[JoeV1]

Dumbest thing I've ever heard. If $50 bbl crude = $2.00 per gal gasoline then it follows that $380 bbl crude would necessitate gasoline selling at $15.00 per gal. Crude at $380 bbl will effectively crash every economy on the planet. People will spend their money on the bare bones necessities and little else. With consumer demand in the toilet, mfg world wide soon follows as does demand for crude.

Result is crude at $10 bbl or even lower. The market place will effectively deal with this sort of a spike.

[dufekin]

42 gallons to the barrel. $380/barrel would keep gasoline under $10/gallon, especially considering the resulting drop in demand (especially in the long term, as people seek out high fuel efficiency vehicles). The reduced demand would reduce refinery pressure and probably eliminate the perceived need to continue expanding boutique fuels as the proportion of pollutants attributable to motor vehicles declines, or the total pollutant load plunges.