<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=6 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=alt2 style="BORDER-RIGHT: 1px inset; BORDER-TOP: 1px inset; BORDER-LEFT: 1px inset; BORDER-BOTTOM: 1px inset">NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil prices rose to a fresh four-month high over $53 a barrel Wednesday as refinery problems in Texas propelled gasoline up to an all-time peak.

U.S. light crude futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange touched $53.09 per barrel, a level not seen since late October, before settling up $1.37 to $53.05. London Brent on the International Petroleum Exchange advanced $1.11 to $51.22 a barrel.

The gains tracked a surge in U.S. gasoline futures to a record high of $1.4850 a gallon.

"This market simply wants to go up," said Kyle Cooper, an analyst with Citigroup Global Markets.

"Gasoline is up because of the refinery issues in Texas, which means there will be a scramble for product in the (U.S.) Gulf Coast," said Ed Silliere, an analyst at Energy Merchant.</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

Well, it is already here.

Just got back from LA, and put in 47 gal @ 2.45 = $115 worth of diesel.

OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Diesel prices here just went up 15 cents in one hour. Now at 2.49 a gallon.

Eric

WHAT refinery issues? There been another hurricane in the Gulf that I missed the memo on? Sheesh!

Does this not sound like ENRON....paying to keep plants offline???

It may be a stretch...but with ULSD being phased in....there are all kinds of excuses that can be used...we will never know if they are real.

Price just goes up....the oil buisness is a very good buisness right now...especially if the companies own the refineries.

Why would they want to want to build more refineries....EPA regulations blah blah...they can make a killing with what they have now.

Bio for me.

this is going to hurt the gasers the most most of the time i usually see gas more then diesel

It's the future market traders that are driving the price of crude, all you have to do is watch the financial networks. When someone comes up with a rumor, or some third world dictatot that has oil reserve says something or the weather gets a little cold the price of crude goes up. I've been from one end of this country to another and gasoline is anywhere from 15 to 20 cents lower than diesel. Because alot of states have put an extra tax on diesel. Let the good times roll, Animal

Sounds like we should start using some bio-diesel. B20 80 cents a gallon

home heating oil usage will be on the rise...i for one..should get better power to boot...

This is a bunch of ***** the stores of gas are actualy up from this time last year.Of course that should make the price go down!! Diesel stores are down just a little from last year. However, prices of crude are up almost 45%???

Why do we allow future traders to drive the cost of gas? It is time for the goverment to step in and restore supply and demand market conditions.

2.70 a gallon here in kennewick wa.

:rant:
It's a rip off. Premium gas is 25 cents a gallon cheaper than diesel-:t .
Diesel vehicle sales are up, so in the People's Republic of California, they decide to rip us offCensored , once again.
But, I still would not give up my Duramax.

**SIGH** Big Oil finally figured out how to wreste control of pricing from the MidEast......if they restrict the amount of crude they can refine by closing a few refineries and running the rest at 95% capacity...it doesn't make a hill-o-beans diff what Saudi Arabia sets the production levels at.......

actually, it surprised me they took so long to figure that one out. :rolleyes:

Look for $3.00 fuel at your local station soon! ):h

Tom :(

KIng George is an oil man ,isn`t he?

OK, I'm gonna get flamed, but here it comes!

Back in 2000, before I retired, I was on the way to work @ 05:30 one morning. On the CB, 2 truckers were cussing Gore and the rest of the Dem. I flipped the switch on my kicker and returned with: " You truckers have been *****ing about the price of diesel, but you elect those 2 big oil men Bush and Cheney, and you ain't seen **** yet."
Little did I know just how prophetic.:eek:

I won't get into American politics since I'm Canadian, but I definately have reason to complain about fuel prices. We have 4 machines totalling about 200-300 gals. per day . The slightest increase at the pumps adds up to alot of $$$ at the end of the month.

OK, I'm gonna get flamed, but here it comes!

Back in 2000, before I retired, I was on the way to work @ 05:30 one morning. On the CB, 2 truckers were cussing Gore and the rest of the Dem. I flipped the switch on my kicker and returned with: " You truckers have been *****ing about the price of diesel, but you elect those 2 big oil men Bush and Cheney, and you ain't seen **** yet."
Little did I know just how prophetic.:eek:Give...me....a...break! You think because G.W. and Mr. Cheney got elected that caused the price of diesel to go up? Good grief! Ya know, the diesel goes in your tank....not your Kool-Aide. :drinking:

JP

Diesel in Portland OR is $2.69 a gallon, gas is $1.99 - $0.70 more per gallon!!! This is a hotbed of liberalism and we have some of the highest prices I've seen so it doesn't matter who is in charge. Blame the towel heads half way around the world!

This is a bunch of ***** the stores of gas are actualy up from this time last year.Of course that should make the price go down!! Diesel stores are down just a little from last year. However, prices of crude are up almost 45%???

Why do we allow future traders to drive the cost of gas? It is time for the goverment to step in and restore supply and demand market conditions.
I agree but am not sure just where to put the blame on the increase. Less than a year ago diesel here in San Antonio was .10 - .15 cents less than regular unleaded. This week it has climbed to over .30 cents MORE than gas! WHY! Diesel is cheaper fuel...............Yeah right!

Billy

Just drove by the Shell station last night and saw the price has creeped upto 2.76 a gallon! Looks like I need to buy a new pair of shoes and just start walking!:rant:

This has gone up .62 cents in one month almost 29%!!!!

Pacific Pride sent a letter informing customers to expect to pay over $3.00 a gallon by spring in Washington St.

By Spring the diesel prices should drop like a rock off the Chicago Trade Building. Right now you have severe snow weather on USEC last 6-8 weeks. Takes a lot of heating oil to keep those Easterners warm. As soon as the demand for heating oil drops there will be plenty of cheap diesel around.......well I hope so anyway, otherwise I am going to start sinking my own well in the backyard.

Stand by folks. Diesel is supposed to hit $3 a gallon by the end of the summer! The chinese are using way more oil than they use to and its driving up oil prices.

We will probably all be driving little itty bitty $hity cars in a few years when the price hits 5 bucks a gallon.

We will probably all be driving little itty bitty $hity cars in a few years when the price hits 5 bucks a gallon.
With any luck, the "little itty bitty $hity cars " will have diesels. Just a "little itty bitty " consolation.

Is not the price of everything going up? Food, clothes, education, taxes in general.......etc. I read a quote that strikes me as simple, "the price of fuel will rise, as long as the market will bear it." The quote went on to mention the old common of "it is worth what one is willing to pay." I think that regardless of heating oil, the chineese, the polish, or whatever, prices will creep, and we will pay. There is no single reason for the cost increases.

Supply and demand...we have all heard it before.

Biodiesel is an alternative fuel...think about it....Big oil has no competitors.

Even a 5% to 10% drop in consumption through either Diesels or Diesels running Bio would be significant.

But you can only run an alternative fuel with a diesel....that is why Big oil does not want to see the auto makers put diesels(other than our big trucks) in the standard offering.

Emisssions can be solved...that is not the problem.

I understand that somewhere close to half the automobiles sold in Europe are now diesels.

Also, all the oil company mergers have concentrated control on refining in fewer firms. Much more money is being made at the refinery level than a generation ago. In theory, higher profits at the refining level should attract new investors to open new refineries. Opening new refineries by new market entrants is only in the dreams of economists.

Low sulfur diesel requirements that kick in next year can only make the refining situation worse.

It's all GREED.

Lord:help2:us all.

OK, I'm gonna get flamed, but here it comes!

Back in 2000, before I retired, I was on the way to work @ 05:30 one morning. On the CB, 2 truckers were cussing Gore and the rest of the Dem. I flipped the switch on my kicker and returned with: " You truckers have been *****ing about the price of diesel, but you elect those 2 big oil men Bush and Cheney, and you ain't seen **** yet."
Little did I know just how prophetic.:eek:
Why don't you tree huggers call your liberal buddies and tell them to let ANWR be opened for exploration... I know... I know... save the caribou...

The oil companies do not have to worry about where to get oil....they know where it is.

They also know bringing to much supply to the market spoils the party because the price drops.

They learned this lesson the hard way in the early 90's.

They do not even have to lobby congress about drilling in Alaska...because all of us will do it for them because of our anger over rising prices.

They got us BENT over a barrel and they only way to deal with it is to reduce consumption of oil.

Diesel cars and Biodiesel.

Warning, rant...

[ rant on ]

I personally believe there are multiple reasons for the high prices, and these aren't high prices, wait till about July 4th, then you'll see high prices...

The top 10 list:

1) Why sell it for less? It's big business. King George is clearly big-business. Oil companies make more money, OPEC makes more money, that's all that's really important right? (to them: the holders of the oil company stock and futures). Buy oil futures (probably a little late now), and get even...

2) Drive up the price to pi$$ everybody off, and the general public will be begging to drill in Alaska, no doubt about that one.

3) High prices will eventually bring the oil business back to Texas through new exploration and drilling since it will once again become profitable to do so, it'll be 80's Texas oil business all over again (don't forget there's a Texan in the white house), actually both are oil men. Notice I didn't say "ex oil-men". Coincidence?

4) I firmly believe King George ordered his buddies (oil companies and OPEC) to keep the price artificially low for the last few years especially in late 2001 and after re-election to overt an economic collapse, probably a good thing actually. And now they (the oil companies) are getting their part of the bargain fulfilled for doing what he asked then, high prices, fat profits, payback.

5) Hey Europe has $4/gal gas, we should too right? NOT!!!! This ain't Europe.

6) Do you suppose it's a coincidence the oil refineries stop production for "problems" and maintenance at just the right time?

7) They can easily blame it on China for using so much more oil than ever before.

8) Blame it on OPEC, so the anti-arab fire can be stoked a little. Helps get the public support for #9.

9) Ultimately "justifies" any war with an oil-rich (i.e. arab) nation. Washington can simply say w/o oil it's a clear threat to national security, hence we invade, take their oil. I personally believe Iraq was about nothing more than terminating the oil contracts Saddam made with Russia, Germany, and France. Do you think it's a coincidence they are the 3 countries that said no to war in Iraq at the UN a couple of years ago?

10) There are basically only 2 oil companies left: Exxon and Shell otherwise known as Standard Oil part one and two. There is no competition in the oil business anymore, it's a monopoly which is not regulated. What's wrong with this picture?

And why in the HE11 is diesel $0.30/gal more than gasoline? That's a complete crock. I am sick of hearing about fuel oil and harsh winter weather blah blah blah. This was a relatively mild winter (so far). And I wonder what percentage of people in this country still heat with heating oil? I think it's a lie. Doesn't pretty much everybody heat with natural fuel gas or propane? Maybe I am wrong, I dunno...

[ rant off ]

I couldn't pass this opportunity up, sorry...

Tim

luvthesmellofdiesel,

The black helicoptors are coming to get you :ro)

I'll preface, just to put things in context, what I'm about to with that I am an oil worker of sorts--third generation. I will not fully reveal (I have obligations)what I do or who I work for nor will I name other names---I do expect people to do their homework and not simply regurgitate their affiliated political party's empty rhetoric. I am mainly a political conservative although rejecting the radical Religious Right as much as I despise the Angry Left. My family has a rich history of serving our country in the military. I stay abreast, as I must, of international issues particularly the Middle East, Far East and South America...I know some of Europe but largely care little for most of the European Lefties.

IMO, there are many factors that are plugged into the equation as to why fuel prices are as they are.
• No new refineries have been built in this country in over two decades---only refinery expansions have been able to somewhat keep pace. Today a simple planned outage which is exactly what is meant by refinery issues will cause regional spikes in fuel costs. We not just talking hurricanes and fires. Refineries tend to run better at capacity, but they still have to come down for scheduled maintenance--compressor rebuilds, catalyst changes, refractory work....
• Some of the refineries are very old requiring expensive continuous maintenance. This will not get better but worse as some refineries make attempts to "upgrade" to run cheaper more sour crude, for instance. No matter what the planning these upgrades can turn into metallurgical nightmares. Refineries have major outages planned years in advance---for one thing the life expectancy of some key equipment and purchased stocks are predictable. Some of the outages that will occur this year were planned two years ago and some further back than that. They only make money when they run and they try to run them until they can’t run anymore. The oil refining business—there are more than two refiners—is very competitive.
• The workforces continue to get lean & mean but only to cost significantly as the manpower must be replaced with expensive and again sometimes high maintenance technology.
• Tighter EPA and local regulations require environmental and control upgrades to remain compliant because not all local governments give a free ride in grandfathering old facilities. People live near them and the lawsuit happy laity is after all the voting public. Gearing up for ultra-low sulfur diesel has a cost that simply will not be absorbed by the producer. Business versus charity.
• Urban sprawl continues and Americans continue to commute more and thus consume more fuel. One guy driving in his pimped out, gas guzzlin' Navigator or the shrub-hugger driving the Subaru. It all comes from the same barrel. It's the American way...not necessarily bad but a reality that sprawl causes more energy usage. We use more energy just because we are a materialistic society---all of those products have to move and there are more of them than ever, more consumers than ever, more fuel consumption going on in the form of commerce than ever.
• It is a true thing that the war in the Middle East is having a negative impact on our fuel prices. This flies in the face of the argument that the war was about oil, IMO. We are not there to steal the Iraqis' birthright. But it is the fear that is the factor. The US is not an island unto herself and even though we have other suppliers the unrest in the Middle East makes the Europeans nervous and China has been exploding with growth and Russia is still not altogether sure that she wants to help the Chinese become a greater force, read pipeline agreements that China wishes for. It's not JUST simple supply and demand but it's also the prospect of where those who even more heavily depend of ME oil will be if something else goes down over there. Everyone is watching what will happen with Iran, what is going on with Syria and Lebanon, the Palestinians and Israelis, heck Pakistan and India, North Korea...all of these things that could be trends for the good or more fuel to the fire. Investors and heads of state many of them are faint hearted and see nothing but trouble on the horizon. A good number of folks internationally have been opposed to GW's policies and still are hedging their bets that he will fail that the world will be a worse place because of "his crusade." This is politics folks that impacts us all. For the industrialized nations they are skittish, cautious and don't want to be caught without therefore a higher price can be commanded for energy. Of course developing countries just continue to gobble it up and have their own sociopolitical instabilities added to the pot. Part of the problem being the world in not such a big place anymore. Americans are spoiled and a problem for us is that many of us have a 20th century worldview and were too busy living it up during the enronomy of the 90's to interpret what took place in the 80's let alone have a clue about the smoke and mirrors of the 90s.
• The US has also enjoyed for more than two decades, for the most part, fuel prices well below what they should be if adjusted for inflation. This in turn is looked upon by another community--the scientific community as a bad thing, as the evidence for anthropological global warming mounts. There is still the debate as to the degree to which man is affecting the climate and the question about natural cycles in a seemingly chaotic system that have yet to be identified, but there is little doubt that 40-60 gigatons of CO2 being released into the atmosphere from the consumption of fossil fuel is without impact. This could be a good thing folks...read on.
• In the 90s refiners were making joint ventures and crude supply agreements. Some of those agreements were with foreign crooks, NOT Middle Easterners, and they fell through or worked out in a less than profitable way than anticipated...forcing some refiners to buy on the spot market and thus...after all they have a business to run...they pass it on to the consumer--their loss/your loss.
• Worldwide natural disaster have had their impacts too, tsunamis, earthquakes… A climate seeming to become even more chaotic if recent tropical storm seasons are an indicator…scientists are expecting more extremes with the weather. Heating oil demand is up and I do not expect to any real relief at the pump come springtime because one of these other factors will likely pick up the slack.
• Drilling in Alaska is not the answer. Because people ***** about fuel prices does not constitute a national emergency to release strategic reserves either. Those are wartime reserves that God forbid we should ever have to use. At best they could be used in the instance of a worldwide economy collapse...at best. The US not only needs to get off foreign oil but also more vigorously pursue alternatives. These prices will hopefully encourage the correct response.
• Oil companies are like any other business--ultimately and so many times it seems run by greedy men. They make their money because of the sheer volume of fuels and chemicals that are consumed not so much "X" amount of money per barrel or gallon of gasoline. The adjust output weekly based on market conditions changing cuts off of towers to get a better buck off of diesel or gasoline or jet fuel and so on. If one were to ***** about fuel prices one should consider the tax per gallon---from where I sit that is about %25 of the cost per gallon. Consumers have their say in what they drive and how they drive. There is a lot of fuel to be saved say in minivans versus Tahoes and Expeditions or properly aired up tires. How often do you see someone looking under the hood or checking the tires unless something is wrong? Most folks just get in and drive and many of them are in a hurry.
What if high fuel prices become part of Bush's legacy. The Republican Party’s hands-off approach to fixing our woes is already having a marked impact on how consumers buy cars and how they drive. It would be a good thing, in the opinion of many, if people gave up their nauseating Escalades and H2's. As you know some question the logic of driving a gas guzzling H2 to turn in movies at blockbuster. Think about Dodge...for some reason they have decided to start building muscle cars and here we are with crude prices headed to $60/bbl...brilliant. No, now people are buying hybrid Ford Escapes before they come off the truck. Just a thought...this could be a good thing for our future and our children’s' future.

To suggest that the Government should step in to control prices is akin to supporting socialism. More whining from those with hands stretched out and palms open looking for their entitlement as if they are somehow entitled to cheap fuel. That's hard to swallow in light of the cost of the initial investment of one these diesel trucks. It's also offensive to me personally---all forms of socialism in the context of my family's service to this country. People need to buck and become the kind of rugged individuals that made this country great.

Perhaps fuel prices will continue to creep up and we’ll see a correction. Hopefully people will adjust and this will work out for the greater good. The bull may not return for another 5 or 6 years or maybe even a decade, but we can hope for steady growth and a place worth living in. Maybe we’ll have more conversations about how to make our diesel trucks get better mileage and emit fewer pollutants instead of wowing fellow truck owners with our quarter mile times. Perhaps it’s part of a cycle like what we saw with the low performance cars of the mid-late-70s into the 80s.

The are in fact other oil companies but to name them would be to deliver the information on a silver platter and that’s just not me. Yeah people in Austin, Texas probably know nothing about heating oil.
Don't get me wrong I love cars, love hotrods, and powerful diesel trucks and find Tahoes more appealing than minivans, but there's more to life than just me, more to living on this big blue marble than dying with the most toys. I'm talking real stewardship here and am suggesting that we all be more responsible. Criticism is of little value without some sort of alternative action.
Ultimately in a closed system like the one we live in all life hangs in the balance, just by a thread or the beat of a butterflies wings---ultimately after everything is piled on it takes the slightest thing to make it all come crumbling down.

Just thought I'd share....:rolleyes:

Well said T-Rex. If you can't afford the fuel, you can't afford the truck. The winter may have been mid in Texas but it sure hasn't been up here in the northeast. I would estimate that about 50% of homes around here heat with fuel oil.

Didn't our government take over some oil fields in Iraq, or wherever, not too long ago? And our fuel prices STILL go up? I DON'T GET IT, ESPECIALLY SINCE GASOLINE IS MORE REFINED!!! i can see the heating oil situation, but STILL!!! THIS MUCH IN PRICE DIFFERENCE??? IT'S RIDICULOUS!!:help:

Coalition forces have given some of the security responsibilities for the Iraqi pipelines in the north to the Kurds, basically the Kurds were awarded bids. There is tribal infighting amongst the Kurds where they almost daily sabotage each others areas (pipelines) of responsibility. All over Iraq the x-fer and pumping equipment is in shambles because the former régime spent money on other things like palaces and developing longer range missiles and just plain hording the cash from the oil for food sham.

Probably the one pipeline that was in decent condition was the one the frogs had a hand in--the one going into Syria.

Meanwhile the IEA has upped the estimated demand for 2005 because of what is seen in China's appetite.

Hugo Chavez is a terrorist and a bully, sometimes all talk, but he makes people nervous when he says he contemplating not doing business with the US and taking his business elsewhere. It is unlikely that he could transport enough to China, but he has such contempt for the current US administration that he will do or say just about anything to rattle peoples' cages.

Buy oil company stocks, and when the price goes up, it doesn't hurt as much, because those stock are going up too!

lovethesmellofdiesel and T-Rex

Two VERY good postings!!!!!!!:ro) :exactly:

T-Rex,

Off hand do you know what percent of crude comes from where.

Example 3% from "Sandland" etc.

Yes, we live in a VERY SMALL WORLD and we get less oil from the ME than you would expect. But it has a HUGE impact on the the world market. I have a friend that retired from the Bakersfield refinery. She always would cringe when they had a maint. shutdown because people would blame them for the rising cost of fuel. I believe that that refinery only had a 2% impact on supply. As you said, maybe we should look at the cost of all the litigation. People sue everytime a steam cloud on a cold day rises from the refinery. In many cases, people move next a refinery in some subdivision and act as if it just appered overnight. Those refineries have been there forever. True, no refineries have been built in a long time and it will be a long time if ever that a new one will be built in the USA. (Thank the environmental groups.)

I have said enough.

In paper this morning ...

http://home.comcast.net/~tophog/od1.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~tophog/od2.jpg

Fuel prices are high now because of winter's impact; but, oh, wait, here comes the summer travel season, so now it is high because of increased demand. Bull pucky! No competition, no regulation, and pure and simple greed.

Sorry, but no amount of excuses or downed refinery stories fly here. We're getting raped.....

To answer NewD-MaxLLY:

Off hand about 17 to 22 percent comes from the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:place>Middle East</st1:place> proper. It varies. Some refineries have crude agreements with Venezuela (the western hemisphere member of OPEC) or Mexico (not OPEC) and depending on market conditions the Vens for instance will hold back, that is buy back what they would otherwise sell to their so-called partners at a lower price thereby forcing their partners to go out and buy crude on the spot market, coming anywhere from Mexico, Russia, Middle East, Africa...

Generally if a refiner is running something like Venezuelan crude they are used to running some very heavy, watery, sour...in general crumby stuff...so they will not go out and buy West Texas sweet for one it's expensive and two, they are not set up to run it.
<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
And then you can have delivery problems depending on where the supplier is that affects those percentages. Like what would happen if you sunk a tanker in the channel or there is a labor disagreement at the docks, as there is social/political unrest within more than a few of the nations who supply crude.<o:p></o:p>
Overall it is a global economy and if the Euros get nervous or a deal between China and Russia falls through it will have an impact on prices without even touching the demand in a tangible way. Some methods of delivery are more costly and/or less reliable than others for instance and these are all taken into account by sometimes skittish bean counters.
<o:p></o:p>
As I stated before I object to the Government coming in and fixing the problem because of my political and philosophical leanings. I oppose big government and regulation. What needs to happen in my view is for the citizens of this country to slow down, buy more economic cars, maintain them with economy in mind, make choices in everyway from transportation to buying goods in environmentally friendly fashion...the Government on the other hand could offer a bounty on viable alternatives to petroleum based fuels---I am not suggesting free money for research because eventually when someone finds IT they will have hit the mother load---the Government should also continue the with the Middle East peace process. People and companies who do not survive this time of high fuel prices will fail because they did not adapt and what society has done for millennia is adapt. Those who do not adapt or evolve go the way of the empires of the past. IF it comes to the cost of fuel being passed on to consumers in not only the cost of fuel itself but all things purchased then that is the natural progression of things.

The peace process is budding in a remarkable way with the death of Arafat, elections in <st1:country-region><st1:place>Iraq</st1:place></st1:country-region>, elections in <st1:country-region><st1:place>Afghanistan</st1:place></st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region><st1:place>Syria</st1:place></st1:country-region> pulling out of <st1:country-region><st1:place>Lebanon</st1:place></st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region><st1:place>Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region> releasing opposition leaders, and even Spanish Muslim clerics issuing a fatwa on bin Laden. What is occurring there is remarkable as it appears that some of those folks over there are waking up and realizing that it is no ALL <st1:country-region><st1:place>Israel</st1:place></st1:country-region>'s fault. There is no doubt that some of the issues with crude prices is because of the unrest in that region and the general global unrest because of Bush's crusade, but perhaps when the dust settles the world will be a better place for it and crude prices will settle and the volatility will be mitigated.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

T-Rex,

Thank You for your insight.

Nice ...record high per barrel.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050316/ap_on_bi_ge/oil_prices_47

This says a lot...

"While oil prices are 50 percent higher than a year ago, futures would need to climb above $90 a barrel to approach the inflation-adjusted peak set in 1980."

That's what people like me have been saying for years. Eventually you reap what has been sown in extraordinarily inexpensive hydrocarbon fuel over two decades. Now if people can only do a little more research and work on that reading comprehension...

I disagree with them but the Senate backs drilling in ANWR. That's premature, IMO. It doesn't really solve the problem, more like a band-aid fix or using your finger to plug a leaking dam.

Another thing that I found interesting today as I caught only a bit of what Dubbya was saying is that there will be no special incentives for oil companies to build more refining capacity. This in response to a reporter asking regarding the widely known fact of no new refineries to speak of being built in over 20 years. (We've been keeping up with up-grades.) Bush stated in so many words that there already was incentive enough in prices. He is again pushing for more work on behalf of those who will reap the benefits---the companies who will go out and find additional resources will of course reap their own rewards.

I think that is interesting in light of what people say about Bush and his cronies being in bed with Big Oil. Much like what folks were saying about the war being about oil and yet we have not seen any benefit in oil prices whatsoever from the war, but instead higher prices globally with many thanks going to the nervous analysts.

The one thing I will honestly say is that a smart US energy policy will be laden with war plans and other initiatives.-various contingencies. Take a look at the world map and see that Iraq is strategically located to influence the whole region, which is exactly what is happening--psychological warfare. The US has stayed the course so far and even though the mission was once bogged down as we first engaged in guerilla warfare there. Our guys are coming through, no thanks to some piss poor intelligence and short-sighted planning--some of it thanks to infighting in and between the State and DoD. Energy is after all a matter of national security as we, Americans, are the biggest gluttons of all.

China by the way is growing but investors need to watch out---it could be another enronomy...lots of nepotism in the business over there.

The people need to brighten up and perhaps forsake their love affair with the automobile---think of transportation in a 21st century way.

Some environmentalists say we are urinating in our IV bag. I think there is something to be learned from the greens rather than rejecting them and/or their thoughts wholesale.

It's just not a simple as so many people think. The best you can do perhaps is do your part.

Times they be a-changin'

I think srode had a pretty good idea one page back. If those of us who drive a lot were smart, we should have bought some crude oil futures to hedge our fuel cost.

Since the dollar has been falling, the clock has been ticking.

Same thing happened in the early 70's when we went off the gold standard and the dollar fell.

Oil is an import. When the dollar falls, the price goes up.

China is holding their yuan constant against the dollar. This means more exports from China to the US, and dollars flowing out. All those additional dollars are depressing the international value of the dollar, and with the lock, there's no correction mechanism.

I think srode had a pretty good idea one page back. If those of us who drive a lot were smart, we should have bought some crude oil futures to hedge our fuel cost.
Yep. 80% of Southwest Airline's jet fuel is hedged based on $25/bbl oil.

Probably most of you have heard of it by now. The BP/Amoco plant in Texas City, TX had a large explosive and fire today. Many injured, 17 casualties and counting now. This has been a very sad day for many families and a sad day for the industry. If any of you are so inclined to pray, toss one up for the families of the lost and for the sake of the injured.:(

That refinery is a sizeable one, making up to as much as 3% of all the gasoline in the US.

Today oil fell toward $55/barrel; gas futures jumped. Tomorrow we will perhaps get a better look at how this event affects our wallets. As of now OPEC is hesitant to raise outputs with prices taking a dip like today. At best they might make a decision in about two weeks.

To further complicate things, especially for Gulf Coast suppliers and consumers, spring is upon us and there are several other mandatory partial refinery shutdowns scheduled---scheduled maintenance. It is highly doubtful that they can be pushed back. Still we will have to see what the over all impact the fire will have on the BP facility.

I've got third person info that the fire might have been started when a diesel powered truck drove into the unit and they could not shut it down...fire and explosion ensuing from the run-away diesel. I have not verified this...it's early. Take it with a grain of salt.

Hang on to your wallets and pray.