From my kangaroo-skinned cowboy boots to my use of the word
"ya'll," I'm an easy target of the Texas stereotype.
I grew up in Lone Star State, so that must mean I love barbecue,
the Dallas Cowboys, and pickup trucks.
And I love my pickup truck. I love my beloved truck even when I'm
forced to fill the tank. Although
when my bill topped out at about eighty dollars last week, I about coughed up
my slow-smoked beef brisket.
According to Triple A, the average price of gasoline in the Nutmeg
State (I'm a transplant now...) is $4.05.
That's harder to swallow than a rusty spur on a worn boot. Four dollars? Long gone are the days when a gallon of gas was cheaper than
a strong cup of coffee. (I
remember filling up in Texarkana in 1997 for .87!!!)
But don't be fooled that this is a simple case of supply and
demand. Gene Guilford is with the
Independent Connecticut Petroleum Association. He knows energy markets as well as I know good sauce. In an interview I conducted
Monday afternoon, he told me two pieces of information relating to our oil/gas
situation that were as surprising as snow in Austin.
"Over the last four years, Americans have used less
gasoline. Gasoline consumption,
actually, declined two and a half percent last year alone," Guilford said
from his Cromwell office.
"That four year period, Jamie, is the first time since World War II
that there's been a contraction in the consumption of gasoline."
But Gene wasn't done yet.
He moved on to the Harry Truman presidency.
"For the first time in 62 years, America has become a net exporter
of petroleum products."
The answer to why this is happening is as clear as a Texas
cowbell. The problem, he says, lies
where the bell tolls in New York - Wall Street. Speculation.
"There's no human being that can tell you that
domestically, it's because we don't have enough product, that it's in the wrong
place, that a refinery isn't operating, that something is wrong with a
pipeline," Guilford said.
"Even to the extent of last week, there was a news story that said
while the United States Department of Energy had told Wall Street what I just
told you, Wall Street said, 'I don't believe it, we don't believe gas
consumption is going down.'"
Let the stampede of prices continue. It's out of control, and we could easily see prices inflate
to more than $4.50 a gallon in the coming months...maybe even higher.
The 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection
Act was designed to control inflated prices. It was passed so the Commodity Futures Trading Commission
(CFTC) would have better oversight into oil and commodity markets. The idea was to table excessive
speculation. But Guilford says
that lawsuits against the Dodd-Frank Act are slowing down any benefit the
consumer will see.
A few years ago, when gas hit about $4.70 in Connecticut, I got
rid of my truck for a (gasp!) four-door sedan. I kept it about two years, until my desire for another truck
was as strong and constant as a Texas pump jack. I'm not getting rid of my truck as prices continue to climb,
but I do wish for some relief - the kind you get during a cool Texas fall, when
the dog-days of summer are but a painful memory. And when it comes to pain at the pump, we'll take any kind
of memory, as long as it's in the past.
"We've got to get the speculation out of these markets
because it's hurting the American economy," Guilford said.
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