Whose Fault Is It For High Gas Prices

[las47032]

Pick One:
1. Oil Companies
2. Democrats

Highlights from: Statement of John Hofmeister
Shell Oil Company
Before the Senate Judiciary Committee http://judiciary.senate.gov/testimony.cfm?id=3347&wit_id=7195
Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Let’s look at historical data on the price of a barrel of crude and the average price of regular gasoline. Since April 2004, the price of a barrel of U.S. light sweet crude has gone up by more than $70, which is more than a 300 percent increase. In this same period, the average U.S. nationwide price of regular gasoline at the pump went up 100 percent. Looking just at the last 12 months, the price of a barrel has increased $60, or more than 100 percent. The price of regular gasoline has gone up 20 percent.

The rate of growth in global demand for oil has accelerated in recent years. This is largely the result of rapid economic growth and industrialization in countries like China and India and also sustained subsidies on oil products in oil exporting countries.

Access to oil and gas resources is becoming more difficult around the world. This, coupled with more stringent fiscal conditions governing investment in several major oil and gas-producing countries, adversely affects the economics of new energy projects. It may lead to reductions or delays of new investment in oil and gas supply capacity. The world will demand an additional 35 million barrels of oil per day by 2030, which is a 42 percent increase over today’s demand. It will demand 64 percent more natural gas than we are producing now.

There is no shortage of molecules of oil and gas in the ground. However, there are multiple influences that will affect the pace at which this oil can, and will, be developed.

U.S. production has fallen steadily for the last 35 years. Oil production in this country peaked in the 1970s. As U.S. consumption of oil has doubled, domestic oil production has fallen off nearly 40 percent. Why? In large part, this is the result of government policies that placed important oil and gas resources off limits.

We still have a significant resource base in this country, both offshore and onshore. The U.S. Government estimates that there are about 300 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and more than 50 billion barrels of oil yet to be discovered on the Outer Continental Shelf surrounding the Lower 48. When you then add in the Alaska OCS resource, you add the potential for another 122 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 25 billion barrels of oil. Unfortunately, 85 percent of the Lower 48 resource base is off-limits because of Congressional moratoria.

We have all the oil and gas we need RIGHT HERE!




is enough oil in the United States that could be safely recovered, with no threat to the environment, to supply our nation’s energy needs for years to come as we transition to alternate energy sources. And we could supply those needs with NO imports from any other nation than Canada.

The proceeds from royalties and taxes paid by oil companies to the U.S. Treasury http://www.ustreas.gov/ could fund nearly the entire cost of developing and implementing a non-fossil fuel energy economy for the United States. Instead, that money, TRILLIONS of dollars, goes to Arabs and the Venezuelans.

No Environmental Reason NOT to Drill

Oil and gas recovery is now one of the cleanest industrial sectors in the United States. When Hurricanes Katrina and Rita roared through the Gulf of Mexico in 2005 approximately 150 oil and gas rigs were damaged, http://pangea.stanford.edu/~jshragge/OilWar/Katrina.html many severely. But did you see any pictures of oil stained beaches? NO!

Near the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) at the very northern tip of Alaska, oil recovery has been ongoing at Prudhoe Bay http://www.d.umn.edu/~cstroupe/archive/5230/glocal/prudhoe/www.d.umn.edu/~hoef0049/prudhoe.html for decades. Wildlife in the area thrives in the shadows of oil production installations (see photo right). Yet environmentalists and Democrats in Congress refuse to allow us to drill in ANWR, even though the area under consideration is the size of a few golf courses on Hilton Head Island in a wildlife refuge the size of the entire state of South Carolina.

DRILL NOW!

The last argument of Democrats who wish to curtail U.S. energy production (and slow the U.S. economy to our disadvantage worldwide) is that it would take years to develop the resources we know we have. True. And had those same Democrats insisted President Clinton sign the bill Congress passed in 1996 instead of veto it ANWR oil would be supplying U.S. consumers today. When the issue was brought up again in 2005, Democrats blocked the measure http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/216352_anwr17.html as they have nearly every other source of U.S. domestic production that would increase supply and lower the cost of gasoline.

However, it’s not too late to start drilling NOW! And yet, when that subject is raised, Democrats fall back on the litany of lies that have kept the American people paying more and more and more for energy with no end in sight.

Drill! Produce! DRIVE!

Source: http://www.floppingaces.net/2008/05/21/question-who-is-to-blame-for-high-gas-prices/#comments

[pepe]

Whose fault is it?

We the People who are supposed to elect men and women to serve the greater good of the nation.

The folks we elected have known of this approaching moment and its consequences for many years.

The coming of "Peak Oil" and an end to the "Era of Cheap Energy" has been known by the US Government since 1949. Science, 1949.

M. King Hubbert, Chief Consultant (General Geology), Exploration and Production Research Division, Shell Development Company, Publication Number 95, Houston, Texas, June 1956, Presented before the Spring Meeting of the Southern District, American Petroleum Institute, Plaza Hotel, San Antonio, Texas, March 7-8-9, 1956.

National Geographic had a large presentation on Peak Oil in June, 1974.


World Crude Oil & Lease Condensate Production to 2100


World Crude Oil & Lease Condensate Production to 2012 (bottom up forecast)

Oil is a finite commodity.

Once that is understood the rest becomes quite clear.


World Crude Oil & Lease Condensate Production Changes to April 2007



As I wrote before, we are faced with two stark choices, take the oil by use of military force or move to a less fossil fuel economy.

Which do you prefer?

[BrianK]

Similar to global warming there are two sides to this issue of oil supply. Only one real fact stands out. Oil in Finite.

Is it fear that won't bring a truthful answer to how much is left ?

I can only imagine what would happen globally if ALL science relating to general geology came up with a date when the supply of oil would be at a level where only the most critical of needs would be supplied.

Better to keep the world citizens as they do mushrooms. In the dark & feed them horse sh**.

[leobold1]

More "Peak Oil"? First it was 1989, then a story a few weeks ago put it in the late 1990s. I saw one about a month ago that said it hadn't been met yet.

The 1949 figure was based on the known oil at the time. More oil has been discovered since, and more is being discovered (Dakotas and Brazil within the past few months).

But, the problem isn't with the oil companies.

Oil companies are getting a profit of 4% of what is charged. That 4% has to go to exploration, removal, transportation, as well as salaries.

The government tax (depending on the state) recieves anywhere from 8-20%. http://cbs2chicago.com/politics/gas.....2.729939.html What services does that provide? Paying for more government services, among other things. And those other things have nothing to do with getting more oil out of the ground or performing any related services.

Oil is finite, but we have no other options ready on the table (nuclear, solar, geothermal, wind, etc). Until then, we need all the oil we can get, and at lower prices. To get that, we have to drill. We have to refine. We have to become more self sufficent.

[Snowden]

There's plenty of oil for us to use, right here in the U.S. We should be drilling for that, and since it is finite and we don't know just how much there is or how long it will last, we should be developing alternate power sources.

I just had a brillian idea -- what about solar power? Apparently nobody in Congress ever heard of that, and yes -- the voters are the ultimate criminals here. They keep voting in the same people who collect their money from the oil lobby and feed our money to Saudi. In turn, Saudi funds the terrorists.

And the voter goes to the polls and votes in the familiar name. It's so much easier than using one's head.

I agree with Jeff and Brian and Pepe and Lee Ann.

[Woodmonkey]

Don't forget the Republicans. Their hands aren't clean in this.

I agree with your post, Jeff.

Solar power is great as far as it goes, Marianne, but it doesn't go very far. It should be one of the things that we have as affordable options. That was a good thing that Carter did, he arranged for a tax credit for solar power and that's why we got ours on the house. It was for the hot water and saved us a bundle there. It's wasn't practical for us to heat the house with it though so we didn't get that.

[leobold1]

Solar power has one problem. Size.

10 years ago, to power the US, you'd have to have solar panels cover most of Texas. Now its down to the size of Virginia, but that's still a lot of area to panel over. Next, you have to lay the panels and lay the lines. That's about 20 years away for the first big city to make it work (unless some city jumps the gun, probably from California).

Nuclear power, to build a plant is 15-20 years down the line.

Wind power is enough for a small city (Des Moines size), but with very little funding there won't be much change in that for a while.

Geothermal is still under studies.

Coal plants work, but releases pollution by the megaton. And so, is "evil". Oil plants are the same. But its what we have, and it works. At least it does when we can get the coal and oil.