Posted on 12/28/2010 7:29:16 AM PST by Libloather
Former Oil Exec Predicts $5-a-Gallon Gas by 2012, Energy Shortages by Decade's End
Published December 27, 2010
FoxNews.com
The former president of Shell oil is predicting that the United States will face 1970s-style energy shortages and rationing by the end of the decade, accusing the federal government of turning its back on the country's domestic oil supply.
The dire prediction comes as energy analysts toss out a string of frightening predictions about the rising price of oil in the short term. Oil has topped $90 a barrel, and JP Morgan Chase & Co. earlier this month predicted oil could hit $120 a barrel by the end of 2012. At the same time, the national average gasoline price is about $3 a gallon for the holiday season.
But former Shell executive John Hofmeister offered a more aggressive estimate, saying Americans could be paying $5 a gallon in two years. And he predicted that sometime between 2018 and 2020, supply and demand will become so out of balance that gas stations in several regions of the country will simply start to run out.
"I think it's going to be a cumulative problem that won't happen suddenly," Hofmeister, who now heads Citizens for Affordable Energy, told FoxNews.com. He predicted the problem would start with "stockouts" at select gas stations during the summer and during bad weather and then spread. He said those states farthest from refineries would get hit the worst and that in order to maintain some consistency, local and state governments might resort to the kind of rationing they employed in the early '70s -- when drivers with even-numbered license plates would buy gas on even days, and vice-versa.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
The government has replaced our gold reserves with oil and they must have some treaty with the Saudis and terrorists to use their oil so the democrats can supply the terrorists or something.
Thorium. Check it out. We’re loaded with it.
At $5.00 a gallon you will see many more businesses going under laying off more people. Cities on the brink would default, police, fire, city vehicles trash collection etc.
Demand would fall supply increase price will drop, damage done and the Obama administration will have been a success!
Makes his stock go up. He can retire in comfort. Genius statement on his part. Hello Investigative Journalism?????
Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a day’s wages, and three quarts of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!”
We always think this refers to olive oil...
We recently discovered yet another 22 billion cubic ft off the coast of La.
Domestic reserves of Oil, coal, natural gas....we are not hurting by all means.
Problem is China is beginning to suck up huge amounts of energy to feed their economic engine....you know, similar to when America was the manufacturing leader.
Someday, there will be a war over oil. China is marching head long toward world supremacy economically, technically, financially and militarily.
Why our leaders would allow America to take second or third place in the world just befuddles me.
Our leaders have let us down. Worshiping the almighty dollar is the name of the game now.
$5/gallon for gas? Not as likely. Remember just -what- 3 years ago? Oil was at $150/barrel, and gas peaked around 4 bucks a gallon.
Then, the law of supply and demand kicked in. People stopped driving, supply went up, and the price came down.
Of course, the price for the lower gas costs was a two-year recession and 10% unemployment. Not sure how the devalued dollar will affect those things, this time. I can't imagine that it will be positive.
The way it’s going with inflation in what we need, and deflation in what we don’t, by 2020 kids will be asking Santa for coal for Christmas, and parents will warn, “If you’re not a good boy, Santa will leave just an iPod in your stocking”.
I agree. I would guess he is heavily invested in the oil commodity market. Drive the price up with this statement and then sell off.
His statement will haved zip / nada / no impact on the stock prices.
You have absolutely no idea.
And, Obama will get on TV, tell us all what he personally did to avoid a catastrophic collapse in energy and how much worse things would have been had he not taken such heroic action on our behalves.
That's his MO for all of his failures.
My Grandfather was VP in charge of East Coast Sales/Procurement for a large oil company during the 70s. He always said that there was no *national* shortage of gasoline, even during the "crisises" of the 70s - we always had plenty.
The problems came with gov't interference. Rationing would get put in place, people would make a run on the pumps, and his company could not get the gas to places with shortages fast enough. There's only just so much transport capacity - you can't just overnight airlift ten million gallons of gas from, say, refineries in Texas City to where it's needed in Boston MA.
But....the accepted story is that "we had horrific shortages". Hysteria is always more exciting to believe than the truth.
Very successful businessmen are notoriously bad economists.
I see a flaw in your logic.
“Why our leaders would allow America to take second or third place in the world just befuddles me.”
If you believe the White House and Congress are infested with Communists, it makes sense (if you understand the nature of Communism).
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