Posted on 02/27/2011 12:58:17 PM PST by kristinn
The uncertain situation in the Middle East could send world oil prices to $200 or $300 a barrel even as the Obama Administration fails to promote domestic energy development, Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) warned today.
Gov. Perry spoke to bloggers at a briefing in Washington, D.C., this morning. (Present were Rob Bluey of the Heritage Foundation, Jen Rubin of The Washington Post, and your Shopfloor.org correspondent.) The governor, who is chairman of the Republican Governors Association, is in town for the winter meeting of the National Governors Association.
In light of oil crossing the $100 a barrel price this week, we asked about the Obama Administration’s policies and attitudes toward development of domestic energy. The governor responded:
Gov. Rick Perry Putting America’s future at jeopardy by basically hand-cuffing ourselves because of our lack of focus on domestic energy policy I think is devastating to the future.You said hundred-plus-dollar-a-barrel oil. Yes. That’s today. It certainly could go to $200 or even $300 a barrel if the situations in the Middle East – Libya, into Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Yemen all of those countries – if we’re to see continued deterioration of peaceful conducting of business in the drilling and transportation of oil….
I don’t think it’s out of the reach of possibility to see oil even twice or three times what it is today –- devastating to the world economy.
America really needs to get on, and this Administration needs to respect that we can drill safely, cleanly, and get America independent.
SNIP
(Excerpt) Read more at shopfloor.org ...
This seems like nonsense too. It's not as if domestic oil is set aside for domestic use, is it? Doesn't it simply flow into the world oil market? So how does that make us independent, if we're still subject to global demand for oil.
How about Gov Perry order the opening of more wells and more drilling in Texas? He can also issue the order that none of the newly drilled and discovered oil be sent anywhere outside Texas. The feds shouldn’t be able to touch it since it is not interstate commerce.
Demand will fall off as prices exceed about $150 a barrel, which make further increases difficult over time. High prices might work in our favor, though those with lower incomes would certainly suffer. The reason high prices could be good is that the national discussion on energy will take on a different tone. It’s easy to pretend to be green when its’ not too expensive.
The liberal answer will be mass transit, our answer will be drill baby drill. Let the festivities begin! I’ll take that battle.
This is all BS...They are just getting as much money for fuel as they can get away with...There is no shortage....
They obviously want you to quit...That way no need to pay you unemployment benefits...
What say you?
but they’ll have to add a digit to the pumps again.”
Wistful memory-Monday morning was fill-up time for my car and each of the kids cars. I remember screaming loud and long when the $.19/gallon gas wars ended and it cost more than $20 to fill all three of them. Of course my gross pay was only $500 a month. Those were the days!
I can’t imagine that demand destruction isn’t already occurring at current levels.
Shutting down Libya, Egypt and the Suez Canal would not do it.
How long do you anticipate the current spike to last and how high do you think crude prices will go?
Very little so far. It’s a continuum of course, as the price increases, demand decreases. Gasoline demand is
inelastic, meaning it takes a relatively large move to affect demand (compared to most commodities). The experts were shocked at how long demand held up during the last price bubble. Things didn’t really fall apart until gas got close to $4.00 a gallon. And then the price soon went down again. It did not hang around at the peak price for long.
The best antidote for high gas prices is high gas prices.
“This is all BS...They are just getting as much money for fuel as they can get away with...There is no shortage....”
Who doesn’t do that? The next time you wish to sell something for less than you can get away with, please let me know.
The difference between now and 2008 is that the overall economy is much weaker now and the avg Joe has much less disposable income. For this reason I would be surprised if demand destruction didn’t happen sooner this time.
A weak dollar and inflation here will send up gas and oil prices here. But as far as oil going to insane prices in all currencies. I don’t think it will happen. New supplies will come out of the woodwork if Arabs produce less. There will be a tremendous incentive worldwide to drill and explore and produce when oil is at $200/barrel and at prices below that
Of course I would feel better if we didn’t have Obama and Democrats in charge of US energy policy. They are saboteurs and the young people here don’t know any better....with the poor educations they got
That’s a good point. We’ll see. If you are right the price won’t go as high this time.
While you’re right that the market will respond...as it ALWAYS does, there will be a short-term transient that could be very nasty, as people will still have to drive, and trucks will still have to move...and people will still have to heat.
Longer term, more drilling, more moves to gas, more nukes, and hopefully, less Democrats.
But the immediate impact on prices will be real simple, the price will go up until demand drops to meet supply - and there are still a lot of people with cash and access to cash.
If I could answer those questions, I would be Creeping from my 1,000 foot yacht.
Lol. Just thought you’d have an opinion.
Where in Houston are you? I will soon be relocating to the Conroe area.
I don't. But of course I don't have a monopoly on a product everyone needs to survive.
The next time you wish to sell something for less than you can get away with, please let me know.
Once again, I don't have a monopoly on fuel or oil, so that would never happen...Only those that have a monopoly on a product are able to get away with that bull shit.
If this is not the case, could you direct me to where the cheap gas is?
Thanks!
There is no monopoly of oil as there are many suppliers. Our number one supplier is Canada. They have a monopoly? And if you claim there is a monopoly, why did oil fall to $35 a barrel not that long ago?
Why didn’t the ‘monopoly’ keep the oil at the highest price the market could bear without causing less demand? Oil at $85-90 a barrel has not impacted demand. This is the dumbest monopoly I’ve ever heard of, they should let me run it. I would keep prices very steady at the highest possible price that would allow slowly growing demand. As demand continued to grow I would very slowly increase the price. Oh, what a dream it would be.
If you say speculators are controlling the price, that’s me, so please tell me how I can control the price through my speculating. Because I’d really like to be able to do that. That would take all the risk out of speculating, which would bring speculating to an end. Wait, that’s not good. I make money speculating, well so far.
The cheap gas is everywhere, buy some and drive like everybody else clogging the roads. You’ll know when gas goes too high, you’ll notice less traffic. Gasoline demand is inelastic, but not perfectly so.
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