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The High Price Of Fuel - The REAL Reasons...
News Sarasota, AP, DOE ^ | April 21, 2006 | Matt Bruce

Posted on 04/21/2006 12:06:54 PM PDT by Matt Bruce

SARASOTA, FL. (NS) -

The all-time record high prices for gas - oil - diesel are no longer just an 'issue' to be talked about. Fingers don't need to be blamed. This has become an AMERICAN issue that requires both Democrats and Republicans to come together and quit their bickering and PASS an Energy Bill that will allow the United States of America to become energy self sufficient and put America and American's FIRST!

Have you have been to the gas station today? You did know how high gas prices have gotten, right???

Well, don't expect to see them going down any time 'soon'...

Oil prices have been hitting new record high's everyday this week. One New York gas station was selling gas way over $4 a gallon...

Prices that high were reported to be rare, with most of the nation paying something closer to $3 per gallon...

However, one of my trucks sitting in Ontario, CA. reported seeing prices as high as $4.04 per gallon at the pump...

Magnifying the sense of alarm is the fact that a few states were suddenly hit with shortages of gas this week. And in some places, people cannot get gas at all...

The price of oil due to be delivered in June was already selling at a record high today – $75.00 a barrel – that is up several dollars from just a few days ago. Many analysts say $80 dollars a barrel could easily be the average coming this summer...

Adding to the high pump price pressure is a booming China and India putting a big new squeeze on the global oil supply where there was little pressure before. These two huge countries alone could soon use up as much oil as the entire rest of the world does now...

It also does not help that guerilla war in Nigeria has knocked out about 20 percent of that oil-giant's production. Oil traders are also worried about Iran's nuclear buildup...

Iran has threatened Israel, the United States and the World with 'serious' consequences should sanctions be placed against them by the UN Security Council...

And let's not forget that there still are 3 Oil Refineries not refining any oil along the Gulf Coast. It has been this way since Hurricane Katrina struck, and no new Oil Refineries have been built in over a decade, despite efforts last year by the Bush Administration to get an Energy Bill passed that was stalemated by Democrats...

But even without these overseas headaches, America is having its own oil production problems. Production usually goes down in the spring, but this year the problem's worse because a few refineries damaged in last year's hurricanes are still out...

And the addition of a cleaner additive to the nation's gas is causing problems because that additive -- ethanol -- is in short supply, making gas itself in shorter supply. This is also known an E85 across the Upper Midwest...

Democrats, like New York Sen. Charles Schumer, are trying to make political hay out of the pain at the pump, even as The New York Times points out that Democrats did little about high energy prices when they hit during the Clinton administration...

Schumer's calling for an investigation to see if the big oil companies might be taking advantage of the oil panic to gouge the public...

What a FARCE! We all know Oil Companies ARE making record profits and every time prices go UP, the U.S. - State & Local Government gets more TAX money in their coffers too...

And that is one thing that is driving many Democratic and Republican leaders absolutely nuts! They all want the public to see just how remarkably well the American economy is doing, but right now, most people are not seeing beyond these gas signs, and WHY should they???

High crude Oil and retail pump prices affect ALL of us. Sooner or later, EVERYTHING we buy is going to go UP as a result of what's happening right now with OIL...

Our Nation's Farmers are going to have an extremely tough time planting their first crop, let alone trying to get a second one in this year with fuel not being readily available to them and the higher cost of production causing many NOT to plant at all...

Companies that were 'hanging' on a fence, just trying to 'get by' will be GONE as a result of these higher energy costs...

Wait until your electric bills start going higher in a manner of a month or two when Utility Companies start asking for emergency rate hikes...

How many people won't be going on their vacations this summer because they can't AFFORD to buy gas for their vehicles???

INFLATION and what you have today WILL get worse! But WAIT there IS one possible solution!!!

CALL your Senator's and Congressional Representatives NOW and have them ask President Bush CONVENE Congress right NOW to enact WHATEVER Legislation is needed to get the USA more energy self sufficient and REDUCE our dependence on Foreign Oil...

I don't care how many Oil wells, Refineries, Off-Shore Drilling Platforms it takes! The time is NOW to do SOMETHING about this issue...

We need to drop the EPA regulations adding to the expense of production and slowing down our refineries!

It's way past TIME for the President to call the Congress into Emergency session and NOT be let to go ANYWHERE until they PASS an Energy Bill that INCLUDES getting our Oil from Alaska shipped TO our Refineries in the Western United States. Give Americans American Oil...

For NOW, That's Just 'OUR' Opinion...

Matt Bruce Managing Editor News Sarasota.com


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: diesel; energy; fuel; gas; oil; price
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To: thackney

Thanks!


101 posted on 04/22/2006 10:37:46 PM PDT by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly.)
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To: Smokin' Joe
Where have you BEEN? Learn more about the industry before decrying it, please. And catch up on what has been going on in the world, especially the oil producing regions since 1999.

I'll tell you where I was up until I retired in 1997. Right in the middle of the industry you are talking about and was there for forty years.

Now you tell me something are you and all the other American citizens or businesses using three times the gas or oil products that they where using six years ago?

I'm willing to bet if the truth was known because of the price most are using less, I know I am.

The only ones who are do so because they are wealthy enough that it don't matter or they do so because they're job requires it.

Is China ? for heating and c other American

Qualified first class in three trades pipe fitting, machinist and welding. Along with me where three brother-in laws one brother and a sister-in- law all with over thirty years in the trades. Three of them retired doing well and one is still in it doing very well.

That's the reason I'm not buying that crap you're shoveling.

If you lost money it wasn't because the poor oil companies where going broke and dropping like flies It was because you made some bad business decisions or bad investment decisions.

I'm a long way from being rich but I worked hard and a lot of long hours and I worked regular.

There where a who wouldn't work the overtime and a lot who only worked three or four months out of the years and spent the rest lying around on there ass drawing unemployment and hunting and fishing six months out of the year. .

Now they are broke old and crying about how some people are lucky and get all the breaks. These are the ones who where going up to the boss every year when hunting season came in begging for lay off slip so they could draw unemployment.

I will ask you again what is it you get about about profits and expenses.

The profits companies get come after all those expenses you keep yelling about.

If you don't understand that and the fact that a company doesn't care what it's costs are as long as they are clearing money hand over fist then it is no wonder you can't get ahead.

Sure they quit building refineries in this country but they kept improving and repairing those that where here.

But they didn't quit making money or profits they just built them overseas.

You name some of the big oil companies that's been in business since the the 30's or longer that went belly up because a price drop at the pump or post a two year period they didn't make a profit.

That $75 a barrel you are talking about is exactly what I'm talking about who do you think set that price and who do you think gets the money. The oil companies that's who.

Do you know that we are importing very little more oil than we did in 1973? Where's all that increased consumption that Americans are are wasting they are talking about?

Tell me something else why did you keep putting your money in oil stocks if they where losing money.

If the work you where doing wasn't paying well or played out why didn't you take your trade skill somewhere else? I don't know where you have been or where you are coming from but if you think I'm going to fell sorry or buy this crap that these oil companies that have been making millions and now billions of dollars a year in profits since the 1930's are victims you are wasting you time.

I don't have a problem with a company making money they have to to stay in business.

But when they buy politicians and hurt American businesses and families and cause them to go bankrupt and threaten the financial stability and security of the country because of greed and the fact they got together to form a stranglehold on a extremely vital product then that is wrong.

102 posted on 04/23/2006 1:37:47 AM PDT by mississippi red-neck (You will never win the war on terrorism by fighting it in Iraq and funding it in the West Bank.)
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To: Matt Bruce
Sorry Matt... E85 is not ethanol... It's a fuel blend that is primarily ethanol, but it's not the same. The shortages are of the actual alcohol, used as an oxygenator in the gasoline mandated by the government.

Mark

103 posted on 04/23/2006 5:20:01 AM PDT by MarkL (When Kaylee says "No power in the `verse can stop me," it's cute. When River says it, it's scary!)
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To: singfreedom
Adding the Ethanol (E85), though, is a good thing. It will help reduce oil consumption. Since it is a corn based product, it is also renewable (until we have a drought in the corn belt!).

E85 is NOT ethanol. It's a fuel blend that's 85% ethanol, 15% unleaded gasoline. You have to have a FFV (Flexible Fuel Vehicle) in order to use it. If you use it in a standard gasoline vehicle, expect to get some hugh repair bills.

E85 isn't available everywhere (I belive that there's only 1 station in KC that has it), and most people report lower milage per gallon, and less power. It is somewhat less expensive than "real" gasoline, running from 30 to 50 cents a gallon cheaper.

Mark

104 posted on 04/23/2006 5:25:08 AM PDT by MarkL (When Kaylee says "No power in the `verse can stop me," it's cute. When River says it, it's scary!)
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To: mississippi red-neck
But when they buy politicians and hurt American businesses and families and cause them to go bankrupt and threaten the financial stability and security of the country because of greed and the fact they got together to form a stranglehold on a extremely vital product then that is wrong.

First, if three dollar gas is going to bankrupt you, then either you made some bad business decisions or were pretty d@mned shaky to begin with.

Second, if they are buying politicians, they are getting gypped. There is much cheaper oil to extract onshore and off, and the profits you wail about are piddling compared to what they would ba making if they had just done a decent job of buying politicians. Jeez, with all that money, you'd think the b@st@rds would stay bought.

Third, you have not taken into account the businesses and jobs in the oil industry which have happened with the increase in drilling activity.

I guess if we imported 55% + of our food, you'd say the farmers had a stranglehold on it, too.

I have been working as a geologist in the patch since '79, when wells were being drilled, that is. There are times in that period when few or no wells were being drilled. If no one is drilling a well, there is no call for a wellsite geologist. No work, no paycheck. So I have taken other jobs over the years, from construction and pipeline work to dealing blackjack in a titty bar, but the kids never went hungry.

Yeah, there are those who won't work overtime, but I am not one of them. I work on day rate and my average day runs between 12 and 14 hours, seven days a week until the job is done. I get a week to 10 days 'off' to get the report together, and go do another one. Do not lump me in with the seasonal workers.

Maybe you do not understand that this year's profit is next year's investment, and that when oil prices go up, so do ours. Next year's well will be more expensive than last year's well if oil prices are up over the same time period. Prices crash when oil prices do as well because there is always some nitwit willing to cut everyone's throats to stay in business. Prices are not fixed.

Maybe you missed the oil price drop of '99. Maybe you were not aware that a multitude of domestic stripper wells were P&A'd, and that their cumulative production is and will remain unavailable.

Maybe you have not heard about the political problems in Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, and Venezuela.

Maybe you missed the increase in demand from the Chinese and India, maybe you even forgot there is a war on.

But every time someone blows up a pipeline, a hurricane puts 160 platforms out of operation, or a refinery shuts down (for whatever legitimate reason), there is a dent in world supply.

Demand has increased enough that the Saudis can no longer glut the market and bring the price down. They do not posess that production capacity in relation to world demand, and all of this has happened since the EIA released the report proclaiming a worldwide glut of oil in 1999. They (the EIA under Clinton) failed to take into consideration any East Asian demand, and crashed the price to the lowest levels in my lifetime, and I am a great-grandfather.

So now, we are seeing the repercussions of a 'perfect storm' of reduced domestic production, increased foreign demand, hurricane damage in the Gulf, and reduced foreign supplies due to political unrest and depletion.

If you are so conversant in the industry you will note that this is historically a temporary thing, and that prices will likely drop in the future. The industry has been moving in boom/bust cycles since Drake dug his well.

I don't have a problem with a company making money they have to to stay in business.

Really? Do you have any idea what it costs to drill onshore? Offshore? What a minute of rig time runs on a drilling location? Do you have any idea what legal hoops have to be jumped through just to drill a well?

Apparently not, and as the price of oil goes up, so do the costs for everything associated with drilling a well. That is how those of us whose work is tied to drilling activity get enough ahead to be able to handle the next downturn.

As for Global consumption increases,

from USDOE Report #:DOE/EIA-0484(2005) Released Date: July 2005 Figure 7.

World Marketed Energy Consumption, 1970-2025 (in quadrillion BTUs)

1970 206.7176

1975 242.7514

1980 284.8973

1985 310.282

1990 348.208

1995 365.8707

2002 411.533

(projected)

2010 503.52

2015 553.481

2020 598.078

2025 644.577

Now, the projected data are subject to change, depending on what happens out there, but the two-fold increase from 1970 to 2002 is documented, and that does not take into account the last 12 months of bombings, hurricanes, tinpot dictators, and other factors affecting the patch.

If you want Congress to do something, how about getting rid of the boutique blends that just came back in and are causing local shortages of area specific formulations. How about relaxing the ethanol requirements until the ethanol industry can catch up and the infrastructure can be built?

After all every gallon of that stuff gets subsidized out of your pocket and mine, whether we use it or not.

All they want to do is stick the "rich" with fines and taxes. Just like nailing the tobacco companies to the wall, that cost gets passed on to the consumer. Congress couldn't produce a pint of oil if they fell in a barrel of it.

And yeah, it stinks to be on a fixed income and have prices jump. I was a grad student in uranium mineralogy during the Carter Administration and watched gas prices double, my rent go up, and eventually could no longer afford to go to school. I hired on in the oil patch and two weeks later Three Mile Island happened, but that is another story.

As for pity, if you think I was trying to get pity, you are sorely mistaken. I was just explaining why I do not have any.

105 posted on 04/23/2006 8:46:12 AM PDT by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly.)
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To: backhoe

One final addition to your plan - remove the bias against diesel engines in environmental and tax policy, and in fact, encourage its usage. Diesel technology is a gateway technology for use of "bio-diesel".

Diesel engines consistently get better fuel consumption ratings than hybrids.

Regards, Ivan


106 posted on 04/23/2006 8:52:03 AM PDT by MadIvan (I aim to misbehave.)
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To: Matt Bruce

*


107 posted on 04/23/2006 8:54:35 AM PDT by Sam Cree (Delicacy, precision, force)
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To: mississippi red-neck
Do you know that we are importing very little more oil than we did in 1973?

In 1973, the US imported 1,184 Million barrels of oil.
In 2005, the US imported 3,670 Million barrels of oil.

I have never heard anyone before call 2.5 Billion barrels very little oil.

108 posted on 04/23/2006 9:00:00 AM PDT by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: thackney

Data link for above:

http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/hist/mcrimus1m.htm


109 posted on 04/23/2006 9:05:06 AM PDT by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: singfreedom

Your"hubby"is ABSOLUTELY right about our lagging refinery capacity!We haven't built one in over thirty-years!!If there was a"Lesson"to be learned from Katrina,it should have been that we are in DESPERATE need of more refining capacity.It can't be located too far from "Hurricane Alley"because of transportation problems.President Bush should have signed an "Executive Order"requiring the building of more refineries!!I still remember one of these signed by Slick Willy that took a whole lot of oil-shale off-limits!!!


110 posted on 04/23/2006 9:33:33 AM PDT by bandleader
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To: Matt Bruce
We all know Oil Companies ARE making record profits and every time prices go UP, the U.S. - State & Local Government gets more TAX money in their coffers too...

That's not actually true because gas taxes are charged on a per gallon basis and not a percentage of the price. As the price for a gallon of gas increases the percent paid to taxes actually goes down.

The Feds get 18.5 cents per gallon. At $1.00 per gallon the tax rate is 18.5%; at $2.00 per gallon it's 9.25%, etc.

Now, if demand goes up, i.e. consumpiton, then yes, more taxes get paid.

111 posted on 04/23/2006 9:37:57 AM PDT by Fledermaus (The Bush administration and the GOP Congress have proven to be totally incompetent.)
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To: Celebur
While Congress fails to act, there are things the individual can do. Like stop using SUVs as single-passenger commuter vehicles, or walking to the corner store.

We could put the military on the streets and force people to ride mass transit. We could fine people for owning SUVs and living in homes the government deems too large for the family. /sarc

What we have to do is get rid of politicians like Schumer. We have to eliminate the EPA whose radical policies (MTBE, designer gas, etc.) have brought us to this state of affairs.

112 posted on 04/23/2006 9:50:41 AM PDT by saminfl (,/i)
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To: MadIvan

I agree, Ivan- diesels are better prime movers. Long-lived, reliable too.


113 posted on 04/23/2006 9:57:21 AM PDT by backhoe (Just an Old Keyboard Cowboy, Ridin' the Trakball into the Dawn of Information)
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To: bandleader
Your"hubby"is ABSOLUTELY right about our lagging refinery capacity!We haven't built one in over thirty-years!!If there was a"Lesson"to be learned from Katrina,it should have been that we are in DESPERATE need of more refining capacity.

We could double the domestic oil production and not reach the capacity of the US refineries. We just would be sending fewer dollars to foreign governments. Those royalty payments and taxes would stay in the US.

The US imports 9.8 million barrels of crude a day to refine. It imports 1.0 million barrels of gasoline and 0.2 million barrels of Distillate Fuel Oil to supplement our refining capacity. Which do you believe is the bigger shortfall?

114 posted on 04/23/2006 10:06:33 AM PDT by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: thackney

Crude Oil?


115 posted on 04/23/2006 11:23:01 AM PDT by bandleader
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To: bandleader

Yes, 9.8 million barrels of crude oil a day is imported into the US and processed in our refineries.


116 posted on 04/23/2006 1:54:39 PM PDT by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: thackney


 

25th Anniversary of the 1973 Oil Embargo:
Energy Trends Since the First Major U.S. Energy Crisis


Twenty-five years after the oil embargo by members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) shocked energy markets and created long lines for gasoline in the United States, U.S. dependence on imported oil is at an all-time high. Net imports provided 48 percent of domestic oil consumption in 1997, up from 28 percent in 1972 (see figure).

This development, the result of declining U.S. crude oil production and rising demand, is among 30 major energy trends detailed in 25th Anniversary of the 1973 Oil Embargo: Energy Trends Since the First Major U.S. Energy Crisis, recently released by the Energy Information Administration. Other important trends include the following:

 


================== We have had over 30 years and many administrations to reverse this. If we really wanted to give up our [finger, toe, whatever hold] in this part of the world, we would have done so. Until why can be figured out, prepare to go deep into your pockets.
117 posted on 04/23/2006 2:16:27 PM PDT by ex-snook ("But above all things, truth beareth away the victory.")
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To: singfreedom
I don't want a hasty decision on automobile power. Can you imagine what this would do to the elderly on fixed incomes, the working poor, students, etc., who really need a car? They would buy a car, only to have the power source abruptly change on them. It could be a disaster. The same for businesses.

No change of that magnitude is going to take place that fast. Look at a minimum 20 year time frame which is about standard on new technology from introduction until market dominance.

118 posted on 04/23/2006 3:29:11 PM PDT by Ditto (People who fail to secure jobs as fenceposts go into journalism.)
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To: thackney

I'd much rather that we import some distillates and a fraction of the crude.I'm listening to WABC(770 NYC).Brian Whitman(Liberal/Lefty DemonRat).He's got the nerve to complain about the cost of gasoline!!!!!!!!!!!!


119 posted on 04/23/2006 4:48:09 PM PDT by bandleader
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To: Fledermaus

I did some more research and some states (I couldn't find which ones) DO charge gas taxes based on a percentage of price.

I stand corrected. But I believe most base it on a per gallon basis.


120 posted on 04/24/2006 3:00:13 PM PDT by Fledermaus (The Bush administration and the GOP Congress have proven to be totally incompetent.)
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