Posted on 01/13/2011 11:48:03 AM PST by bananaman22
According to a loosely-organized apocalyptic Christian movement, May 21, 2011 will be the "end of days." On or about that same date, the price of oil in the United States will begin to climb to $4 a gallon, according to two savants of the oil industry.
The former is highly unlikely but the latter is very probable.
The escalation in the price of oil is predicted by the legendary oil man T. Boone Pickens, known for his financial acuity as well as his oil expertise, and John Hofmeister, who retired as president of Shell Oil Company, to sound the alarm about the rate of U.S. consumption of oil.
In an interview with a trade publication, Hofmeister predicted that oil would rise to $4 a gallon this year and to $5 a gallon in the election year 2012. Separately, Pickens—who has been leaning on Congress to enact an energy policy that would switch large trucks and other commercial vehicles from imported oil to domestic natural gas—predicts that oil currently selling for just over $90 a barrel will go to $120 a barrel, with a concomitant price per gallon of $4 or more.
The Obama administration appears to have been slow to grasp the political implications of an escalation in the price of oil. When asked about it, outgoing White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs referred the questioner to the Department of Energy.
Not everyone is alarmed by the incipient rise in the oil price. Republicans, who are especially close to the oil industry and its Washington lobby, orchestrated by the American Petroleum Institute, think that a great deal of hay can be made while this particular sun shines. They plan to attack the administration for spending too many resources on alternative fuels, over-regulating the industry, and keeping too many federal lands away from oil prospecting. They also accuse the administration of being too frugal with its release of drilling areas in the Gulf of Mexico and on the two coasts, as well as Alaska.
The Republicans have unlikely bedfellows in their quest to politicize the price of oil. They are joined by environmentalists who have long believed that only high prices will break America's passion for the automobile.
Environmentalists have long advocated European-style taxation to drive motorists out of their cars and onto buses and trains.
A third interest group that will take some pleasure in rising oil prices are those who are invested in alternatives such as ethanol, oil from algae and electric vehicles.
Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund is keeping an eye on the price of oil, according to Caroline Atkinson, director of external relations at the IMF. She told a Washington press briefing that the IMF is particularly concerned with food and other commodities that are directly affected by the price of oil. Full article at: Oil and gas prices
It’s already $3.39 here.
While in Philly the other day it seemed like every 100% car was a Prius, is it like that around you?
Will 5$ a gallon wake Americans up? Hell now. At least 1/3 of Americans are brain dead and will stumble all over themselves in a stupor and bitch but will have no idea they caused it.
If gas climbs to $4 a gallon again, the economy will collapse again.
3.49 here
There are no buses or trains within 200 miles of my rural location. Guess they'll have to send me to a relocation camp.
The sun does not rise, it appears to rise.
The price of oil is not rising, it appears to be rising.
The truth is that Barry, Tim and Ben are devaluing the dollar.
When will people get that they are stealing from all of us in every transaction?
And it will be Bush's fault.
I wonder how they will handle pricing in the battery replacement, those high use units will prolly have battery issues earlier than usual).
Btw- what do you do with used up Nickel Metal Hydride's?
With demand for oil increasing in China and India as well as the US, the price of oil will continue to increase as will drilling in the United States.
However, I’m not sure about the $149 oil, but $110 or 120 dollar oil is very likely unless there is some great negative impact on the world’s demand for oil.
Increased oil prices will simply mean that the world’s economy is improving.
The left WANT gas at 5 bucks a gallon. 5 buck a gallon will cause food prices to skyrocket.
This gives the left cover they need to demonize big energy as greedy and food companies as stingy.
The media will play the ‘we need government’ card to demand that American’s right to food is an entitlement much like the left have done with health care and housing.
Control food and you control the population.
Remember, EVERYTHING the left does is in increments with the ultimate goal of not just controlling the country but mostly depopulation.
If price were driven only by demand, that would be true. Price increases due to cuts in supply are more problematic, particularly in a down economy.
$3.59 for shell premium in CA since xmas.
You bet, that’s the plan. Here in the West there’s been a war on rural America for 15 years or so.
that's $220 a barrel
Cuts in the supply are typically of a very short duration, while increase in demand is long term.
And with the predicted increase in demand and increase in the price of oil, we have seen the number or drilling rigs greatly increase over the last year.
He and his henchmen are doing what is necessary to make sure that happens. He meant what he said and yet the idiots voted for him anyway.
When you print money, and your currency is tied the price of a commodity guess what, the cost goes up... That being said, its still overpriced due to speculation and churning of contracts etc.. but that’s another story.
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