Far as 'Kool Aid' goes, When fuel prices are going up like a rocket ship, that tells me something is seriously wrong in DC and I'll leave it at that.
Easy to see what side of the fence Dataman is on and it's not my side either.
Politics aren't the issue here. So constantly making political jabs aren't helping your case.
Fuel prices are based on the prices of the commodities they are produced from, crude oil prices are up and has been hovering around $60 for some time, meaning gasoline and diesel prices rise along with it. Natural gas and natural gas liquids pricing are up too, and explains the increase in propane cost.
Energy pricing operates on the principles of supply and demand, and all pricing changes are explained by a change in that balance. The Covid discount pricing of the last year is not the norm, and definitely not sustainable, but that's what happens when global demand suddenly drops by 10% or more. At $30/barrel oil development almost stops, here most of our drilling rigs were racked, frac crews sent home, and construction and maintenance went to bare minimum just to keep equipment going, some equipment was even shutdown waiting on the return of higher prices. Finally at $60 there is a chance of more significant exploration and development happening again.
Everyone wants something for free, and fuel costs are a common target for those that don't know better, but I don't work for free and neither do the companies I work for. Much of the easy oil has been extracted, and what remains is more expensive to produce. Combine that with an uncertain future and companies are no longer willing to invest billions of dollars on oil development to profit cents on the barrel.
If you want to blame someone, blame OPEC and Russia, they have been dumping high volumes of cheap oil onto the global market for a few years now in an attempt to squeeze US and Canadian producers out of the market. But of course that's nothing for most people to complain about, because it actually helps keep prices at the pump low. Now OPEC is curtailing production and oil is returning to normal prices again, and the public finally takes notice.
I'm probably one of the few members on this forum cheering for higher prices, simply because it puts more money in my pocket, here's to $100 oil.