by Chris Black
Currently speaking, the national average is $5/gallon. According to estimates, the figure could reach $6 end of summer.
People like to talk about various factors that influence US/World gas prices, things like distribution costs, the cost of crude itself, refining costs etc.
However, no one mentions of high frequency trading algorithmic trading of oil futures.
This drives up the cost of a barrel of oil. It isn’t demand for the actual product, but demand for making money off trading contracts.
Over 99% of the daily volume in oil contracts is just algos shifting digits.
So much so that more contracts change hands in one minute than used to trade in one year.
If you ban the high frequency trading of commodities and limit contract rollover, the price of oil will collapse to $25, regardless of whatever claimed demand there is for the actual stuff.
But no one will do that, because the money is so good man, and the big guy gets his 10%.
Another thing that grinds my gears is the liquefied natural gas that we send to Europe via tankers, after we ordered them to stop buying from Russia, because reasons, democracy and gay anal in Ukraine.
There is mass idiocy in liquefying natural gas to put on container ships to send to Europe.
The amount of energy it takes to process the gas, transport, and distribute it all over Europe is more than the gas provides.
This world is so f*cked…