[Fundguy1]

Originally Posted by SmallTownBoy

More hyperbolic prattle, and selective prattle at that. Let's consider a few facts:

1. Average gas price was at or over US$3/gal in '07 and hit US$4/gal in '08, before Obama was elected.

http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/Lea...TE_NUS_DPG&f=W


2. Crude oil production from US federal lands actually increased marginally in FY 2013, and remains marginally higher than during the Bush administration. Longer term, federal lands onshore crude production actually increased by 33% from FY 2003 to FY 2013. Overall, (incl. offshore), federal crude production is down about 11% since 2003, but that reduction occurred between '04 and '06, and remained relatively steady during the W years.

http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&...76180860,d.aWw


3. Obama opened up new offshore oil drilling lands in 2010, breaking an explicit campaign promise to the contrary. This despite Exxon and BP taking a dump on our collective front lawn.

4. You haven't mentioned panic buying and hoarding in Asia and Europe.

5. You haven't mentioned the speculation by commodities futures traders, betting on Middle East unrest to affect supplies and inventories, thereby creating a price bubble.

6. You haven't mentioned both the regular (seasonal) and unplanned (hurricanes) closure of refining capacity affecting supply of gasoline, as opposed to the supply of crude.

Your theory about Obama's responsibility for high gas prices is easily refuted. Now you've deflected by reference to market forces that no US President can readily affect, nor would any free market proponent wish. [/fishinabarrel].

1 averge price per gallon on 1/20/2009 was $1.90 a gallon trending down from speculator created bubble and it was trending down.
2 increase in federal land production was from using more expensive techniques to extract oil which became economically feasible due to higher prices caused by feds. Offshore similar. No new drilling permits offshore were issued for years when it should take months. Many offshore drilling rigs left and went to the north sea as a result. It will take years to recover from this.
3. He started the permitting process in 2010 but made the process take so long it hasn't happened.
4.panicked buying doesn't last 6 years and there is now a glut of excess oil worldwide
5. Speculators haven't controlled the price in oil due to the excess in years
6 hurricanes etc don't last 6 years. I seem to remember a few pretty Obama hurricanes, Katrina, Charlie, etc that happened prior to 2009 and they didn't affect prices.

And the glut isn't lowering prices because the higher cost to replace that oil is still present.