Posted on 03/16/2005 8:59:03 AM PST by drt1
Despite a pledge by OPEC ministers to increase oil production, don't expect much of a break on oil prices. With crude oil prices hitting a record $56 a barrel Wednesday, OPEC ministers meeting in Iran have been grappling with a problem they haven’t confronted in the cartel’s 45-year history. In the past, OPEC tried to cool overheated prices by pumping more when supplies got too tight. But most OPEC producers say they’re already pumping as fast as they can. And despite the high cost of a barrel of crude, world demand shows no signs of slowing...
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
Statements like this are a speculator's dream.
Remember back in 1980 when the price of Gas first topped $1.00 per Gallon? Since then we have gotten used to Gas being over the magic number, that's why it doesn't hurt as much right? Wrong!
In real (inflation adjusted dollars) gas is actually still cheaper than it was back in 1980!
Even though a gallon of unleaded in the US has shot up 21 cents per gallon recently...
And Gasoline is fast approaching the peak prices seen during both Gulf Wars...
Though many in the press are claiming that gas prices are at an all time high...
When adjusted for inflation, it is clear that gasoline prices are far below the 1981 inflation-adjusted peak of $2.94.
About supply and demand. Think prices are bad now? Watch it skyrocket if there is a major disruption due to geopolitics, nature, terrorism........!
Those actions would seem to be the only logical actions that can be taken given the longer term energy needs and, contrary to naysayers, it can be done safely and responsibly.
There and many other places...
This will merely make alternatives and conservation more palatable.
It is not the end of the world, as the catastrophe-junkies would have you believe.
Might as well disband OPEC, then. Wasn't the whole purpose of it to control oil prices? What we got here, is irrational exuberance. My faith in process, though, says that, as prices rise abruptly, so will production -- evening the keel. A corollary principle, I believe, is that research and development will be spurred, creating new, non-petroleum-based energy solutions. It isn't immediate, but it is more immediate than it was yesterday.
Check out this thread already going.
ANWR debate on C-span right now!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1363986/posts
I believe shale oil becomes economically feasible to harvest at $30/bbl.
Shoot OPEC showed what it wanted a few weeks ago, when prices were in the lower 40's for a barrel and OPEC cut production, causing prices to shoot back up to $50.
exactamundo - "In real (inflation adjusted dollars) gas is actually still cheaper than it was back in 1980!"
Before Xmas,my pops said gas could reach $80 dollars a barrel in the next year or two, I said you are mad, OPEC would be shooting itself in the foot and my dad said exactly what you did...
then when someone from OPEC said the exact same thing a few weeks ago, about oil reaching $80 a barrel in the next year or two, I had to bow down to my father and say, you were right, I'm not worthy.....and oh my god, he also said something like OPEC doesn't matter any more
(he's heavily invested in Canadian oil companies right now, doing quite well)
he also says Canada now produces more oil than Saudi Arabia, when you include all the tar sands, now that I'd have to confirm (could be semantics crude vs refined?) which explains why the Chinese been sniffing around trying to buy into the oil industry here and other natural resources
Time to sell those SUV's.
Oil shale has a serious problem - the availability of water. The Colorado flows past massive oil shale deposits. And every drop in that river is already claimed. It would take a fair amount of that water to recover the oil in the shale.
Maybe 'someone' is stockpiling oil. I don't know how the increase in demand can be SO drastic and immediate. Especially, in conjunction with the outset of hostilities in Iraq and Afghanistan. I seems too coincidental.
china
its speculation, the hedge funds and the big brokerage houses are using oil as they did with tech stocks in the late 90s.
Drilling is fine, but it won't pop the speculative bubble.
We all say that space expolration yielded great practical advancements - we need such a program for alternative fuel program - it would generate new techonolgy and good jobs.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.