They are at it again, no bad news goes to waste! 5/04/2011

$4.299 per gallon today! That is ridiculous, nothing has changed, but yet the gas prices in Traverse City have gone from $3.879 to $4.299. In the last few weeks crude oil went from $112 per barrel down to $103 per barrel, now it has gone back up to $112 per barrel.

Since 4/29 rack prices have gone up less than three cents per gallon, yet local retail prices went up seventeen cents per gallon.

On 4/11/2011 the National Average was $3.791, 4/18/2011 it was $3.844 and today it is only $3.989. So over the past three weeks the national average has only increased by about twenty cents per gallon, yet Traverse City has increased by more than forty-two cents per gallon. In the past Traverse City was typically cheaper than the national average, now we exceed the national average by thirty-one cents per gallon!

Why do we keep hearing that there is nothing President Obama can do to curb the price increases? Think back to the end of the Bush administration; national prices hit about $4.00 per gallon and Bush said that was enough and took action. He declared that he would allow drilling in Alaska and off shore in other areas. Three months later on 12/20/2008 gas prices fell to about $1.67 per gallon while crude oil dropped from $150 per barrel to about $40 per barrel. All it took was for President Bush to say he would again allow drilling. This is not speculation, this is history.

Geez guys, use your heads, think back, read your history and take action, and you my fellow Americans, stop drinking the cool aid. Put pressure on your representatives and on the president. One more comparison to reflect on; when crude oil was at $150 per barrel, Traverse City was only at about $3.879, today crude is at $112.45 per barrel while Traverse City just hit $4.299! It's fairly easy to follow the money for the major oil companies, their profits are published quarterly. The new first quarter profits have now been released: Exxon for the first quarter, 10 billion in profits up 60 percent. Shell and Chevron were about the same at 5.9 billion for the same quarter. Record profits again!

Local and national news only reports what the so called proponents give them; they do not bother to research the historical pricing that is available.

If your looking for someone to blame again, think back to the last election. President Obama frequently stated he wanted gas prices above four to five dollars per gallon! You may ask why he would want that. The reason is "simple economics". Alternative fuels cost more than five dollars per gallon; the average American citizen will not buy alternative fuels when petroleum based fuels are two to three dollars per gallon cheaper. I am not attempting to be political, I am just relating history, just the facts.Stay tuned, stay informed, more columns coming soon.

You can hear my findings periodically on WTCM "the Norm Jones Show", the Traverse City Record Eagle and then posted in my blog at TheGasMan.info.

The Gas Man