"George Orwell" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@mixmaster.it...
I think $4 per gallon is a tipping point in the US. The majority of buyers
> will no longer consider fuel efficiency in their selections.
It won't get that high, IMHO. Years ago the oil companies found two huge oil deposits... the one deep under Eastern Ohio, West Penn., & West Virginia is believed to be as large as Saudi Arabias (oil was first commercially drilled in West Penn. with tiny little towns named Oil City, Petrolia, ect). The Second deposit is out west, Wyoming I believe, and it is believed to be as large as Texas's. The problem with the oil deposits is that are deeper under the mountains than the Oil Companies can currently drill & it's mixed in with a coal slush. It will difficult to drill to, harder to seperate the oil from the coal and will leave a coal slurry waste (a massive amount) that the enviromentalist with scream bloody murder over (where do you put it when it is good for nothing but muck?) The oil Companies estimated that the price of pump gas would have to be over $3 a gallon before it would be profitable for them to attempt to get it & the public would have to be so hungry for new sources of oil that they would over-rule the enviromental concerns. Basically what their doing right now, with Governmental co-operating, is getting everyone use to the idea of paying $3 a gallon for gas while they work on the drilling and refining techs. The price will most likely remain around $3 for the next 3 or 4 years... then BOOM!!!... a big outcry and massive push to get the public to buy into the idea of cutting dependency on foriegn oil and going domestic with the coal slurry oil.