[JMI]

Originally Posted by The Reaper

Anyone under 50 will not get this.

I do not care that much what gas costs, as long as I can get it.

Anyone else here who sat in line in 1973 and 74 waiting 45 minutes to buy 5 or 10 gallons at the time, and driving around with less than 1/4 of a tank and seeing station after station with "No Gas" signs out front knows what I mean.

When the government started tinkering with price controls over domestic production to prevent the massive oil company profits, they quit pumping it, and there was a serious lack of oil and gas.

Before you ask our idiotic elected representatives to solve this problem (who seem to think that what a spoiled, overpaid bunch of athletes put into their bodies is more important than the global threats that we are facing) let me tell you that they will make it much worse before it gets better.

The refineries were shut down or cutting back because the price spread between oil prices and refined products (mainly gasoline) was too low, or in some cases, inverted, so they cut back to run the price up to a point where they could make a profit.

BLUF: If the oil companies can't make a profit drilling and pumping oil, they will stop. If they cannot make a profit refining oil or selling gasoline, they will stop. You can't really make them start again, only the market can. Tight supply, increased demand, and speculators have driven prices up, and the companies are currently making a good profit. Sometimes, they lose money. It hurts a little to pay more, but at least we have a good supply. If we do not make some changes, that may not always be the case.

TR

Another dead on target post by TR.