Posted on 08/31/2005 7:38:48 PM PDT by freedom44
BERLIN, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Germany said on Wednesday the United States was partly to blame for record oil prices and should look to extend its refining capacity after Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc at U.S. refineries, hitting output.
Economy Minister Wolfgang Clement told German radio that the damage to U.S. refining capacity caused by the storm would likely prompt American industry to buy more oil in Europe, which could further inflate prices.
"On this I must say the United States has had insufficient refining capacity for a long time, and this is presumably now impaired, so the situation is coming to a head," he said.
"It's a U.S. problem, a problem with American policy. It's to do with American planning rights which lead to yield expectations in investments in the sector not being high enough. I hope the American government reacts differently to this."
In view of this Clement said "the American structure, not oil firms" was principally to blame for the oil crunch.
Clement also blamed hedge funds, saying they were probably helping to boost prices via speculation. Overall, he estimated that about $18 per barrel resulted from speculation.
Speaking at a news conference later, Clement said that hedge fund speculation needed to be addressed internationally.
Clement's comments come after warnings from top French officials in recent days about the impact of high oil prices on state finances.
On Tuesday, French President Jacques Chirac called for an overhaul of the country's energy policy, after forecasting that world oil prices were likely to stay high for a long time.
Chirac's Finance Minister Thierry Breton said earlier on Wednesday that high oil prices posed a risk for the public finances of the euro zone's second biggest economy.
GROWTH WORRY
Crude oil prices on world markets have shot to over $70 per barrel since Katrina, one of the most powerful hurricanes in U.S. history, forced operators to close more than a tenth of the country's refining capacity and a quarter of its oil output.
Earlier this week, Germany's BDI industry federation said that if the oil price remained at current levels for the remainder of the year, German growth would likely only reach 0.75 percent rather than the one percent it had forecast.
Clement said recent developments on oil markets had taken everyone by surprise, noting that the storms in the U.S. had had a catastrophic effect. He said the oil spike posed risks to German growth, particularly if exports were affected.
"The world economy is strong so far but it would be even stronger if we didn't have the oil prices," he said.
On Monday Clement said Germany needed to deepen its ties with Russia, its biggest oil supplier, in order to help offset the impact of record crude costs.
Germany is one of the world's biggest energy consumers but has limited natural resources and imports most of its oil.
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who warned last week of the detrimental effect of oil on consumers, is expected to sign a long-awaited Baltic Sea pipeline deal at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sept. 8 in Berlin.
High oil prices and stubbornly high unemployment have been blamed for holding back German consumer spending, which has acted as a drag on the economy for years. Data on Wednesday showed that German retail sales fell on the month in July for the fifth time in six months.
Maybe you could help us calm things in Iraq then. Maybe Iraqi production would help.
Countdown til Herr Schroeder is out of office
Do you suppose any in the MSM will EVER ask the question WHY
(we didn't have more refineries)
(we didn't have an energy bill for so long)
(we didn't drill in Alaska)
Fox smells its own hole, my dear friend from Germany. Socialists in this country...just like you!...did this to all of us.
Now, let's try a little thing we in America like to call....GET OVER IT, AND FIX IT. (Hint: It's the LET'S ROLL factor ;-)
P.S. By the by, remember when your country was in ruins???
Let me get this straight. The head German says that the lack of US REFINERIES are causing a lack of oil? Must be an election year over there and US bashing is every socialist electioneering tool.
EXACTly - fellow Minnesotan!
Yeah, no one would actually want to be that stupid, for no good reason. ;-)
Tell them to convince their fellow Socialists in America.
I just saw that we have half the refineries we had in the late 1970's.
We need to start hunting environmentalists and their attorneys in the hills with hound dogs.
Thank God this guy is from Germany, not France. I would REALLY hate to say a French guy is correct.
We know the wackos in the RAT ranks have prevented refinery construction and nuclear energy construction--no news there, as outrageous as it is. What should cause Amercians to go ballistic is this fact:
Since the Dept of Energy was formed, we have spent $406 Billion funding that worthless Department. With nearly a half-trillion thrown down that black hole, we are MORE dependent on foreign oil today than we were in 1978 when the DOE was founded.
This is yet another clear example of the braindead loonies that run this nation . By now, we should have increased nuclear energy to near 50% of our needs (as some European nations have done) and could have accelerated the development of hydrogen power if we had focused on major advancements technologically, or some other form of advanced power source.
All the half-trillion dollar expense has done has been to give paychecks to tons of fat, dumb and lazy government workers.
My gracious, did he run this by the German Environmental Minister Trittin, who yesterday blamed the hurricane on U.S. environmental policies? I'm not sure Herr Trittin would approve of further refinery construction. But at least it validates a suspicion many of us have had for some time - in the eyes of the current German government, whatever the U.S. does or doesn't do is wrong.
You know what?
The damage from Katrina and the resulting spike in gasoline prices might just give the President the necessary political credits to ram through some changes in our energy infrastructure...
Of course, Cindy Sheehan and her friends are going to claim that the hurricane was planned and executed by the neocon and PNAC conspiracy using top secret weather control technologies in order to push their agenda.
Is it too late to do one last bombing run on Berlin?
"We need to start hunting environmentalists and their attorneys in the hills with hound dogs."
...and Louisville Sluggers. Bullets are too valuable.
Yes, and he is absolutely correct. Even if we could replace the shut in Gulf of Mexico production with oil from the Strategic Oil Reserve, the refineries to convert it into usable products are shut down, and quite a few of the refinery workers are displaced. There has been no new refinery built in the US since 1976 mainly because of NIMBY's who don't want a refinery in their state. Flordia is a peninsula that is now cut off from supplies of refined products. Considering it is the 4th most populous state, it probably ought to allow some new refineries to be built there.
Maybe they are going to attack us for our oil.
That should be the "Strategic Petroleum Reserve."
That should be the "Strategic Petroleum Reserve."
Being that the GOP is in control of the Congress and Executive branch, there is NO EXCUSE for not drilling more and/or increasing our refining capacity.
Problem is, they don't know how to govern or lead.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.