Quote Originally Posted by Rucker61 View Post
You do realize that oil is a world-wide commodity that one country has little impact on, that gasoline prices aren't set by the government, that the oil is owned by the oil companies who much prefer higher prices and that the US is a net gasoline exporter? Sure, we have a set capacity for gasoline refining, and no new refineries have been built lately, but do you want one in your backyard? There's no guarantee that any gasoline production will even go to the US, anyway; the oil companies ship it where they maximize their profits.
You are so right, one country (or 3 in our case) has absolutely nothing to do with gas prices... that's why gas companies are making so very little per liter of fuel because of gas taxes that cut down profits for gas companies (which in turn makes it harder for them to advance), and leads to gross over price. In reality, We are the number 1 petroleum user in the world- by a friggin long shot! But we are a low producer.

At $3.20/gallon almost $.65 of that is tax. So yes, gas prices can be set by government. Also, we're not exporting NEARLY as much as we import. Why would we export anyway? Instead just produce and refine our own oil (little to no import and no export) and we would cut costs significantly.