Email this post$134!!!
I wish I had something pithy to express here beyond shock and amazement, although at the risk of sounding like a Republican I do think these periodic "grillings" of oil executives are becoming something of a pointless exercise.
And I don't even know what to say about this -- except that thank God I own a bicycle.
There's two parts of the price equation for crude. Not just the demand that so many people focus on, but also SUPPLY. And guess what? North America has vast natural energy resources; petroleum, coal, natgas. The problem? Government regulations that discourage or even prevent the explorations and development of these supplies and the technology to use them effectively. So I find it quite amusing that we're looking to the government to regulate the energy companies because of a problem created by government regulations in the first place.
The biggest problem is the speculative buying based on oil prices six-eight years in the future, not what it should cost in the next year. This is getting absurd for no good reason except speculators want the price to rise.
There putting the squeze on,that nuckel head chaves and the
present dirt ball leader of iran .All the arab nations are in
this together ,there bringing it to a climax,alot quicker than
many want to accept.Currently their's no movement on our part, but
lets face reality.At the current pace ,will be paying 20.00$ a gallon
in two years.
Good point, Tommy. "chaves" really is a "nuckel" head. I agree with you. $20 per gal. in two years is a near certainty. Let's nuke Venezuela and Iran. Blow them both to smithereens. That will solve the oil problem.
talking point,I refuse to be responsible for my spelling
after9:00pm.I am glad you got my point.
It is not too late to escape from oil--Germany, France, even Norway (which has a lot of oil) are taking sensible steps to be independent of oil. We could too except that our nation is run by oil millionaires. Mike 1 is right about the speculation. We also have let the dollar drift down--the rise of price of oil in euros over the past year or two is almost half what the rise in dollars has been.
Those grillings are in fact pointless exercises. For the benefit of the conspiracy theorists among us, the ONLY thing operating is the law of supply and demand: as the economies of China and India grow and expand, so does their demand for energy. And as that demand for energy grows, so does the price of a barrel of oil. This is (or more properly should be) no mystery at all. And now a note for those who hope an Obama Administration will be elected to deal with the rising price of gasoline: what realistically can the Boy Blunder do, other than politely ask India and China to stop developing? And guess what the answer is going to be?
George: As much as you are correct, it's unfortunate, but the conspiracy buffs who comment on this site will put you down for your truth. It's not sexy to believe in fact, only fiction can get you blood boiling.
Well, as db has posted many times, speculation IS now being looked at as a major reason for the current spike. Many of those articles state that supply hasn't decreased, nor demand increased as much to justify the current prices. Billions are flowing into unregulated commodities markets. As for Obama's policy, at least he's not offering a gas tax holiday or holding hands with the Saudis.
"I refuse to be responsible." George must be a Republican.
RG: Here is the latest story that Will is ignoring in his Peak Oil universe:
http://www.star-telegram.com/104/story/651928.html
I find it quite interesting that Will berated the Pentagon's use of their own analysts to plug the Iraq War - but can't be bothered to look into how the MSM mindlessly passes along 'news' from analysts tied to companies directly involved in the current commodities run-up.
This article is the best one yet on this story. And there is more to come.
"The biggest problem is the speculative buying based on oil prices six-eight years in the future, not what it should cost in the next year. This is getting absurd for no good reason except speculators want the price to rise."
One neutral commodities analyst has said he has never seen so much oil pushed out into the future. Which means the core speculators expect the bubble to pop soon.
I think it will peak in the $140-$150 range and then pop once the excuse of the summer driving season is no longer viable. Like the last minor bubble deflation did in 2006.
From what I've been reading, almost all the "analysts" preaching about $200 per gallon oil work for the biggest players in the coomdities markets, like Goldman Sachs.
Wow. George almost had a complete, sensible, and rational comment.. but then he had to ruin it at the end. I'll give it an A for effort, though. Good link from db (though it gets into some unsourced claims at the end). Various pieces of the financial sector are directly responsible for today's problems, and yet they still claim (and some people still agree) that they should be able to regulate themselves.
"Good link from db (though it gets into some unsourced claims at the end). "
It's a teaser for the next column to come. But the claims are consistent from what I've read. Like most truly bad things done by DC, it is bipartisan (the initial bill was signed by Clinton and further deregulation done by Bush) and the langauge was drafted by interested parties and snuck into a larger bill. But to me, the most important part of the story is how the media uncritically and enthusiastically passes along the claim of 'analysts' from vested interests, and does not research the underlying fundamentals. Maybe Will and other reporters are too busy blogging to follow up on these claims. Maybe the claims fit their preconception. But this gives cover to what is going on - folks believe there is a supply problem when inventory levels show that is plainly false. It's the dot-com/housing bubble all over again - where the media sold the sizzle while not informing the public that there was no steak.
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