Oil price goes up, its' Bush doing it. Oil price goes down, its' Bush doing it. Man he sure knows how to swing the market for the idiot you guys think he is.
That sad thing I see is that now that near $3 a gallon, when it drops to these types of levels we are seeing right now people get excited when gas really needs to be lower than that I think. In a way the gas companies have trained us to appreciate $2 a gallon who knows when we will be appreciating $3 a gallon, next year?
Shifting baseline, indeed. I wish that instead of spending billions of dollars for research on something that might pay off one day down the road, more of that money were spent on actual power producing projects such as solar furnaces, windmills... whatever. I'm not saying abandon future research into alternative energy sources... I'm just saying that every day we become less dependent on oil is a good day.
I can't help but think that it's more than just a 'coincidence' that gas prices have dropped this much in such a short period of time (from roughly $2.70 to $2.03 I just payed earlier today to fuel my vehicle). It's amazing that such a radical shift in prices would happen this quickly...the cynic in me can't help but think that there is more behind it than mere 'market' variables. For one thing, the elections are near...
No , just down, I don't know anybody that ever said Karl Rove is an idiot. The man knows what it takes to influence the electorate, he learned from Clinton. Manipulating gasoline prices isn't an evil conspiracy, it is just an example of how you use the power of the presidency to influence elections. Hell the administration would be idiots not to try to reduce gasoline prices before an election and it is exactly their constiuantcy that has that influence, the heads of the the US majors , Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait. It's the kind of thing that can be done from the Oval Office phone, it doesn't require any legislation or debate.
Yep, yup, yep, yup. Just wait til next summer. We'll be bustin over $3 and when it drops next fall down to $2.50 to $2.75, everyone will be breathing a sigh of relief, not fully realizing that the baseline has increased another 25-40%. The big time manipulation will begin the next spring as everybody gears up for the big election. Don't be surprised if we have all sorts of crazy events happen to disrupt oil supply in 2008. Big money liberals will be behind the scenes doing everything possible to drive up oil and gas just to swing votes.
You know this wouldn't be such a problem if we actually knew how American energy policy was developed.
With laws written by industry lobbyist and administered by a beauracracy of borrowed industry managers looking to pad their resume's for future board seats? I don't doubt that the system does produce some expertise you wouldn't have in any other form of government and in some instances bolder policy than you would ever get from career bureaucrats. It just needs to stay directed for the greater good by the elected officials but alas they are too busy raising campaign funds. That limits us to just putting out fires, posturing and the short term viewpoint. Only the presidency can lead the 'vision'.
look, i wouldn't put it past them. but this cycle has been around for a lot longer than the guys in charge have been in charge.
Ummm, please describe how you think Bush would go about lowering oil prices. There are certainly a couple of ways - like releasing reserves or what not - but none of those happened. It's not like OPEC sets a price for oil and Bush can just ask OPEC to lower it.
Do you actually understand how oil price is determained? Please, educate me on how Bush is doing this, I hope its not "Bush made OPEC do it".
http://today.reuters.com/news/artic...4_RTRUKOC_0_US-MARKETS-OIL.xml&src=rss&rpc=23 Oil below $60 as supply grows, U.S. economy worries Mon Sep 25, 2006 6:53am ET LONDON (Reuters) - Oil dropped under $60 to a six-month low on Monday as abundant supplies in top consumer the United States and fears that slower U.S. economic growth would stunt demand for fuel extended a price retreat. U.S. crude has fallen nearly $19 from its mid-July peak of $78.40, its biggest slide in more than 15 years. The 24 percent decline was set off as investors' concern faded over Iran and the Atlantic hurricane season proved unexpectedly mild. The rout deepened last week as speculators fretted over slowing economic growth in the world's top consumer and hedge fund Amaranth Advisors registered billions of dollars in losses. U.S. crude was trading down 74 cents at $59.81 by 1027 GMT. London Brent was 86 cents lower at $59.55. "You have summer support unwinding, very bad product market support and on top of that the U.S. economic slowdown is becoming more compelling," said Eoin O'Callaghan of BNP Paribas. BP's (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research) move to restore output at its Alaskan oilfield earlier than expected added to a sense of healthy supply. The UK major said on Friday it will add 150,000 barrels per day (bpd) of output to Prudhoe Bay in about a week, lifting total production to 400,000 bpd less than two months after it was forced to halve flows due to a corroded line. <nN22578882> Prices have been under pressure as U.S. inventories of distillates climb to their highest in nearly eight years and natural gas stocks swell to record-high levels, assuring consumers of ample winter fuel supplies. At the same time, investors have begun to fret over the pace of U.S. economic growth -- a worry heightened last week after a key business activity index turned negative for the first time since April 2003, indicating a decline in manufacturing. But Goldman Sachs cautioned the market's weakness may be fleeting, as a severe winter could eat into comfortable stocks while delays to new oilfields and refineries may put renewed strain on global capacity by the end of this year. Even those who say the market may struggle to rebound warn that further losses are likely to be checked soon by members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), many of whom say $50-$60 is a desirable price level. Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said last week that prices were "reasonable", a shift from calling prices "high" that some analysts read as a signal for potential output action. "OPEC has a very difficult decision to make because if they try and maintain a price support to high then they will exacerbate the downturn for the world next year that we are forecasting," said O'Callaghan. Geopolitical worries remained on the backburner, with major powers at the United Nations still trying to reach consensus over sanctions on Iran, the world's fourth-largest oil exporter.
So I guess we will never see those $30-$40 barrel prices again if OPEC wants to keep the price around $50 a barrel.
1. you're assuming they can do that...that they can absolutely defy economic cycles. 2. did you read the parts i highlighted above...when we go into an economic slowdown, it's bad for the rest of the world...particularly those who sell us oil. the thought here is that they've contributed towards leading us to an economic slowdown, and now they're gonna pay the price...which could make them very reluctant to affect supply. opec doesn't always get what it wants.
Yeah but if they can drop the price to $50 a barrel, that's aabout $1.50/gallon of gas which I think is very reasonable, no? I read the parts, in fact I read the entire article but it seems to me that's what they want to do because if oil drops too low then it starts affecting their income and economy as well even though the U.S. has a very important economy itself.
