$4.09 a gallon. I frequently whine as I approach the gas pump. $30 later and I still only have three quarters of a tank (if that). It's a good thing I get 25-30 miles to the gallon in my little Civic. Flying anywhere is out of the question and people around the world want to blame government.
But on Monday; leaders gathered in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for an Oil Summit. Gordon Brown was the only Western leader present. It seemed that the general concenus was more oil production. More supply to meet the demand.
What a novel idea. It seems to me they discussed standard economics.
Granted; Brown was quickly ridiculed for suggesting the Middle Eastern oil companies, like OPEC and others, invest their "illions" of dollars into creating oil refineries in the West and thereby allowing those countries to also invest in the market.
The Saudi kingdom has committed to increasing their oil production from 9 million barrels to 9.7 million barrels by the end of July and up to 12 million barrels by the end of 2009. They even encouraged OPEC to invest their assests in other nations.
But OPEC maintained- the supply is enough. Nor did the commitment from Saudi Arabia settle everyone.
And the conclusion to the potentially useful summit? Well after a number of disagreements and criticisms, among leaders, particularly on the cause of the prices, they'll meet again this year and talk about it.
Both the U.K. and China have said that not only do they need to invest in the production of oil, but their countries are looking for alternative energy resources. President Bush has insisted the oil production could and should begin to take place in undrilled areas of Alaska.
If the problems and answers are strictly economics: supply and demand; you'd think it would be an easy out. At the same time; IF that's the case, then private companies would need to co-operate, but will they? And can democratically-based governments put restrictions on the cost? This I doubt. But what of other coutries, for example, Nigeria, in which a rebel group is being accused of attacking their oil industry?
It seems the summit only brought more questions than resolutions.
Im not entire sure of the validity of my statement here. My dad has ran a gas station since 1981.
ReplyDelete(i wish i new the right words to describe this, but here it goes)
His take is that there are global stock corporations (large companies buying oil stock at a price of trilions of dollars) buying up large amounts of Oil reserves and holding it.
They work the market and sell when the time is right.
I saw a report about 3 weeks ago in the SacBee that showed our oil consumption was down from last year.
Weather I'm right or wrong isn't my beef. But if it's true than we have to stop importing.
Although, I'd rather find an alternate source. There is no question Oil consumption will destroy everything it touches.
(ok, im not political i swear...)
just what we need.. more oil from the middle east. i've been glad to hear that bush is pushing drilling at the edge of the continental shelf in the gulf of mexico. did you know that even china is drilling there in international waters. i'm one of the "drill here, drill now" crowd..
ReplyDeleteThe Gulf of Mexico...my favorite body of water...sigh. Anyway, Cuba is also looking to drill of its own coast, at least, there is controvery over it.
ReplyDeleteCourse, wouldn't be interesting if we used nuclear energy (see my blog on that under "Environment")???