Gasoline Prices

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When it comes to consumer products, environmentalists generally don’t encourage people to buy new and buy now. But that’s what we're about to do because electric cars are significantly cleaner than gasoline vehicles, and driving one can save you serious cash at the pump.[read more]

Photo by Marion E via Flickr

During my interview last week with Alan Colmes (embedded below), a few points were discussed that warrant some elaboration. Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com The first is the conversion from winter to summer gasoline, which I have written about in more detail at Why Summer Gasoline Means Higher Prices. Just to be...[read more]

The recent run up of gas prices certainly makes electric vehicles potentially more attractive to consumers. But counting on high gas prices alone to promote electrification is not a good bet. Consumers have many options to reduce gas expense—buying fuel-efficient four cylinder cars being an obvious and inexpensive one. To capture the automobile consumer and break the stranglehold of petroleum on the U.S. economy, the price of electric vehicles must be brought sharply down. And there is only one way to do that: By reducing the cost of the advanced batteries that power them.[read more]

It's an article of faith among many observers of the oil industry that gasoline is too cheap in the US. Environmentalists and economists point to various externalities that aren't included in the price consumers pay, while carmakers and alternative energy developers need a (much) higher price to make advanced vehicle technologies and...[read more]

As long as we keep taking no serious action on climate and clean energy, there’s nothing to stop the energy bills of Americans from rising.  Daniel J. Weiss, CAP’s Director of Climate Strategy, explains what’s in store this summer. The mounds of snow blackened by auto exhaust have barely melted in Washington, D.C, yet the Energy...[read more]

Lots of very crazy stuff going on behind the scenes that's been keeping me very distracted, and writing to a minimum. Fortunately, Money Morning sent me a very timely essay this morning on crude prices. This one takes aim at the API. While I have a cordial relationship with the API, like Kent Moors who wrote the article below I think...[read more]

Although it doesn't appear among the statistics that economists and market participants routinely track to assess our recovery from what some have been calling the Great Recession, a quick check on the status of the "gasoline stimulus" I described in June seems in order. Year-to-date, the retail price of regular gasoline has averaged $1...[read more]

I consider the level of dependence of the U.S. on imported petroleum to be a very large financial risk endangering the country's future. There are certainly other import-related risks as well, but here I want to talk about the financial risk.I consider it similar to having a mortgage upon which you pay interest each month - but in which...[read more]

From a good article in today’s New York Times: 2009 is turning out to be a bumper year for new oil discoveries; new oil discoveries always occur, but this year has been unusually fruitful. This quote from the article illustrates the important dynamic intertemporal incentives that price signals provide: These discoveries, spanning five...[read more]

Following up on the earlier post, a recent FTC document details the agency’s activities addressing the oil and gas industry during the first six months of 2009. Of the investigation into gasoline prices in Western New York, the FTC said: The Commission’s work involving oil and natural gas also includes the examination of possibly...[read more]

US gasoline prices have attracted a fair amount of attention recently, as they climbed from a national average of just over $2.00 per gallon in mid-April to $2.69 last week. Much of that increase came just before Memorial Day, which historically signals the start of the driving season and higher consumption. Some regions have even begun...[read more]

I was reading a story in the Wall Street Journal titled "Why Gasoline Prices May Rise," and the following paragraph grabbed my attention:Another reason for steady gasoline prices: the use of ethanol as an additive to gasoline is on the rise. While crude prices have soared, ethanol prices have dropped as much as 30% in recent months and...[read more]