w much their competitor is charging. Gas stations make very little profit on the sale of gasoline. They want to lure drivers into their convenience stores to buy coffee and soda. Oil companies and refiners have to accept whatever price the market settles on it has no relation to their cost of doing business. When oil prices are high, oil companies make a lot of money, but they can't force the price of oil up. Q: Are oil prices manipulated by speculators on Wall Street? A: Investment in oil futures contracts by pension funds,discount toms shoes, mutual funds, hedge funds, exchange traded funds and other investors who aren't going to actually use oil has risen dramatically in the last decade. Much of this money is betting that oil prices will rise. It is possible that this has inflated the price of oil and therefore gasoline somewhat,http://bbs.mmzj.name/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=1388741. But investors can also bet that prices will go down, and they do. Studies of the effects of speculation on oil markets suggest that it probably increases volatility, but that it doesn't have a major effect on average prices. Q: Are politicians to blame for high prices? A: Politicians can't do much to affect gasoline prices because the market for oil is global. Allowing increased drilling in the U.S. would contribute only small amounts of oil to world supply, not nearly enough to affect prices. The Associated Press conducted a statistical analysis of 36 years of monthly inflation-adjusted gasoline prices and U.S. domestic oil production and found no statistical correlation between oil that comes out of U.S. wells and the price at the pump. Over the last three years, domestic oil production has risen and gasoline prices rose sharply. In the 1980s and 1990s, U.S,toms shoes on sale. production fell dramatically, and prices did too. Releasing oil from emergency supplies held in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve could lead to a temporary dip in prices, but the market might instead take it as a signal that there is even less oil supply in the world than thought, and bid prices higher. Any price relief from a release of reserves would be temporary. Politicians can, however, help reduce the total amount drivers pay at the pump. They could lower gasoline taxes and they can help get more fuel efficient cars into showrooms by mandating fuel economy improvements or subsidizing the cost of alternative-fueled vehicles. The first new fuel economy standards since 1990 are just now going into effect. Last summer the Obama Administration and automakers agreed to toughen standards further in 2016. Your comment will be posted immediately, unless it is spam or contains profanity,http://www.ameriwal.com/home.php?mod=space&uid=162765&do=blog&id=515072. For more information, please see our Comments FAQ. An insider's guide to politics and policy, available on the iPad or as a PDF download.
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