Gas prices in Iraq!

[music4Him]

Boy howdy was I surprised (and angered) when I read this!

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While Americans are shelling out record prices for fuel, Iraqis pay only about 5 cents a gallon for gasoline - a benefit of hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies bankrolled by American taxpayers.
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http://www.showmenews.com/2004/Jun/20040606News020.asp

I for one as a taxpayer am tired of being bankrolled!

 

[carpro]

"We thank the Americans. They risked their lives to liberate us, and now they are improving our lives," said Baghdad taxi driver Osama Hashim, 26, while filling the tank on his beat-up 1983 Volkswagen.


Whatever else we do, we must not let statements like this be made public.

 

[mioque]

They do say that shared anguish is halved anguish.
Most taxpayers troughout Western-Civilization are bankrolling all sorts of stuff abroad they disagree with.

 

[Johnv]

Originally posted by music4Him:
Boy howdy was I surprised (and angered) when I read this! ... I for one as a taxpayer am tired of being bankrolled!

It must not bother you that much. The date of the story is June 6, 2004. The currect cost of a gallon of gas in Iraq is the equivalent of about $1.60 US. BTW, Iraq doesn't manufacture its own automobile gasoline. Interestingly, they import it from Kuwait, which has manufacturing facilities.

 

[Ps104_33]

They have plenty of gas but no food.

 

[Bro. James Reed]

Well, could we implement some type "food for oil" program? I'm sure it would help all concerned.

 

[Bro. James Reed]

btw, what does the average Iraqi bring home in a week?

I am bothered by our high gas prices, but things could be worse.

On the plus side, I just bought a brand new truck yesterday for $10,000 below MSRP, so the high gas prices are helping in some areas.

Now that I bought it, though, I think I'll call George and tell him to bring the price of gas back down for me.

 

[Johnv]

Originally posted by Bro. James Reed:
I am bothered by our high gas prices, but things could be worse.

I think that our prices are still low when adjusted for the rate of inflation. The price of gas would have to exceed $3.10 per gallon to cost the same as it did 30 years ago. The average price of a gallon of gas over the last 30 years, when adjusted for inflation, has been about $2.95 per gallon.

 

[Terry_Herrington]

Originally posted by Bro. James Reed:
Now that I bought it, though, I think I'll call George and tell him to bring the price of gas back down for me.

Call all you want to but gasoline isn't coming down, not now or in the future. I don't ever recall seeing gas going down in price to any great extent.

I remember during the "Oil Crisis" of the 1970's that we had grown accustomed to paying between $0.32 and $0.50 cents a gallon and all of a sudden there was this oil shortage. I was in my early twenties and my father told me that when gasoline got to just over a dollar a gallon the oil companies would find all the oil they needed. Sure enough, gas prices went to about $1.25 and came back down and settled at about $1.00.

I imagine that this same scenario will repeat itself, except that this time the price will settle somewhere around $3.00 a gallon.

 

[donnA]

Isn't Iraq an oil producer? if so no suprise they have cheaper gas.

 

[JGrubbs]

In Venezuela gas is $0.12 per gallon! Is this because they use their own oil and don't depend on the Middle East for it?

Source: CNN/Money

In related news...

Venezuela threatens anew to turn off oil spigot to US

CARACAS (AFP) - Venezuela's energy minister, Rafael Ramirez, said that Caracas is "ready and willing" to cut off its oil supply to the United States, if there are any signs of aggression from the superpower toward his country.

"We are prepared to do that, and we stand ready to defend our rights," Ramirez told the official news agency ABN.

On Sunday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez threatened to end oil exports to the United States if Washington did not stop its "aggressions."

"We do not want to break relations with the US government; it is not in our plans," Chavez said. "But if the aggressions continue, ... this could put diplomatic relations between Venezuela and the United States at risk."

Source: Agence France Presse

It's time for the U.S. to start using it's own resources and stop importing our oil from the Middle East and elsewhere!

 

[KenH]

Originally posted by Terry_Herrington:
1) I don't ever recall seeing gas going down in price to any great extent.

2) I was in my early twenties and my father told me that when gasoline got to just over a dollar a gallon the oil companies would find all the oil they needed.

1) Sure it has. In the mid-80's and in the late 90's. It was quite scary for those of us in the oil industry with the job cuts it caused because it was the result of the price of crude oil plummeting to around $10/bbl.

2) Yes. When demand exceeds supply, then companies work harder to increase the supply. When supply exceeds demands, then the price drops. It's part of the economic cycle that affects all industries.

 

[KenH]

Originally posted by JGrubbs:
It's time for the U.S. to start using it's own resources and stop importing our oil from the Middle East and elsewhere!

Yep - www.setamericafree.org/blueprint.pdf

 

[music4Him]

Originally posted by Johnv:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by music4Him:
Boy howdy was I surprised (and angered) when I read this! ... I for one as a taxpayer am tired of being bankrolled!

It must not bother you that much. The date of the story is June 6, 2004. The currect cost of a gallon of gas in Iraq is the equivalent of about $1.60 US. BTW, Iraq doesn't manufacture its own automobile gasoline. Interestingly, they import it from Kuwait, which has manufacturing facilities. </font>[/QUOTE]FYI, I didn't look at the date, but it still cheeper over there ain't it? While over here it keeps on going up. Acually I looked up the gas prices today after a conversation with my neighbor yesterday. He made mention of the gas prices the other night, when he told me one of his reporter friends just got back from over there and how cheep gas was.......while over here its outrageous. How come we can't buy it off of Kuwait for the same price? Just courious as to why everything over here has to be so high. Think about our elderly or disabled folks that live on fixed income (who live outside of town) who have to choose between gas, food, or much needed medicine or utilities. The high gas prices are effecting everything. Medical supplies, meds, insurance, food, pretty much every basic need..... except for the minumum wage (It don't look like it isn't going up any time soon). Why are people going out of the country to have medical procedures or dental work done? (because its cheeper plus they get a vacation) Why do people go to Canada or Mexico to get medicine (or worse yet some take their dogs medication)? (because its cheeper) Why can we as a country figure out how to lower some of these cost. What about our oil we have here in our contry where is it going? I donno maybe I don't got all the information, but something just don't add up with all the high prices we have to pay.
Does anyone else see this or am I the only one?

 

[KenH]

Originally posted by music4Him:
What about our oil we have here in our contry where is it going?

Due to environmental restrictions we are prohibited from getting oil from lots of very promising places in our country.

Due to environmental restrictions and what is often very poor profits(and frequent losses) in the gasoline side of the business we haven't built a new refinery in this country in about thirty years. All the oil in the world won't help us much unless we have additional refining capacity.

 

[music4Him]

Ken I just drove through Cleburne TX a couple of weeks back and you wouldn't believe the oil wells going in. Also a couple of newpapers in our county has ads asking land owners if they will sell their land.

I only wished I owned stock in oil right now..... my husband might be better able to afford the high cost of going to work so he can pay his taxes.

 

[NaasPreacher (C4K)]

Originally posted by music4Him:
FYI, I didn't look at the date, but it still cheeper over there ain't it? While over here it keeps on going up. Acually I looked up the gas prices today after a conversation with my neighbor yesterday. He made mention of the gas prices the other night, when he told me one of his reporter friends just got back from over there and how cheep gas was.......while over here its outrageous. How come we can't buy it off of Kuwait for the same price? Just courious as to why everything over here has to be so high.

It is a little cheaper to export oil from Kuwait to Iraq than from Kuwait to the US.

And, everything is not expensive there. It is unbelievably cheap compared to most parts of the world. People all over Europe fly to the US on one day shoppiong trips because even if with airfare prices are so much cheaper.

 

[Johnv]

Originally posted by JGrubbs:
In Venezuela gas is $0.12 per gallon! Is this because they use their own oil and don't depend on the Middle East for it? ... It's time for the U.S. to start using it's own resources and stop importing our oil from the Middle East and elsewhere!

In all fairness, only about 30% of our oil comes from the Middle East. There are numerous factors that affect the price of a gallon of gas.

 

[JGrubbs]

In 1973, foreign oil accounted for 35 percent of total U.S. oil demand. In 2003, the United States imported a record 63 percent of its oil from foreign sources. Though OPEC provided 42 percent of U.S. imports, the dominant suppliers are non-Arab members (notably Canada, America's number one supplier, Mexico, Venezuela, and Nigeria). In fact, Saudi Arabia (#2), Iraq (#7), Algeria (#9) and Kuwait (#13) were the only Arab countries among the top 20 suppliers of petroleum products to the United States in 2003. The Persian Gulf states supply roughly 22 percent of U.S. petroleum imports.

Source: Mitchell G. Bard

 

[Johnv]

Originally posted by music4Him:
How come we can't buy it off of Kuwait for the same price?

It doesn't work that way. Don't forget that we have slightly different manufacturing standards. If we were to have gasoline made to our specs in Kuwait, and then have it shipped here, the end cost would probably be more than the current price of gasoline.

Just courious as to why everything over here has to be so high.

Says who? It's very much a matter of perception. Adjusted for inflation, the cost of goods has remained relatively stable, and some have even decreased.

Think about our elderly or disabled folks that live on fixed income (who live outside of town) who have to choose between gas, food, or much needed medicine or utilities.

Well, I myself have a retired elderly mother, and she's doing quite well in retirement, after 35 years as a data entery clerk. We were all raised poor, but because she was good at managing her money, she has saved enough for retirement. I don't belittle the elderly poor, but it's fact that many elderly poor are there because they made poor financial decisions in their life, and/or did save for retirement. In addition, scripture requires us to honor our parents. Part of honoring them, I believe, is taking care of them in our old age. If there are elderly who need help, it is the fault of their children who are refusing to help them.

What about our oil we have here in our contry where is it going?

About 40% of our consumption comes from domestic sources. Another 30% comes from the Middle East. The remaining 30% comes from other foreign sources like Venezuela and Mexico.

Does anyone else see this or am I the only one?

No disrespect intended, but I think you're looking at this with naive-colored glasses. IT's rather complicated, actually.