[Brilliant]

We've been running out of oil for more than 100 years. The fact that the reserves will not be completely exhausted for decades really does not comfort me if the price is $3.00 a gallon, and it certainly won't comfort me if the price goes to $5.00 per gallon or more in the next couple of years.

I doubt that there will be any significant relief from escalating prices until consumers reduce their consumption. It's supply and demand. If you're not bothered by the high prices, then the price will have to go up a lot in order to clear the market.

And there really isn't any limit on the amount that it could go up, except the unwillingness or inability of consumers to pay for it.

[cake_crumb]

"And there really isn't any limit on the amount that it could go up, except the unwillingness or inability of consumers to pay for it."

Yep. The rule with gas has always been "charge what the market will bear".

[JamesP81]

We need to be going to ethanol. Unlike hybrids or hydrogen gas motors, a simple switch out of the ignition computer chip and the addition of a sensor to the fuel tank will allow a standard internal combustion engine to burn any conceivable mixture of gasoline and ethanol. By having vehicles that can use either, you ease the transition from one fuel to the other. With much less demand, and thus lower prices, crude products can continue to be used to power aircraft, ships, locomotives, and other heavy industrial machinery and be used in the construction of roads, as it always has been, at a much reduced price.

And it will allow us to poke the Saudis in the eye. Which gives a warm-fuzzy feeling.

[MNJohnnie]

really does not comfort me if the price is $3.00 a gallon, and it certainly won't comfort me if the price goes to $5.00 per gallon or more in the next couple of years

Never going to happen. Tell you what. I bet you the price of a gallon of gas will be CHEAPER Aug 15, 2006 then it is today. I just paid $2.65 a gallon. We can use that as a bench mark.

[ExitPurgamentum]

if the price is $3.00 a gallon, and it certainly won't comfort me if the price goes to $5.00 per gallon or more in the next couple of years.

Most people disagree: July sales of SUVs were very strong.

[Pessimist]

"And there really isn't any limit on the amount that it could go up,.."

One limiting factor is the availability and suitability of alternatives. At some point along here, alcohol will actually become economically viable on it own two legs for a change.

[ChildOfThe60s]

I doubt that there will be any significant relief from escalating prices until consumers reduce their consumption.

One more time: You can't conserve your way into growth. You can be more efficient, which we are, significantly.

BUT more energy must be produced. Period. No matter what else happens.

There are tremendous reserves of oil. The US government has restricted access to unbelievable reserves of fossil fuels.
This is a man made problem which is found in the the supply/production end, NOT the consumption end.

It ain't nuclear physics folks.

[RobbyS]

For many of us, the solution is simple. Drive less. Drive cars that get better mileage. Get out and walk or ride bikes.

[quantfive]

"I doubt that there will be any significant relief from escalating prices until consumers reduce their consumption. It's supply and demand. If you're not bothered by the high prices, then the price will have to go up a lot in order to clear the market."

Exactly. In reality, we all could be driving cars that run on a blend of ethenol and veggie oil if we had too. The market economics are a little complex, but it is supply and demand and the higher prices have not slowed consumption. It may soon, but I can still afford to drive my V-8 F150. When it costs me $80 a week to fill up instead of $50 I will start to do something about it, like buy a Prius or something...

[AFPhys]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1466304/posts
Police deployed at South China gas stations(Price controls=fuel shortage)

This article demonstrates what I have been stating in many threads about the price of oil: that this rise in oil prices is going to hurt the "newly emerging economies" like China and India FAR MORE than it will hurt the US - we're far more prepared for higher oil pricing than they are, and it will be THEIR demand that falls sooner or later. They just don't have the backup systems and resources we have developed over the years...

Pretty soon the futures traders are going to figure this out...