of crude clearly becomes prohibitively expensive. Good for a bunch of terrorist-supporting sheiks and their Wall Street manipulating Buddies, but not so good for the average American driver and tax payer. Somewhere in this equation he ought to be considered.

What Is the Longer-Term Impact of Weak Oil Prices?

Both good--and true comments.

We need to use this likely brief fall in gasoline/crude prices to get the nation converted to natural gas as our primary transportation fuel.

Cleaner, cheaper and American. What's wrong with that picture?

I hope that Congress will get it in the undoubted tax payer funding of the Big 3 auto companies.