American Free Press
By Pete Papaherakles
Could prices at the gas pump reach $5 a gallon by Memorial Day? Experts on oil believe that projection is not unrealistic. Gas prices have already reached $4 in some parts of the country since the saber rattling over Iran started.
Speculation determines the actual price of gas, although we are told that it is based on supply and demand. In the United States analysts claim that production costs account for 68 percent of the price at the pump, refining 13 percent, distribution and marketing 7 percent and taxes 12 percent. However, speculators buy millions of barrels of oil at the auction floor and sell it as “futures,” betting that oil prices will rise. And they do. All that is needed is for the White House, Congress, the Pentagon and Wall Street to work together, creating crises the media can hype. Oil prices go up, speculators make a bundle, and all the 1 percenters are happy. On the other hand, we, the 99 percenters, are left “holding the pump.”...[Full Article]
