Congressman Donnelly Blames Speculators For Gas Spikes

Posted on Author WKVI

Second District U.S. Congressman Joe Donnelly this week commented on the rapidly increasing gasoline prices at the pump, by going after the speculators.

“We are going after the speculators who I think are driving the market up. I have sent a letter this week to go after these speculators. I think what they are doing to the American people is shameful,” Donnelly said.

At least one of the Republican presidential contenders, Newt Gingrich has been campaigning on lower gas prices by saying in campaign speeches that he would bring prices down to the $2.50 a gallon level. Donnelly invited Gingrich to join him in going after the speculators.

“The best thing Newt could do to help everybody is to go after the speculators, and try to get the people who are causing the price increases out of the market,” said Donnelly.

Donnelly and others in congress are attempting to make it harder for the speculators to trade in the futures by forcing the buyer to take actual delivery of the product. Republicans have also called for more U.S. Production.

Both parties agree that oil prices will be unstable until a resolution to the Iranian Nuclear program problem is settled. Iran has threatened to shut down the Strait of Hormuz if attacked, or other sanctions are sought. That would cut off 2.2 million barrels a day to the world markets. The U.S. is banned from receiving oil from Iran.

Gasoline Prices are in the Hands of Speculators

Posted on Author WKVI

Don Good from the Good Oil Company in Winamac has said this week that you can forget what you may have read about the laws of supply and demand when it comes to gasoline prices. The supply of oil and gasoline is higher today than it was three years ago when a gallon of gasoline sold for $1.90.

There is a culprit – Wall Street speculators. A decade ago they controlled 30% of the oil futures market. Today they control 80%.

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Gas Prices to Slowly Rise to over $4.00 a Gallon

Posted on Author WKVI

As gasoline prices go up dramatically at the pump, everyone is considering how to absorb the extra cost of driving.

With gasoline consumption down to the 1989 level, it looks like gasoline prices should be going down. According to Don Good from the Good Oil Company in Winamac, the speculators are holding the prices in the higher price range. There’s something else coming soon that will impact prices, too.

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Congressman Donnelly Discusses Gas Prices

Posted on Author WKVI

Gas prices have been hovering around the $3.40 in Indiana lately. We asked Congressman Joe Donnelly what his thoughts are about the current state of gas prices:

“The more we become energy independent, the better we get control over our gas prices,” said Donnelly. “As we move forward, all of our policies that are based on American energy independence will make our economy continue to grow and will lower gas prices.”

Gas Prices to Rise

Posted on Author WKVI

Have you been pleased that gasoline prices have dipped recently? Do you think it’s because consumption is down around the country? Don Good, at Good Oil in Winamac, says gasoline prices have been disconnected from supply and demand for a long time.

“Everything is driven off the markets,” said Good. “I think when China started coming out and saying that they were intentionally slowing down their economy, and then rumblings started about the Greek debt crisis and the European debt crisis. The stock market started to fall and gas prices went right with it.”

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Gas Prices to Set Records this Labor Day

Posted on Author WKVI

If you’re traveling this Labor Day Weekend, you know that gasoline prices are set to break the record for this time of the year. The average price of gasoline is already 60 cents higher than it was at this time a year ago.

The highest gasoline prices on Labor Day are in Connecticut, which has an average price of $3.97 a gallon, while Alabama is the lowest at $3.48.

Presentation on Gas Prices to Be Held at Knox Community Center

Posted on Author WKVI

Have you ever wondered why gas prices go up at the pump when consumption is down, or why pricing varies so much from station to station or even town to town? What about why, when oil prices drop considerably, prices at the pump only drop a few pennies?

Well, WKVI Radio has arranged for those questions and more to be answered by an “insider.” Scott Imus, Executive Director of the Indiana Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association, will be in Knox August 25th at the Knox Community Center for a presentation and will be available to answer your questions. All governmental officials and individuals alike are invited to attend. Imus will begin his presentation at 6:30 p.m. CT.

The session is co-sponsored by Senator Ed Charbonneau, Representative Nancy Dembowski, and Knox Mayor Rick Chambers.

Gas Price Forum Held in LaPorte

Posted on Author WKVI
Senator Jim Arnold talks with a constituent following the forum

Over 75 people attended a meeting to address gasoline pricing in LaPorte last night. The meeting was arranged by State Senator Jim Arnold (D-LaPorte) and State Representative Tom Dermody (R-LaPorte).

Presenters were Scot Imus, Executive Director of the Indiana Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association, and Maureen Hellman-Ferguson, Executive Director of the Indiana Petroleum Council.

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Gas Prices Jump

Posted on Author WKVI

Gas prices jumped Wednesday. Gas prices that were in the $3.80 range Tuesday were up to $4.15 Wednesday. A leak in a major pipeline servicing the Midwest has forced the whole pipeline to shut down which has caused the spike in prices.

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Gas Prices Continue to Fluctuate

Posted on Author WKVI

Do you feel like you’re a yo-yo when it comes to gasoline prices? If you filled up Tuesday night or early yesterday morning you were lucky because by mid-morning the gas prices had spiked higher. Prices that had fluctuated between $3.60 and $3.80 for a gallon of regular suddenly were up to $3.95 locally.

Gas Prices Begin to Drop in Kankakee Valley

Posted on Author WKVI

The gas prices are dropping and Don Good from the Good Oil Company in Winamac gives us his analysis of the current trend.

“Part of it is that this time of year, we go into what they call the turn around on the terminals which is an environmental requirement,” explained Good. “All the refineries pull their inventory down to put the summer-grade gas in and that always creates some glitches, but it also creates some opportunities for the speculators. I think there has been some economic news that has come out that kind of spooked them a little bit. There’s actually been a drop in demand so that spooks the speculators a little bit and when they leave the market, prices are going to come down now. This is the most volatile time I’ve ever seen. In this industry, we’ve seen where one night it goes up twenty cents and the next night it comes down fifteen cents. Usually, it takes some type of disaster to create that kind of volatility, but right now it’s just mainly the speculators jumping in.”

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Starke County Sheriff’s Department, Knox City Police Keeping Eye on Gas Prices

Posted on Author WKVI

The national average of a gallon of regular gasoline is over the $4.00 mark and that hurts the pocketbook of all consumers in the United States. It also affects the fuel line item in County, City and Town budgets.

Starke County Sheriff, Oscar Cowen, told WKVI that the Sheriff’s Department staff is keeping an eye on the prices, but services to the citizens will not diminish because gas prices are high. He said that when we saw a spike in prices in 2008, the Sheriff’s Department made it through and hopes to come within the fuel budget this time around.

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Speculators, Middle East Unrest Continue to Drive Gas Prices

Posted on Author WKVI

Speculators and the unrest in the Middle East continue to drive gas prices in the United States. We talked to Don Good from the Good Oil Company about the current gas price situation.

“You’d think we’d be losing some steam on this,” said Good. “It’s pretty much speculation that is  driving prices. The good news is unemployment is down and the bad news is, the economy is going to heat up, petroleum is going to go up, use is going to go up so that’ll probably keep it from going down too much. As long as the Middle East is in turmoil, there’s more support there. I’m going to guess that we should see it leveling off very soon, but to be honest with you, I never thought we’d get to four dollars either.”

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Gas Prices Continue to Rise

Posted on Author WKVI

The second greatest jump in regular gasoline at the pump has occurred the last two weeks. The jump has been 33 cents a gallon.

“The oil companies are not the culprit, they are the beneficiary,” said Don Good of the Good Oil company in Winamac. “They benefit from all this and I don’t think that you’ll find the oil executives sitting around the table crying over $100, $130 crude because they will just make a lot of money off of it. They aren’t the ones driving that market, but they’re more than happy to ride along.”

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Don Good Analyses Gas Prices

Posted on Author WKVI

The oil price closed at $91.50 a barrel in Wednesday’s market. That prompted a call to Don Good from the Good Oil Company in Winamac.

“They took a little spike over the unrest in Egypt and the Suez Canal comes through there and that’s a big concern as far as shipping oil out of the Gulf,” reported Don Good. “There’s also a major pipeline that runs through Egypt called the Suez Pipeline and it’s a concern there that it may be impacted if the violence goes that way. I think a bigger concern there is it could destabilize the Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia. Their fear is that if it spreads there, that’s where we’ll really have a problem.”

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