Gas Prices Contiue to Go Down

The photo attached to this article is what I recently paid for gas this week. I am enjoying this drop in fuel prices just like everyone else, but I'm wondering why it changed so quickly. Oil hit some all time high's this year and from the reports coming forth oil would continue to soar. There were some reports as reported on the BBC in May that oil could reach highs close to $200 barrel or $4-$7 a gallon for me and you.

These high oil prices beat up our bank accounts and gave oil companies quarterly profits in the billions. No matter how high oil was going just about all reports of this expensive waste product was due to supply and demand, traveling, and the use of big SUV's and Trucks. OPEC (my definition - Oil Producer's of the World) even refused to increase production during the oil price boom. With oil prices being the conversation of the summer just talk (speculation) of oil production problems(ex. wind blowing too hard for oil refineries) would drive up oil prices $5-$10 a barrel. These high prices brought about topics such as going "green", "buy and electric car", and "get rid of your SUV or gas guzzler." Some even predicted that with the high demand on oil, we could run out of oil in the near future as reported by an article on TimesOnline.

Stepping forward into the future after the Stimulus package and immediately after the Stock Market Crash of 08, gas prices have fallen sharply! Is this because we are not driving anymore? Or did we get rid of our SUV's? I have the same car, that uses the same amount of gas that it used when gas was over $3. I do understand that the economy and the job market is affecting this; and yes, I also started cutting back on my driving when gas prices kept soaring...but aren't we driving to the same places, have the same cars, and some of us are probably driving more and further now that prices are going down. Where is this same demand that was reported earlier in the year? We don't hear of any production problems anymore either that caused spikes of $5-$10 a barrel?

I feel that speculation and investors looking to make a huge profit caused oil prices to continue its steep climb. A more simple way to define this is Greed. Oil was a good way for investors to make millions of dollars because gas is a necessity for travel, however gas is a waste product! Imagine that, at one time many of us had to make a decision of whether to buy a gallon of gas or a gallon of milk. Which is more important? They both are but you get what I'm saying. I hope gas prices continue to go down especially with reports saying that prices will eventually go back up. In the mean while let's enjoy these low prices while we can.