Don't blame oil companies OT | Arthritis Information
Of course, I blame them all, but this is one guys perspective:
Don't blame those 'greedy' oil companies
As you fill your tank for your next summer trek, consider what stands in the way of a lot of domestic oil development:
As you fill your gas tank for your next summer trip, ask yourself how gas prices have reached current nosebleed levels. For many, the easy answer is to curse the "greedy" oil companies. Consider for a moment an alternative reason.
Oil is a commodity and therefore is subject to the laws of supply and demand. In the simplest of terms, when demand begins to put pressure on supply, prices go up; simple Econ 101. In a supply-and-demand situation, there are really only two options; lower demand or increase supply. I don't anticipate that the demand for oil will decrease, as Americans love their cars and love to drive. This leaves us with increasing the supply.
I know there are other fuel and energy alternatives, but none are mature enough or as readily accessible as oil and its byproducts at the present time. They may be in the future, but that doesn't help us out at the gas pump today. While research and development of fuel and energy alternatives will and must go forward, the supply of oil in the interim can be increased and America has vast resources that can be tapped into today.
Blocked in D.C.
Investors Business Daily estimates there are 1 trillion barrels of oil trapped in shale in the U.S. and Canada. Retrieving just a 10th of it would quadruple our current oil reserves. There is a pool of oil in the Gulf of Mexico that is estimated to be as large as any in the Middle East. There is an equally large pool believed to be in Alaska.
The Chinese are attempting to tap into the Gulf oil supply by drilling diagonally from Cuba. I wonder what environmental safeguards they are using?
The fact is that there are environmentally safe methods of extracting oil from shale and drilling in both the Gulf and Alaska. Congress, however, continues to block these efforts. Just last week, the Senate voted to block any extraction from shale in Colorado. In essence, they voted to make your trips to the gas station more expensive, to make air travel more expensive, and to make heating your home more expensive.
That's something to think about in an election year.
I work in the investment, speculation and commodity markets.. I don't see how we have a supply and demand shortage pushing the pumps.. it's the price per barrel moved by speculators that push us over the edge buying possibilities of increased prices .. that are increased by the buys in the stock market and pushing the price up!!...
And why isn't Congress moving on investigating the possible manipulations of domestic motor fuel gouging? The House-passed bill (H.R. 1252) in 2007 setting stiff penalties for gasoline (and other kinds) price-gouging Why has the Senate Commerce Committee taken no action?
Do you know who's pockets are truly being lined by these high prices?????Our refineries are over 100 less than there were in the 80's....To drill in the Artic would take decades before the relief would be felt at the pumps...
At least McCain and Clinton are attempting to address the issue.. Obama scoffs at their ideas but has none of his own.. remember that when you vote... granted the 18.4 excise tax reduction for the summer months would be temporary.. but it would only be a brief reprieve *sigh*
and why would refineries be cutting back on their expansion projects now? because it drives prices and helps w/ their profits... and the refineries blame government regulation on the high prices..
Puh-leeze!
It's a horrible horrible situation this world/country is in.. and there is no relief in sight.
So babs, what can we do about it? Will decreasing our consumption help? Write to our congressmen? I'm not sure. I have cut down drastically on driving as I don't want to become poorer so these people can be richer. I buy everything the cheapest way I can. I can not do any more than what I'm doing to cut back and not make matters worse. It is a complex issue. I have no clue how to help.I am with you. I drive only to work and absolutely necessary trips otherwise.. I order things online when I can get free shipping (which saves MY money but not gas) I drive a hog.. I will say that.. but we are on the crux of finding out if we are moving to TX..and if we are.. we'll need that to transport critters ;)
Personally, I don't think individuals can do much at this point. and I'm not sure what can be done at government levels, but I feel strongly that it MUST start there. Or, maybe finish there? Someone = Congress, president, needs to step in.. This gas crisis will devastate the already suffering economy..
LOL, I don't expect that free shipping to last much longer. Why is it that when the price of oil went up, the gas prices jumped from .79 to 3.95 within two days, but when the price went down earlier this week, the gas did
not go back down at all? It's still 3.95 and up around here. If you have noticed the trend over the past years, it is to get it to a premium price in June and keep it there so that they will sell sell sell during the tourist season. It will be interesting to see the statistics at the end of the summer regarding tourism. I bet it is down. I know we are not traveling as much this year due to airfares and gas prices. My father lives in a shore resort... about 1 1/2 hours from me... I use to go see him monthly... now I go every couple or few months...
"they" say that as long as consumers continue to use.. the price will never revert back..
I think it will never revert back anyway...
if they get us to pay it.. they will keep it there.
I remember the gas shortage of the 70's..... our prices did NOT go up.. we just had to ration our usage.. it was a bit of a pain... but not as much as this pain in my pocketbook.
so the comments about low availability are crocks..
I'd go back to having to get gas on the days w/ even numbers if my license ended in an even number... try me. I am so sick of the gas news! Do any of you watch Good Morning America? I watch it as I get ready for work, they have a whole segment on gas. I don't think the prices are needed to be so high. But hey I am a simple teacher, on a teachers salary, so I guess thats where I come from! I am too younger to remember the 70s, but I do remember the days when it was under a dollar a gallon. I agree the supply and demand crap they are feeding us doesn't fly here.good lord I'm reduced to car pooling to Aldis for groceries. we dont eat out at all, we freecycle for clothes.. We make a good living and I'm scrimping and saving to just get by.. We have NO debt, no mortgage and NO credit card bills and we still are scraping by..
Shouldn't we have seen this coming? Oil is a limited resource, we're dependent on oil producing countries in politically unstable parts of the world, world population is increasing, developing nations use more oil. We had technology for wind and solar energy, we had the technology for electric cars back in the 90s. But even though many experienced the gas shortage days of the 70s, consumers still bought SUVs. Where was our government? Where were our leaders? Where was a national energy policy?
There's a documentary film "Who Killed the Electric Car?" Its available thru netfliks or you can read a synopsis at the link below. It identifies all who played a role in the 90s in stopping the production of electric cars. No gas lines today -- just a line to buy a hybrid.
I live in one of the biggest US oil company cities down here in Louisiana.
Oil companies are ran just like any other business. When a product is needed, they produce it.
The problems are with the other companies. Car companies who make cars that take gas, heating companies producing products to heat your homes etc. If all these companies change their way of business, oil wouldn't be needed and less would be produced.
Prices of gas also is not the fault of the oil companies. Gas prices are made by stock market buy and selling. The people who own stock are to blame, not the companies.
WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR IS A VERY GOOD DOCUMENTARY!!! Another thing too is we are still giving tax breaks and subsidies to oil companies. why??? When they are making such big profits and they are not putting it back into their companies to help wth making the production of oil better and available why should they continue to get money from th government, basically our money??!!!
[QUOTE=bubbagump]I live in one of the biggest US oil company cities down here in Louisiana.
Oil companies are ran just like any other business. When a product is needed, they produce it.
The problems are with the other companies. Car companies who make cars that take gas, heating companies producing products to heat your homes etc. If all these companies change their way of business, oil wouldn't be needed and less would be produced.
Prices of gas also is not the fault of the oil companies. Gas prices are made by stock market buy and selling. The people who own stock are to blame, not the companies.
[/QUOTE]
NO..not exactly... It is not the oil companies' stock holders that manipulate the profit.. it's the speculators!! they bid on "things" not companies. one of those "things" is oil... so it's not the stockholders.. but speculators.
what goes to our home heating is not what goes into gasoline.. they are by products of one another... not the same product... Car companies make gas fueled wheels because that is the product READILY available to fuel cars... Do you know there are other products to fuel cars.. your car and mine..with no alterations to our vehicles? there is.. but you can't get it.. why? because the gas companies prevent it..
Oil companies and gas production is not completely a supply and demand industry... Anyone notice at holiday time the toy companies cannot make enough of the "toy of the year" so the price is high?? it's bullsh*t... they could have been making it all year to be sure there would be enough.. but why not? because then they wouldn't be able to get the PRICE.. same thing w/ oil.. so don't fool yourselves thinking this is anything more than a manipulated shortage...
Electric car!! Loved the film.. watched it several times... and yes, it was killed purposely..
There are too many in the oil industry who pay too much to those in political office to let them not be one of the most powerful industries in the world..
It is a large conglomeration of things that make this the must FUBAR'd thing and who pays? WE DO!!!
What can we do? not a damn thing.. except pay more.
Yet we still pay only a fraction of what most of the rest of the world pays for gas. Why is that, anyone know?
From an 2005 CNN Money article:
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) – Gasoline prices in the United States, which have recently hit record highs, are actually much lower than in many countries. Drivers in some European cities, like Amsterdam and Oslo, are paying nearly 3 times more than those in the U.S.
The main factor in price disparities between countries is government policy, according to AirInc, a company that tracks the cost of living in various places around the world. Many European nations tax gasoline heavily, with taxes making up as much as 75 percent of the cost of a gallon of gasoline, said a spokesperson for AirInc.
In a few Latin America and Middle-East nations, such as Venezuela and Saudi Arabia, oil is produced by a government-owned company and local gasoline prices are kept low as a benefit to the nation's citizens, he said. All prices updated March, 2005.
for rest of article see:
Just like the coal companies, the gas is the same. Nobody is paying anyone off, it's that if they stop the production of these products, thousands upon thousands upon thousands of people will be without work.
90% of the oil field workers are not properly education and working in the oil fields is a family thing they do one after the other just like our local shrimpers.
if you take these jobs away, our state will become one extremely large ghost town and there won't be jobs for these thousands of people who aren't educated in anything but the oil field.
not to mention, nobody has come to louisiana to build any other businesses to help support our workers and so they can change jobs. Right now there is a shortage and people are temporarily moving out of the area when they can't get the work.
it's rough. Very rough.
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