The Problem of Rising Gasoline Prices

The Problem of Rising Gasoline Prices

The Problem of Rising Gasoline Prices


One of the reasons of rising gas prices is Gas prices across the country are being pushed higher by the record cost of crude oil. And crude keeps rising. Oil sold on the New York Mercantile Exchange has spent most of this week trading at about $114 per barrel. Just five years ago, it was $30. But gas supplies in California and throughout the United States have been inching down in recent weeks. As they drop, prices will have another reason to rise. And Americans typically drive more in the summer than during the other seasons, using more gasoline and pushing prices higher. As the rising cost of crude oil trickles down to the gasoline pump, fuel prices are siphoning cash away from other consumer spending.
The other reason is refinery problems because the U.S. average gasoline prices climbed to a record-high average of $3.073 a gallon Monday, narrowly exceeding the previous peak hit after hurricanes knocked out refineries on the Gulf Coast in 2005.This is the third year in a row that pump prices have climbed above the $3-a-gallon mark as a continued crunch in domestic fuel production capacity mingles with rising demand and high prices for crude oil. Gasoline prices are up about 50 cents since March, with energy experts blaming this year's spike on planned maintenance and breakdowns at U.S. refineries struggling to meet tough environmental fuel regulations.
Possible solutions to the problem of high gasoline prices is that either the federal and state governments will act to break up monopolistic and oligopolistic corporations, or government agencies will assume regulatory authority that was largely abandoned in the United States, or consumers will be act on it themselves. Another solution is to offer a tax the supply and to set up price gouging standards. Formulate another form of fuel or use are on refineries.

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