Scott Benson

What Really Caused Oil to Boom?

The steep drop in the oil price from $147 last summer to $30 six months later can only be explained by speculation (too much borrowed money by hedge fund tennagers looking for the "investment of a generation") and the weaker dollar (which coincidentally hit $1.6 per euro and strengthed once everyone started to flee for cover to the U.S. dollar to $1.25 per Euro), and not by supply and demand (which is cooming). Today's incredible oversupply of oil and natural gas today only confirms that explanation.

Remember Those $200 Oil Predictions?

We have to take into account 1) after several years of "partying" with the home equity lines of credit, followed by a predictable slowdown and 2) this being a pretty mild summer and 3) there haven't been any REAL disasters this year, we haven't had the need to tap energy very much. But when things start getting messy (boiling summers, freezing winters, pent-up demand by the emerging global middle class, with energy strained from pole to pole), I think we'll be back to the races in energy prices. Demand took a break in 2008 (and supply continues to die.) Doesn't mean it has to stay that way for very long.

Forget $100 a Barrel - Oil Will Plummet to $30

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA... I use the media for my gathering of energy-related knowledge, but you have perfected it! With the exception of the massive drop (for now) in demand that I will agree is happening, gasoline and diesel are here to stay. Your alternatives are nonsense -- they will cost way too much. Hydrogen???? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...

Supply and Demand in the Oil Market

Speculators are also called investors. I am a speculator. I make bets on whether I'll have any retirement funds or not. If I win, gimme my money. If I lose, I am the one who gets screwed. The commodities markets allow farmers to guarantee a return on their crops, no matter what happens. The commodity markets transfer risk. I suppose you can have any prices you want -- you can also have the lying communist government that goes with it.

Supply and Demand in the Oil Market

The precipitous drop in crude oil prices in the last 3 weeks has me thinking: #1 weren't the speculators found to be not guilty for the run-up in crude prices? Because it is sure looking like they were to blame all along. #2 just before the Congressional election of 2006 that fall, pump prices were strangely lower, suggesting "Republican forces" or the "Saudi Govt." were manipulating, trying to get Republicans elected. #3 what's gonna happen when the Commie Olympics is over on the 24th, and China resumes its buying of any and all oil not nailed down. And #4 does a puny drop in driving of 2-3% (which likely will rebound when the frigid cold arrives, and also when oil demand worldwide ramps up as it usually does in the 4th quarter) match up with a 20% drop in crude oil prices? Now THAT'S inelastic. Just how much has demand for oil actually dropped? How bad is the U.S. economy doing really?

And You Think Today's Gas Prices Are High?

Having lower prices on electronic "gee-whiz" items like I-pods, DVD players and laptop computers (nice to have but are hardly necessary for true happiness in life) doesn't mean very much. Try comparing the REAL costs of good living: food & energy, health care, education. Toys aren't much of a measure.

All of the Motor-Fuel Alternatives to Conventional Crude Oil Stink

Mr. Obama will grow up fast enough. I'm writing him a letter this weekend concerning his lost cause assocation with the corn ethanol people. Corn ethanol cannot displace any meaningful quantities of gasoline or diesel. But, I still like the man. :)

All of the Motor-Fuel Alternatives to Conventional Crude Oil Stink

(P.S. I'm a democrat and I'm voting for Obama, though I am predicting that by the end of his first term, people will be unimpressed. There's little he can do now.)

All of the Motor-Fuel Alternatives to Conventional Crude Oil Stink

FBI conspiracies, "cars running on water," and the massive move to products made (cheaply) in China are hardly great rebuttals.

I'll wait patiently for the laughter, if we have that much time to wait.

Thanks for the replies!

The 'Peak Oil' Myth: New Oil Is Plentiful

You don't understand peak oil, dude. Nobody says we are running out of oil. Peak oil says we may be running out of CHEAP oil, on which our modern world economies depend. Every alternative you list, from the Brazil Tupi and Carioca fields (indeed impressive amounts, maybe, but very deep in the earth) to the oil shale nonsense, are going to be HUGELY expensive to produce. There is lots of oil for people who can afford it. But few people seem to acknowledge that most of the world isn't all that rich. Do your research, my man.

Drilling in ANWR: What's Not to Like?

Reminder: it is currently illegal to drill ANWR, so no test wells have been drilled. There may be nothing at all at ANWR.

Does 'Speculation vs. Fear' Matter When Oil is Running Out?

The only people who think oil was formed "abiotically" are Russian and French scientists from the 1950s and 1960s. Oil was formed "biotically," as almost all Western petroleum geologists and engineers believe. Oil was formed over millions of years via algae, plant matter and microscopic organisms under high pressure and temperature. Try a less biased source: wikipedia.org

Does 'Speculation vs. Fear' Matter When Oil is Running Out?

Gasoline and diesel are indeed carbon-hydrogen bonds from algae & plant matter that strengthened over millions of years under extreme temperature and pressure. If anyone could make it for a penny and half, someone would be doing it already. The sheep says ... they aren't doing it cause they can't do it that cheaply (anymore) .... BBBBBAAAAAAAAA!!!!

Does 'Speculation vs. Fear' Matter When Oil is Running Out?

We are not running out of oil. There is no supply shortage today. What we may be running out of is "cheap" oil, which our modern economy is built around. There are no renewables or alternatives that can replace the power of oil for any length of time. And the public is so unready to hear this news, that their suburban house may not be worth very much (without affordable gasoline, 50% of the U.S. housing is near worthless,) that they may have to ride a bus with smelly homeless people, that they won't be able to fly cheaply to the Bahamas for vacation, if at all, that their winter strawberries won't be available at the local grocery store, I dread the future. I'm still going to try to make some money off of all this in the short run, but Congress and the presidency will be hopeless to stop it. I can only hope someone figures out how to supercompress and superheat dead plant matter into oil over a few years instead of several million years, cause otherwise things are gonna be a LOT more expensive.