Quote from Brandonf: Well, if your in a small town and the jobs are 40 to 50 miles a way, one way, and your only making $5 to $7 an hour, Who in the world wants to drive 50 miles one way for those wages? Either move closer or get a job closer. [/B]
SUV's are over for all practical purposes, dealers are not taking them as tradeins at all........ the local food movement will grow as the cost of shipping food goes up and that could be a health benefit, electric bicycles and overnight charging of hybrids is a piece of cake shoein, technology wise, early adopters will get more of the benefits and really, all you have to do is locate the batteries in your hybrid and get an appropriate charger and jury rig things so the gas motor can be disabled when you want. You can do that yourself if you are a little tech savvy. Walking will slim down fat Americans a good bit too. Most Americans will adapt one or more ways... I can already see that highway usage is way, way down.
lol you're a typical boo hoo hoo pro-Obama welfare liberal. Gas prices haven't gone up that much, actually. The rate of inflation is about 5% a year which equates to 15 cent a year expected increase price in gas. Gas will soon be at $4 dollars a gallon and it will have no impact on the US economy at all, contrary to what the liberals think. We need to cut the gas tax once or twice a year. This will help put more money in the hands of the consumer. We're in a globalist free trade economy. If the market says $4 or $10 dollar gas thats what you will pay and the market will ensure everything works out in the end for the consumer and corporation. Get a higher paying job if you want to have more money to pay for higher gas.
Oil crosses $129 for first time, heads for $130 Tuesday May 20, 10:24 am ET By George Jahn, Associated Press Writer Crude oil futures pass $129 a barrel for the first time, likely headed past $130 VIENNA, Austria (AP) -- Oil prices spiked to a new trading high Tuesday, sweeping toward $130 a barrel as supply concerns intensified the momentum buying that has lifted crude deeper into record territory. The June contract for light, sweet crude traded as high as $129.46 on the New York Mercantile Exchange before settling back to $129.10, up $2.05. Prices are currently being driven higher by supply concerns. This latest surge comes after OPEC's president was quoted as saying his organization won't increase its output before its next meeting in September. The imminent expiration of the June contract is adding to the volatility, and raised the very real possibility that crude could hit $130 before the end of the day, when the contract ends. The contract reached a new closing high of $127.05 Monday after Algerian Energy Minister Chakib Khelil, the current president of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, was quoted by a government newspaper as saying OPEC won't increase its output during the U.S. summer driving season, which begins this weekend. OPEC's next meeting is scheduled for Sept. 9. Concern about supply has recently become the primary driver of the market, replacing earlier worries about a weakening dollar, and not even Saudi Arabia's promise last week of an additional 300,000 barrels of crude a day could alleviate those new concerns. Despite that pledge from the world's leading oil producer and the U.S. move to temporarily stop filling government stockpiles, prices have shown no indication of stopping their record run. Through Monday's close, the front-month contract has hit nine trading or closing records in 11 sessions. Analysts have said speculative buying has also contributed to oil's record high run. In other news lifting prices, independent refiner Holly Corp. said a key unit at its New Mexico refinery was shut down for repairs, cutting estimated May gasoline production by as much as 756,000 gallons per day. The shutdown occurred while the fluid catalytic cracking unit was being brought back online from a previous shutdown May 7. The refinery in Artesia, New Mexico, is Holly's largest. As oil prices reach new heights, so have gasoline and diesel costs. "Average gasoline prices in the U.S. rose for an eighth straight week and for the 15th time this year, up 1.8 percent or 6.9 cents to a record $3.791 a gallon," noted Stephen Schork in his Schork Report. "Gasoline at the pump is averaging 28.5 percent above last year's pace." Drivers in some parts of the U.S. are paying considerably more, however. Gas pump prices in parts of California have been stuck above $4 a gallon for weeks now. In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures rose 9.2 cents to $3.7671 a gallon while gasoline prices rose 5.43 cents to $3.2909 a gallon. Natural gas futures rose 22.7 cents to $11.181 per 1,000 cubic feet. Associated Press Writer Thomas Hogue contributed to this report from Bangkok, Thailand.
Shortage fears push oil futures near $140 By Carola Hoyos and Javier Blas in London Published: May 20 2008 19:06 | Last updated: May 21 2008 10:57 Fears of a shortage within five years propelled long-term oil futures prices to almost $140 a barrel, further stoking inflationary pressures in the global economy. The spot price of Nymex West Texas Intermediate hit a record $130.30 a barrel on Wednesday. On Tuesday investors had rushed to buy oil futures contracts as far forward as December 2016, pushing their prices as high as $139.50 a barrel, up more than $9.50 on the day. Veteran traders said they had never seen such a jump and said investors were increasingly betting that oil production would soon peak because of geopolitical and geological constraints. Neil McMahon, of Sanford Bernstein, said: âPeak oil views â regardless of whether right or wrong â are seeping into the market and supporting high prices.â Anne-Louise Hittle, of Wood Mackenzie, added that investors were shifting their focus from the short-term to the medium-term, where supply fears played a bigger role. Since January, long-term futures oil contracts, such as those for delivery in 2016, have jumped almost 60 per cent, while near-term prices have gone up 35 per cent. That trend was exacerbated by T. Boone Pickens, the influential investor who believes world oil production is about to peak as aging fields run dry. He warned that oil prices would hit $150 a barrel by the end of the year. âEighty-five million barrels of oil a day is all the world can produce, and the demand is 87m,â Mr Pickens told CNBC. âItâs just that simple.â Mr Pickensâs view is still in the minority in the oil industry. But concerns over future oil supplies are fast moving into the mainstream and influencing investors. Politicians have expressed concern that speculators are forcing prices higher and Joseph Lieberman, the influential senator, said he was considering legislation to limit big institutional investors in commodities markets. Some energy executives have warned that geopolitical supply constraints will mean production will not be able to match demand as early as 2012 to 2015. This comes as demand, especially from China, is set to continue to grow, while that of the US slows. Adam Sieminski, chief energy economist at Deutsche Bank, said: âThe price is going to go up until governments that subsidise oil consumption in Asia and the Middle East can no longer afford it.â So far China is doing the opposite, having recently retrenched subsidies. Analysts say Chinese demand could surge further as the country faces shortages of coal and hydropower. Nervousness about Chinese energy demand was exacerbated on Tuesday when officials said 32 power plants had been forced to close because of coal shortages. PetroChina and Sinopec, the two biggest domestic oil groups, also have diverted fuel supplies to the quake-hit Sichuan region. Additional reporting by Geoff Dyer in Beijing
Not everyone has a job that is always in the same place. Take construction workers for example. When the job is completed, they move onto the next job. You expect them to pick up and move every time they work on a different job site?
I heard that in order to get to $12 a gallon, oil would have to go to 200 a barrel. At that rate, however, demand will fall dramatically and gas would go down $12.
Oil prices surge on surprise drop in supplies Thursday May 29, 10:51 am ET By John Wilen, AP Business Writer Crude prices surge after Energy Department reports surprise drop in oil, gasoline supplies NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil prices are surging higher after the government's surprising report that the nation's supplies of crude oil and gasoline fell sharply last week. Light, sweet crude for July delivery is up $1.18 at $132.21 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices were off by as much as $2 in trading before the report's release. The Energy Department said crude oil inventories fell by 8.8 million barrels. Most analysts had expected a slight increase. The department said the big drop was due to temporary delays in unloading oil tankers along the Gulf Coast. Gasoline supplies, meanwhile, fell by 3.2 million barrels, again countering expectations that inventories would grow.