Argument against high gas prices

If you follow this link: http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/hist/a103600001m.htm

You will see that the gas deliveries in Mar 2007 are lower than they
were in Mar 1984. This is despite the claims by oil companies that
they have been constantly expanding their refining capacity, and the
reason for the over $3.00 a gallon pricing is due to refining
capacity. Sorry, but I just don't see the demand being much higher
now than it was in the early 80's from this data! How can there be a
refinery shortage if the capacity has been increasing, but deliveries
are flat? Add to that the fact that crude oil is $10 a barrel less
this year than it was last year, and you can figure that the oil
companies are going to report huge profits this year...

I think the truth is that the gasoline futures market is being
manipulated to maximize profits. Why else would the prices of av-gas
rise so much when demand has dropped by nearly 50% since 2000? Why
would auto-gas prices rise rapidly, when demand is flat?

The table does not yet show the auto-gas deliveries for April, May, or
June 2007. That data should be interesting given the sharp rise in
prices that occured in that time period. I wonder if demand has
dropped as a result of prices going up.

Dean