Re: gas prices

[Daniel Davies <dsquared@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

if you were a big integrated oil company which wanted to make a load of
money using your market power, you would not manipulate the price of  barrel
of crude.  You'd use your quasi-monopolist position in the markets for
refined petroleum products, which are local, fragmented and characterised by
small consumers.  cf Enron, which did not attempt to manipulate the world
price of electricity.
best
dd

-----Original Message-----
From: PEN-L list [mailto:PEN-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Doug
Henwood
Sent: 29 November 2006 19:30
To: PEN-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: gas prices


On Nov 29, 2006, at 12:54 PM, Carrol Cox wrote:

> In the last 50 years how many
> price-changes of a few dollars a barrel have there been?

The average of the absolute value of the yearly change in the yearly
average price of oil is 22% since 1861; 27% since 1970. In other
words, the price of oil is extremely volatile.

Doug