Posted on 02/21/2012 6:48:43 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Nothing drives voter sentiment like the price of gas – now averaging $3.56 a gallon, up 30 cents from the start of the year. It’s already hit $4 in some places. The last time gas topped $4 was 2008.
And nothing energizes Republicans like rising energy prices. Last week House Speaker John Boehner told Republicans to take advantage of voters’ looming anger over prices at the pump. On Thursday House Republicans passed a bill to expand offshore drilling and force the White House to issue a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline. The tumult prompted the Interior Department to announce on Friday expanded oil exploration in the Arctic.
If prices at the pump continue to rise, expect more gas wars.
In fact, oil prices are rising for three reasons — none of which has to do with offshore drilling or the XL pipeline.
The first, on the supply side, is Iran’s decision to cut in oil exports to Britain and France in retaliation for sanctions put in place by the EU and United States. Iran’s threat to this has been pushing up crude oil prices for weeks.
The second, on the demand side, is rising hopes for a global economic recovery – which would mean increased oil consumption. The American economy is showing faint signs of a recovery. Europe’s debt crisis appears to be easing. Greece’s pending bailout deal is calming financial nerves on both sides of the Atlantic, and the Bank of England and European Central Bank are keeping rates low. At the same time, China has decided to boost its money supply to spur growth there.
Neither of these would have much effect were it not for the third reason — overwhelming bets of hedge funds and other money managers that oil prices will rise
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Is this a publication people spend their hard-earned money on or is it one of those leaflets that get handed out for free outside of Occupy Wall Street rape tents?
Don’t you think that threatening to increase our supply would stimulate foreigners to increase what they supply? They have every interest in making American production unprofitable (that’s the mechanism that killed west Texas oil production back in the ‘80’s, remember?)
So the price for crude might not drop tomorrow, but it would be moving down by summer. Of course, if we were supplying ourselves, the cost would be net very little as the revenues would circulate inside our economy instead of heading into other sovereign pockets first.
Bobbie can’t even see over the top of a gas pump.
Ahhh, yes. But we didn't just start talking about offshore oil drilling. We didn't just start talking about drilling in ANWR. The XL pipeline is something relatively recent.
The point is, we've been hearing this line of reasoning for at least 20 years now.
Next year will be here before you know it. Look how fast this year got here.
“Funny, I don’t hear Republicans rail against speculators. Could that have anything to do with the fact that hedge funds and money managers are bankrolling the GOP as never before?”
Really, Robert? Got an evidence to back that up, or are you just going to throw that out there in hopes that the uneducated democratic voter base laps it up without a hint of skepticism?
Huge Plunge In Petroleum and Gasoline Usage
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2012/02/huge-plunge-in-petroleum-and-gasoline.html
Crikey, he’s a bloomin’ midget!
If speculators were influencing the market as Reich suggests I would think the price of a barrel of oil itself would be rising. However, it has stayed pretty static for awhile, only rising lately a little bit in response to the Iranian decision.
It’s the price of gas itself going up.
Professor Dwarfenstein first to leap into the breach spouting the conspiracy theory of the Grrrrrreeeeedy Eeeeeeevil Speculators.
Expect this to become a crescendo chorus. The Libs don’t have many other cards to play on this one.
“Nice try at a Jedi mind trick you little Ewok.”
Thanks for the morning chuckle.
You know, the little man has a head the size of his body trunk. Too bad it’s not full of gray matter.
Production cost is a key factor in the supply side of the equation, so the Republicans are right to call attention to cost-increasing government policies — things like mandated additives and environmental regulations blocking domestic oil production, pipelines, the construction of more efficient refineries.
Stop! Really, I mean it, just stop. I just peed myself laughing.
And when Obama and co took over, gas was cheap and the Dow was low.
Btw, America top export is fuel! The more fuel that's sent overseas, the less of a supply cushion there is at home.
I am hoping for Gas lines too.
The dollar has been relatively "stable" against the major currencies for about a 2 years now (CHF being an exception), so I'm not sure how "diminished" plays into the mix NOW more than a year or so ago ...
The Crude price has been stable at ~$100 as well since the beginning of December (ex futures). The futures price is also stable out to July ...
That said - Iran's Embargo of England and France is insignificant and is just being used as an excuse to raise prices.
So if it's not the dollar, and it's not the price of crude, it can only be the Oil Companies themselves that are raising the prices at the pump out of "fear".
This comment is absurd on a lot of levels.
First, investment banks such as Goldman Sachs who are major players in commodity funds bankroll Dems more than pubbies.
Second, using speculation to spike prices can only happen if there is a fairly tight supply - and eventually that bubble will pop as it did in 2008 as consumers cut use.
The GOP's solution is to increase supply. The Dems LIKE high gas prices.
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