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Ms Pelosi told US in 2006 that a Democratic Congress would bring gas prices down. If the United States Congress cannot do anything about gas prices, how will the Attorney General pull it off. OPEC is along for the ride. If oil is trading at $120 per barrel they sell for that. If it is selling for $10 per barrel as in 1998 they reluctantly sell for that price. Where was the outrage when the oil companies were losing money in the late 1990s? I don't remember anyone saying gas is too cheap. We need to pay more at the pump to expand oil exploration. We are all just as greedy as the oil company executives.
All I hear is the horrible oil companies are gouging US. We need alternatives. Well we have spent BILLIONS on alternatives and so far there are no good alternatives. If there were we would have them available. Since the early 1990s we have spent billions on EV research and all we got to show for it is a pile of crushed cars in the desert and a 3 wheeled Xebra that is not legal on most streets in America. EPA and CARB have done everything in their power to keep diesel cars out of our hands. While the EU has over 50% of their fleet running on much more economical diesel.
Correct. Note, though, that it is lead-substitute additive and not lead additive. Our ski boat (1990 build year) requires leaded gas (or lead-substitute additive). It has a Ford 351 V-8. Many off-road vehicles and boats required it into the 90s. I have no idea why. Maybe they were trying to use up all the cylinder heads that couldn't be used on in cars, and with unleaded gas, due to Valve Seat Recession (VSR).
Lead was originally added so higher cylinder compression could be used. The side effect was it left a protective layer on the valve seats, so the valve seats could be machined directly into the head. Once lead was removed from the gas, the protective layer was gone and valve seat recession was the result. Engines designed for leaded gas can have hardened valve seats inserted or entirely new heads put on. Rather expensive in either case, so it's off to the auto shop to pick up a few bottles of lead-substitute for our boat.
I do agree with you on that. I also find it interesting how protective we are of our backyards when it comes to oil exploration. I have not heard the environmentalist bemoaning any OPEC countries drilling in sensitive areas. The NIMBY attitude tied to our entitlement views are really laughable. We look at Brazil and say "Look they are energy independent", Why not US? Well they have cut down a large part of the most important rain forest in the World to plant crops. They are drilling off of their beaches. We have always gone for the cheap oil imports and the oil exporting countries are finally wising up to our ways.
RIO DE JANEIRO: While some of the world's largest oil producers, including Mexico and Iran, are struggling to remain exporters, Brazil is moving in the opposite direction. A huge underwater oil field discovered late last year has the potential to transform South America's largest country into a sizable exporter and win it a seat at the table of the world's oil cartel.
As long as we have known reserves and refuse to produce them we deserve to pay more for oil imported from other countries. Open ANWR and the coast of Florida to drilling and see how fast the price of oil drops. Then of course their is approximately 110 billion barrels off of Greenland that is now feasible with the shrinking ice cap. Don't sell that SUV quite yet. You may regret it.
I think it's the sense of fairness that has the American people ruffled. Anytime a monopoly is involved, be it MS, De Beers or a telephone co, people have a feeling of being taken advantage of.
and...from what I've seen the Oil 'kings' don't seem too concerned with re-distributing the wealth to the common people; I may be a skeptic...but I doubt their sincerity.
All commodities are an ongoing global auction, with the addition that multiple items are for sale at the same time, and that the buyers can immediately resell.
Sure the gas station owner can try and set his own price based on what other stations are around.
Personally I haven't seen traffic be much lighter, with the price going up. It will be interesting to see if people cut back on their summer weekend trips. It might actually be nicer with beaches and such less crowded.
As you can see OPEC is not reducing it's output. They are producing about 20% more than in 2002 when gas was less than $1.50/gallon. As far as I'm concerned it's quite a stretch to be blaming OPEC for our high oil/gas prices. It's far more plausible that they just cannot keep up with growing world demand and reduced output from some of the world's other oil exporters. OPEC is only taking advantage of us if you believe the consumer is blameless and OPEC has a limitless ability to satisy the world's insatiable and growing appetite for oil. I personally believe OPEC is either maxxed out or very close to it in which case they are doing all they can to keep the price from going even higher. I know that opinion probably doesn't sit well with those that would rather latch on to a conspiracy theory.
It would take about 3 days, total time.
Make me Commander In Chief for a week and gas would soon again be $1 a gallon.
So soon they forget.
Wasn't it Kuwait that asked us to throw out the invading troops of Sadam Husein ? We did and put out the Kuwait oil fires set by the retreating Iranians.. Saudi asked us to defend them if Sadam went from Kuwait to Saudi Arabia. We put
F-15's and troops there to defend them.
Now we are pathetic about not liking them screwing with us. We have our nerve.
you're talking about profit 'margin' the other guy is talking profit.
before you try to defend the profit made by Exxon, you should consider their business is subsidized by tax payers and the US military. Coke and Pepsi don't have those luxuries. And most people don't rely on Coke to get them to work and back.
I actually think higher priced oil is good in that it will promote alternative forms of energy and hopefully conservation. The problem with our government is that $40Billion in profit means you have a powerful lobby shaping the agenda in the White House. The Bush administration would have you believe we can drill our way out of our dependance on foreign oil.
http://www.reformation.org/stationary-earth.html
Other "nuggets" from the reformation website.
http://www.reformation.org/page2.html
So probably not the best source for your "facts".
Actually, corn syrup is heavily subsidized by the taxpayer. There are all kinds of ad subsidies out there too, or were. Campbell's Soup and the rest of them used to get lots of money to advertise in foreign countries; probably still do.
That was almost 18 years ago. We maintain a presence in the Middle East to protect our interests and to screw things up. There is nothing philanthropic about it. Prior to the discovery of huge oil reserves in that part of the world we probably had a very different foreign policy in regards to the Middle East. And yes we are pathetic because our lack of foresight has resulted in us being in a vulnerable position. Instead of accepting our responsibility we'd prefer to whine about it and blame someone else.
ok...
Saudi Arabia is producing 13% more (other countries are at a higher percentage).
I personally believe OPEC is either maxxed out or very close to it in which case they are doing all they can to keep the price from going even higher.
I actually have no idea what their capacity is...but yes...what interest would they have in the price going higher. Personally, I'd hate it if I made more $'s for the same output.
I know that opinion probably doesn't sit well with those that would rather latch on to a conspiracy theory.
We are in agreement
You probably couldn't find them :P . And if you did, it still needs major upgrading to be useful to you.
Why not start by having your politicians stop all the nonsense about not importing so called 'dirty' oil.
I think that Mexico would welcome our expertise in extracting more oil for them to sell US. Just the corruption factor makes it difficult to do business. It is hard to know who you are supposed to bribe. Poppin a cap into Chavez in Venezuela would be another good move. We should do that before he invades Columbia and makes a bigger mess of So America. If we took over the Venezuela oil and with Iraq we are nearly oil independent. Simple eh :shades:
Actually Coke and Pepsi, and many other international businesses were subsidized by the U.S. military. It was the massive arms buildup during the 1980's by Ronald Reagan that won the Cold War thus bringing down communism. These countries have now become vast new markets for Coke and Pepsi, GE, ...
The true story of whether a corporation is really being subsidized is whether it gets more money than it pays in taxes. Exxon-Mobil for instance gets subsidies to help it make $40B? Well that subsidy is small to the $80+B they paid in taxes. So Exxon's subsidy might be similar to the IRS giving you a deduction. You pay $10,000 and they subsidize you $2,000 but you're still paying.
However our sudden conservation would likely have little effect since China and India and Asia would just suck up all the excess that we left on the table. We can't get around that we are not the only 800 lb gorillas in the cage now.
Thanks for the clarification...
Well most of the OPEC nations have large investments in the Western economies. They have many years of gains invested in stocks and real estate. So it would be rather foolish of OPEC countries to have the prices rise so high as to trigger a recession. If Saudi Arabia has $300B invested in stock bought over the last 30 years, it is rather foolish to risk the value dropping 20%, in order to try and get $10B more per year on the oil sold this year. Saudi Arabia doesn't want to lose $60B to gain $10B. And if the world went into recession, the price of oil would drop, and they would not even get the $10B gain.
It all depends on the buyers ( us ) saying 'Yes we will pay your price'. Nothing else matters.
It will do my heart good to see a few commodity traders end up with over priced oil in their portfolio. I sure would not buy oil at $126 per barrel.
The reason Wal-Mart, imo, drives prices low, is because they have to deal with COMPETITION. The people who import and refine your oil don't really have to deal with that. In California, we mandate that we have to use a special blend that is only made here. That's why we are stuck paying over $4.00 per gallon for most grades already.
why subsidize big oil?
I can't think of one Senator that isn't a dope, the two from my state are.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
And which parody news sources are you referring to? The article was from the Associated Press.
Old gas pumps can't handle ever-rising prices
The Associated Press - May 12, 2008
all 248 news articles » from Google News
So we get rid of all the oil industry's tax breaks. What do you think that would do to domestic production and the price of oil? There's no way it would result in downward pressure on the price of oil. I guess the government could take this additional tax revenue and distribute it amongst us taxpayers but I wouldn't hold my breath on that one.
I'm not saying that I support all the tax breaks we offer big corporations. I don't. I just don't see the oil industry as being all that unique in this regard that we should be singling them out as the villains.
I read an article a couple years ago where a lot of the biggest corporation's CEOs got together and discussed the corporate tax code. There was a broad consensus amongst them that they would like to see the tax code greatly simplified. Not so much so they could save money but so they could go back to making business decisions based upon market conditions rather than how it might affect their tax bill. Congress does not want to simplify the tax code because that is their preferred method for doling out favors.
But let's follow your point. Let's decrease oil companies subsidies. Ok. So less profit for an oil company. That then means less tax they pay. Look at the amount of tax Exxon pays compared t their profit. So f the feds give them $5B in subsidies (I don't know) then Exxon doesn't pay 66% of that in tax, so the government may have another $1.7B.
If every oil company then has its profits reduced slightly, what would oil companies then have to do, to have a decent return on the hundreds of billions of $ investors have invested. They would need to make extra money somewhere else. Maybe they explore less spending less? Maybe they do less repairs or expansions to refineries? Maybe they try and get a better margin on their refineries, and their competitors follow suit?
All these corporations need to make a decent profit. A 10% profit on each $ invested is not that much. $40B is about 10% of what Exxon Mobil investors have tied up. It is not exorbitant, it is simply a measure of how big the business is.
Would you invest in exxon Mobil if it made 5% every year - $20B, or would you put your $ in a non-risky Treasury Bill? Because stocks involve risk,investors need to earn more than if they had the money in Treasury bills and such. 10% is about normal and average for a company to make.
Maybe Exxon needs to break into 40 companies,each earning $1B and then no one will get excited, as there won't be a big number reported as profit?
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
You must have missed the MEMO. This was the one that talked about how Mexican oil production is slipping and in a few years they will be unable to produce enough oil for their own needs.
tpe i think you omit efficiency and no-free-lunch ,no breakeven-lunch, from your analysis. i say no way is extra weight any kind of benefit to efficiency, no matter how much regenerative braking. hybrid tech is a lousy mitigator to the extra cost of lugging extra mass around - much better to just omit the mass.
hey, anyone here driving to mexico to refuel at $2/gallon? i hear it's all the rage among truckers. anyone can bring back 100 gallons of 500ppm diesel in proper containers. same true for gasoline? larsb, we don't have to take mexican oil by force, we can just drive down there and fill up at their retail pumps at their govt-subsidized price. what a country! their diesel has 25x more sulfur than USA & Euro diesel - what about their gas - extra sulfur? would mexican gasoline mess up a 2005 USA gasser? any old diesel vehicle can burn 500 ppm mexican diesel just fine.
It's right down the middle of this discussion.
Think about it this is'nt the first time we've gone through this!!! Just the cost of living has soared so high since the seventies! There has to be a way to stop it...I believe there is a web site or if I can drum up an old email...There are local USA gasoline suppliers. Boycott them And DON'T BUY THEIR GAS!!! The FOREIGN Oil Companies!!! We have'nt and won't see the end until someone or us...we...the people don't speak!! But to whom we ask? Good question most of the oil companies have majority of our politicians by their you know whats!!! Or have most of them feeding out of their hands. And who is the beneficiary? Auto for thought!
I think the issue with bringing gas back from Mexico, other than filling up your OEM gas tank, is that the feds or your local state taxing authority may chase after you for non-payment of road taxes. At least one guy making his own bio-diesel from waste fast-food grease ran into that problem not too long ago.
No, I live and North Dakota and can verify that we do have issues. I have been to the towns mentioned in the article(s). They even had a picture of a pump. Facts are facts, even if they do show up in the weekly world news. :P
"It's a significant problem," said Mike Rud, director of the North Dakota Petroleum Marketers Association. "In some of the outlying rural areas, this might be the only pump in town that people can access."
http://www.bismarcktribune.com/articles/2008/05/12/news/state/155401.txt
Another person that missed the memo! :surprise: Try going to;
http://www.fuelgaugereport.com/index.asp
As of today mid grade is at $3.99!!!! Diesel and premium are already over $4. RUG is up 2.6 cents from yesterday to $3.758.
Diesel is at a record $4.73 in NY. California is up to $4.70 for diesel. Will they hit an average price of $5?
"Looks like the price of status of owning large SUV's and trucks is taking its toll even on the rich."
Not sure what you mean by rich, but the prices are impacting a good portion of the people in the lower income ranges. Folks making over $250,000 are probably not as concerned as folks making $60,000 or so a year.
"If gas goes over $4, hers goes first. "
Careful, you need to look at the transaction costs!! You may actually lose money by trading in. There are taxes, fees, higher insurance? and the good old car payment. The car payment will likely be higher than your gas savings.
AND, the best time to buy an economy car is when prices are low. The best time to buy a larger vehicle is when gas prices are high. You want to buy a vehicle when it is not as popular!!! You sell a vehicle when it is popular to get maximum benefit.
Do not panic!
Do not panic!
Do not panic!
The oil bubble we are in may burst in a few weeks or months. My bet is around Fall we could have a 30 or 40 cent correction.
I don't know about that...depends what you consider rich.I have a friend who is worth over a million and he just bought a Jeep Commander with the hemi. I tried to talk him out of it,but failed.I guess high gas prices don't bother him too much.
Plan on the following until we can develop a HUGE production of alternate fuels.
2008 $3.35 Avg per gallon with spikes into the $4-$5 depending on region
2010 $4.50 Avg per gallon with spikes into the $5-$6 depending on region
2012 $5.50 Avg per gallon with spikes into the $6-$7 depending on region
2014 $6.50 Avg per gallon with spikes into the $7-$8 depending on region
2016 $7.50 Avg per gallon with spikes into the $8-$9 depending on region
2018 $8.50 Avg per gallon with spikes into the $9-$10 depending on region
This always happens. It's the seasonal correction. Normally prices begin to fall through the Chistmas season where they're the lowest. Earlier in this massive thread nippononly I believe copied a graph of the recent couple of years of gas prices showing this seasonal dip....but this past winter the dip was much smaller than prior years. Essentially it did not go down. I wouldn't be surprised if instead of falling back under $3 in December it bottoms at $3.35 before climbing back above $4 again next summer this time....then $4.50-$5.00 the following year.. etc, etc, etc.
We took a little day trip up to Galena last weekend and was listening to a Rockford radio station and a dealership was running ads for leasing Hyundais and Mazdas at $249/month and stating that you can dump your low MPG gas guzzler and make up the payment in gas savings. I was thinking that there was no way that you could do that, you have to have real bad mileage or the cars they were hawking produced gas as you drove them.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Just run the numbers and see if you could live on 1 salary. Drop the day-care, the school, and the $700/month gas bill - live a mile from work and bike. You'd also find that with only 1 salary you'd pay much less in tax, and the tax rates are lower. Go to 1 car and save the insurance and repair bills. And if you're still stuck 1 of you work part-time (cash job) when the other is off work.