[familyop]

Just as with the Russian leadership trying once again to destabilize the Middle East (as it did before and during 1967, and now with Iran), Chavez only wants more money. They don't really want to hurt us, according to some of our educated superiors.

[p23185]

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Thursday said the price of oil could reach $100 per barrel just a day after prices reached a record $74 amid supply concerns.

Let it go to $500 per barrel - maybe congress will come out of its coma and ignore the environmental wackos in this country. We need to start drilling in our own country and tell these foreign a$$holes just where to go. This is the fault of Congress, and I don't want to hear any more Bush bashing when it comes to the price of gasoline, natural gas, or electricity. Bush has been pushing for more exploration for 5 years, and yet the Dumbocraps want to blame him for everything. Plenty of Dumbocraps voted AGAINST the last energy bill.

[justa-hairyape]

Looks like a real oil war is brewing.

[Rte66]

If Chavez said $100, then the bubble just burst. Back down to $60. The man speaks basura.

[wotan]

$100 oil is certainly a possibility, but it seems a stretch.

A recent chart I've seen of oil supply vs. oil demand (4 qtr moving average, based on IEA figures) shows supply leveling off recently, as it did in 1998 and in 2001. Each of those two previous episodes was followed by about two years of mild decline before supply resumed increasing.

Fortunately, oil demand also seems to be leveling off, no doubt due to high prices induced partly by fear of political developments in Venezuela, Nigeria, and Iran. As a result, there is presently an oversupply of oil. Of course, this excess may not be excessive enough if Iran is attacked.

[mkjessup]

Chavez needs to be put in a barrel, either whole or dismembered.

But he won't be worth anywhere NEAR $100.

As I recall, the price for a barrel of sh*t is about a buck-two-ninety-eight, which is about the value of Chavez, generously estimated.

[Racer1]

Until our government realizes that the high price of oil is as much a part of the war on terror as the terrorists themselves we will be stuck with this situation. I'm starting to believe that the Pres. really doesn't care about the price of oil. I didn't used to think that but what have they really done. The energy policy is a joke. Don't know. He has a chance to really make a difference. Lets see what happens. I just hope he doesn't wait too long. People are really being robbed to the limit with these prices.

[FerdieMurphy]

Boycott Citgo!

(Citgo=Venezuela)

[Nephi]

Republicans could do two things that would have an immediate effect on the price of gas.

1) Nationalize fuel formulas so that there aren't 40+ different recipes for gasoline bottlenecking refinery production. Included in the same bill could be a provision requiring governments that want to deviate from national fuel formulas to build their own refinery to meet the demand.

2) Begin anti-trust action against oil companies control of the extraction, refining of oil and the retailing of gasoline. When the same company that sells gasoline owns the refinery, it pays to shut it down for "maintanance", but when another company's only business is owning the refinery and then shuts it down for maintanance, they lose money.

Why doesn't someone press the dems on why they continue to be obstructionists in getting any kind of domestic energy policy?

Whose policies benefit the oil companies more?

Democrats/environmentalists who've blocked the building of new refineries and drilling in ANWAR etc and caused the tightening of the supply?

Or,

Republicans who want to do more of both and create price competition? Its almost as if the Democrats/environmentalists are doing the bidding of big oil, isn't it?

For all we know, big oil has been secretly funding environmental groups that seek to block drilling and building refineries in order to limit supply.

[R.W.Ratikal]

Chavez is off his rocker. Pay no attention to him. Without petro dollars Venezuela is of interest only to National Geographic..

[backhoe]

Allow me to drop out of Lurk and Link Mode for a brief bit of commentary- we all need to get serious about our dependency on foreign sources of energy, and use our own resources.

Our consumer-based economy is driven by and dependent on readily-available, reliable energy-- choke that off, and we'll all be back to using one rotary dial phone in the dining room, watching one TV, and driving one car per family-- probably a Hudson Hornet or a Rambler...

We need to

1) end the nonsensical ban on offshore drilling off California and Florida--read & weep:
Castro Plans to Drill 45 Miles from US Shores, But We Can't

2) build a lot of next-generation nuclear power plants, not just for electricity, but for any process requiring heat, power, or steam.
And if we replaced our existing nuclear plants with this one there would be significant benefits.

3) end Jimmy Carter's idiotic ban on recycling nuclear waste, and reprocess the stuff rather than fighting over where to bury it. Europe has done this for decades.-- what to do with spent nuclear fuel? Answer here: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1468321/posts?page=50#50 hattip:  Mike (former Navy Nuclear Engineer)

4) use the 300-500 years worth of coal we have on our own land, using the new clean-coal technology.
-Clean Coal Centre--

5) and finally, there's nothing wrong with conservation, we should all practice it- but you can't conserve your way out of a shortage. Nor is there anything wrong with "alternative" energy sources- except they don't supply the vast ( not to mention readily-available ) amounts of power we need at a price competitive to more conventional sources.

We do need to get serious about this before we get strangled by a bunch of petty thieves and dictators who don't like us much.

My tongue-in-cheek collection of energy-related links:

Sticker Shock-$3 a gallon gas? Click the picture:

And kindly note, and note well-- the first reply to this post ( when gas was $1.45 a gallon ) was derisive... so, who's laughing now? My guess is $4.00 a gallon gas is next...

[Wurlitzer]

I am fed up with the piss ant response of our government to these DNA, Gene challenged thugs like Chavez, Sadam, the DHs in Korea, Iran etc.

A single assassin could take out the trash and not endanger thousands of innocent civilians and our great military.

Oh, but no, we cannot kill a single head of state! Well why not? I guess governments around the world have decided that a head of state is more important than the billions of people in the world. To that I say BS.

[Lazamataz]

It could also reach $81,299,394.00 a barrel, too.

Hey, it could happen.