Price of a barrel of oil today: $109.60 Exactly eight years ago: $115.19

Boilerman, if you've explained why the price of oil was lower eight years ago, yet the price of gasoline is WAY higher now, I must have missed it. 

Boilerboob wants us to believe that the oil companies have no way to collect and store natural gas that is released from oil wells in the course of pumping. Their preferred method of disposal is "flaring," or simply burning it off. However, that releases pollutants into the atmosphere. So the government has restricted it.

The obvious remedy is to collect the natural gas as it is released from the wellhead. That's more expensive than burning it, though, so the oil companies have resisted it. And wells have "been shut down"--by those same oil companies, who don't want to pay the costs of disposing of their waste products.

It's no different than if a factory was told it couldn't release pollutants into the air or water and then shut down rather than institute pollution control measures. 

The standard fossil fuel company bleat is that bad bad bad Biden is adding to their costs. But releasing their waste products into the atmosphere imposes their costs on everyone else.

They had a good piece on CNBC this morning that addressed this exact question.    In summary - crude production is no longer the issue.  Despite western sanctions, Russian crude is flowing into the market at record rates mainly because Eastern countries aren't particiapting in the sanctions.   Thats India and China mostly.   

Its the finished, refined product that is in short demand and making prices higher.

Lots of refineries have shut down or cut production because of low margins ....and frankly, COVID hit them even worse than the drillers.   Many refineries switched over to refining other kinds of chemicals that pay better.   

So the solution isnt drilling more or building more pipeline.  its getting more refineries online.      Better pray we dont have a hurricane knock down the ones in the Gulf this season or we will be in a world of shit at the pump

All true, but that doesn't explain the recent price gouging. Nothing significant happened to reduce refining capacity in the last six months or so--yet, the price of gas increased by 50% over that period.

I reiterate that we're paying these insane high prices because the fossil fuel companies want us to--absolutely no other reason. A shortage of refining capacity, if it was real, could have been addressed months ago. And any labor shortage could have been dealt with by paying higher wages--paid for by those all-time record profits.

As the fossil fuel CEOs recently said so forthrightly, they have no interest whatsoever in ramping up production. They like the situation just the way it is.

It's poor strategy on their part, though. Nothing could drive Americans into the arms of the electric/hybrid car market faster than this artificial shortage and insane prices.

We bought a chevy Bolt SUE LT yesterday. I got a call from Carlos at Henderson Chevrolet about a Bolt SUE. I don't know why I decided to check their web site, but I did. He called me about a dark grey and we only wanted white. Lo and behold there were two white ones listed as "in stock". One was sold and the other could be ours. Just plain lucky. This was at 3:30 pm. We got ready and traveled the hour and fifteen minutes to the dealership. It took a little while, but we finally settled on $23,401 with our trade (a 2013 Hyundai Elantra GLS with less than 40,000 mi). That's including tax and title out the door. Our other car is a 2017 Ioniq hybrid getting 50 mpg so gas is no longer a big concern to us. The battery in the Ioniq is waranteed for life so we'll be keeping that forever. We'll only need to fill the hybrid every couple of months.  Also, GM will pay for the installation of the 240 volt fast charger outlet, which is sweet. Another plus is no maintenance other than tire rotations.

Yes....I do believe that the Biden admistration is partially responsible for gas prices. Big oil has to share the blame with their record profits.  We, however, are no longer at the mercy of high gas prices.

Blaming the Biden administration for the pricing decisions the oil companies make is beyond ridiculous, but it looks like you've figured out a way to escape Biden's eeeeevil clutches bwahahhahaaaa.

I wonder what tiny tiny tiny percentage of conservatives who have bought hybrid or electric cars realize that those vehicles would never have been available if not for them no-good LIBURRULS pushing for development of that industry--and the tax breaks for consumers that helped get it off the ground. And I wonder what even tinier percentage would be so intellectually honest as to acknowledge that.

Actually, zero. They'd rather bleat about Biden. Gotta be loyal to your gang even when your gang is fucking you over. Yay fossil fuels!

Your extreme hatred of anything conservative makes you unable to rationally evaluate the part that the Biden admistration has in our current gas pricing. I say Biden administration because I don't believe that Biden is in control of the presidency past name only. I'm a registered independent that disagrees with both the Pelosi led extreme left of the Democratic party and the Trump led ultra extreme right of the Republican party. This country needs moderates in control of both parties so that legislation helping America can start being passed again. Without compromise, there will never be meaningful legislation passed. Only with enough moderates in both parties will we be able to set our country on the right/left path again.

The liberals have more to do with helping the electric vehicle industry than the conservatives, but it takes both parties to pass legislation promoting electric vehicles. Saying that only the liberals have ushered in the electric vehicle industry is utter nonsense.

I don't get any tax incentives with my purchase of the Bolt SUE LT. I do get to smile, as I pass the gas station with the lowest price in my area, without stopping to gas up.

How long does it take to charge the battery on one of those?  I seriously want an EV for my next car but I take alot of long trips and I dont want to spend a day stuck in a cornfield charging my vehicle for the next leg of the journey.

Do you realize that you're talking out of both sides of your mouth at once? Biden is responsible for all bad things. Biden isn't in control. See the, um, contradiction? I'd ask you to come up with a single instance of Biden decreeing the price of gas, but I know you can't.

My opposition to the stupid conservitard bleats blaming Biden for inflation and high gas prices isn't partisan--you're dead wrong about that. My opposition is based on my resistance to bullshit.

You should really do your research and discover just how completely and implacably conservatives have opposed renewable energy in all its forms, for the last several decades. Of course, that's mainly because most Republican legislators are paid employees of the fossil fuel industry.

As long as one side is driven solely by a savage lust for power and money, the other side--we liberals, who have a conscience--cannot communicate, let alone cooperate, with them.

Trump killed the renewable energy tax incentives--that got lost in the tax breaks for the rich shuffle--but those incentives did help to stimulate the industry.

It depends on the capacity of the vehicle's battery as well as the amp-hours that the charging station can deliver. The first in-home chargers were designed to charge an EV overnight: 8-12 hours. But the newer fast-charging public stations can do it in as little as 45 minutes. However--your car has to be able to handle a "Level 3" charger. If not, you'll have to take 3 hours at a Level 2 public station.

I'll probably buy a hybrid rather than an electric-only car, because the range of the electrics is pretty poor: 150 miles or less. And charging stations aren't so ubiquitous that you won't be in danger of sputtering to a halt if you're on a road trip. Plus, there's a time delay while you recharge.

I've heard really good things about the Hyundai Ioniq hybrid. 60 mpg. 350 mile range.