"The U.S. met 84 percent of its own energy needs in the first 10 months of 2012, on track to be the highest annual rate since 1991, according to data from the EIA, the statistical arm of the Energy Department. The country’s crude output grew by a record 766,000 barrels a day last year to the highest level in 15 years, the biggest annual jump since the first commercial well was drilled in Pennsylvania in 1859."
So, if we're matching 1991 levels for energy independence, why are pump prices rising, with above-normal seasonal highs? After all, conservatives (I hope no one forgot Mitt Romney's promises) and the incessant oil industry ads tell us that higher energy independence through increased domestic oil production will lower prices at the pump.
Where is that price drop? The average price in 1991, was $1.10 / gallon; adjusted for inflation, that should be about $1.85 today.
So funny thing: even as oil reserves (excluding the federal strategic petroleum reserve) rise, gasoline prices have risen. Last Summer we had more oil stored away in tanks, than at the depths of prices and the market, during the 2008 recession.
It sure looks like the real problem of high gasoline prices, is market manipulation, don't you think? Prices too low? Lower gasoline production!
Energy independence is overrated, when it comes to the cost of gasoline.
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