Posted on 12/04/2012 12:02:23 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
For the US economy, this would be a 'Black Swan' of a totally different variety.
In Bank of America/Merrill Lynch's 2013 Energy Outlook, analyst Sabine Schels and colleagues make a shocking prediction about the possible path of West Texas Intermediate oil.
Surging US shale oil output creates risk of $50 WTI North America’s energy supplies are surging while the rest of the world continues to fight for scarce molecules of oil and gas. On our estimates, onshore US crude oil output now vastly exceeds previous growth rates in liquids and nat gas, particularly in Lower 48 states. With profitability for US domestic oil producers very high and no change in sight to US rules preventing crude oil exports, we expect WTI prices to continue to lag international prices. Indeed, we see a risk of WTI temporarily falling to $50/bbl over the next 24 months to force a slowdown in supply growth or a change in crude oil export rules.
A key point that Schels & Co. make is that the crude oil market could come to resemble the Natural Gas market. In the natural gas market, the US has natural gas coming out of its ears, as it just has way more supply coming out of the ground than it could possibly use or export. So while prices remain decent throughout much of the world, domestic natural gas prices have collapsed...
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Abundant gasoline at economical prices?
Sorry, not in keeping with the Obama Plan to destroy the nation and bring on the Great People’s Cultural Revolution.
Obama will find a way to f*ck it up somehow, never fear.
First thing that came to my mind too!
Great minds think alike ;-)
Here in California, CARB will just require 4 summer formulas and 4 winter formulas, causing the refineries constant shortages of the right formula. Easy $5/gallon gas.
It will be just like the shirts in the Eastwood Movie Heartbreak Ridge. The refiners will never be able to guess the California formula-of-the-month.
Just a thought, since we do have so much natural gas, why hasn’t someone built a car that will run on it and set up filling stations for them? Probably a stupid question, but I wouldn’t mind seeing gasoline dropping down to about a $1 a gallon. I can remember when it was .25 cents per gallon and sometimes cheaper than that. Anyone else remember Gas wars before they outlawed them?
Makes me laugh that GE sold it’s plastic division because they couldn’t compete with the low cost oil and gas in the middle east. They sold it to an Middle East Company to move the production to China and the Middle East.
Over a 1000 lost their jobs because of the peak oil theory.
When I was in high school I was paying 13.9 cents/gal. for premium.
It only rose to 26.9 until 1974.
I remember my mother storming out of an Chevron station exclaiming that she’d never pay 32 cents a gallon.
In a perfect world Obama would be cutting all of his funding of green energy programs to avoid the fiscal cliff.
Civic Natural Gas
http://automobiles.honda.com/civic-natural-gas/
A "442" is not an engine, it's a car. It's pronounced "four four two", and not "four forty two". The engine in a 1970 4-4-2 was a 455 cube monster. The 4-4-2 designation originally represented 4 barrel carb, 4 speed transmission, and dual exhaust.
Yep I do remember gas wars. I remember gas at less than $1 per gallon. I also remember propane tanks conversions for cars when gasoline got too expensive.
I am thinking that natural gas is not readily available. It usually comes directly into the house doesn’t it? Propane is delivered and stored in tanks at peoples homes, and sold in tanks for bbq grills etc. So it didn’t take long for conversion kits to come along using propane back then.
Not sure how you could get natural gas, even if there was a conversion kit.
I think that an E85 conversion kit exits that will allow a car to run on 100% ethanol to 100% gasoline, and any mixture in between. If the government would permit it, people could make their own ethanol to run the car out of corn or other biomass.
It’s the same process as making moonshine, basically. However, government doesn’t want people to be able to be self-sufficient, they want them to have to buy fuel for cars, and booze to drink.
The EPA will mandate use of fuel blends specifically designed to destroy the engines of existing vehicles most likely to benefit from these abundant new domestic sources.
I started driving in 1976. Many a time had to raid the ashtray of quarters to buy gas. Made it from Duluth to Minneapolis a few times on that loose change. And even younger, riding my bike down to the gas station to fill up a 2.5 gallon can for the go-cart or fishing boat was well within the range of a 10-year old with a lemonade stand.
It was done in the 70s as a response to the oil crises. Turns out it only works for fleet vehicles working a set radius or route. And it’s still used that way (with some shortcomings) for fleets all over the US.
However - after a number of ‘genius’ individuals blew up entire city blocks trying to rig up home filling stations and a number of cars were involved in incidents that killed everyone in a 100’ radius because of tank ruptures and improper maintenance, it was filed away as a bad idea for the vehicle population as a whole.
Abundant domestic supply and low prices mean the shattering of OPEC control over the US, the defunding of many Middle East sponsored projects, and best of all - the Middle East suddenly becomes someone else’s problem. Like Europe’s.
I saw a natural gas filling station in Utah.
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