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My personal musings about anything that gets on my radar screen--heavily dominated by politics.

2007-05-24

A Thought On High Gasoline Prices

The price of gasoline at the station around the corner from my house is now up to $3.29. I know this is not unusual around the state--or the country--but it's still a bit of shock to see on the sign.

I know there has been a lot written about this subject, and by people a lot more knowledgeable than myself. But I saw a graphic today that helped me put at least part of the problem in perspective: (if this, for whatever reason, doesn't show up on the blog, go to page 49 of the link)

The point is, there are two different gasoline blends in use in America that are only used in 3--THREE--counties in the entire country, and one other blend that is only used in eight counties.

Consider how much down time a refinery has to go through to change over to make this particular blend; consider how expensive it must be to blend it in such small volume; and then stop wondering so much about the price of gasoline.

I'm not really sure exactly how much this sort of economic insanity affects the price at the pump. But if there is a role that the federal government can play in the cost of gasoline for consumers, it would be in overriding some of the EPA's requirements in different places around the country, and in relaxing the demands on the refineries so that they can push refined products out in as efficient a manner as possible.
Posted by: Michael / 5/24/2007 12:27:00 AM

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