Last night on cnn they said oil was two dollars off its all time high. It was late and I was half asleep, they also said something about one oil nation that was going to stop oil production. I have watched the news today and mums the word no news. Anyone hear anything?
Check google news. Basically, there has been trouble in Nigeria. Oil workers have been taken hostage and I think at least one pipeline has been blown up. Plus there's the Iranian situation, the Iraqi situation, and then there are general concerns about running out of global supply and peak oil. Expect gas prices to continue to rise. This is one of the reasons why I think it is wise to buy a Prius...
I pledge allegiance to the Flag, The United States of America... one nation under oil.... Yea.. I don't expect resale will be a problem with the prius...
I've also heard that if Iran stops selling us oil that oil would go up to about $100/barrel. This could happen if we pursue a "military option" there. So there's something to think about. -Roger
My understanding, from the news media, is that we haven't bought any oil directly from Iran for over 10 years anyway. My common sense tells me there is a certain amount of oil being sold and a certain demand and if we, or someone else, don't buy oil from Iran someone will buy it; and we will buy ours somewhere else because someone else will sell it to us. Iran can't, or won't, refuse to sell oil on the world market because they would be broke in a few days. So if they sell oil to India or China we will get ours from Canada or Saudia Arabia or somwhere else. People with money to buy oil will have oil as long as there is any left. Of course there is less of it every day and the demand increases everyday so it will definately hit a $100 a barrel or $200 and more, the only question is when. I think if it goes way up right away some people are going to be hurt financially but it might be a good thing in the long run. I have noticed, since the gas shortage of 1974, that the only time most people really get interested in saving energy is when the price goes up. Please don't send the lynch mob but gasoline at $3 or $4 a gallon might be a good thing.
Clearly the price of gas is not high enough to make a impact on peoples habits. That includes me I guess. I think that the one event that will mark that gas is at it's proper price is when all the High School student parking lots are empty and the Juniors and Seniors are riding the bus with the Freshmen. When that happens we will know that the price is right!
I figure that with the prius, I can continue driving around until gas hits $8/gal. At that point I will have to bicycle.
Another reason to end our prolific addiction to oil and move to PHEV (plug-in) Prii charged by photovoltaic or wind power. More reasons to think and act long-term and move strongly to renewable energy sources and conservation. Every time the price of oil fluctuates I think of heroin addicts and the price of prescription and nonprescription drugs.
Correct, we don't buy oil from Iran, but that is irrelevant. Oil distribution is market based, and therefor a network of chaotic attractors. No single importing country buys form one source, as diversifying dependencies mitigates obvious risks. While we may primarily import from Canada and Saudi Arabia, other countries that import from, say Saudi Arabia and Iran and south east asia will wind up increasing OPEC's price because of Iran's price, which increases, say North Sea prices from countries that import from S.A. and the North Sea, and so on and so on - the dominoes fall in the blink of an eye with the near automated global commodities market. It reaches all the way up to domestic production too - that's the free market. As ugly as it is, it's beautiful in that it's self correcting, and even more beautiful when you consider the dominoes wind up stacking so far and wide that it winds up producing revolutionary technologies like the Prius, and my favourite, telecommuting! oh, btw, someone and somewhere have 'e's after the 'm' sorry to nitpik! (sp?) Dave
Correct.. & If Iran stopped selling oil on the world market, it's economy would suffer greatly. However, there is not that big a gap between world daily output & world consumption.. (I heard it's less than 1/2 mill barrels a day)
Oh yeah.. I forgot to make my point - if oil prices rise in Iraq, they WILL make even domestic prices rise here. That's the nature of market. I often wonder why ALL of the G8 doesn't help to actually SOLVE Iran's energy problems - i.e., why not help to staff the nuclear power plants - not just in Iran, but globally. After all, if there's a terror threat involving nuclear materials, the obvious source of them would be the east block nuclear contraband that has been going on for TWO DECADES! This may sound like a crazy idea, but I think we need some kind of serious international security *everywhere* where there's something as dangerous as fissible materials, including inside the US. I desperately hope that a major terror event doesn't happen to make this idea a little more popular... (ducking from serious flamewar!) Dave
Iran doesn't sell us oil? Even if that's true, if Iran shuts off the tap, whatever countries did buy from Iran would move to buy from countries that currently supply us, which would cut into our available supplies. Therefore, it still hurts. I have to say I'm thrilled about this development. As long as oil prices continue to rise, my automotive agenda will be fulfilled. Bye bye SUVs!
The last thing we need right now is another country to stomp in our War on Terror. I, for one, think Iran and North Korea may have nuclear power primarily for the production of electricity. Yes, they want to enrich uranium, but I suspect it's more likely because they want to increase the efficiency of their reactors, not because they want to build a bomb.
I'm not sure where I got the part about Iran selling oil to the US, since this shouldn't be happening (senior moment). However, Iran is a major oil supplier to China, Japan, and other countries as well. Also, Iran has threatened to close the Straits of Hormuz and disrupt shipping in the area if we were to attack them. It is believed that they can do so, for whatever period of time they can manage, since they have the ground and air forces to do so. So I suspect that's where the $100 per barrel that I heard about came from. Anyways, you see lots of stuff in the news media, from the idea that we really need to get rid of the Federal Reserve to get away from the threat of the "petroeuro", to the fact that Iran is planning to open a new oil exchange in March, 2006 to sell oil in euros for itself and other OPEC countries as well. Iran selling oil in euros and providing an exchange for other OPEC countries, may provide enough motivation for the US to militarily act against Iran. There is some reason to believe that one of the reasons that we invaded Iraq was simply because Sadam Hussein had said that he was going to sell Iraqi oil in euros rather than US dollars. I'm not sure what I as an individual can do with the above information. Worrying doesn't accomplish anything. I guess that looking for opportunities to exert influence on the government is about all that I can do. -Roger
Yea.. who needs thier sinkin oil anyway.... all they have is the nasty stuff now..... not much sweet crude left. If everyone quit buying thier oil, they would be stuck in the desert begging for food and wouldn't be so cocky.
Canadians were a bit perturbed when the price of petrol jumped overnight the same amount as in the US during Katrina, even though Canada *exports* oil. For-profit companies do not stop being so, just because of a shortage
Even though the US does not get oil from Iran the world market still reacts to oil news. Oil is going to be a lever in world politics for years to come. Israel will not let Iran get nukes. This will also cause nervousness in the market. Expect gas prices to go up a bunch in the next few weeks. So glad I got a Prius when I did.
