31 replies to this topic

[z2z007]

If you haven't noticed, oil prices are skyrocketing to over $3.00 a gallon with the national avg at $2.93/gal. Our economy is completely soaked in oil so everyone is feeling the heat from it. What do you think is the cause of the price hikes? Summer gas conversion costs, price gouging, oil industry vertical integration, lack of supply, feeble energy policy? What is your take and will it get any better?

[esong27]

Yesterday I saw in the news that gas was $4.15 in this one city (not sure where). My dad's a taxi driver so our livelihood is pretty much dependent on gas availability. In the last issue of TIME, the one with the cover page that reads "What Doctors Hate About Hospitals," on page 18 there is a segment called "Lipstick at $75 a Barrel?" According to this, the price of a barrel of crude oil has hit the $75 mark, and the price of gas isn't the only thing rising: house paint, diapers, toothpaste, cigarettes, lipstick, pills, and other things contain petroleum derived ingredients, and will become more expensive.

I know the gas price-increase is due to a whole bunch of factors, one being the Hurricane Katrina destruction of oil refineries in the New Orleans area, and our current [negative] conditions with Venezuela, a major oil exporter. And that China is becoming a superpower, providing us with competition in the need to purchase oil... Right? What else is there?

[bashmiester]

In respons to Esong...
yes i also saw on the news that gas prices in San Diego have reached $4.14! That's crazy, but I also heard that the Government will be doing an nivestigation into Oil Stations around the nation on how they have made unfair excess profits...

[EndocrineFlippa]

for me, the higher the oil prices the better.... it will force people around the world to use alternative energy...or at least put a lot more into researching it it will also force people to walk and bike, which is good too....

[tycoonboy388]

Once we can get up more E85 ethanol refineries then we will be in better shape. Almost all cars on the road can run on ethanol, and most newer cars are already being designed to reduce emissions when ethanol is used. Also once we have the capability to produce large quantities of ethanol, we will no longer have to restrict the amount of corn grown annually and eliminate the subsidies (corn, from which ethanol is made, is heavily subsidized by the federal government to keep the price down in the world market). We have the capacity to fuel the nation on ethanol alone, and our dependence on oil will be reduced (and we won't have to drill in the ANWR).

Petroleum products are integral to our lives, as plastic (a petroleum product) is used all the time. If we could reduce our petroleum consumption to atleast large power plants and petroleum product production, then we would help reduce pollution in the world. If we lower our dependence on oil, then the world might follow, and prices will drop to levels that will rival the levels they were at in the '90's.

[zaccariah2005]

Hopefully, I will not need a car when I grow up. I will be totally dependent on the subway. Y can't everybody do that? Cars are expensive. Subways may need fossil fuel (electricity), but, electricity can, also, be made in other ways. Therefore, only a percentage of the electricity would com from fossil fuel. Please, don't abuse me if I am wrong. I am not sure about these kinds of stuff.

[leo2car]

You are never taking a vication or visiting a diffrent place then New York City.

[boxing_the_stars_x]

Price guoging, pretty simple. Exxon-Mobil had a bajillion dollar profit for the first quarter this year, need I go on?

[azntechguy]

Y'know, when the gas prices hit $2/gal, my dad refused to fill up a tank more than 1/2 way. Now that it reached $3/gal here, I'm actually surprised he's not filling up 1/4 way.

Guess I'd better start picking trips on cities or locales with good mass transit. Time to start loving my Metrocard.

-----

Yes, I feel the price increase in stores.

Right after my Alumni Day shift was over yesterday, I went straight to my local Pathmark in LIC. It seemed like every item on sale there had its price jacked up by at least a $1.00. I thought my eyes were deceiving me, so were my dad and my brother. And there were surprisingly few shoppers in the store too at that time of day.

It was no optical illusion though. After checkout, I noticed that we bought a lot less than usual and we still hit the $75 mark. Very subjective, but true nevertheless.

[tycoonboy388]

I think its a combo of price gouging and the continued existence of a state-supported monopoly who controls a lifeblood necessary for our modern life (or atleast state-supported in the sense that the company spends more on political contributions than on research for alternative energy sources. While Katrina had its impact, when most of the oil lines reopened, prices dropped momentarily, and then continued to skyrocket. The reason: "the rising cost of oild? the continued hatred of the US by OPEC nations? the newer levels of demand on the world market?" No one knows, and as Exxon-Mobil continues to make nice contributions to the ruling party (and a large part of the minority party), I see the government's pledges to investigate "price gouging" and unfair profits as going nowhere.

Perhaps its time for a revolution where we purge the world of the oil monopoly and seize of all the worlds oil deposits.

Lets just hope that it doesn't end like Urinetown.

[djharkavy]

While there is some short-term price gouging as prices get raised at the first sign of trouble, but do not get lowered quite so quickly, there are some basic economic factors as well.

Supply is lower than normal. The Middle East has had some major instability lowering their ability to supply oil, and Venezuela has had problems as well.

Demand is significantly higher. China and India, both with large populations, have emerged in the past decade into major economic and industrial activity. And as they emerge further, they will use oil at an even faster pace.

Net results are higher prices. And they are not going away, as the amount of available oil is peaking and production will only get lower over time, while demand gets higher.

And there is little the government can do that will make the situation better. Most proposed solutions are short-term at best and counterproductive in the long term.

I, for one, have reduced my driving significantly and take public transportation whenever possible. But the costs are still extremely high.

[Retina]

What Mr. Harkavy said, For Dummies:

Quote

MR. RUSSERT: Mr. Secretary, if, if demand is up but supply is down, why are the profits so high?

MR. BODMAN: For that reason.

http://www.msnbc.msn...2518683/page/3/

Russert: newscaster genius.

[Neo]

Usually, I don't like the topic of oil because it's such a worn out record, but...

I prefer to explain analogously, so let's say that the human race is a space ship. Like the space ship, our goal is to rise. We use fuel to move forward--the ship literally upwards, while humans adapt, learn, and ultimately evolve. The momentum we gain is made possible thanks to our fuel, and like the space ship, insufficient fuel means that we don't have the momentum to break the final barrier and reach high enough to avoid falling, crashing, and burning.

While most people see oil as the fuel source to get through life, the reality of the situation is that it's a temporary fix until we find a fuel source that will continue to provide indefinitely. Yes, alternative energy activists are out there, but they are few and in between, drowned out by the vast sea of ignorant masses. This should come as no surprise however, considering that we were made dependent since day one. I am not a conspiracy theorist--that the ruling class continues to benefit and indulge in a lifestyle that mimics the limitless luxuries of Eden and endless power that reeks of God cannot be denied. Likewise, it wouldn't be unreasonable to say that any living being in such a position, knowing of their own mortality would have little reason to care what happens beyond their time.

What I don't understand is why people look to the political machine to resolve this issue. Big business walks hand in hand with the government, we all know this. Why then, do people expect their "elected" officials to be loyal to them? Assume that this was not the case even, that government's aim was to truly protect the interests of the people it oversees, how could the government help? The policies of the United States are largely limited to our borders while the power of a multinational company envelops the world. Science empowers people, but the residual conditions created by such an uneven distribution of wealth combined with "stupid media" funded and promoted by certain entities don't exactly encourage enlightenment of the mind.

Everyone is just waiting, waiting with their jaws dropped and blank looks upon their faces. Someone please tell me what the hell they're waiting for. Frankly, it all boils down to this: big business created the problem, the government perpetuates it, and the scientific community can solve it. Everyone has to and will take sides, but IMHO, if you're not part of the solution you shouldn't whine about the problem. Yes, you have a right, but that doesn't mean you should.

[PinKkFloyDd]

It's because demand is going up, but a huge part is simply that the oil companies are hungry for profits.

[Sydnias_Wolff]

http://lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/

Quote

Oil will not just "run out" because all oil production follows a bell curve. This is true whether we're talking about an individual field, a country, or on the planet as a whole.

Oil is increasingly plentiful on the upslope of the bell curve, increasingly scarce and expensive on the down slope. The peak of the curve coincides with the point at which the endowment of oil has been 50 percent depleted. Once the peak is passed, oil production begins to go down while cost begins to go up.

In practical and considerably oversimplified terms, this means that if 2000 was the year of global Peak Oil, worldwide oil production in the year 2020 will be the same as it was in 1980. However, the world’s population in 2020 will be both much larger (approximately twice) and much more industrialized (oil-dependent) than it was in 1980. Consequently, worldwide demand for oil will outpace worldwide production of oil by a significant margin. As a result, the price will skyrocket, oil-dependant economies will crumble, and resource wars will explode.

Interesting website. Worth a read-through. Quite frankly, we need a miracle right now.

[kinpaku]

Sydnias_Wolff, on Sep 10 2006, 01:47 AM, said:

As a result, the price will skyrocket, oil-dependant economies will crumble, and resource wars will explode.

You know, the thought of a resource war is terrifying, i am almost sure that every country is going to participate directly or indirectly, and i think we're in another road leading to a distant world war unless someone does something.

[Sydnias_Wolff]

kinpaku, on Sep 10 2006, 06:56 PM, said:

You know, the thought of a resource war is terrifying, i am almost sure that every country is going to participate directly or indirectly, and i think we're in another road leading to a distant world war unless someone does something.

Quite right. In-fact, the War in Iraq was (arguably) the beginning of the first world resource war. The middle-east holds some of the most massive oil reserves left in the world (forgive me if I'm wrong?), and 9/11 was a gateway for the Bush regime to begin tapping in on that supply by hook or by crook. Wait for it. Unless scientists achieve a major breakthrough with fusion, or we begin more widespread usage of solar, things will get much much worse before they get better.

[Hi its me the new guy]

My Family doesn't really mind about the extra gas price (we just got a Toyota Yaris), but if the price is going to continue to rise it would kinda get me worried about prices for future prices of gas. This summer my family trip to Virgina from NYC cost like $65/??gallons on our Pathfinder, which made me really outraged because before we've reached Virginia we're already spending cash... I think that some1 need to talk to those guys fromt he middle east who are supplying gas, also i think Bush needs talk to the President of Venezula, i mean they got a lot of oil there but its sold at high prices...

Probably 1 emote sums up what every1 thinks of the gas prices: , lol

[tycoonboy388]

We are one of the largest producers of petroleum. Right now, one of our largest fields is only at half capacity because of a break in an oil pipeline in Alaska. It is said it will be fully repaired by the end of the year.

That said, there is word that a new oil field has been discovered in the Gulf Coast, and it is expected that it might yeild a lot of oil. This has actually caused the price of gas to drop somewhat.

No matter how much oil can be supplied now, I don't think thats the problem. I think the real problem is that its running out, and we need to prepare for the moment when oil wells dry up. E85 Ethanol is perhaps most promising. Seeing as we are already the worlds largest producer of maize corn, and E85 Ethanol is derrived from corn, as long as we can get enough plants to start producing large quantities of Ethanol (which burns cleaner and more efficiently than oil) we will see our reliance on petroleum drop drastically. And in the same stroke, we will help many farmers in the country's heartland, who are currently living off government subsidies not to grow corn (we subsidize the cost of producing corn to keep the price of corn cheap on the world market). With E85 Ethanol, the whole energy problem will be resolved, because you will no longer have to use up valuable oil on fueling up 200 million cars.

[Hi its me the new guy]

Will E85 work in older cars also? like cars from 1999? Also is E85 safe for the ozone layer? i'm more concerned about the ozone layer than the oil...