Soaring gas prices prompt electric vehicle conspiracy theories
(AP) — Some social media users suggest that soaring fuel prices in the U.S. aren’t the result of Russia’s...
(AP) — Some social media users suggest that soaring fuel prices in the U.S. aren’t the result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, increased consumption or supply chain issues as daily life resumes after two years of stagnation brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.
Instead, the flurry of Facebook and Twitter posts offer, without evidence, that a nefarious scheme is underway: President Joe Biden’s administration is intentionally driving up the price of gas to get more American drivers behind the wheel of an electric car.
“$6.00 a gallon gas is how you get people to buy electric cars,” claims one popular meme, shared thousands of times across Facebook and Instagram since Tuesday.
Kansas oil companies scramble to increase production, but 'there is no spigot'
With the ban on Russian oil imports, domestic crude is now selling for about $110 a barrel. That, of...
With the ban on Russian oil imports, domestic crude is now selling for about $110 a barrel. That, of course, isn’t good for consumers, who’ve seen gasoline prices break records.
Mickey Thompson, past president of the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association said, “There is no spigot.” “Wells capable of producing crude oil and natural gas in this country are producing at close to maximum capacity.”
But oil companies, especially smaller ones, are having a tough time expanding production.
“They’re having trouble getting pipe. They’re having trouble with transportation. They’re having trouble finding crews,” said Dan Naatz, executive vice president of the Independent Petroleum Association of America.
ExxonMobil is reportedly studying a sale of its Bakken Shale assets...
ExxonMobil is reportedly studying a sale of its Bakken Shale assets in North Dakota, which could fetch roughly $5 billion, after drawing interest from potential buyers. Meanwhile, oil price volatility and widening valuation gaps have reportedly prompted some oil and natural gas companies to back away from plans to buy or sell properties.
US States Float Tax Breaks to Ease Pain at the Gas Pump
A surge in U.S. retail gasoline prices to record highs has prompted governors and lawmakers in...
A surge in U.S. retail gasoline prices to record highs has prompted governors and lawmakers in several states to consider slashing their fuel taxes and to ramp up pressure on the federal government to do the same.
The push reflects worries in state governments that the rapid spike in fuel costs could hurt motorists and chill local economies, and that federal efforts to keep prices down so far have been insufficient.
“Today I am announcing that, at this time of global uncertainty, we are working on an emergency suspension of the gas tax to help with the pain at the pump,” Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, a Republican, said on March 10 in a Tweet. The state has a 36.9 cent per gallon gas tax.
U.S. shale producers and OPEC, who not long ago were waging a price war, this week found themselves on similar sides as oil prices have surged well above $100/bbl: in no rush to rapidly boost production.
Less than a decade ago, OPEC was flooding the market with oil in a bid to drive out U.S. producers, who were enjoying surging production as improvements in hydraulic fracturing brought on the so-called “shale boom.”
But on the first night of CERAWeek by S&P Global on March 7, at an oil conference in Houston, both sides gathered in a private room at a restaurant and U.S. producers presented OPEC Secretary-general Mohammad Barkindo with a bottle labeled “Genuine Barnett Shale”—from the oil field that launched the shale revolution.
