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Oil Prices hit record high

Discussion in '2005 Archive' started by Ben W, Aug 9, 2005.

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  1. Ben W

    Ben W Active Member
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    Oil hits record on Saudi security threat
    Aug 9, 2005

    Oil prices hit a record high $64 after warnings of militant attacks in the world's biggest oil exporter Saudi Arabia and on worries about refinery outages in the United States.

    US crude settled up $1.63 at $63.94 a barrel after peaking at $64. London Brent crude settled up the same at $62.70 a barrel, after hitting a record $62.76.

    As the United States shut its diplomatic missions in Saudi Arabia in response to threats, Britain warned that militants were in the final stages of planning strikes in the kingdom.

    "The latest security threats in Saudi Arabia, even though they're not directed at oil installations per se, and the continuing refinery issues are having a supportive role," said Marshall Steeves, an analyst at Refco Group in New York.

    Concerns over the Saudi security situation coincided with news that another US refinery had run into output problems, adding to pressure on gasoline supplies in the world's biggest consumer during peak summer demand.

    News that OPEC's second largest producer Iran had resumed its nuclear work, despite European Union warnings of possible United Nations sanctions, further strained nerves.

    In Albuquerque, New Mexico, US President George Bush signed an energy bill passed by Congress after a four-year battle, but conceded that it offered no short-term relief from rising gasoline costs.

    In real terms, stripping out inflation, oil is still below the $80 a barrel on average for the year after the 1979 Iranian revolution.

    But at an average of more than $53 for the year to date for US crude, prices are well above those during the 1974 Arab oil embargo.

    Encouraging dealers to push prices higher, energy inflation has yet to have a significant impact on economic growth, particularly in the world's biggest consumers the United States and China.

    Naohiro Niimura, vice president at the derivatives division of Mizuho Corporate Bank, said the world's economy was coping with oil prices that have charged almost 50% higher since the start of this year.

    "The (global) economy is tolerant to these high oil prices," he said.

    "After the very strong pick-up in US growth data over the past few weeks, we believe the risk of a sharp slowdown in commodity demand looks negligible in the short term," said Barclays Capital in a report.

    US refineries have been hit by more than half a dozen unplanned outages in the past few weeks as plants strain to keep up with two years of strong demand growth after a decade of underinvestment.

    A fire at the weekend shut a 200,000 barrel per day crude unit at Sunoco Inc.'s  Philadelphia oil refining complex, a company official said.

    Further storms in a severe Atlantic hurricane season could knock out more US output, analysts said.

    "People dare not price in the surpluses they see," said Deborah White, senior energy analyst at SG Commodities in Paris, of comfortable US crude inventories.

    A Reuters survey of analysts forecast that crude stocks in the United States fell by a slight 200,000 barrels last week, while gasoline stocks fell by 1.8 million barrels.

    http://www.tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411319/603124
     
    #1 Ben W, Aug 9, 2005
  2. Ed Edwards

    Ed Edwards <img src=/Ed.gif>

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    The irony of it, on 8 Aug 2005:

    1. Pres Bush signs an energy bill.

    2. Gas at the pump hits a new high
    in Oklahoma (average for
    self-serve regular): $2.192

    Does anybody really expect that people
    who wear coats in August in Washington, D.C.
    to be able to make good energy policy? :eek:
     
    #2 Ed Edwards, Aug 9, 2005
  3. KenH

    KenH Well-Known Member

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    #3 KenH, Aug 9, 2005
  4. Johnv

    Johnv New Member

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    We need to free ourselves from, or at least reduce our dependency on, foreign energy sources. I'm all in favor of hybrid vehicle technology and hydrogen vehicles (yet several years away). I'm also in favor of solar energy at the home level. I'm in favor of compact flourescent bulbs, instant hot water heaters (replacing the large tanks), and energy efficient appliances. I'm in favor of ethanol and CNG as energy sources.

    We have the ability to produce enough energy to export it for sale to other countries. The fact that we're not moving in that direction concerns me.
     
    #4 Johnv, Aug 9, 2005
  5. One View

    One View New Member

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    I'm with Johnv. This is a problem we all can do something about. I think it would be a minor inconvenience to cut back 10% on energy usage.

    We're a wasteful society and we whine to government when it costs $100 to fill up the monster truck that get 8 mpg and, at the most, is used to haul a coffee cup.
     
    #5 One View, Aug 9, 2005
  6. billwald

    billwald New Member

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    Car are the American Religion. Driving 30 miles to work in a big car is an American right. &lt;G&gt;
     
    #6 billwald, Aug 9, 2005
  7. KenH

    KenH Well-Known Member

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    I drive about 2.5 miles to work in a medium car. [​IMG]
     
    #7 KenH, Aug 9, 2005
  8. Ed Edwards

    Ed Edwards <img src=/Ed.gif>

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    I drive 28 miles (one way) to work. I drive
    a small South Korean Car. I drive by a
    plant where GM makes SUVs [​IMG]

    One time the informational picket union guy
    flipped me off. I was tempted to stop
    and tell him, your sign "Drive a foriegn car -
    put ten Americans out of work" means
    nine auto mechanics [​IMG] I have an American
    car in my drive way (I finally sold it to a
    junk man for $40 and he towed it
    out of my driveway [​IMG] )
     
    #8 Ed Edwards, Aug 9, 2005
  9. StefanM

    StefanM Well-Known Member
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    I drive a small Japanese car 13 miles one way to work (church).
     
    #9 StefanM, Aug 9, 2005
  10. ASLANSPAL

    ASLANSPAL New Member

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    How dare you! ..OneView, Jimmy Carter already
    tried that ..are you some kind of liberal
    or something ..repent of such nonsense!&lt;sarcasm&gt;

    cut back Americans don't cut back! they want more
    and add more...more...more...more instead of
    just 25% of the worlds consumption lets shoot
    for 50%..hey get ready for the mega hummer
    and the supper Suv...

    JohnV who do you think you are Arianna Huffington!&lt;sarcasm&gt; you know that kind of
    talk on this board will get you horse whipped
    and labeled a liberal for life.&lt;sarcasm much&gt;

    ;)
     
    #10 ASLANSPAL, Aug 10, 2005
  11. Ben W

    Ben W Active Member
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    Do you have vehicles running on natural gas in the U.S? That is quite popular here.
     
    #11 Ben W, Aug 10, 2005
  12. poncho

    poncho Well-Known Member

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    THE ABC'S OF FUEL ALCOHOL

    How much does it cost to produce 1 gallon of ethanol?
    It will cost about $1.10 to $1.20/gal to make the alcohol from various feed-stocks like corn, barley, potatoes, or Jerusalem artichokes. You will also have by-products which you can sell or use as animal feed, reducing the total cost down to about $.95/gal.

    http://running_on_alcohol.tripod.com/id1.html
     
    #12 poncho, Aug 10, 2005
  13. Bro. James

    Bro. James Well-Known Member
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    In a world economy driven by profit margins and greed, the efficiency of an individual's mode of transportation is totally irrelevant. Affordable luxury is a bit of an oxymoron.

    Camels may be a good alternative. We could burn the dung in our cookfires outside our tents.

    The industrial revolution has made a full circle--many cannot afford to stay on this "treadmill to oblivion", but they know not what to do.

    Time for 666.

    Even so, come Lord--Jesus.

    Selah,

    Bro. James

    [ August 10, 2005, 11:49 AM: Message edited by: Bro. James ]
     
    #13 Bro. James, Aug 10, 2005
  14. Johnv

    Johnv New Member

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    CNG is a popular fuel used by buses, taxis, and some transportation vehicles. The infrastructure to supply CNG to the general public for automative use is not in place in most of the US.

    The most popular trend is the switch to hybrid vehicles. Even some mini SUV's are now hybrid. I myself amd truly hoping my next vehicle will be a hybrid. However, I'm leaning towards a conventional-engine Saturn VUE, which is very fuel efficient, getting mileage similar to some hybrids out there.
     
    #14 Johnv, Aug 10, 2005
  15. billwald

    billwald New Member

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    CNG has about 10% less energy/gal than propane which has about 10% less than Gasoline which has about 10% less than Diesel.

    It will be interesting to discover what an American is willing to pay for a gallon of gas. In terms of gallons/hour worked, gas is still cheap. When gas was two bits most people were making less than $1.50/hour Now gas at $2.50 and most people making over $15/hour.
     
    #15 billwald, Aug 10, 2005
  16. Johnv

    Johnv New Member

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    If the price of gas goes up, you'll see auto makers respond with hybrid vehicles that get 80 or 100 miles per gallon.

    But considering that much of Europe pays about $4 a gallon, we may have to wait a bit for that.
     
    #16 Johnv, Aug 10, 2005
  17. ASLANSPAL

    ASLANSPAL New Member

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    [​IMG]

    Oh drats it's French can't buy this and besides it is to small ..how dare people
    try to outSmart us!&lt;sarcasm&gt;

    billwald where do you get your figures "most people make over $15.00 an hour?..
    not around here they don't.

    poncho I think you may be on to something and
    those cornhuskers in Nebraska are fixing to be
    the next OPIC ...as oh pic in cornfield. ;)
     
    #17 ASLANSPAL, Aug 10, 2005
  18. StefanM

    StefanM Well-Known Member
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    Fuel prices hit rural areas hard. The fuel required to run farming equipment can run exorbitantly high, and non-farming workers usually must drive significant distances for lower-than-national-average pay.

    $2.30 a gallon might not be that bad if you're making 50,000 a year, but when you're trying to live on less than 20,000. . . well, you can run into trouble.
     
    #18 StefanM, Aug 10, 2005
  19. Johnv

    Johnv New Member

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    Well, I make less that 50k a year, and fuel here is $2.65 a gallon, and the average price of a house is $450,000. So I hope you don't mind if I don't lose sleep over someone in a rural area.
     
    #19 Johnv, Aug 10, 2005
  20. Bro. James

    Bro. James Well-Known Member
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    In terms of weight moved per dollar spent hybrids do not perform well. It takes x-amount of energy to move one pound on foot, everything else being equal. It is still a matter of efficiently using an energy source to produce a torque sufficient to move a weight from point a to point b. We are set up to move large weights in one trip.

    We need to completely re-engineer our use of fossil fuel as a source of energy. There are carburetor systems out there that will vaporize most any liquid that will burn--plus the combustion chambers and heads to accomodate a lot of different compressions and fuel/air mixtures. They are(were) not so expensive. This scenario will probably be like changing freon numbers--unnecessarily expensive.

    Someone has already pointed out that forty years ago we were paying a bigger percentage of income on gasoline than we are today.

    Hey, we have millions of gallons of strategic oil reserves. We could use some of that and stop driving up the demand on world oil.

    Selah,

    Bro. James
     
    #20 Bro. James, Aug 10, 2005
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