phillips49

Barron's Banks on $100 Oil

Let me see if I got this right. The Saudis are increasing world oil availablity by 0.24% (200,000/83,000,000) ( if production doesn't fall of somewhere else like PEMEX or Nigeria) and the price of oil is going to fall by 24%? (32/132). I think I'll stay long on the oil and gas companies. They are going to continue the upward trend interrupted occassionally by hot news flashes that we are awash in oil and everything is OK.

Oil Manipulations Exposed

correction -it was Abe Lincoln that said "you can fool......." not Mark Twain

Oil Manipulations Exposed

Good article! I sure wish it was as easy as the author presents. We could just send in the oil Gustapo and fix it! Arrest them all, sue them all. Gas would drop back to $2.50/gallon and everyone would go back to sleep!

I rather suspect that it is a little more complex than that though. It is hard to hide a fraud of this magnitude from the entire world. Was it Mark Twain that said "you can fool some of the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time"

I'm sure there is some churning and manipulation. However the fundamental truth is that if supply exceeded demand, prices could not be manipulated. A supply/demand issue is the root cause. Our dependance on foreign oil will be the ruin of us. I'm not an oil apologist, I'm a realist. We need to reduce our presence in the global energy market competition. We need to pump our own oil, use our own coal, use our own natural gas, put up wind farms, put up nuclear power plants, and transition our mobile fleet over to the most energy efficient possible.

America's Energy Policy: Coming to Terms with Reality

It is not an exaggeration to state that we are at war! It is just not a coventional war with an overt bad guy. It is a subltle war for survival of the American way of life. Our future will depend on how well we do.

Our current strategy: Shoot, Ready, Aim will fail!

A war is won starting at the very top with:

Identification of a national goal or objective.

Securing majority support for the goal.

Placing our best generals in charge of securing the objectives.

The generals are given the latitude to develop the plan of attack and are not politically micro managed.

The required resources are identified.

The resources to fight the war are mobilized.

The attack begins and moves flexibly through many battles.

Then, the war is fought, one skirmish at a time, one battle at a time.

The war is won based on how good the plan was and how well it was supported and the winning of the majority of the battles.

America's Energy Policy: Coming to Terms with Reality

I wish it was as easy as a change in Administration and representation. Since the oil embargo though, 30 some odd years ago, there have been many changes in Administration and representation. Unfortunately though, none have had the foresight, leadership or the will to protect our national security, by assuring reasonable access to strategic resources. America was built on reasonably available energy. We exported our manufacturing strength and we exported our national wealth for imported energy. Our dollar is weak because we have exported money and imported all the value added, dirty stuff that we didn't want to be bothered with at home. The global concept of a faternity of nations, all getting along and cooperating in trade is great on paper, but it comes as a sacrifice to our own strength. Can we really have a world class life style, by selling each other hamburgers? Now, if we make any of our global suppliers mad , we are totally ........, well, you can fill in the blank.

America's Energy Policy: Coming to Terms with Reality

Perhaps Senator Leahy should bring Saudi Arabia before congress. ( not seriously). They pump 10 millions barrels per day at $130 per barrel. That's $5.0 million per hour. $830,000 per minute. Perhaps Prince Waleed who just had a $4.8 million diamond covered car built ,(his 38th car), would feel the pain of the Senators people.
I'm sure that the US government already got their fair share of taxes off of Exxon and all their employees including the execs whom the Senator tried to embarrass. Exxon is just an easy target because the are a $479 billion business and they are domestic. Increasing taxes on the oil companies won't fix the problem. We need to get free of foreign energy.

Here's where your gas money is really going, for anybody that really cares.

www.dancehallreggae.co...

America's Energy Policy: Coming to Terms with Reality

Perhaps Senator Leahy should bring Saudi Arabia before congress. ( not seriously). They pump 10 millions barrels per day at $130 per barrel. That's $5.0 million per hour. $830,000 per minute. Perhaps Prince Waleed who just had a $4.8 million diamond covered car built ,(his 38th car), would feel the pain of the Senators people.
I'm sure that the US government already got their fair share of taxes off of Exxon and all their employees including the execs whom the Senator tried to embarrass. Exxon is just an easy target because the are a $479 billion business and they are domestic. Increasing taxes on the oil companies won't fix the problem. We need to get free of foreign energy.

Here's where your gas money is really going, for anybody that really cares.

www.dancehallreggae.co...

America's Energy Policy: Coming to Terms with Reality

It seems that we (Americans) are in a state of denial. Until we stop looking for the "great conspiracy" and admit there really is a fundamental problem, we won't start to solve the issues in front of us. We (Americans) aren't the only ones pay high prices. It's global!..global! There are those in the world who can afford it less than we can, but are having to pay the price. The blame/shame game will not solve the problem. That game is only smoke and mirrors and delays action that would fix the problem.
When supply and demand for a basic neccessity are roughly in balance, it doesn't take much tweaking to control price. OPEC is a business, not a charity folks!. They don't have to turn up the taps, just because we whine. They don't owe us any more than what we pay for. I actually felt bad for the guys that had to put up with the humiliation in front of Congress. The Congress thing was just for show. It was a feel good thing. It changes nothing. We really ought to listen to what those execs said about what we have placed off limits in our own country. It going to take everything we've got to get out of this mess. Oil, natural gas, wind, hydro, solar, nuclear, fuel efficient fleet, hybrids. All of the above. We've got the know how and the resources. Now, if we can just get the will. But until we admit there is a problem, we can not solve it.