Wondering about the factors that cause the fluctuations in global oil and gasoline prices? News articles that have appeared over the past several days attribute the climb to instability in the Middle East, the decline in the dollar's value, and growing demand in China and India. A couple of days ago, Bill O'Reilly of the O'Reilly Factor once again blamed oil companies, asserting that they can raise prices at will. With all due respect to O'Reilly, it's clear that he doesn't understand how the markets work.

As we've explained on this blog, oil companies are price takers, not price makers. Oil companies find and supply crude oil to the marketplace, but the price is determined by buyers and sellers who put a value on oil through their transactions at commodities exchanges including The New Yo... more »

Americans will take to the roads in record numbers this holiday season. AAA projects that travel will rise by 3.1 percent to 92.3 million during the Dec. 23-Jan. 2 holiday period. Last year travel increased by 4.4 percent, making the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 holiday seasons the first back-to-back increases since 2005-2006 and 2006-2007.

AAA says 27 percent of the U.S. population, accounting for 85.7 million travelers, will be making round-trip journeys of 50 miles or more. Automobile travel will account for 93 percent of the trips.

Motorists will find higher gasoline prices at the pump this year, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), which projects average pump prices for regular gasoline to be about 38 cents a gallon higher than last year. As we've explained on this blo... more »

Nearly 42.2 million travelers are expected to hit the roads or take airplanes during the Thanksgiving holiday. According to AAA, that's an increase of 11.4 percent over last year.

AAA says improvements in the economy, disposable personal income, and household net worth combined with a decline in consumer debt are allowing more Americans to venture at least 50 miles from home. While 3.5 percent more travelers will fly to their destinations, an estimated 12 percent more motorists will be on the roads during the Nov. 24-28 period. (Reuters)

What can Thanksgiving travelers expect to pay for gasoline this holiday season? AAA data released today show that the nationwide average price of gasoline stood at $2.883 per gallon yesterday, down 0.5 cents from the day before. The lowest prices were foun... more »

Today, AAA reported that yesterday's nationwide retail gasoline prices climbed to a nationwide $2.695 per gallon average, the highest average price this year. Despite this sharp gasoline price increase, which has been driven by strong crude oil prices, the federal government has done little to help increase the supply of domestic crude oil, the basic feedstock of gasoline.

It's been more than a year since Congress and former President Bush lifted the moratoria on leasing new parcels in federal waters off the coasts of the Atlantic and Pacific, yet this administration has slow pedaled efforts to set up a framework to allow leasing on this acreage, even though the majority of Americans support greater development of our domestic resources. Instead, a troubling pattern of delay has emerged wh... more »