Michael Fitzsimmons

Fadel Gheit: Oil Prices to Remain Inflated but Don't Pass on Gas

to say that oil isn't trading on fundamentals after 2008's supply/demand thin margin, an oil war in iraq that took millions off the margin (and added a geopolitical risk that has not gone away), the current iranian crisis, and the fact that china is circling the globe locking up oil deliveries well into the future, is simply putting one's head in the sand. with all due respect to mr. gheit, he is overstated the role of financial manipulation. the fact is, all the issues i listed above will continue to firm foundation under oil, and if the world economy ever begins to function "normally" again, you'll see oil prices zoom higher and eclipse the $147/barrel high very easily - especially when you consider that oil is priced in U.S. dollars, and we've all witnessed where that is going. at the same time, the U.S. is awash in natural gas, and as pickens said on CNBC the other day, we're *stupid* not to use natural gas in the transportation sector.

Natural Gas: The Most Under-Appreciated 'Green' Energy

transportation powered by US produced natural gas is the answer to a litany of US problems:

1) economical - trade deficits driven by our 70% dependence on foreign oil; natural gas is abundant in the US and *cheap*

2) environmental: natural gas emits half the CO2 of coal, none of the toxic particulates of coal, and is also much cleaner than gasoline.

3) if the US relied on its domestic natural gas reserves, it wouldn't have to go bankrupt fighting oil wars the world over.

unfortunately, congress is bought and paid for by the oil and coal lobbies. so, we stay addicted to the two dirtiest fossil fuels (going bankrupt in the process...) while clean, cheap, and readily available natural gas goes underutilized. congress is simply disfunctional and the US has no energy policy. obama has been a big dissapointment as he has done very little to wean the US off of foreign oil. no wonder the S&P500 is flat for the last 12 years, and negative when one takes into account inflation and the falling US dollar. when will americans wake up to the role foreign oil addiction is playing in our economics? when will americans wake up and realize that being addicted to foreign oil in an era of peak oil (that is, worldwide oil supply won't keep pace with worldwide oil demand) is a recipe for economic disaster for the US?

Natural Gas May Be Just the Solution for This Economy

US produced natural gas is abundant, clean, and cheap. It is a testament to failed US energy policy that a country that has 5% of the world's population, uses 25% of the world's oil, and is importing 65-70% of that oil does not switch to natural gas transportation. Natural gas is the only US produced fuel capable of being scaled up to solve the economic, environmental, and national security issues the US faces due to its foreign oil addiction. The American people should demand prudent energy policy from an American government which seems more content following wrong-headed pentagon/petroleum strategy of fighting oil wars to obtain access to oil as the country goes bankrupt in the meantime. Oil is at the heart of a weakening US. Meanwhile, we have all the natural gas we need right here. What we need is prudent and pragmatic energy policy and for folks to stop lumping natural gas in with oil and coal as a "fossil fuel". Natural gas is much cleaner and cheaper than either of them when all costs are added in (environemntal, health, military, subsidies). But, Congres is bought off by oil and coal lobbies. So, here we sit...addicted to foreign oil and coal. It is a ridiculous situation to be in entering the era of peak oil. You'd think $145/barrel oil and $4.50/gallon gasoline would have taught the American people something. It hasn't. So, we'll see it again - sooner than most people think. Here is an energy policy that could save this country:

thefitzman.blogspot.co...

Natural Gas & Wind Power - The Pickens Plan

As good as Boone Pickens' plan is, and I fully support it, if Pickens really believes in peak oil, then he is also aware that the only solution is a much more comprehensive, long-term, strategic energy policy:

thefitzman.blogspot.co...

Pickens' plan is a great step in the right direction, but the magnitude of the "oil problem" is so large much more comprehensive steps need to be taken. Meantime, Washington sleeps.....

Stagflation and Peak Oil: How Related Are They? (Part II)

TIPS, like I-bonds, are a joke and a losing proposition. why? because they are indexed to the government's inflation numbers, which are saying inflation is 4% when we all know it's probably over 10%.

you are right on track with energy services and energy investments. they, along with precious metals, will be the only investments americans will have available as long as we don't do what is required, which is to enact a comprehensive long-term energy policy to protect our country from the economic reality posed by the "oil problem":

thefitzman.blogspot.co...

failure to enact an energy policy will mean economic chaos long before global warming has time to destroy us. we have about 5 years to make serious in-roads on an energy plan or this country will be completely hosed. you're already seeing the beginning effects on our currency, stock, and financial markets. unlike the 70's when the saudis turned on the "spigot" and fixed the problem for us, there's no spigot any more, and we import much more oil (70%!) now than then. the US gov, media, and citizens are in oil denial. soon enough though, the realities will be so clear even a moron will be able to figure it out. of course, you'd think $145 oil would have done it too....

Smells Good: The Case for Natural Gas

The 50% devaluation of the US dollar is just in the last 8 years, most of the damage done when rep held both houses of Congress and of course our illustrious presidency. Here's a chart of just the last 2 years:

quotes.ino.com/chart/?...

If you want to talk about socialism, what do you think of an administration that backs the Federal Reserve taking over a publicly traded investment firm (Bear Stearns) with tax-payer money? That said, I have to admit I probably would prefer the socialism of say Sweden, Finland, and Canada to what we have in the US today: a raping of the US treasury by the uber-wealthy while the middle class (what's left of it...) struggles to buy gas, food, and pay their car and house notes. You point to history and if you have some historical perspective yourself, you must be aware that country's fall from power when the majority ("middle class") can't make ends meet. That is the track the US is on at present.

It's amazing to me the blindness virus that political ideology can cause people to conveniently ignore facts.

Age is not the biggest factor in determining intelligence. If experience and history were factors, what can one say about Bush's second term? Apparently he learned nothing from the disastrous first 4 years.

Smells Good: The Case for Natural Gas

sliman: that's a good question, but long term, i favor the stocks.
thinking/pedriven: i like APC and Petrohawk too!
paultaut: not familiar with PGH, sorry. i will have a look later today.
Pacha: while i agree that both parties are responsible for a lack of an energy policy, in the article i was referring to recent fiscal policies: the Bush administration's huge fiscal deficits (he inherited a surplus), the lack of oversight on the ratings agencies fraudulent AAA rating of sub-prime debt, the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates in the face of huge inflation (inflation numbers which are fraudulently massaged by our government), and the Fed taking over a private investment firm like Bear Stearns, are all factors in the greater than 50% (!) devaluation of the US dollar during Bush's 8 years. this of course, has a direct impact on the price of oil, it being priced the world over in US dollars. for a country that uses 25% of the world's oil and imports 60% of that, it's a disastrous policy. yet, still, we have no comprehensive nergy policy! as i have said before, the Bush administration's fiscal policies have caused the world's reserve currency to swith: from the US dollar, to a barrel of oil. it's a disaster. there is nothing "conservative" about the Bush administration - they are the most RADICAL government in the history of the US. our standard of living will never be the same IMHO.

Smells Good: The Case for Natural Gas

thanks for the comments.
elliot: i knew when i wrote the $700 billion comment that someone would point out the technically incorrect source of our imports. that said, my point was that oil is a global market and saudia arabia and russia are the two largest producers. the lack of a comprehensive US energy policy has led to huge inefficiencies, higher US oil consumption than necessary, and therefore higher prices - all of which have greatly benefited SA and russia. the falling dollar due to recent US fiscal policies have also played right into their hands.

i realize that LNG has not caught on in the US, which i alluded to in the article. the point i was trying to make is that "IF" the US had a comprehensive energy policy, we would be (or at least SHOULD be) encouraging the greater use of natural gas in the transportation sector, granting licenses to construct LNG plants, and be building the infrastructure for greater use of LNG sourced nat gas. the magnitude of the energy crisis facing the US due to crude oil is such that we will need ALL alternate sources of energy - natural gas is a "natural". that said, if congress's questioning of the oil execs the other day was any indication...i won't hold my breath for a sane energy policy any time soon....