Oil prices expected to rise above $200 per barrel

Which is why the oil companies are not only not building new refineries, but closing existing ones. Nor will they sell the existing refinery that is being closed to anyone. They want the capacity off-line.

Petrol sales in the US may "be down" (I'm not sure what you mean by that, compared to the same quarter last year, maybe? I'd wanna see your reference before I bought into it) But global consumption has not waned in the least... we are a thirsty people. The only recent change is that the US is now not the only customer. Within recent memory about half of all the autos on the planet were in the US, but this is changing... the US demand no longer has the power to sway the market as it has in the past. You may see this as the invisible hand giving US the finger but it's really just a free market in action.

Talk of killing the rich people and splitting up their stuff may sound nice within the context of a few oil execs, but the numbers indicate that all of the 5% of the global population that resides within the US is part of the top 10% wealthiest of the planet... So all the USofAliens would probably be targeted by any kinda of revolutionary redistribution program. That not withstanding there are probably a few oil execs whose heads belong on sticks for purely ethical reasons, but not all of thems is local boys.

At the end of the day, the rising price of gas doesn't seem to be that big of a problem, certainly not the kind of problem that I would want the government to try to 'fix'. If you feel like you're spending too much on gas maybe you need to figure out a way that you can drive less.

Don't hold your breath waiting for one of them to acknowledge that 1939 was the coldest year on recent record vs. 2005 that they keep citing before NASA threw that into a cocked hat by correcting their previously erroneous data.

Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')

One of the experts was saying we could see $15-$20 a gallon.

Gore and his cronies are profiting from the GW scam.

Yes.

Because we are still well supplied at the moment Remember back in the carter years and the spot gas shortages, I was caught up in it back in Chicago on a Friday night trying to get home. I'd rather have high gas prices than shortages and rationing. Long lines at the pump for 2 gallons.

Opinion, sheeezz.

You ain't seen nuttin yet. When we start fighting over the remaining oil supply that's when shxx hits fan. We're not there yet and quite a few years off.

Yea, well we'll get there, eventually. For that matter neither is the rest of the world.

How true!

Local refinery was sold to Shell and they wanted to close it down saying the cost to upgrade and rebuild would be prohibitive. Luckily, some representatives got involved and the plant is still operating.

Wonder where all the billions they are making are going if not to building, remodeling, or searching?

B~

Go to CSPAN, watch the video of the hearings with big oil that was on this week. CEO's on the hot seat, actually their set wasn't too hot. They handled themselves quite well.

What are you talking about?

If you left relevant parts of the previous post in, we could understand what you are replying to.

Jeff

We're part of the world economy. I was trying to put it into perspective.

No said anything about exporting it.

Really? How much do companies that just refine oil and sell it (like Valero and Sunoco) make on the refining operations? Right now, close to nothing (Valero lost money last quarter).

I haven't seen any jokes on money. Maybe when they put Bush's picture on it. ;-)

But seriously, some of the oil markets are moving to the Euro as the currency. But, the lowest the dollar has been against the Euro is about $1.5 to one Euro and the highest is about $0.80. The swing in dollar value doesn't explain most of the price of crude oil.

The level supply and increasing demand, however, does.

Jeff

What about when Bush was in the White Hosue and the Republicans controlled the House and Senate?

They had the ability to get things passed, but didn't.

Jeff

I'd guess coal. But to convert to coal, you need lots of processing plants. That's lots of money to build the plants and lots of time (5 to

10 years) until the plants are working.

That takes a couple of years to make the cars and lots of money for the infrastructure, like equipment to pump the natural gas into the natural gas tanks in the cars (which is at much higher pressure than the gas coming into one's house). Plus, how much spare natural gas do we really have?

None of this demonstrates that hedge funds or oil speculation has had any significant impact on the price of oil.

Jeff

You see the quote above.

"From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs."

You appear to be saying that because people "need" inexpensive gas, those with the abilities ( the oil companies ) should be forced by the government to limit their profits? Correct me if I misread what you were saying.

You want to dictate over the free market and legislate where wealth comes from?

So? Is "profit" a dirty word?

Perhaps we should nationalize the oil companies and force them to operate without profit incentives?

That's what's happening now. If the consumers found an alternative source of fuel for their cars, they could tell the oil companies, OPEC etc., to pound sand.

Nonsense. No one is forcing me to buy a thing, I can stop anytime. I can take a bus, I can walk, ride a bike, even maybe a horse.

No one is stopping anyone else from competing with oil, with another form of energy.

From Beck:

Someone in another group pointed out that it takes energy to produce and recycle the aluminum-gallium alloy that runs this engine's reaction. Ok fine, so what about using nuclear plants for that? ESPECIALLY in their off-peak hours? Think maybe 11 PM to 6 AM? You could build processing plants right next to the nuclear plants and use the nuclear energy during off peak hours to process the AL-GA metals back into usable form for these engines? Interesting?

BECK: Now, from one incompetent government agency right to another. Last night, I told you how tenuous our foreign oil supply is and how we are just one world event away from $7-a-gallon gasoline. It is becoming ever clearer that we need to identify clean, realistic and domestic energy alternatives. Our continued way of life depends on it.

The real story is, a Purdue University engineer and National Medal of Technology winner says he`s found a way to replace gasoline with -- get this -- water, but the U.S. Department of Energy is now standing in his way. As I`m sure you have figured out if you`ve watched this show for more than 10 minutes, I`m not exactly a genius, really even book smart, or really, quite honestly, all that literate, but even I understand that desperate times call for desperate measures, and anyone who says they`ve got a solution to our dependency on foreign oil deserves all the support that we can give them, especially if the answer lies in water. Energy independence is good for America, and you would think that the Department of Energy would know that.

Now, if you`re already suspicious about the government being in bed with big oil and big business, the next few minutes not really going to help all that much. Professor Jerry Woodall is a professor at Purdue University, who is trying to develop this technology.

Professor, talk down to me for a minute. How do you power a car with water?

JERRY WOODALL, PHD, PURDUE UNIVERSITY: Well, you need to split it first. You need something that will take the hydrogen away from oxygen, and the way I do it is I make alloys of aluminum and gallium, two different elements. As you know, aluminum by itself doesn`t do anything when you put it in water, but if you add gallium to it, the gallium removes the oxide on aluminum and allows it to react with water. It will split water, forming hydrogen and aluminum oxide. So that`s how we do it.

BECK: And you`re saying that the key to this is, you don`t actually need a pumping station.

WOODALL: Right. I can carry my aluminum in the back of my car.

BECK: And so who -- is the problem that nobody is going to make a lot of money on this? Is that what it is?

WOODALL: Well, I think you can. The problem right now is that this is very new and, if I do say so myself, it`s revolutionary, and it takes time for revolutionary ideas to permeate society where they become recognized as useful things.

BECK: OK, so the government is not helping you. They`re starting to withhold funding, is that accurate?

WOODALL: Well, I wouldn`t say they`re withholding it. I haven`t had a chance to get any from them yet, but I`m not panicked yet, because it takes time to get people on board about new ideas.

BECK: Yes. And what about private enterprise? Why not just go to private enterprise?

WOODALL: Well, I`ve been doing that. I`ve actually started a small company with an entrepreneur in Indianapolis, and we`re going to try to brand this stuff on a small scale and let it grow from that, hopefully.

BECK: OK. Now, do we have to change over? Can this power a regular combustion engine?

WOODALL: Yes. As you probably already know, the major automobile companies have experimental vehicles running on hydrogen. And, remember, all I`m doing is I`m making a stored form of energy that will convert water into hydrogen on demand.

BECK: OK. How long would it take? Let`s say, all of a sudden, our gas prices spiked up to $7. How long would it take for us to be able to have this technology and me to run my car with it?

WOODALL: OK, that`s a good question. I`m not an economist, and I`m not a market guy. It will take -- so there will have to be some sort of infrastructure, because you can`t just throw aluminum cans into your trunk, although it`s a great idea. You will need to be able to make up cassettes or some form of this aluminum alloy that I make and add water to it in a vehicle, so it has to be engineered.

If I had to guess -- so I`m quite confident that my grandchildren will be using aluminum in cars. Whether my older son will be using it any time soon, I`m not sure of, but it`s going to be done -- it`s all about money and the marketplace.

BECK: All right, Jerry. Thanks a lot. That is "The Real Story" tonight.

Just the free market.

It's been 30 years since the last oil 'crisis' and the richest, most technologically advance and, for the time being, most powerful nation on Earth is having it's balls squeezed by Arabs.

Thirty years squandered.

In message news:fsKZj.42$QW.22@trndny04, Jeff burned some brain cells writing:

The repeated phrase is "Democrat filibuster".

Why do you believe they have not had any significant impact?

I say 1% is significant, by the way. You say 10%. We're both right.

Maybe for this one product, it wouldn't be such a bad idea. Name ten other products whose prices are determined daily in a gambling parlor, and which have such a powerful ripple effect throughout the economy.

Many people do not have a choice but to drive. So yes, they *are* forced to buy fuel.

None are determined in a gambling parlor.

However, please provide a better alternative with evidence that the alternative would be better, including back up the need for the controls.

XOM, F, MSFT, GM, UNTD, GOOG, PPL, TGT, GE, WLMT, and the price that utilities pay for electricity in times of peak demand.

They are usually not forced to drive a Ford F150 or Hummer one a 50-mile commute each day. Thay have the option of getting a Prius or Civic hybrid and buy 10 or 15 gallons of fuel each week instead of every day.