What Oil ship sank??

[83burban]

The price we pay at the pump is affected by much more than just the oil companies raising prices. The real reasons for the inflated prices is because of speculation on the price of oil (which sky-rockets when investors believe that their will be a disruption in the flow of oil into refineries).

Since the demand remains constant, disruptions in the supply will cause the price to jump. The reality is, that even though the supply of oil to the US will be marginally impacted, the PERCEPTION of the market is that the supply will fall and the price of crude rises dramatically.

Since the actual supply is not affect, the oil companies output remains flat - but since the speculation rises prices for the crude the cost of a gallon increases; even though the production remains constant. This means that the Oil Companies are using the same amount of oil but the price of the oil increases on the consumers side.

The record profits by many of these oil companies is the result of reduced costs on the part of the refineries and the increasing prices. Oil companies have to raise prices in relation to the market.

I do not work for the oil companies, just pointing out the reality of the situation and the markets. OPEC plays a major role in this, since they actually can affect the supply and cause prices to jump as they want.