Say “No” to Gas Guzzlers

By: Jessica Pezzone
Posted In: News

If you pulled up to the local gas station before you made the drive to Salve two weeks ago, you were must likely shocked at the amount you read on the pump. Upwards of $3.50/gallon was average around New England two weeks ago, due in large part to the terrible destruction of Hurricane Katrina.

While some people go on paying the high prices and others try to find alternate solutions to spending a hundred dollars at the pump every week, there seems to be confusion surrounding the causes of such a jump in gas prices.

Gas prices have been steadily climbing higher and higher for the last few years due to a number of circumstances and crises around the world. The war in Iraq destroyed many precious oil fields (usually by Iraqis burning oil fields so they wouldn’t fall into other hands), so the United States is getting less oil than we were before from the Middle East.

Since the US has a high demand for oil and there is a shortage being imported, prices are driven up significantly.

Terrorism affects every part of the oil business, and selling barrels of oil is quite a risky endeavor.

Oil merchants have to be concerned with terrorists stealing oil, and the unpredictable market and prices in the future.

Developing countries around the world, such as China, are using more oil than ever, adding to the shortage of oil here in the US.

To sum up, because oil is scarce, there is more of a demand for it, and because it is so risky to sell, oil vendors need to up the price for their sales to be worth it.

Hurricane Katrina has sent the slow but steady rise in gas prices soaring. Oil platforms, refineries, and pipelines have been severely damaged, and many are closed until the aftermath of the storm can be totally cleaned up.

As of Tuesday, only one out of eight of Louisiana’s oil refineries has been opened, and overall production in the Gulf is running at only 21 percent of its usual rate.

As a result, an extremely limited amount of crude oil is being shipped out of the Gulf Coast, and people all over the United States are affected by skyrocketing prices.

As of September 13th, the average retail price of gas in the US was $2.96/gallon.With a shortage of oil and consumer confidence at an extreme low, there are concerns that the United States could fall into a crisis situation.

Certain measures are being enacted by the government and other organizations to allow for backup in the event that oil is limited even more.

The National Energy Agency announced that its 26 industrialized members are discharging two million barrels per day of oil – the first time these governments have dipped into their reserves since 1991.

Many consumers are also looking into measures for the future, some of which include purchasing solar-powered hybrids or diesel-run vehicles.

As with any other crisis situation, the consumers of the United States need to stay calm and try to cut down on their gas usage as much as possible. With oil dropping slightly in recent days (the lowest I’ve seen in Rhode Island is $2.93/gallon), consumers need to have faith that prices will fall and the economy will be restored to normal once again.