Posted on 04/04/2008 11:27:18 AM PDT by bjs1779
No, what we need is a ban on Hedge Funds being allowed to buy oil or commodities futures. Do that,and you get rid of the $60+ bbl greed tax that’s going on.
Oil futures traders are having a ball, and the oil companies are laughing all the way to the bank.
From this link....
Ahead of the Bell: Oil inventory report
Gasoline inventories, meanwhile, fell by 3.3 million barrels, or 1.4 percent, to 229.2 million barrels, which were 11.2 percent above year-ago levels. Analysts expect stockpiles of the motor fuel fell by another 2 million barrels last week.
This is the heart of their little game they're playing. One day you hear of surpluses and the next day you hear supplies are low again. This gets all the speculators hyped up to drive up the costs more.
One day their golden goose will be dead and they'll wonder what happened.
its a conspiracy being perpetuated by oil companies.
bump
You got that right. I could of sworn i read an article here a few days ago that stated that we have plenty of Supply.
Forget the idiocy of having people not buy gas on a given day. Instead, have people commit to using their vacation time to curtail gas usage during a given month such as June.
Imagine a week where 15 percent of the country is not driving to work. And is not going on a long vacation drive. If you want to do something such as go to a nice hotel, do it local.
Now, repeat that over the course of a month, and maybe we can get the hedge funds to start playing musical chairs with each other by panicking and starting to sell their oil futures positions, or at least not roll them over.
Gas prices plummeted once when the hedge bubble popped a couple of years ago (taking Amaranth with them). The only way that can happen again is if there are concerted, organized efforts to fight back with short-term demand reductions.
At the risk of being flamed, IMO I see ZERO interest from the current administration in doing anything to help either. You would think that GWB would be talking about this daily as it is hurting our economy in a big way. If nothing else, he could sure help the party by putting the dems on the defensive by continually pointing out their resistance to domestic drilling. In avoiding the subject, it sure give the impression that he has no interest.
Furthermore, we are still filling the damn SPR when suspending it (at least temporarily) would assist in letting some air out of the speculative bubble.
You are right. If the elites in Congress and the rest of government wanted lower gas prices, gas prices would be lower.
It’s a business decision where the refineries have to decide exactly when to switch to a different formulation.
Having to store an excess of the unsalable product is not good.
Not having enough supply of the new formulation to supply demand is not good.
This is what market speculators make their living off of.
They gamble on the refineries skill. And we are the ‘house’ who must pay the gamblers their due.
“I could of sworn i read an article here a few days ago that stated that we have plenty of Supply.”
Yeah. But your thinking OIL.
They are thinking MONEY.
No need forr such drastic action. Just double or treble the exchanged-required margin for non-commercial traders in crude in products (i.e. so-called hedge funds, which can be done by executive order — no need for the Regress), and you’ll chase 60-70% of the long-side specs out of the mkt right away.
“If the elites in Congress and the rest of government wanted lower gas prices, gas prices would be lower.”
Why should they?
The higher the price of gas, the more gas tax they get to ‘spend’.
They drive government vehicles, or ride in them. They don’t have to pay for their own ‘fuel’.
That already is at the gas pump near me.
Last week, Valero Energy Corp. cut output at its Corpus Christi, Texas, refinery due to high supplies and falling demand. Analysts believe many other refiners are adopting similar tactics.
So, ah, the refiners are getting squeezed and now they're going to artificially tighten supplies to further raise prices. Do I have this about right? Isn't it about time for another explosion or mishap at a refinary about now?
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