I bet the nat'l avg for reg unleaded is at least $3.00 before the end of June; sooner if Iraq descends into all-out civil war. just a guess....
It's not in big oils interest to have sustained $5/gal fuel prices.Short term they'll make a killing and then be defunct in 3 years. Now, geopolitical events may cause spikes or seriously affect supply. That's entirely possible but big oil doesn't want that. Necessity will force us away from oil if that kind of situation is sustained. That's the last thing that Exxon et al want. Bob, the Burgan Oil field in Kuwait seems to have peaked (15 years ahead of schedule!) but the Kuwaitis can make up the difference and more with their other fields so in the short term this won't restrict their production numbers. It does highlight the uncertainty of the ME oil reserves. For the same reason that Exxon doesn't want people thinking about peak oil, the Shieks of the ME have an avested interest in keeping their reserve numbers a secret. The last they want to have to say is that their reserves were overstated and there's actually less oil. That, again, would fuel the alternatives/conservation fires that hurt their business.
A couple of days ago regular unleaded went up to $0.99 a litre. It had been holding in the low 80's for most of the winter. I've noticed the pickup/SUV crowd are driving a *lot* slower! :lol:
The way I see it they are so wealthy they could simply drop the price back down to say $1.00/gal. Why? Why not. I believe anybody with all that money could help out our economy as they reside in this country. On a sour note, on ABC world news tonight the war monger & our wonderful congress people are authorizing a mere 9.8 billion $$/mo. for the Iraq crap. Can you imagine what all that loot could do for people who have it tough here? But, then that would be something our elected officials would never do. You also have an '06-Pkg. 1? So do I. I had no need for all the other stuff in the other packages.
Uh, you do understand that the "obscene profits" and "record earnings" were in the neighborhood of 10%, don't you? So the price of gas would go down about .25, to $2.25 (assuming an average of $2.50) That's if they gave every bit of their profit back, and applied it only to gasoline. Oh yeah, they would have to take it back from the stockholders. You might check your pension plan ... would hate to see you regret it when you retire.
Big Oil talks about Peak Oil all the time. Here's a link to an article where the Pres of Exxon-Mobil talks about the peak for non-middle east production: http://www.energybulletin.net/3624.html I've seen articles by BP and other oil companies as well.
Prices went down long enough to encourage that mad "shop till you drop" Xmas credit binge. Now reality is catching up to most folks.
Perhaps the sea of monsters will dwindle its numbers. Then I might be able to see what's in front of me again.
as the weather warms up, heating oil costs drop, available spending cash is increased, our tolerance for paying more goes up...so what is so hard to understand??
Dave, I usually pay more for AC in the summer than the winter -- in a low humidity climate, no less. The heavily populated NorthEast may skew the higher bills towards winter, but I doubt that the differences nationwide for home AC bills is hugely different in summer vs winter. Jay, your truck/suv crowd may be a bit more intelligent than the Tx/NM variety. I took a trip yesterday with CC set at 65, and was passed so fast that the wind wake was felt. Petrol is US$ 2.60/gallon.
Eric it takes very little AC to make life SURVIVABLE in nearly all parts of the country. sure parts of the CA desert maybe an exception. but we can stand the heat. our tolerance to cold is not nearly as hardy. without knowing where you live, i cant comment on your survivability without AC although i suspect you have it for comfort only. i say that because i lived several places without it in Riverside, CA. not the hottest place on earth, but i survived and did so easily. people in cold climates without any heat at all most likely cannot make that statement.
Dave, my comments are restricted to the $bills americans pay for home AC -- which in this society, is a matter of comfort, not survival. My local energy utility in Albuquerque, NM reports average monthly use for their customers. I'll look at some statements later out of curiousity, and update this post.
Huh, I've always found the opposite to be true. I can always put on more clothes if I'm cold. I used to sleep with the windows open in my dorm room in college (in MN) because the place was over heated. I also had my room fan blowing in cold air from out side. The most miserable night I ever spent was a night without AC in Tucson, AZ. Our apartment's AC unit went TU. I much prefer cold to extreme heat. Without the proper equipment they're both deadly, but I'll take cold over heat.
Ah, but do you see the problem with this and your earlier post regarding gas at $1/gallon? If you keep gas cheap, there is NO reason to stop buying SUVs (I assume that's the "monsters" you mention. High gas prices is just one way out of our current troubles. The other is to voluntarily use less of it... but that doesn't seem to be happening in general!
Yes, you're right. Today as I was driving aorund at about 59 MPH in a 55 zone tons of large vehicles were passing me like I was standing still. I guess what I wonder is why the big auto cos. decided to make huge gas guzzling machines after 1974. Also, I see Dodge has an '06 Charger that has an avaliable 426 CI Hemi engine with 425 HP. I think in this day and age only a selfish person would buy that car. The oil supply will run out far sooner thanks to people who have the attitude that they can buy whatever they want and it's nobody's business.
According to the auto makers, they make 'em because the buyers demand them. I mean it isn't like they advertised them as manly or sexy or the most desirable vehicles or anything.... Well, it is coming back to bite them in the nice person (Any GM stock-holders here?). Turns out it'll bite ALL of us in the nice person, however.
