Yo Yo Gas prices: Why Is This?

To keep us on our toes. To piss us off and then make us oh so grateful when prices drop again. I remember when they almost hit $5 for a time. And then they went down below $2 and we were so excited.

It’s all about perspective and if they keep changing prices on us and blaming it on the market (yes, I’m sure it has something to do with it), then our perspective is perpetually changing.

I’m sure there is a more economical supply/demand answer, but that’s just my cynical consumer response.

An Alien race is controlling the economy and gas prices, they want us to panic, then relax, then panic. Sick bastards!

They went really high for a while there because after the housing bubble burst, people started investing in oil futures as a way to protect their money.

Then the economy kind of fell apart there, and because people weren’t buying as much gas, the price fell dramatically. What brought it back up some was that the OPEC nations cut production and reduced the supply. (If they hadn’t done that, the price would be lower.)

Rumors of what OPEC plans on doing (cutting production, or opening the valves all the way) will affect the market price, as people “bet” on what will happen and try to profit from the swings.

Also, Jim Kunstler (whose interesting blog is here) also predicted that as we see the effects of peak oil, the oil/gas price will be characterized by volatility. This seems to be the case.