I'm sure you heard about that refinery they're going to build in South Dakota. Once it's finished, it should help out some.Kmarion wrote:
There is a reason the market isn't opening up. Do you think they don't want more supply? It also cost billions to build a refinery. Given the current political atmosphere and attitude towards oil why would an energy company invest that kind of money into a limited future? Nothing impacts the cost of fuel as much as the decisions of OPEC. This is a fact. To be competitive a company needs to be able to control it's expenses. Cheaper fuel will only come when the energy industry can compete amongst itself. Right now there is no competition. These are the basic rules of economics. The fundamental reasons for current price is fixed by foreign entities. Like I said, under current anti-trust laws this would not be possible in the states. I don't think I can write it out any simpler. I know the thought of giving a company more control is scary for you. But understand they will be waging a price war against each other to attract customers. This always benefits the market.
Other than that, you must realize that a lot of the reason why refineries aren't built very often is because no one wants to deal with the resulting pollution in their backyard. South Dakota is a rare example of a local population supporting the construction of a refinery.
If more locals were ok with having a refinery built in their area, then half of the battle would be won right there. Until that changes, however, it's going to be a very slow process of adaptation. The only control I'd like to see is more regulation on oil speculation. Once that's done, then oil won't rise so fast in value.