Debt Limit Deal Could Push Prices Up At The Pump

August 1, 2011

A  deal reached Sunday night to raise the national debt limit may push prices up at the pump this week.

Retail gas prices in the North Escambia area remained relatively unchanged last week as oil prices fluctuated when the government initially failed to reach a compromise on a plan to raise the national debt limit and as Tropical Storm Don closed oil wells in the Gulf of Mexico.

A barrel of oil dropped $4.17 during the week to close at $95.70 a barrel, partial on news that the economy grew less than expected in the second quarter. But oil futures began to climb Sunday night after President Obama said leaders of both parties in the House and Senate had agreed to a compromise to raise the nation’s debt limit.

The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas Sunday in Escambia County was $3.71, down slightly from a week ago at $3.74 and up sharply from $3.47 a month ago.

Pictured above: A gallon of regular unleaded gas was $3.72 Sunday night at a station in Molino. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.

Comments

26 Responses to “Debt Limit Deal Could Push Prices Up At The Pump”

  1. David Huie Green on August 3rd, 2011 1:10 pm

    REGARDING:
    “Funny @tallywho would just focus on one lone Democrat candidate in Nevada for his discussion”

    Not that unreasonable when that “one lone Democrat candidate” is a sitting senator and Senate Majority Leader at that.

    To understand it better, few would have cared if some folks broke into a room in the Watergate Hotel if they just did it for themselves. If they did it for the President of the United States, it was more important. If the Senate Majority Leader is for sale–or even bought and paid for, that’s more important than if some unelected candidate might sell out if elected. (I don’t think he is, but you can see where it would be a bad thing, right?)

    There’s the other aspect of the statement — that minerals extraction get a depletion allowance (or whatever it is called lately). If some do and some don’t, it’s reasonable to wonder why they’re treated differently. If politicians are saying some should continue to get it and others shouldn’t, it’s reasonable to wonder why they want a law which applies unequally.

    Political payoffs present a possible explanation (for the less trusting).

    David for honest politicians

  2. David Huie Green on August 3rd, 2011 12:57 pm

    REGARDING:
    “tallyho is fortunate to have you to do his/her research and citing.”

    I doubt tallyho cares whether I do or not. I know I don’t care who donates to which politician as long as the donations are freely available to all voters.

    I did the search to see how hard it was to find the source. The one I cited was secondary source but it referenced primary source. (Or maybe it was tertiary source referencing secondary source.) Primary source is supposedly definitely non-partisan but all people hold some sort of prejudices which make them accept some statements and reject others independent of whether or not they are true.

    Everybody tells me Fox News is slanted so I don’t watch it, but then I don’t watch the news very much anyway — too depressing. If their bias is so strong as to make them make things up, that should be easy to prove.

    IF

    I keep seeing a bias in terminology which calls a depletion allowance a subsidy. To my way of thinking, a subsidy is giving people money, not just not taking it away from them. Maybe that’s my bias.

    David considering sources,
    searches and biases

  3. James Broel on August 2nd, 2011 6:18 pm

    @David you can pick and choose what you post but neither party is best in my view. We can find both parties who have taken advantage of situations and gained monetarily or politically. Funny @tallywho would just focus on one lone Democrat candidate in Nevada for his discussion.

  4. James Broel on August 2nd, 2011 5:56 pm

    @eab…excellent post. I’m in agreement 100%!!

  5. eab on August 2nd, 2011 3:46 pm

    David said…”David citing a source
    and a system of searching”

    I said…(chuckle) tallyho is fortunate to have you to do his/her research and citing.

    David said…”That’s an interesting article unless you believe everything Fox News says is a lie. (I don’t but some seem to.)”

    I said…Certainly not everything. As the saying goes, even a blind hog finds an acorn once in a while.

    Jane said…”There is no economic mystery here! If this keeps up we will become a third world country. Stop passing out money to other countries and take care of our own for awhile!”

    I said…Apparently, even the Brookings Institution is starting to agree with you, Jane. (Tuesday,8/2/11 article by William G Gale). The Republican whuppin’ of Obama in the budget battle moved us a bit closer to parity with the 3rd world. But at least our rich folk “job creators” don’t need to be concerned by this latest mess.

  6. David Huie Green on August 2nd, 2011 1:57 pm

    REGARDING:
    “@tallywho…can you provide us a link to your post for more information?

    I don’t know where he got his information, but typing “Harry Reid gold mining support $750,000” in the search engine showed several pages, all referencing the Center for Responsive Politics. Picking among the top selections:

    From: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/05/18/minerals-mined-federal-land-spared-taxes-aided-senator-reid/

    “Since taking office, Reid has received $750,000 in campaign contributions from the mining industry, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. That number includes $127,000 from Nevada’s two largest gold producers in the 2010 election. Together, those two companies had profits of $5 billion last year yet they paid taxpayers nothing for minerals taken off public lands.”

    That’s an interesting article unless you believe everything Fox News says is a lie. (I don’t but some seem to.)

    It also includes the statement:
    “A royalty or fee represents an annual percentage the federal government charges based on the value of the resource extracted from public lands. For oil and other fuel sources, the numbers are in the double-digits.
    The government receives 12.5 percent in royalties for onshore oil and gas while the royalties for offshore drilling amount to 18.75 percent. For coal, that number is 8 percent for underground mining and 12.5 percent for surface mining.
    For gold, silver, uranium and copper mining: 0 percent”

    David citing a source
    and a system of searching

  7. bmr on August 2nd, 2011 9:24 am

    I drive a motorcycle, 50-51 miles to the gallon.

  8. jane on August 2nd, 2011 8:23 am

    We knew back in the 70’s and 80’s when there were gas lines at gas stations that we needed less gas-guzzlers, more self sufficient production. Brazil didn’t wait until it became a crisis…they are self relient now. So why didn’t we listen? Why didn’t our government pay attention to all the signs that led us here??? And now they want to get rid of the programs that help the seniors and disabled and the poor. Get rid of aid to countries that don’t need it, like Pakistan! That would save quite a bit…several billion, I believe, was the last number I heard. Pakistan is not our friend…they harbor terrorists!

  9. jane on August 2nd, 2011 8:12 am

    So gas prices go up, paychecks go down, unemployment goes up, electricity goes up, water goes up, insurance goes up…who has money for a new car??? We just drive less, party less, buy less, go out to eat less (or go somewhere cheaper), and there are no jobs so our economy suffers even more. The rich get richer and the middle class and lower income class just get poorer! There is no economic mystery here! If this keeps up we will become a third world country. Stop passing out money to other countries and take care of our own for awhile!

  10. JS on August 2nd, 2011 12:13 am

    If you consider the trade in value of the gas guzzler, the price of the new vehicle & the gas savings it is not worth it to trade just for the mpg savings. It costs you more than what you save in gas $$$.

  11. eab on August 1st, 2011 9:54 pm

    Someone said…”If you are driving a vehicle that gets less then 20 MPG, you can make this problem 1/3 less painful for yourself by accepting this change now and getting something more fuel efficient…”

    i said…Good post. I hear people squalling about gas prices all the time and when you note their driving habits they drive a big ol’ vehicle at 75mph. Of course, people should drive what they want but there is a correlation here.

    Oil is only gonna continue to rise in price, at least as long as people can afford to pay. And not just American people. Lots of other folks wanna ride too. The world *has* changed and *is* changing.

  12. stephen on August 1st, 2011 6:17 pm

    Oil drilling creates jobs. it takes several companies to support one rig. lets drill our own oil . lets put people to work and they will spend the money. congress does not care and nothing makes the gas prices go up but the fact that they can.. so go get your yukons and fill them up.. Im eating steak tonight.

  13. James Broel on August 1st, 2011 6:14 pm

    @tallywho…can you provide us a link to your post for more information?

  14. JIM W on August 1st, 2011 3:13 pm

    Paint the picture anyway you want but this is out of control. Every time you turn around it’s another report on how much higher the gas is going. Hum, let’s see who is the blame here?? Could it be Congress, Senate, news organizations, speculators, American greed, gas companies?? They are all guilty and it has to stop! It has been a feeding frenzy for far too long. The Government needs to step in and regulate rather than allowing the public to get bulldozed over. get real.

  15. J on August 1st, 2011 2:54 pm

    Any old reason to raise the price. You know, I bet I could cough and make the price go up.

    And to Name required,

    ” If you are driving a vehicle that gets less then 20 MPG, you can make this problem 1/3 less painful for yourself by accepting this change now and getting something more fuel efficient…”

    Thank you for that insight. Now I do drive a 20 year old, V8 powered sedan that gets 14 MPG on a good day. I would LOVE to get something more fuel efficient, are you going to buy it for me? I can meet you at the dealership of your choice.

    There are many people like me that drive old, inefficient cars and trucks because we just can’t afford new ones.

  16. AlabamaChick on August 1st, 2011 2:45 pm

    We need to flush out congress,whitehouse,the house of rep.,and tallahassee in florida with a big enema.Then we need to elect pollitions with common sense and instead of pollitions we have letign special intrest pad their pockets.Our goverment is the reason this country is in the shape it is.Big corp. need to pair their fair share,instead of worrying how big a bonus their gonna get this year!!!! Put money in teh workman’s pockets,lower taxes, and you see this country turn around.This country is lead by gread and so you get wat you pay for.If you wanna pay the bills,put money in the workin man’s pockets,so they will feel like spendin money.Thus paying taxes to pay bills.Every time the democrates run out of money they gotta stick it to the working man.I think if 10% is good enough for Jesus it outta be enough for Uncle Sam!

  17. friction against the machine on August 1st, 2011 11:55 am

    Politicians just don’t get it (or don’t care)….high gas prices are what’s killing the economy…a person doesn’t have discretionary income to spend on computers, cell phones, eating out, etc if they are having to spend hundreds of extra dollars per month on gas.

    Yet at the same time you have the extreme left demanding less drilling and more regulation…have they lost their minds? We need to be dropping a drill bit in every section of US territory right now in order to get our economy back to where it needs to be…and we need to get off of foreign oil.

    The US buys most of their crude from Canada, not the Middle East, but OPEC (and the Middle East) sets the prices. IF we were self-sufficient in our oil consumption we might not be as dependent on the commodities market that makes this mess possible…and as for those who think “green energy” is the way to go…..yeah right…how do you think the electricity is made that recharges that electric car you want to buy? That electricity is produced through the burning of fossil fuels at a power plant somewhere. People need to wake up, we need a REAL political change in this country, vote the bums out and get a new breed of statesman in office, not these old crusty politicians.

  18. David Huie Green on August 1st, 2011 10:47 am

    REGARDING:
    “changing affiliations to Independent might just scare the heck out of them and/or allow some third party candidates to run. ”

    Third party candidates DO run. Remember how Ralph Nader ran in 2000? He drew enough votes away from Al Gore in Florida to stop him from soundly defeating George W. Bush — even though he had a majority of the popular vote. (Translation: Ralph Nader put GWB in office. That isn’t the whole story, but without Nader’s third party run, it wouldn’t have happened, just as it wouldn’t have happened if the people of Tennessee could have brought themselves to vote for their favorite son, Al Gore.)

    Ross Perot’s run in 1992 drew enough votes off of GHWB that Bill Clinton managed to win — even though he had less than a majority of the popular vote.

    David considering the effects of third party efforts

  19. Jack on August 1st, 2011 9:46 am

    Capt… They don’t need a reason. Any excuse will do as long as it increases profits.

  20. Polythenepam on August 1st, 2011 9:14 am

    capt> you are right, gas has nothing to do with debt, it’s an excuse to raise the price. I’m wondering if walnut hill roy ’s tactic could help it certainly wouldn’t hurt change parties and let them know, it seems they don’t listen to us no matter what we do, one crook is they same as another. Until our government is for the people by the people we will be in debt, because right now all we do is give to the rich and take from the poor.

  21. tallyho on August 1st, 2011 9:07 am

    Hey, it is caused by Bush! Hey, he has been out of office for three years, huh, must be some on else that is causing it. Did you know that the Mining companys like in Nevada do not pay one dime in extra money to mine our Gold and other Materials and they gave over $750.000 dollars to Harry Reids relection . Oil compa;nys pay alot to drill for the tax payers oil.

  22. Name (required) on August 1st, 2011 9:04 am

    Folks,

    The price of gasoline is not just a product of your local gas station, the oil production in the gulf, or even the ‘greedy’ oil companies that supply the gasoline we are all so addicted to.

    Ever single drop of oil is bought and sold in the world market. There is no such creature as a “US ONLY” oil supply… even if there were, it would not even come close (nor could it) to meeting our demand.

    The debt deal in this story will slightly slow inflation compared to no deal being reached. The dollar in your pocket will no longer buy as much oil in the world market, so the price will go up.

    Massive spending over the last several years (GWB, but tripled by Obama!) has left the dollar no where to go but down.

    The global demand for oil has dramatically increased… remember those movies about China when we were little… all the Chinese riding bicycles? They are all driving cars now, just like you. There is no undoing that. China and India are effectively in line at the same gas pump you are… and their economies are GROWING….

    If you are driving a vehicle that gets less then 20 MPG, you can make this problem 1/3 less painful for yourself by accepting this change now and getting something more fuel efficient…

    … cheap gas is not going to come back.

    Name Required
    (for a dose of reality)

  23. big man on August 1st, 2011 8:27 am

    Just another excuse to raise gas prices. Same old song and dance.

  24. Walnut Hill Roy on August 1st, 2011 8:10 am

    The whole debt limit deal stinks to high heaven, even if the “deal” passes we will still incur an additional debt of 9+ trillion dollars in the next 10 years. I for one will hit them where it hurts, I have been registered as belonging to a major party since I first signed up to vote more than 45 years ago; I’m going to change that this week and register as an Independent. The major parties track the numbers of registered voters in both parties, changing affiliations to Independent might just scare the heck out of them and/or allow some third party candidates to run. We need real change, not just Washington’s version of it.

  25. No Reason Necessary on August 1st, 2011 6:19 am

    Mega-billon dollar gas corporations don’t need a good reason to raise fuel prices, and they emulate Obama’s former cabinet member Ram Emanuel’s statement about never wasting the opportunity of a crisis.

  26. capt on August 1st, 2011 2:37 am

    The oil rigs off of La. stayed open we ran to our rig 123 mi out the only rigs that might have be effected would be the small number that is off the coast of Tx. And that should not have done anything to the oil prices (political propaganda)????