Why does fuel prices go up n price? here in malta the fuel price goes up from time to time. i know that we need from other countries maybe that%26#039;s it but i think there are other reasons . 20% 1 Vote

PROFIT, plain and simple.

gas prices go up when the demand is higher. This means more sales at higher prices = higher profits for oil companies.

Now they will say its because a plant is down for maintenence or yada yada, same stuff every year for as long as I can remember. Its all about profits and making their shareholders happy. 0% 0 Votes

It is whatever the market will bear with no relation to what is really going on 20% 1 Vote

Not sure about Malta, but in the US, refining capability is woefully inadequate. We haven%26#039;t built a single new plant since the 1970%26#039;s! Of COURSE that%26#039;s going to play havoc with supply, which makes it vulnerable to high prices when demand rises. 0% 0 Votes

high demand and low supply.remember the technology booms but the oil resource4s are depleting! 0% 0 Votes

All the answers I read are good, especially those that said %26quot;greed%26quot; is the culprit.

Another reason mentioned is %26quot;scarcity%26quot;,
In 2006, the production rate of oil was still increasing but at such a slow rate (nearly flat) that the rate of world population increase was higher than the increase in oil production rate, which means, in a per-person basis, the Per Capita Oil Production Rate Peak, was reached in 2006.
From then on, oil prices are dictated by greed.

This means, people will have to move closer to where they work to keep up with Food Price Inflation. Food prices will go up at the same, or higher, rate than the increase in gasoline prices.
The cost of electricity will make hot and humid places uneconomical for some labor intensive industries.

Places at a high altitude will have, a temporary, advantage, until the price of transporting EVERYTHING, except beef, goes up even faster the price of gasoline (there is a compounding effect). The problem is that climbing uses more fuel than horizontal travel and prices will be more affected by that.

In time, places by the ocean shore, with a cooling breeze at night and possibly lower transportation costs, will thrive while living under a threat of flood by increasing ocean sea level..

Places from Santa Cruz to Monterey, in California, will greatly increase in population density and, no doubt, passenger train traffic will become the most practical transportation mode.

Islands in the Mediterranean Sea will remain viable, as long as the oil-producing, Arab, nations wish to remain friends.

This bad situation will not alter Global Warming because cut backs on gasoline use will only bring reduction in oil prices and oil use will go right back up.
In this case, Greed could be an ally, the faster gasoline princes go up, the more renewable energy we will use (it will be, relative to oil, cheaper) but, it may happen so slow that we will only make Global Warming even worse. 0% 0 Votes

It%26#039;s simple economics. More and more people want more and more of something that there is less and less of. 0% 0 Votes

In economics class you will learn. It is called Supply and Demand.

When you have a lot of something (like Oil 30 years ago) then there is enough of it for all the people that want it so the prices are low. But when you dont have a lot of something (like Oil now) those same people who got it before cannot get it so you have to raise the price so that not as many people get it. (because you have less) Thats not exactly right but oh well... IF THERE IS A LIGHT ON IN THE ROOM U ARE IN TURN IT OFF! 0% 0 Votes

Global war conflicts, a decreasing US dollar value, weather such as hurricanes, company mergers, global politics, increasing demand from other countries such as China, maintenance repairs/shutdowns at refineries, increased environmental regulations, oil speculation on the commodities exchange, colder winter weather, increased driving across the US such as holidays, and the list goes on and on.

Basically big oil companies will use any means and excuse they can to make gas prices go up. If it%26#039;s not one thing it is something else. I think they even use a little psychology to allow them to keep rising it at a steep rate. They raise it up then lower it back down. When I looked at how the prices increased several months ago they raised it almost to a T at 5 cents per month. They%26#039;d raise it up then drop it back down then raise it back up, then drop it again. But each month a steady increase of 5 cents. It%26#039;s a method of conditioning people to accept higher prices. Raise the price up high then drop it back down and people are like %26quot;well at least it wasn%26#039;t where it was a couple weeks ago.%26quot; Then they raise it back up again. Then when they drop it back down next time its a few cents more than the last time they dropped it down.

Their goal as is any company%26#039;s is to make more money. Their best way of doing that is to figure out how to raise gas prices without raising it so much that people start using less fuel or start writing to their congressmen a bunch in outrage (that could backfire on them). So they merge and reduce the number of refineries and decrease excess capacity that they have, increasing the likelihood of gas shortages while at the same time reducing the amount of competition their is, limiting the sale and refinery of oil to just a few big oil companies. Back in the 70%26#039;s the refineries were running at about 70-75% capacity. Now they are running at about 90-95% capacity. That%26#039;s a slim margin. Not a single new refinery has been built in the US since the 1970%26#039;s. That wasn%26#039;t done by accident. By having that slim of a margin of capacity it helps them keep gas prices higher while at the same time not having to spend money on building new facilities. What do you know, a double-bonus for them!