Energy Dept. says oil, gas prices to stay high (thanks do no drilling congress)

MSNBC ^ | 6/11/2008 | AP

[tobyhill]

WASHINGTON - The Energy Department says motorists can expect gasoline prices to remain close to $4 a gallon through next year.

Oil prices should remain well above $100 a barrel through 2009, says Guy Caruso, head of the department’s Energy Information Administration.

[Mark319]

“The Energy Department says motorists can expect gasoline prices to remain close to $4 a gallon through next year.”

If we’re lucky...

[E. Pluribus Unum]

It has nothing to do with the oil industry.

The Feds are inflating the currency like mad in order to fix the subprime mortgage crime.

It's not that gas is costing more in real dollars, it's your dollars that are worth less.

This is why they changed the way inflation is measured.

[KenHorse]

What? You mean prices won’t tumble if The Messiah is elected POTUS?

C’mon NBC. You’re not doing your job

[tobyhill]

Always double the prediction of the Energy Dept. They were predicting $2.80 a gallon this time last year.

[tsmith130]

I live in Connecticut. At this point, I’d be thrilled to find gas for $4 a gallon.

[Williams]

Can we connect some dots here? Bill Clinton vetoed ANWR drilling and then turned a wasteland with our greatest clean coal reserves into a National Park. Leaves office and an oil rich ME country loves himn so much he is paid millions to do nothing. Coincidence?

I would almost guarantee the Saudis are financing the Sierra Club and other "environmental" groups.

[ex-snook]

Drilling should have started 30 years ago. That would have avoided the current situation and a couple of wars in the interim.

[RexBeach]

I wouldn’t trust DOE with a piece of toast, let alone making future estimates of gasoline and oil prices.

[henkster]

In a way, if they hold at this level it’s not entirely a bad thing.

The economy will adjust to the higher prices and compensate. It’s the huge increases that cause the most dislocation and breed uncertainty. Stability, even if at a high price, is what businesses need to plan their economic activity.

Oil prices at this level will make economical alternative sources, such as oil shale and coal liquification. The biggest cost in those schemes is the initial capital investment, and the thought that prices might drop back to $40/barrel will keep investors from backing those ventures.

We need to get off of foreign oil. Obviously, it’s going to take some pain to get us off our butts to do this. Now if only we can get our incompetent, American-hating Congress to let the private sector make the conversion from imported oil....

[mc5cents]

The Department of Energy? That is still a government agency, correct? So we believe whatever they say? Only if you are government school educated. Rational people will consider the source of the information and give it due credence, next to that grain of salt.

[Salvation]

McCain needs to start calling this the “Do nothing Congress”. They are the reason we are where we are.

[tobyhill]

It’s already crushing the economy. All congress can do is talk about increasing gas mileage but they can mandate all the mileage increases they want and the averages will never get above 25 mpg.

[henkster]

The economy will rebound if

1. the prices stabilize, and
2. the government doesn’t do something stupid, like increase taxes or kills private efforts that would lead to energy independence.

The current pain is the pain of the adjustment to the new price level. In 1979, we all thought $1.00/gallon gasoline a was going to crush the economy. Well, for most of the next 30 years, prices remained stable and our economy did quite well. In large part thanks to Ronald Reagan. But, given a stable price, the economy will adjust and perform.

[RSmithOpt]

You are correct!!!, Still no legislative reform on the sub-prime crap from The Hill nor unregulated futures speculation, i.e who and how much, in the US commodities markets.

[b4its2late]

This ought to push oil up

[b4its2late]

Well, I guess a butterfly fart will push oil up too....

[B-Cause]

Very Telltale..........Questions??

Gas at $4.00 a gallon. Who's to blame?

Thanks to the environmentalist lobby and its influence on Democratic legislators in Congress, the U.S. has, for decades, been prohibited from drilling for oil in places that we know contain billions of barrels of proven reserves.

Check out this map:

All of the "NO" zones are places where the U.S., thanks to the Democratic Party, is prohibited from drilling for oil.

But wait - it gets better.

*** China, Cuba, Canada and others continue to drill off our shores where U.S. companies are not allowed to drill because of
Democratic Policies!

Yes, that's right: China and Cuba are actively exploring oil fields 50 miles from Key West, Florida while U.S. companies are barred from working in this area because of U.S. policy. So, instead of allowing the most environmentally responsible companies to operate there and increase our domestic supply, China, who has a dismal environmental record, is preparing to suck our close, lucrative oil reserves dry.

Unbelievable!

Investor's Business Daily recently explained how irresponsible the Democrats have been on the energy crisis. They lay into what they consider to be the worst Congress ever for Failing to allow drilling in ANWR. We have, as President Bush noted, estimated capacity of a million barrels of oil a day from this source alone -- enough for 27 million gallons of gas and diesel. But Congress won't touch it, fearful of the clout of the environmental lobby. As a result, you pay through the nose at the pump so your representative can raise campaign cash.

Refusing to build new refineries. The U.S. hasn't built one since 1976, yet the EPA requires at least 15 unique 'boutique' fuel blends that can be sold in different areas around the nation. This means that U.S. refinery capacity is stretched so tight that even the slightest problem at a refinery causes enormous supply problems and price spikes. Congress has done nothing about this.

Turning its back on nuclear power. It's safe and, with advances in nuclear reprocessing technology, waste problems have been minimized. Still, we have just 104 nuclear plants -- the same as a decade ago -- producing just 19% of our total energy. (Many European nations produce 40% or more of their power with nuclear.) Granted, nuclear power plants are expensive -- about $3 billion each. But they produce energy at $1.72/kilowatt-hour vs. $2.37 for coal and $6.35 for natural gas.

Raising taxes on energy producers. This is where a basic understanding of economics would help: Higher taxes and needless regulation lead to less production of a commodity. So by proposing 'windfall' and other taxes on energy companies plus tough new rules, Congress only makes our energy situation worse.

These are just a few of Congress' sins of omission -- all while India, China, Eastern Europe and the Middle East are adding more than a million barrels of new demand each and every year. New Energy Department forecasts see world oil demand growing 40% by 2030, including a 28% increase in the U.S.

Americans who are worried about the direction of their country, including runaway energy and food prices, should keep in mind the upcoming election isn't just about choosing a new president. We'll also pick a new Congress.

If you agree with the need to let the American people know who’s REALLY responsible for the sky-high gasoline prices we’re seeing today, please tell everyone you know about this situation.

If we elect a liberal Democrat as president in the Fall and keep the same Democrat-controlled Congress, nothing will change except gasoline prices, which will keep going up.

---

Subject: A Letter to our brilliant Congress

The OPEC minister will look you in the eyes and state:

" We are at war with you infidels. Have been since the embargo in the 1970s. You are so arrogant you haven't even recognized it. You have more missiles, bombs, and technology; so we are fighting with the best weapon we have and extracting on a net basis about $700 billion/year out of your economy. We will destroy you! Death to the infidels!

While I am here I would like to thank you for the following:

Not developing your 250-300 year supply of oil shale and tar sands. We know if you did this, it would create millions of jobs for US citizens, expand your engineering capabilities, and keep the wealth in the US instead of sending it to us to finance our war against you bastards.

Thanks for limiting defense dept. purchases of oil sands from your neighbors to the north. We love it when you confuse your allies.

Thanks for over regulating every segment of your economy and thus delaying, by decades, the development of alternate fuel technologies.

Thanks for limiting drilling off your coasts, in Alaska , and anywhere there is a bug, bird, fish, or plant that might be inconvenienced. Better that your people suffer! Glad to see our lobbying efforts have been so effective.

Corn based Ethanol. Praise Allah for this sham program! Perhaps you will destroy yourself from the inside with theses types of policies. This is a gift from Allah, praise his name! We never would have thought of this one! This is better than when you pay your farmers NOT TO GROW FOOD. Have them use more energy to create less energy, and simultaneously drive food prices through the roof. Thank you US Congress!!!!

And finally, we appreciate you letting us fleece you without end. You will be glad to know we have been accumulating shares in your banks, real estate, and publicly held companies. We also finance a good portion of your debt and now manipulate your markets, currency, and economies to our benefit.

THANK YOU AMERICAN CONGRESS!"

---

Below is a link to a video that is a great message

"Joe, American" Challenges the Presidential Candidates

Click Here

[tatsinfla]

i remember shortly after the war started seeing this old guy driving his car plastered with signs saying bushes war for oil...no blood for oil...etc etc....i had to laugh and would like to ask him now where all that oil is that we went to war for...

[RightWhale]

Thanks to anti-trust crusaders. Let Standard Oil reassemble itself.