Let's face reality here, people. Low gas prices represent one or more of several things:
1. Higher supply. We know Obama doesn't have anything to do with that, because he's done nothing to increase America's supply of available petroleum. Quite the opposite, in fact.
2. Lower demand. That means lower economic growth, fewer people driving to work, traveling on vacations, transporting goods, stuff like that. Now, Obama might have something to do with that.
Well no not really. Supply and demand applies to normal things like oranges. Oil's a whole 'nother ball game.
Neither O'bama nor any other POTUS has anything to do with "America's supply of available petroleum", nor with gas prices. Those are a function of the international market-- the pool it all comes from.
That's why this thread really doesn't belong in the Politics forum.
Actually, the American president has a lot to do with the supply of petroleum under American control that is not subject to disruption by ME terrorists. Right now, Iran could close off the Straight of Hormuz and instantly raise oil prices around the world. The more oil we're accessing here at home the less we would have to do without.
I'm afraid you don't get how this system works.
The oil we might drill and/or process here has nothing directly to do with the gasoline supply available. First of all, "we" don't drill or process it -- oil companies do that, and they don't work for "us" (the country); they work for their stockholders. That oil developed in Texas or wherever doesn't end up in a 76 station in Lubbock; it goes (virtually) to that same world pool where Venezuela's and Nigeria's and Saudi Arabia's oil goes ---- to whatever buyer returns the Company the most profit, in order. We're not at the top of that list any more.
That's the whole fallacy that tries to sell the Keystone pipeline -- just because that Canadian crude gets refined in Houston doesn't mean it's staying here -- the reason it would go to Houston for refining (Houston certainly isn't the only place that can refine) is because it can be easily loaded on ships to Asia. Because that's where the money is at the moment. So that's where it goes. Nobody benefits from that except Big Oil.
Unless you want to nationalize the oil companies and create an insular market cut off from the rest of the world, the myth of "what's drilled here stays here" remains a myth used to sell snake oil like Keystone to public approval. Oil companies don't work for a flag; they work for profit.
Actually, I do understand how it works, and quite well. Oil that is extracted and refined within the United States is not vulnerable to disruption by ME tyrants. It's really that simple. The more we rely on ME oil, the more vulnerable we are to even threats of disruption.
No, not at all. Oil is an international fungible commodity. Its price is driven by what the international market is doing, and the speculation on that market. If its price is going down here (or up, or whatever), then it's doing the same thing in the rest of the world, and it's a function of what that international market is doing. Got nothing to do with how much oil we might put into the pool.
The flow to that pool is largely (not totally but largely) controlled by OPEC, much (not all but much) of which is based in the Middle East. OPEC is a cartel that exists for one reason, and it's the same reason the oil companies exist for, and that is Profit. It's in the interest of both to keep that price both stable and manageably high. I believe I already posted an article explaining how OPEC will react if it deems the price is going too low.
That's why all of this has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with capitalism. And unfortunately for facile explanatory scenaria, capitalism in this particular case is way more complex than simple "supply and demand". I'm not a money guy but even I know that.
The point remains, however, that oil produced and refined within the US is not vulnerable to disruption by ME tyrants. Sure, if they throw a fit, the price goes up. But ultimately, they can't actually cut it off.