Quoted: With Diesel at $3.29 vs $2.69 for regular, I guess it is harder to get the diesel out of the barrel. Or the demand is just worth $.60/gal more. Hard to accept.......
Live and get on with life.
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No, demand is at an all-time high. Home heating oil is just #2 fuel oil which is diesel without tax, for the most part. Some refineries without sulfur reduction processing are forced to sell their #2 oiutput as fuel oil or non-road diesel.
Demand dictates price, not cost. While you may think that BP/Exxon/Shell station is owned and run by the respective refiner, they are not. These are franchises, independently owned and operated. A cut of the profit goes to the respective corporation but the station is independent.
Sure, the exploration and production arms of the corporations are making good profits but they NEED to recoup the LOSSES of 1998-2000 when the price stagnation forced oil down to $11 a barrel. These low profits hurt the ability of the industry to react to shortages, making the current situation we are in.
If you sandy manginas would only take the time to understand how cutthroat the petroleum industry is, you wouldn't be complaining about the current situation. You sure were not complaining back in 1998, were you? Should have stocked up on that cheap fuel back then...but instead you stocked up on vehicles that got poor mileage, only because you could afford it.
This isn't a new problem. It has happened before and will continue to happen as long as we demand the cheapest fuel. And we tax the shit out of the inventories, reserves and production.
The answer is more wells and refineries.