What does the president have to do with gas prices?

[99potatoes]

Okay, long story short:

I stated that President Obama has very little to do with gas priced after one of my friends posted a questionable picture about him on Facebook. (it said thanks to the president the prices are now like a gazillion times more, something along those lines)

I mean, I always thought that he does have some influence on which direction they go through the polices he makes but it is mostly decided by the demand and the tax levels inside the oil market.

So, am I right or wrong? Any answers are appreciated.

[Joe in texas]

The anti-energy President has opposed every fossil fuel project since he was elected.

He had to be forced by a Federal Judge to start issuing drilling permits in the Gulf.
He banned exploration on both the east and west coasts.
He has publicly stated that he will shut down coal, the largest source of our electricity.
He cancelled the Keystone Pipeline.

His Epa even prevented oil exploration off the coast of Alaska because exhaust from Ice Breakers might bother a tiny Eskimo village 70 miles away.

The ONLy energy programs he has gotten behind are flakey green energy programs from his political contributers that have wasted Billions with nothing to show for them.

[MOMMA !]

The fist thing he and every president for the last 50 years should've done was to open up every available method of energy found in America to make us self sufficient. There is never a time more approprate than now. I realize this would not bring prices down for many years but it would put oil rich countries on alert that we mean business and we are on the road to not needing your product soon. Then I would ask every american to make a sacrifice by driving as little as possible. This would cause the oil countries to charge less justto sell their products. We can male more fuel efficient cars and also conserve energy in other areas of our lives.

[TK]

Levels of oil supplies, forecasts concerning demand and speculation. Those are the three factors that influence oil prices. Tax rates and subsidies have absolutely no effect on the price of oil. They have an effect on the amount of taxes oil companies pay on the profits they earn, which has an effect on the amount of dividends and earnings retained for re-investment, mergers and acquisitions or for a rainy day.

[Bflowing]

Here in Texas, the price of gas four years ago was at an average of 3.46. Today, its averaging 3.61.
In August 2008, it finally reached its highest point ever at 3.97.
No one blamed Bush for the increase, and no one gave him credit when the price dropped drastically at the end of 2008. That's because most people understood the President cannot control the world price of oil.

[Grizzly Man]

The Government holds barrels of crude oil in reserve, this reserve fluctuates with product and demand. the lower the reserve and more demand the higher the price per barrel. energy companys pay huge govermental and eviromental fees which is reflected in the cosr per barrel. storms in the gulf, oil spills, war in the middle east affect oil prices. this is called a projected oil price increase. in other words because of the war disaster etc crude oil maybe harder to get so we may have to dip into our reserves thus a price increase. depending on where you live approx 25 cents per gallon of gas is state taxes. The government regulates not only fuel cost but food as well. milk, corn you name it the government regulates it.
Now lets touch upon America tightening the belt on fuel companys tapping into our own fossil fuel deposits. Getting fuel here on our soil would cost the energy companys less per Barrel to extract. But that comes with a huge eviromental cost. pristeen forests devistated, mountains ripped apart for coal, ground water poisioned. There is clean energy available. Wind power, solar, hydro we need to stop being so dependant on oil which is the bottom line.