Fuel price rant: Why is the media so wrong?

[K3WE]

If the mods combine or delete this, fine, but the issue isn't price gripes; it's how wrong the media has been for about the last year.

Last year, gas was going to average $5.00 if you listened to the media. It didn't.

Since then there have been a couple of nice price dips.

I think it's twice now, the media has said, "Gas is expected to remain at these lower levels for some time." And afterwards? Seems like $0.50 price jumps happen.

Additionally- whenever there's a news story about a new low- it seems there's a big jump.

I hate to be a conspiracy nut, but it makes you wonder if the oil industry is feeding the media garbage information...and I guess it's clear that they want us to fill up Monday or so, since somewhere Tuesday-Thursday, it's going to jump up to someting 9 and 9/10.

Of course, where do I come off complaining that the media lacks accuracy? :R

[bob_nestor]

The gas & oil industry was the first to develop and fine tune just-in-time product delivery world-wide in an effort to reduce expenses every place possible. The result is when something happens on the other side of the world it quickly ripples thru the system and impacts prices everywhere. I like to say when some Indonesian farmer fills up his lawn mower on Tuesday instead of Thursday we see the impact on prices here on Wednesday.

Walmart's marketing approach was to copy this just-in-time product delivery in the retail market. The result is lower prices, but the downside is they've driven most of the Mom and Pop stores out of business. The other downside is fewer choices. Remember all the brands of shoes you used to be able to buy? They don't exist anymore. Same thing with lots of different gas brands, although in this case a lot of that was driven by regulation. (It was cheaper to expand a company's reserve holding by buying up other companies than by drilling for new reserves.)

The media is wrong about a lot of things and they don't do a very good job at really reporting the news any longer. In the case of gas prices they're probably trying to guess and things they think will impact prices, only because there are to many variables to actually figure it out - something they probably don't know or realize.

[fla-gypsy]

Oil is traded on an open market and any change in supply or demand including economic news or geopolitical problems will affect it one way or another. It will always spike faster than it returns. Oil refineries are corporations selling a product (fuel) and they can charge anything they think we will pay. That is called capitalism. To think that these companies don't want to keep the price up would be naïve, that's how they make money for their stockholders just like all companies do. I don't like the way it is done any more than anyone else but that's the way it is. There are of course many other factors which affect the cost many of which are imposed on us by our own Govt. The only alternative would be for the Govt to control production (fascism) or for the Govt to nationalize them (communism), neither of which would be better.

[K3WE]

A certain poster here keeps suggesting that the president is to blame. Right or wrong, he has on occasion voiced the view that high gas prices are good.

[Trackrig]

As midnightsadie said, there is no reason for it other than what sellers want to charge. With all of the oil starting to flow in the US and we're now exporting refined gas and diesel to other countries so there's no reason for it other than the sellers can do what they want. Remember the last couple of years when refineries blew up in both Washington and California, they immediatly jacked up the fuel prices and said it was because of the resulting fuel shortage, but did you ever see a line backed up at a gas station because of the shortages? It was just the most current excuse to use.

Useing corn in the bio fuel not only raises the price of the fuel, but also the cost of the corn you eat and the price of meat because the cost of corn feed for the steers as gone up.

Bill

[Dtaylor]

In fairness, which is so not me, they base their predictions on current and perceived supply and demand. Either supply or demand change, the price is reflected. OPEC cuts production, price goes up. Demand goes down, price goes down.
Current EPA policies also effect price especially the use of corn and ethanol which is another subject that burns my a$$

[johnrbd]

I'm sure the media is doing it's best with their juiji board (sic).

They report what the oil experts "predict". Works the same as the weatherman.

[midnightsadie]

the media can,t get tomorrows weather right. I heard a oil guru tell a congressman on TV, quote says the cong man WHY IS GAS SO HIGH??? oil guy stood up and says , because we can charge what ever we want, and sat down. I watch the oil price on the stock market it lost about 12$ in three weeks yet my local pump price went up. don,t let anybody fool you. its all about profit.