Gas price gouging

Nathan's Blog article on Gas Price Gouging makes me really angry. I know this stuff goes on, but it pisses me off that this sort of collusion amongst gasoline refiners has become so commonplace that we almost dont think of it anymore.

We'll see how they like it when the EPA gas mileage ratings are revised to provide more realistic estimates of vehicle gas mileage performance, and people realize how much of a nightmare it's going to be to fill up their mega rig while commuting. I like my jeeps just fine, but I wouldnt take them on a road trip longer than a couple of hours because of the hurt at the pump. If I had to commute more than the few miles I do currently I would definately need a more efficient daily driver.

Closely matching supply to demand is “good business”, so where is the conspiracy? While legal, the above mentioned price matching is arguably a form of collusion. Other legal avenues exist as well. For instance, the executive summary cites a 1999 internal BP memo that presents options for reducing supply in the Midwest, including “shutting down capacity, exporting to Canada, lobbying for environmental regulations that would slow down movement of gasoline in pipelines, shipping product other than gasoline in pipelines, and providing incentives to others not to provide gasoline to Chicago”.

Wow, they even considered "lobbying for environmental regulations that would slow down movement of gasoline in pipelines" lobbying for legislation that would hinder the production and movement of gasoline. An industry trying to overregulate itself to keep gas prices high.

I've been feeling the pain with my two Jeeps, spending almost $40 to fill either of them up. Thankfully I live very close to work so I havent felt the pain as hard as others, but it's definately restricted my ability and desire to travel.