5.00 dollar a gallon gas is the new 4.00 dollar a gallon gas says the news media

[Tom]

Hey Dougie, I'm not pulling out my towel to cry. I recall the promises in the 60's of "low petrol prices" with the advent of North Sea Oil. It appears that HM loyal subjects allowed the boys in Westminster to squander the spoils on a broken NHS system and lots of government giveaways.

We do not however earn 2.5 times more.

I'm always surprised when I hear what salaries in the UK have risen to.

Reminds me I need to send in my claim to HMG for my pension; Need to get my share before the pot runs dry.

 

[Mavarick]

Ok, so I will throw in my 2c here also. First off what Bernie said X 2.
The talking heads drive me crazy, they figure if you say it long enough most will agree that it is true.
I?m very skeptical when it comes to environmental controls and govt intervention but both are a necessary evil. TransCanada and others want the XL ?to create jobs? and do good for the US. The fact is they want to run it through one of the largest aquifers in the Midwest and we should ?trust? them it will be ok?.Right.
We have plenty of oil but it would cost less (more profit) to drill in our back yard vs buying other oil. Even the Tar sand oil needs about $65/barrel to break even. However, our refineries are at or near capacity and have been for a long time. Why won?t they build more refineries? The same reason OPEC will not arbitrarily increase production, supply and demand. They say it?s because of permit fees and regulation but we all know that no fee ever stood in the way of a profit stream. I have no problem with this as it?s the American way. What I do have a problem with is subsidizing them.
I think the difference in the speculator laws being referred to is that it used to be only end users worked the futures market. Now virtually anyone can be a middle man and then sell the contract to an end user to actually take delivery. This of course increased the sensitivity in prices and because of the profits involved regulations were brought up. Eliminating the middle players was in discussion but don?t know what was passed in the new regs. Because of world unrest (think Iran & Israel, closing the Straight, China?s growth rate, etc) naturally the price swings can be high and is why there are not more futures players in other commodities. As always, JMHO.
Path, good call on UGA also, good place for some play $ if you don?t mind keeping a close eye on it. I like IDU for the low Beta and steady 3.5%, a lazier way to go.

 

[PatrioticStabilist]

England may have gas that costs more but America has so many more miles to get to places it costs us a lot more in the long run. Places here are a long way apart.

 

[Willie1971]

I have been over in the "Oil Countries" serving and I have a very good perspective on fuel. 

I get super angry when I see prices run up and CEO's getting huge paydays and bonuses.

Recently the middle east countries have doubled the wages most of the state employees get to quell the arab uprising.

I ran across news articles saying that oil needs to be a 100 bucks a barrel to allow them money to support this new wage increase.

Surprise..... over 100 a barrel oil.

I was in Qatar when the announcement was made of the wage increase.  You should see the cars these government employees drive and the way they don't take care of anything. 

I might sound bitter but I am way beyond that.  I am all for voting out all the lame duck representatives that cant get anything done.

I'd like to see an effort equal to the Apollo moon program directed in to an alt fuel that would give us energy independence.

We cant do that because its a huge balancing act.  If we stop using all that oil things would collapse and since its a global economy everyone would suffer. 

The best we can do is use less oil and buy electric cars.  Hopefully if people buy these cars the next generations will be far better and technology will improve. 

In summary.... We are truly hosed until someone gets a set of #alls and leads us into the future. 


Of course I drive a 8 mpg MH but at least when its parked I can live in it

 

[PatrioticStabilist]

My husband worked in Qatar for 3 years on the Pearl project.  His quarters were nice they even had a swimming pool for the expats and about anything else.  We could have gone to visit when he was in off quarters housing but I doubted I would fit in there very well.  Hubby said about all there was to do was shop also.  Some interesting places to see, but for women, well I was a bit leery and also with DD so we passed.

His quarters there were ultra luxiourious to what he is living in now.  A 30 year old camp and not much for sure, but he doesn't seem to mind.

They even had Blue Bell ice cream there. 

I think they also were having real issues with the ex pats that did all their work wanting more money too, they were not being paid much so that was a problem throughout the system.  He was gone before the big problems started, thank goodness for that. The foreigners there outnumber the population which is small.

 

[AverageBOB]

The news agencies have been under the thumb of the government for years, why is that a shock that they're selling propaganda to get people ready for 4$ a gal fuel prices?

Washington stopped caring about it's people long ago, all it want's to do is control them.
/political rant off

If fuel hits 4+$/gal I'll be taking the bike everywhere or walking. No way in heck I could afford to go camping let alone pay 1/3rd of my income to get to work (fuel).

 

[jje1960]

Yea, Diesel is holding in there at $4.29gal round here.... Unbelievable.  Wife has to drive herself to work tomorrow in the car, that means I have to drive the beast to work.... 110mi round trip for the commute, the Beast is getting about 16mi/gal ... this is gonna hurt...

 

[PatrioticStabilist]

I don't know if this was an awful price or not, I know you can use Rotella in diesels that's what hubby wants to use.  I was at Sam's and saw a sign for a 55 gallon drum and it was $580.  I saw a couple looking at it and kind of shaking their heads.  I have no idea what it costs but seemed like a ton of money to me.

 

[Icemaker]

That's why oil changes are so pricy...I always carried a gallon of Rotella to fill fuel filters if I had to change one on the side of the road..I never had o but better safe than sorry.

 

[path]

Just a quick follow up on UGA.  Doesn't look like gas going up forever at least for now.  I've sold.
see pic

 

[Jan Stiskala]

$1.56 per litre today in Sydney Australia that is about US $6.60 per gallon.

 

[codgerbill]

Hmmm.....
Could it be that the price of Petrol in the UK and other European countries might be due to all the additional taxes added to each liter of fuel? I don't think that we are taxed nearly as much for the fuel in the U.S. as they are in Europe.

 

[taoshum]

gasoline/diesel costs what it costs, take it or leave it... what's truly amazing to me is that there is so much of it available and no one seems to worry that we are burning these fuels at a staggering rate of consumption... next time you are in a major metro area, like Phoenix for example, go out to one of the loop highways at rush hour and take a look.  There will be literally hundreds of thousands of 3-4000 lb vehicles with one person driving, going about 15-20 mph, stopping every 200 yards for a few seconds, then going on...6 lanes on each side of the highway.  This happens everyday, all year long.  It's really fortunate that there is plenty of fuel to go around, otherwise, there would be millions of "dinosaurs" parked, rusting and useless.  Each shiny cocoon is climate controlled, equipped with comfortable seats, entertained with satellite radio, connected to the world via the cell phone networks and spewing CO2 out the tail pipe by the ton.  Then, the operators of these amazing machines complain endlessly about the price of gas. 

You gotta laugh... at least sometimes, or cry... :-\

8) 8)

 

[Scott-0168]

When we wintered in Florida this year, I think most of the RV parks would of been half full if it was not for our Canadian friends! Hate to see what the future holds for our beloved RV life stiles. 

Scott 

 

[taoshum]

When we wintered in Florida this year, I think most of the RV parks would of been half full if it was not for our Canadian friends! Hate to see what the future holds for our beloved RV life stiles. 

Scott 

Here's a documentary about "aging in the US" and the potential impact...  39 of the 50 states will look like Florida and Az in 20 years....  Canada is a blip compared to the 77 million boomers.
http://www.snagfilms.com/films/title/the_open_road_america_looks_at_aging

 

[SeilerBird]

gasoline/diesel costs what it costs, take it or leave it... what's truly amazing to me is that there is so much of it available and no one seems to worry that we are burning these fuels at a staggering rate of consumption... next time you are in a major metro area, like Phoenix for example, go out to one of the loop highways at rush hour and take a look.  There will be literally hundreds of thousands of 3-4000 lb vehicles with one person driving, going about 15-20 mph, stopping every 200 yards for a few seconds, then going on...6 lanes on each side of the highway.  This happens everyday, all year long.  It's really fortunate that there is plenty of fuel to go around, otherwise, there would be millions of "dinosaurs" parked, rusting and useless.  Each shiny cocoon is climate controlled, equipped with comfortable seats, entertained with satellite radio, connected to the world via the cell phone networks and spewing CO2 out the tail pipe by the ton.  Then, the operators of these amazing machines complain endlessly about the price of gas. 

You gotta laugh... at least sometimes, or cry... :-\

8) 8)

This is one of the best all time posts I have ever read. Thanks.