Letter: Gas prices affect our cost of living

Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2006 | 8:47 a.m.

When are we going to put the blame for higher gasoline prices where they belong? The price of a barrel of crude oil is determined by the speculators on the commodity futures market. I realize those prices vary due to conditions in the oil industry.

When there are events that indicate that there is going to be a shortage of gasoline, such as Hurricane Katrina, there will be a "buy" market, thereby raising the price for a barrel oil. This in turn will then raise the price of gasoline because of the increase in producing the gasoline.

The increase in gasoline prices is a major factor in our cost of living. Not only to the immediate effect on our pockets but also to the effect of prices on every other item in the consumer market, such as transportation, power, etc.

I don't have a solution -- I'll leave that to the economic experts to figure out. I just want the public to understand what and who are causing the increase (and decrease) in our gasoline prices.

Bernard Mesco

Las Vegas

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