U.S. Crude Hits New Record-($ 45-50/Barrel Here we come baby ! ! !)

Reuters ^ | Sunday May 16, 10:14 pm ET | n/a

[Grimas]

As a geologist who has been employed since the early 90's and has survived almost 12 years in an industry plagued by layoffs and contraction, I'm smiling all the way to the bank! Most of this industry is approaching retirement age and NO ONE has been coming out of the universities with geology degrees for the last 10 years. EOM is expecting 50% of their G&G staff to be retired in the next 5 years. I've heard some of the "majors" are looking at hiring kids with accounting and math degrees out of school because "they're good with numbers" and training them to be geologists. God help us if this happens... ;)

Word from the head hunters is that some oil companies are going to start offering (gulp) company cars again to attract the few of us with 5-15 years of experience.

[hedgetrimmer]

Premium, $3.00 per gallon, Menlo Park, CA this afternoon.

[Flavius]

hmm what do you charge for training

[mississippi red-neck]

The problem is not real shortage. The problem is corporate greed.

If you remember just about four or five years ago they where talking about an oil glut and the price 14 or 15$ a barrel and gas was around $1 to $1.15 at the pump.

This shortage has been cause by deliberately cutting production in order to raise the price and profits.

We used to have monopoly laws to prevent corporate price-fixing but since the oil companies have gone global and own most of the politicians of political parties they are no longer governed by those laws.

They just get together and decide how much they want for their product since there is no alternate or competition you have what amounts to blackmail.

The oil industry is the reason we passed the antitrust laws in the first place.

[Flavius]

well guess that didnt work

[ladyinred]

I heard some talk show host over the weekend complaining about how Americans want a war on terror as long as they don't have to make any personal sacrifices themselves. If this war makes gas cost $3 a gallon, so be it he said. It is true that we have no honor here anymore, and thank goodness this generation wasn't around during WW2 where they had ration cards!

[inflation]

We have a lot of oil in this country, perhaps President Bush should go on TV and give a speach that would FORCE congress to do something.

[Grimas]

The problem with your argument is that most of the supply isn't controlled by corporations but by national oil companies instead. OPEC tried to limit production to keep stable prices ~$20 but most of the members "cheated" on their quotas. Saudi's got pissed and opened up the valves to "punish" the cheaters (and non-OPEC members).

There's still lots of oil and gas out there. Problem is we can't get to a lot of it because of environmental regulations - no new drilling offshore California or Florida. Throw in all the "special" gasoline blends that the refiners are supposed to make and the difficulty on building new refineries in the States plus all the state and federal taxes that were added to gas when it was around $1/gallon and that's why you're really paying so much at the pump. Don't forget the big jump in demand from China and India as their economies grow...

Personally, I'm against ANWAR development but not for the reasons most people are against it. I say we save ANWAR until we really need it - let's use other countries resources while it's relatively cheap to drill and export it and save ANWAR until we really are running low on supply (say in 20+ years from now...)

[Lael]

Now, 40 dollar oil. 50,000 barrel reserves are suddenly over a 10 to 1 payout. Things are economical to prospect in the US. But I imagine, for technical and field hands, there won't be enough folk to staff the need.

Back to the OVERTHRUST Belt, back to using Bentonite for "Drilling Mud" rather than for P*ss Clumping Cat Litter...and time to lure back to Denver those most endangered of all birds, the Sixty Story Cranes!!

[Judith Anne]

I agree. Americans would consider ration cards, that our parents endured during WWII, to be an unthinkable sacrifice.

What is the present generation made of, for God's sake? There were Victory gardens, there were ration cards, nobody could afford nylons (not that women wear them anymore) the nation's resources went to fight the war, and no green weinies were holding America hostage to regulations...

Things have to change. Americans have to grow up, and think of their priorities: food, shelter, transportation. Where is our work ethic?

I'm so tempted to get on a soap box right now...

[kenth]

The price of fuel affects more than your personal budget. Sure, you may be okay. But, some people drive far more than 300 miles a week. This is usually where someone chimes in the admonishment to not drive so much. That's a heck of a solution, isn't it?

Tell that to the transportation industry. Fuel surcharges will increase the cost of just about everything across the board.

[RBroadfoot]

Albertan oil sands are viable @ $20/bbl.