The Cost of Oil

[Troy@Protekt]

I am speaking as an American with concerns that reach much further than the rising gas prices.

No one likes paying more for gas at the pumps but if that were all it was then I think we could live with it and adjust to it.

I see the cost as MUCH greater than I believe most people see. Most people realize that oil prices affect our cost of living and that all goods and services must go up to still be profitable. This combined with the housing market in most areas of the US has our economy looking pretty dismal as I see it right now.

To take it a step further I believe there is an even greater cost that is yet to be seen. With the massive increase in demand of oil consumption around the world, the already mega rich oil companies and oil producing countries are profiting at an alarming rate. I can see where if we don't replace our dependency on foreign oil with smarter energy solutions (not corn), then we are doing nothing more than financing ourselves right out of being a dominate world power.

When I look at America in this day and age, I see the roman empire. If we are not careful, we as a nation could end up just like them.

Ok I am off the soap box.

Let's hear some opinions from you guys on this subject.

 

[GearHead_1]

There is no easy answer or quick fix. The answer has to be in a combination of all of the above and more. Yes, that includes Iraqi oil coming our way at reasonable prices. America's oil crisis must be looked at as a world energy crisis. The USA cannot solve the world problem by itself and as long as the world has a problem we always will.

 

[97F1504x4]

One choice that is not up there. Stop relying on foreign oil Tell all the Eco Nuts Screw you and drill and dig for oil in our own backyard and build some new refineries for crying out loud.

 

[Old Pirate]

Weak Dollar, Government writing IOU's (War in Iraq) and world demand. This country has one of the world's largest oil deposits and won't drill for it. That i don't know why. The next president is screw IMO.

 

[Bunky]

I do not think oil and refinery companies really want to see more plentiful oil. They make more money this way. Why mess with a good thing?

You can drill here but it is not going to make the world price of oil go down much unless it dramatically offsets demand and you will not pay less for US oil.

If the price does drop, the oil producing countries just produce less to reduce supply to push up the price so you cannot win if your goal is lower gas prices.

In the near term, get the dollar worth more. This will help offset the pressure to keep it higher. Rein in the Federal spending but I think this will slow the economy. The dem's seem no more interested in reducing pork barrel as anyone else.

If the US invested the trillion dollars for the Iraq war into research on alternate energy, we may have a chance to ween ourselves by using more solar, hybrid vehicles, etc. That trillion dollars was a lot of corporate welfare.

 

[RTexasF]

Boost oil production on home soil and build more refineries. Make it martial law or whatever is necessary to make it happen. The oil prices are killing this nation and I'm not just talking about the price of gasoline & diesel. Bought groceries lately? Lumber? It is all out of control and it starts with oil prices.

If we can send kids to a foreign land on a whim and call it "war" we can dig more wells and produce ways to refine the product retrieved.

 

[97F1504x4]

Yeah but gas is 1.39 is Iraq currently.

We were suppose to trade food for oil doesn't seem like that ever happen


Amen to this.

Boost oil production on home soil and also build more refineries. Make it martial law or whatever is necessary to make it happen. The oil prices are killing this nation and I'm not just talking about the price of gasoline & diesel.

If the price of gasoline does not get under control I have a very string feeling that it is going to drive this country right into another great depression. Everything costs more now due to gas prices and it is making people lose their jobs and the list goes on and on. The cost of living is not keeping up with the cost of gas prices and/or inflation and it is going to cripple this country.

Not to mention we import way to much stuff and do not export nearly 1/3 of what we import.

Bad business all the way around!!!!!

 

[Troy@Protekt]

Not to mention we import way to much stuff and do not export nearly 1/3 of what we import.

Bad business all the way around!!!!!

I agree. Places like Wal-mart are a big cause of people struggling. Wal-mart brings all this cheaply made stuff in from China and makes it so other small businesses can't compete.

We as a nation are becoming victims of our own greed. Meanwhile Wal-mart and China become too big to stop at this point so something will have to give.

 

[97F1504x4]

Yep one of the reasons I will not shop there

 

[shineycar]

well this is a touchy subject around where i live.. i live in the west virginia coal belt. and i work in various power generating stations in this area. and a big talk around them is that nuclear power is going to be making a big comeback in the near future. they have really improved on the safety aspects of nuclear power in the last 10 years. and they are cheaper to operate and maintain. and they produce less pollution then the old coal burners do..
i voted for the hydro, which i have worked in too from time to time. they are really clean and efficient to operate.
as for cars, i vote for electric ones!!!:lol2:

 

[dave40co]

I agree. Places like Wal-mart are a big cause of people struggling. Wal-mart brings all this cheaply made stuff in from China and makes it so other small businesses can't compete.

We as a nation are becoming victims of our own greed. Meanwhile Wal-mart and China become too big to stop at this point so something will have to give.

I remember when Wal-mart only sold goods made in the U.S.A.

 

[Scott P]

One thing that people seem to overlook is the fact that the oil is not costing the big oil companies any more than it did several years ago. They are vertically integrated and not buying oil at a market price. Drilling for more oil inside US territory will not fix that. The companies doing getting that oil will cite high exploration and construction costs and pass that along to the consumer.

Than answer isn't in finding more oil, but in making the best use of the oil we have. Look towards conservation and alternative energy. Sure, solar and wind power aren't going to give us 100% of the energy we need, but it will help. As investment grows, so will its efficiency. Costs will drop as a result of the greater efficiency.

The same goes for nuclear power. It is one of the cleanest forms of power generation. If we could just get over our mental block about the past problems of it, it could make a difference.

I know there are people out there who are the anti-environment types who hate things like pollution controls, recycling, conservation and alternative energy source. To care about this stuff makes you an eco-nut or tree-hugger. I don't understand that. I would think that cleaner air and a healthier environment would benefit everyone.

 

[Jngrbrdman]

I live in a valley with several oil refineries and our gas prices are just as out of control as everybody else. It is ridiculous how stupid the whole thing is. There are oil fields here in Utah that get drilled, but they penny pinch over everything. What is the price of gas in Venzuela right now? $.14 per gallon!!! What is up with that??? I say we drill the hell out of the US and stop shipping it over from countries we are trying to destroy. Viet-raq needs to end, so hopefully a new president will stir things up a bit. I really don't care who wins as long as they do something about the price of gas and get the (insert word of choice here) out of where we aren't wanted.

Personally I'm ticked off that the gas prices shot up with Katrina and the excuse was that we lost the refineries. So what is the cause for it jumping up now?? Still losing those refineries, are we? Oil companies are recording record profits and there isn't anything anybody seems to be able to do about it. The technology exists to build an electric car that performs just as well as any car on the road today, but nobody is making it. Why? Freaking corrupt government, that's why. It isn't hard to see why the Muslims look at America as a great big huge evil spot on the face of the earth. We are judged as a whole by the actions of our leaders and I haven't seen much good come out of them lately.

North America is saturated with oil but we won't touch it. Are we waiting for the middle east to run out so we can start screwing them for a change or something?? If that were the case then WE should be the ones lighting the fires instead of putting them out. This whole thing is absolutely insane... I could import my gasoline from Venzuela and probably end up paying half as much as I pay at the pump. There are too many rich greedy evil xxxxxxxs in charge of things and that is going to kill us all in the end.

 

[black bart]

I saw an oil energy annalist on TV and he said based on supply and demand oil should be less than $80.00 the difference between 80 and 135 is market speculation.

We can not drill here for oil the PC crowd won't allow it.

Political Correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical, liberal minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.

 

[RANDAL]

Here is what the midwestern farmers and fuel suppliers beleive.

Oil companies are behind this 100%!!First grain markets went up to where they are now. Yes I am a grain farmer! Beef was bringing more than any time in the past just before grain went high. At that time pork went down to drive the small family farmer out. This will lead to a lot of buildings sitting empty at some point and the rich come in and buy at $.10 the dollar, hiring cheap labor whose money either goes to Walmart or they sebd it to their families in Mexico! The fuel prices have gone up so the production of fertilizer rises as natural gas is used to create most fertilizer. Potash is mined in Canada and New Mexico and has went from $125/ ton to $850/ ton. And you still need to truck it and have it applied. The seed companies will need to raise prices to offset their input costs.

My idea is close the board of trade or only allow them to trade actual product / take pocession/ sell product they actully have. NO MORE PAPER TRADING!

What I recommend to consumers is to go purchase a large deep freeze and head to the store and purchase high quality meat, either pork or beef. Enough for 9-12 months. Those prices have not gone up much in comparison to the rest of the food products and im affraid they will take off as the the packing plants are not making as much money as they had. Yes i was rambling, to many thoughts going through my head. Have a Great Day and eat BEEF!! Or organic grains! RANDAL

 

[black bart]

Here is what the midwestern farmers and fuel suppliers beleive.

Oil companies are behind this 100%!!First grain markets went up to where they are now. Yes I am a grain farmer! Beef was bringing more than any time in the past just before grain went high. At that time pork went down to drive the small family farmer out. This will lead to a lot of buildings sitting empty at some point and the rich come in and buy at $.10 the dollar, hiring cheap labor whose money either goes to Walmart or they sebd it to their families in Mexico! The fuel prices have gone up so the production of fertilizer rises as natural gas is used to create most fertilizer. Potash is mined in Canada and New Mexico and has went from $125/ ton to $850/ ton. And you still need to truck it and have it applied. The seed companies will need to raise prices to offset their input costs.

My idea is close the board of trade or only allow them to trade actual product / take pocession/ sell product they actully have. NO MORE PAPER TRADING!

What I recommend to consumers is to go purchase a large deep freeze and head to the store and purchase high quality meat, either pork or beef. Enough for 9-12 months. Those prices have not gone up much in comparison to the rest of the food products and im affraid they will take off as the the packing plants are not making as much money as they had. Yes i was rambling, to many thoughts going through my head. Have a Great Day and eat BEEF!! Or organic grains! RANDAL

Yep you pretty much nailed it.:bigups
Do away with the board of trade.
No futures market let supply and demand work take the profit takers out of the equation.

 

[dr_detail]

instead of a "chicken in every pot," how about "a still in every back yard."

mmmmm... a lil' for my car, a lil' bit for me, a lil more for my car... a lil bit more for (hicup) me....

 

[CharlesW]

The fact that so much of our economy and pricing structure is tied to oil costs is definitely not a good thing.
I have read that our oil use is around 84 Million barrels per day and production is about 86 million barrels per day. The law of supply and demand will probably keep those ratios pretty much in relation for at least a few years, but......
The oil available is not an infinite quantity. In other words, someday it will be gone.
We need to wake up and find not only ways to conserve, but alternate sources of energy.
I don't have any idea how to do it.
One thing I do know, the only way to get people's attention is to hit them in the pocketbook.
An example:
The supposed Ozone depletion caused by the refrigerants such as R12 and R22 was talked about for years and nothing was really done in the way of research until the prices went up from 50 cents a pound to $30+ per pound. In a fairly short time, alternate refrigerants were developed and put into service. As usual, the money talked.

My personal feeling is that much as I like horsepower and fast cars, the short term solution is going to be hybrid automobiles. The ones presently on the market are not bad and given some development time, they could probably become very good.

Some of the other crude oil uses such as plastics would have to be replaced, but they certainly could be given some time and the prospect of profits for research and development.

 

[Troy@Protekt]

Manipulation fueled by greed.

It's done all the time by people in power. The sad part is when it is done with no regard for who or how many suffer.

It's human nature like what is depicted in the movie "Lord of the Rings". The ring (power) corrupts even good natured people into evil doers.

I know that a bad economy is a very mild form of suffering compared to ethnic cleansing or cruel dictatorships so I still consider myself blessed to be an American and I am proud of the many good things we as Americans have done and are doing.

If we can send kids to a foreign land on a whim and call it "war" we can dig more wells and produce ways to refine the product retrieved.

Do I think we should have gone to war with Iraq? No. Do I think we are being told the truth about why we went to war in Iraq? No. Am I happy for the people who are free from Saddam's tyranny? Yes. I personally think we could have freed Iraq without invading them and going to war. All I can say is there is so much that we don't see that it is impossible to judge the decisions that were made. I know they weren't made lightly but on the other hand, were they made with the right motives?:hmmm:

 

[black bart]

The fact that so much of our economy and pricing structure is tied to oil costs is definitely not a good thing.
I have read that our oil use is around 84 Million barrels per day and production is about 86 million barrels per day. The law of supply and demand will probably keep those ratios pretty much in relation for at least a few years, but......
The oil available is not an infinite quantity. In other words, someday it will be gone.
We need to wake up and find not only ways to conserve, but alternate sources of energy.
I don't have any idea how to do it.
One thing I do know, the only way to get people's attention is to hit them in the pocketbook.
An example:
The supposed Ozone depletion caused by the refrigerants such as R12 and R22 was talked about for years and nothing was really done in the way of research until the prices went up from 50 cents a pound to $30+ per pound. In a fairly short time, alternate refrigerants were developed and put into service. As usual, the money talked.

My personal feeling is that much as I like horsepower and fast cars, the short term solution is going to be hybrid automobiles. The ones presently on the market are not bad and given some development time, they could probably become very good.

Some of the other crude oil uses such as plastics would have to be replaced, but they certainly could be given some time and the prospect of profits for research and development.

Charles one of the largest oil fields is off of our coast in the gulf but the tree huggers will not allow drilling so guess what CHINA said we will gladly take it and they are going to drill their.

As to the demise of R 12 do you suppose that had anything to do with the fact that the patent ran out on it and China was starting to import it really cheap.
DuPont comes out with R134 convinces congress to outlaw R12 and now they get 11 bucks for a small can of it. HOW CONVENIENT.