Bring on the electric, hydrogen, solar, and other alternative cars that they have been telling us about for the past 25 years.

IIRC, please note, OPEC has nothing to do with the price of oil.  You have to look at the petroleum exchange.

 

That's a big strong to say OPEC has nothing to do with the price. The amount of oil they collectively agree to put on the market has a great deal of influence on price, though admittedly their influence has lessened since the 1970s. However, a half-dozen OPEC members overstate their oil reserves by as much as double the actual amount. Their production quotas are based on the published amount of reserves so they have more oil, they can put more oil on the market. Problem is, they don't have more oil. Instead they don't have enough.

 

Bring on the electric, hydrogen, solar, and other alternative cars that they have been telling us about for the past 25 years.

 

Electric:  lacks the range and top speed of gas-powered or hybrid cars. More research is needed to develop more powerful, more efficient and less expensive electric cars.

 

Hydrogen:  Too many people fail to realize that hydrogen is not a source of energy, but a carrier of it. And to make hydrogen a carrier of energy, you have to catalyze through some process, often involving natural gas. Ironically, it takes more standard units of energy (often expressed in British Thermal Units) to catalyze hydrogen than you get from good ol' oil refined into gasoline. So right now hydrogen is less efficient and more costly than oil. More research is needed to make hydrogen a practical replacement.

 

Solar:  It also isn't a very efficient resource right now. Most solar panel can't convert more than 15 percent of direct sunlight into electricity. Theoretically, you should be able to get power from the sun on a cloudy day, but there's so much research needed here.

 

A funny thing happens when you look at all the alternatives -- you begin to appreciate how incredibly irreplacable oil is right now. It's amazing stuff that's taken tens of millions of years to create. It's taking us just hundreds of years to burn up. It's amazing stuff because one barrel of it can do the work of a dozen strapping men laboring for entire year -- for just $115! It's still a bargain, and there is no alternative to it, not until more research is made into the making the options discussed above more feasible. That's a tall order, and not enough research is being done.

One of my favorite writers.....

____________

http://www.energybulletin.net/node/43234

 

Published on 24 Apr 2008 by Falls Church News-Press. Archived on 24 Apr 2008.

 

The Peak Oil Crisis: The case for 2008

by Tom Whipple

 

It is conventional wisdom for most of the people following the peak oil story that we still have a few years to go before the real troubles begin. Some say 2011, others 2015 or later, but in general, among those calculating the depletion vs. new supply balance most have been talking about troubles starting in years rather than months.

 

Let’s ponder for a second the meaning of “peak oil.” Ever since the concept was invented some 50 years ago, peak oil has meant the point in time when world oil production increases to a level that never again will be reached. For most of us, however, peak oil will not be a point on a government chart, but will be the day when we drive up to a gas station and find the tanks empty, restrictions on how much we can buy, or more likely a price that makes us realize our lifestyles are going to change. We can no longer afford to use our cars in the manner that we have been doing all our lives.

I read on the oil drum that british gas went up to 1.45.  That is pounds per liter, putting the price per gallon in USD $10.84

A strike at your country's most important refinery will do that to you.

 

But why figure the price in US dollars? Only we Americans have to pay that price when we go to the UK, but the Brits don't have to pay it. The $10.84 makes it sound like it's hurting the Brits more than it is. The British have to pay 5.49 GBP per gallon (bad enough, but half the cost you're implying).

 

When you travel around the UK and look at what things costs, replace the British pound sign £ with a dollar sign $ and the prices are the same. For example, a McDonald's happy meal is about £4, a steak £8, a subway pass £4, a pack of smokes £5, and a weekly grocery bill for two people is about £60-100. So it's the same as it is here -- until you ponder the conversion rate. And we think about that only when we go to currency exchanges or we get our ATM and credit card bills upon our return from the UK.

the only reason I put it in dollars was because I am an american and I think in dollars.

You don't need to. Replace the £ with a $ and you'll get a better idea of the price of gas with respect to the costs of living in the UK. Gas does cost more in UK, but not that much more than here, when compared with the costs of everything else.

from what I can tell, the average income in the UK is 29,000 £ and 48,000 in the United States, so even if you are paying 100 £ for a pair of shoes instead of 100 $ it is a greater percentage of your income.

 

how you you type a £?

I'm not aware of average incomes -- all I know mine is nowhere near 48,000! LOL

 

I typed a £ by copying and pasting it from another site. Yep, I cheated.

^----"stop giving driver's licenses to 16-year-olds and we'll decrease the ever growing population of gasoline gulpers"

 

    The number of 16 year old drivers is already going down. More people are waiting until 17, 18, or 19 to start driving, particularly in California.

We are going to be screwed in a very short period of time.

These are awesome graphics and tell the story better than any collection of words.

 

The charts start with 2002 as the base year of data, so you can see its color quite visibly. It overlaps 2003's data set, as its overlaps 2004's etc. etc. If the following year has double of its colored area visible, then the data set doubled. If you have a hard time seeing the color of the data set for the following year, that means the data set didn't increase much or declined.

 

So, with the price of oil and gasoline, the following years' worth of data sets are quite visible. But with the production of oil, the later years' data sets are virtually invisible.

 

And that's why prices are rising.

 

http://picturesofoil.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi?action=mountain-all

 

http://picturesofoil.com/images/mountain-price-crude.png

 

http://picturesofoil.com/images/mountain-price-diesel.png

 

http://picturesofoil.com/images/mountain-price-gasoline.png

 

http://picturesofoil.com/images/mountain-production-liquids.png

 

http://picturesofoil.com/images/mountain-production-crude.png

 

http://picturesofoil.com/images/mountain-production-unconventional.png

I think the war also cost us $1.50 extra a gallon.

New prediction: $5.50 gas is on its way

 

 

http://www.wptv.com/mostpopular/story.aspx?content_id=d6334e16-377e-466c-be46-598785fb5c5b

http://www.energycurrent.com/index.php?id=3&storyid=10284

 

Scientists call for halt in grain-based biofuel production

By Hwee Hwee Tan

Filed from Singapore

4/30/2008 4:54:31 AM GMT

 

 

INTERNATIONAL:  Some scientists are calling for a moratorium on using grain-based feedstock to produce biofuel to halt the rise in global food prices.  Joachim von Braun, head of the International Food Policy Research Institute, told local journalists after a teleconference that if a biofuel moratorium is issued this year, it would lead to a price decline in corn by about 20 percent and wheat by about 10 percent from 2009 to 2010.

 

In his published paper, Rising Food Prices: What Should be Done?, von Braun blames the rising food prices on a combination of factors, including high oil prices, growing population, change in world population dietary habits and unfavourable climate change.  A copy of the paper can be found on the International Food Policy Research Institute Web site, here.

"Tapping what may be the biggest oil finds in the Western Hemisphere in three decades will require equipment that can withstand 18,000 pounds per square inch of pressure, enough to crush a pickup truck, pipes that can carry oil at temperatures above 500 degrees Fahrenheit (260 Celsius) and drill bits that can penetrate layers of salt more than one mile thick."

 

Good lord.  I know this is oversimplifying the issues, but when does it become more profitable for these companies and the government to diversify and work towards a society that can sustain itself without digging to the mantle layer of the Earth?

And of course, we can't forget:

 

ExxonMobil profit grows 17% in Q1

 

HOUSTON (AP) — ExxonMobil (XOM), the world's largest publicly traded oil company, said Thursday record crude prices helped its net income grow 17% in the first quarter, but the results came in below Wall Street forecasts.

 

As expected, margins at the company's refining operations dragged heavily on the bottom line as the big jump in prices on refined products such as gasoline failed to keep pace with the rapid increase in crude prices.

 

Lower production to start the year hurt, too.

 

http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/earnings/2008-05-01-exxonmobil_N.htm

And those profits are on the heal of record profits last year.

So? If you're earning $100 Billion in revenue, incurring $90 billion in expenses, you're making $10 billion in profit.

 

How is that worse that a company earning $100 million in revenue, incurring $90 million in expenses and making a $10 million profit?

 

Unfortunately, people keep looking only at the raw profit without considering the scale of the companies and finances involved.

 

Plus, companies like ExxonMobile or Shell have little control over the price of oil and gasoline. If they did have control, the price might come down in the short term. Most (something like two-thirds) of the world's oil comes from countries whose governments control the flow of oil and block the involvement of private (or western) oil companies in their nation's production.

"Already in the US, car-dependent cities are dying from the outside in," Professor Newman said.

 

Examples?

That caught me by surprise, too. I realize that property values are falling fastest in exurban areas. And some outer suburban areas in Charlotte have a fair number of boarded-up homes, according to a recent news article. But dying? Nationwide? That's pretty extreme.

 

    If anything, it's the other way around. Cities are dying from the inside out. Sure, downtown areas are doing ok, but first-ring suburbs are hurting. I still see outward expansion, even in the face of high gasoline prices.

 

    I don't doubt the article, but I don't see it in my area.

 

    I don't doubt the article, but I don't see it in my area.

 

He is right to an extent, but that's Cincy for ya.    Give it the next 6 months w/ knocking on the $4/gallon gas. 

 

Eigth and State, I have been hearing more and more stories recently of families moving (or returning) into westside neighborhoods from Indy and up North.    And some friends of mine who WERE looking to move to Indy and deeper south into NKY, have changed their tune and are NOW looking heavily in Cheviot,Covedale, Delhi, and Bridgetown (Less than 5 miles from DT Cincy).   IMO, I think 1st Gen burbs are going to come out of this looking pretty good.

 

Society has to let go of this " I have to keep up with the Jones"  mentality.      (Like a New house, new SUV, in a town 40 miles from the city defines you as a successful individual!!!!!!!!  Add on the debt they can't afford.)         

 

That ideology is just about dead!!

 

    ^I was driving through Westwood on business with a group including a woman from Mason. She said, "These houses look pretty nice. I will look into moving here to cut down the long commute from Mason."

 

    So, yes, people are looking to shorten commutes. But that's not the only factor. Most commuters don't drive from the suburbs to the city, but from the suburbs to another place in the suburbs. I don't know how all of this is going to play out, but I expect big changes.

 

   

James Howard Kunstler on Colbert:

http://www.theoildrum.com/node/3935

Awesome segment. I loved Colbert's reference to ethanol as "creamed corn" -- priceless! I think I'm going to use that again and again!

Warren Buffet is buying into peak oil.....

 

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1208&u_sid=10326282

 

Buffett also said that the world's production of oil, about 87 million barrels a day, is close to capacity. While the world won't run out of oil this century, as one questioner suggested, Buffett said gradually depleted oil fields could reduce the amount produced.

 

(Berkshire Vice Chairman Charlie) Munger said he thinks oil production 25 years from now will be less than today.

 

"That's not an insignificant prediction, believe me," Buffett said, since demand for oil is growing steadily as the population grows and standards of living rise. "If oil production is down 25 years from now, it's going to be a different world."

I know Buffett knows his M&A and other financially fun stuff, but does the man really know oil?

 

That's like me commenting on someone's angioplasty.

I don't know, depends on how much reading he does. In my case, I'm a rail/transit/city guy who also works for a newspaper, but does that make me well-versed in oil issues? It does if I spend time learning about it.

"Oil futures have surpassed the once unthinkable price of $120 a barrel Monday as supply threats emerged overseas and the dollar weakened against the euro."

 

I suspect this is half in jest, but it also has some decent suggestions. And any suggestions coming out of Vancouver, BC can't be all bad...

 

http://www.straight.com/article-144591/12-steps-peak-oil

 

May 5, 2008

12 steps of Peak Oil

By Charlie Smith

 

This is from the Vancouver Peak Oil Executive (permission to reprint from Jon Cooksey)

 

The 12 Steps of Oil Anon

 

(With a tip o’ the hat to Alcoholics Anonymous)

 

 

 

Here are the steps we took, which are suggested as a program of recovery:

 

 

1. We admitted we were powerless over our addiction to oil—that our lives had become unsustainable.

 

2. Came to believe that a dedication to the facts about peak oil could restore us to sanity.

 

3. Made a decision to dedicate our will and our lives to the creation of a new and better way of living.

 

4. Made a searching and fearless inventory of the ways we have become dependent on cheap oil for our livelihood and lifestyle.

 

5. Admitted to ourselves and to others in the peak oil community that we hadn’t a clue about what to do next, and crashed.

 

6. Became entirely ready to listen to wisdom from others who have found solutions to fossil-fuel dependency.

 

7. Humbly asked them to invite us to their homes, meetings and ecovillages.

 

8. Made a list of our actual real-world options, and became willing to pursue them all.

 

9. Took direct action to develop a Plan B for our lives, making sure that this plan would involve helping the broader community, so that we would be of service to others.

 

10. Continued to take inventory of our on-going oil dependency, slowly weaning ourselves off a consumerist lifestyle.

 

11. Sought through research and connection with others to further improve our peak oil awareness, so that through knowledge and community we can carry out the goals of Relocalization.

 

12. Having had a mental and spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we sought to offer our knowledge and resources to those who remain unaware, and to practice the principles of sustainable living in all our affairs.

The U.S. consumes a staggering amount of oil/gasoline. It's sometimes hard to put something that massive into an understandable perspective. This little blurb does a pretty decent job of that....

 

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/question417.htm

 

How much gasoline does the United States consume in one year?

 

There are a couple of different ways to discover the answer to this question, but here is one way to estimate it. If you look at a page like this one, it shows that the United States consumes about 20 million barrels of oil each day. If you look at the statistics on a page like this one, you find that a barrel of oil (which contains 42 gallons or 159 liters) will yield something like 19 or 20 gallons (75 liters) of gasoline, depending on the refinery. Therefore, in the United States, something like 400 million gallons (1.51 billion liters) of gasoline gets consumed every day. That truly is an amazing amount of liquid, but when you consider that there are about 100 million households in the United States, it is only 4 gallons per household per day. Each family doesn't consume that much, but a huge number of families are doing it.

In a year, therefore, the U.S. consumes about 146 billion gallons (about 550 billion liters) of gasoline!

 

I've repeatedly heard people complain that there's no reason for these high oil and gas prices. "It's not like there's shortages anywhere," they've said. Actually, there is, and a lot of it. You don't hear about it much, because it's happening mostly in Third World countries which cannot afford to bid for as much oil on the global market as the first-world nations can. Other shortages are clearly political in nature, or due to low-quality supply chains. But if we were flush with oil, many Third World nations could get their oil from someplace else....

 

So the next time you hear someone complain about gas prices not being supported by supply shortages, provide them with this list I've compiled......

 

Where no description is provided, that means the nation is facing chronic gasoline and diesel shortages.

 

Argentina: While construction is about to begin on a new, 200 mph high-speed rail line, the populace are more interested in assigning blame for fuel shortages. "Find the facists in charge and fine them" is their motto.

Bangladesh

Bolivia: This nation is importing diesel from neighbouring countries and Venezuela, and has militarised border petrol stations to stop diesel leaking out through smuggling.

Burundi

China: Yep, China. The nation has cut back some oil and oil-product imports a month or so ago on the expectation that prices would fall later. Needless to say they were wrong, plus they now have less inventories than they need.

The system is suffering from pressure of demand to sustain its economic growth at the current 11.5 percent. Guangdong manufacturers should expect to suffer shortages of electricity, diesel and coal this year as energy supplies fail to keep pace with the province's surging economic growth.

Ecuador:  The military has taken over gas stations to prevent gas smuggling and hoarding. See picture below from www.elcomercio.com.

Gambia

Ghana

Guyana

Iran: Riots and looting persist at gas stations while oil gets exported to China and Europe.

Kenya

Nepal: A nation where shortages have persisted longer than in most nations. But citizens aren't accustomed to it, as scuffles at the gas pumps continue.

Nigeria: Another major oil exporter, yet fuel shortages persist. It's part of the reason why revolutionaries are targeting the nation's oil exporting infrastructure, that sends oil to rich nations in Europe and the Americas while Nigerians starve.

Russia: In the world's largest oil producer, the Moscow Times reported last fall that a gasoline shortage in Moscow and the Moscow region could contribute to a sharp price rise at the pumps in the near future.

Rwanda

South Africa

Sri Lanka

Tanzania

Tasmania: The Airlines of Tasmania has had to restrict the number of passengers it carries because it can no longer refuel on the island.

Trinidad and Tobago: It's rich in natural gas, supposedly.

Uganda

Venezula: In one of the world's largest oil exporting nations? The reason -- its refineries can't process heavier, more sour oil as the more desireable light, sweet oil becomes more scarce.

Zambia: "We don't know what happened and we don't know when it will get better"

Zimbabwe

 

This is the scene in Ecuador, and in many other nations (and will probably be in our own future too someday soon)....

^---- Also to put things in perspective:

 

    If you make just $2,200 dollars a year...

 

 

 

 

    ...You are richer than 85% of the people in the world.

I've skimmed over most of these 46 pages of posts and am shocked to see that no one has brought up the biggest issue of all:

 

Food Supply.

 

When all the economic ramifications of PO hit the U.S. (some already are starting to) feeding ourselves will be priority no. 1, NOT getting from the burbs to our downtown jobs. 

 

The average meal travels 1,500 miles from farm to mouth.  2,500 in Canada.  Not only the is the transportation of food in jeopardy, but even the modern practices of farming are very energy dense.  Diesel to run combines/ tractors.  Petrol and nat. gas based pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers.  Gasoline fueled irrigation machines, etc. etc... 

 

Any thoughts on the issues of PO from this angle?

oh yeah, if I could add on to my question above:  specifically as it relates to YOUR local community in Ohio.

Welcome aboard, bcbingman! I know I've discussed the issue of food as it relates to peak oil with others, but this is probably the most difficult aspect of the issue for many people (including me) to come to grips with. The reason, I think, is that we are all still trying to catch up with the ramifications of peak oil, though some are farther along than others. For many, they're having a hard time dealing with the fact they may not be able for afford driving as much as they used to. Others realize that never being able to drive again is the least of their problems. They recognize that peak oil might mean that a lot of people will die due to hunger, lack of access to health care (many medicines are petroleum-based) or due to crimes relating to hoarding, looting or simply getting robbed on the street.

 

Consider that the world's population was less than 1 billion when oil was discovered at Titusville, PA. Today it's more than 6 billion, with oil permitting much of the agricultural miracle of mechanized farming, especially since the end of World War II. Oil has also powered a tremendous economic expansion and improved quality of life for billions of people just in the past 25 years. And oil has no replacement. Nothing else we've discovered or invented has the energy density of oil and costs as little as oil. It's amazing stuff.

 

Absent an equally amazing technological breakthrough, when oil supplies begin their downward spiral the human population will quickly follow suit.

 

Here are my suggestions based on my readings on this issue over the past five years:

 

1. Get and stay healthy. Like the new saying goes "Dying slowly in America is an expensive proposition." Thus, stay healthy to stay financially afloat. If you aren't healthy, everything else in this list can't be accomplished.

2. Get out of debt. If you have credit card debt, pay it off by any legal means necessary. If you have a mortgage, pay it off too. If you can't, get mortgage insurance.

3. Choose your location wisely. Live where you can thrive without a car, where basic services are within walking, biking and transit distance and has good telecommuting infrastructure. Live in a city with good water and rail transportation access so food and materials can get to you cheaply. Live in a city with proximate access to fresh water and agriculture, including urban farms.

4. Have a self-sufficient home. If you can afford it, take your home off the utility grid with solar, wind power, water power and naturally supplied water. If you can't afford it, start to budget for a conversion someday.

5. Investing. Put your money into basic, finite things that people need, including land, air, water, food and shelter. This usually means commodities (metals and grains), farmland, carbon credits, etc. You may also consider buying stock in renewable energy manufacturers, bicycle manufacturers, railroads, ocean/lake shipping companies and the like.

6. Learn some basic, marketable skills. Take some courses in carpentry, electrical work (including specialties like wiring up solar panels and wind turbines etc), farming (including specialties like hydroponic and organic farming), bicycle repair, shoe repair, computer repair, you get the idea.

7. Protect yourself, your family and your friends. If things really get bad, then home defense will be a priority. Ultimately, you may be on your own, but do look out for people you care about. Form networks among people you trust and whose insights and skills you value.

The group has repeatedly said supplies are adequate and that the market has been driven by speculation.

 

Last year, OPEC was blaming refinery capacity.  This year it's speculators.  Hmmm.  I wonder what their scapegoat will be next year? 

 

If you ask me, OPEC isn't increasing production because they can't, at least not enough to make a worthwhile dent in the price. 

i saw this today on the front page of the nytimes!  :-o

 

 

Gas Prices Send Surge of Riders to Mass Transit

 

 

By CLIFFORD KRAUSS

Published: May 10, 2008

 

DENVER — With the price of gas approaching $4 a gallon, more commuters are abandoning their cars and taking the train or bus instead.

 

Kevin Moloney for The New York Times

 

 

Mass transit ridership was up 8 percent in Denver in the first three months of the year compared with last year, despite a fare increase in January and a slowing economy.

Mass transit systems around the country are seeing standing-room-only crowds on bus lines where seats were once easy to come by. Parking lots at many bus and light rail stations are suddenly overflowing, with commuters in some towns risking a ticket or tow by parking on nearby grassy areas and in vacant lots.

 

“In almost every transit system I talk to, we’re seeing very high rates of growth the last few months,” said William W. Millar, president of the American Public Transportation Association.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/10/business/10transit.html?pagewanted=2&ei=5087&em&en=71ccc0af876bd293&ex=1210564800&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1210471810-8e1diDJZnVvI3twej9c8ow

That article is more about the effects of high fuel prices, and should therefore go in that thread. Good article though!

Essential reading. Peak oil doesn't mean running out. It means the end of supply growth. And in the absence of meaningful alternatives to oil, it means the end of economic growth....

 

http://www.aspo-usa.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=370&Itemid=91

 

Peak Oil: “It’s the Flows, Stupid!” 

Written by Steve Andrews and Randy Udall   

Monday, 12 May 2008 

 

Recent peak oil critic: “In the public mind, peak oil means 'running out.’"

 

Verbal shots from legendary political consultant James Carville land with the shock of a hand grenade. If the always-blunt and ever-controversial Carville were to grasp our oil dilemma and begin a peak oil education campaign, his war-room slogan would probably paraphrase his winning axiom from the 1992 Clinton campaign, using “It’s the Flows, Stupid!”

 

Peak oil is about peak flow. It’s that simple, despite all those lame statements (some from people who ought to know better) that “we aren’t running out.” That’s right, we aren't, but who said we were!

Excellent article; I've tried to explain this subject to friends and family with limited to no success. These guys describe it much more eloquently and concisely.

On May 12, newsman Tony Jones interviewed Richard Heinberg about peak oil on the Australian Broadcasting Co.'s "Lateline" program. To see the 18-minute interview...

 

RealPlayer - http://media1.abc.net.au/reallibrary/lateline/200805/20080512-late-heinburg_16_9_bband.rm

Windows Media - http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200805/r249542_1023823.asx

 

For a transcript and more about author Richard Heinberg, see:

http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2007/s2242621.htm

 

 

I hate when college kids think they know what the hell they're talking about. They start these dumb facebook groups thinking they're going to start a revolution. From a stupid facebook group called "Stop gas prices":

 

Why boycotts will never work:

 

Americans love fuel. If you do not fill up on a certain day the gas companies do not lose any money. You are still using their fuel by driving, in turn, not making a difference. This is what happens, Americans fill up more the day before or the day after.

 

The only boycott that will actually make a difference is not driving. If every American stops driving for one day this would make an actual impact.

 

BUT WE ARE WAY TOO FUEL DEPENDENT FOR THAT

 

Thus the plan:

 

Top Six American Oil Companies:

 

Exxon Mobil

Chevron Texaco

Conoco Phillips

Marathon Oil (including Speedway and Pilot)

BP

Shell/Royal Dutch

 

Since we are so dependent on Fuel, we aren't going to stop driving any less. Therefore those big oil names make their $$$.

 

But what if they weren't getting the money and American's were still using fuel?

 

Basic economics, if we as a nation start filling up at local "mom and pop" service stations big oil does not get the profit. It may be less fancy and you may have to go inside to pay but in the long run it will make a difference.

do the "mom and pop" gas stations get their gasoline from some super secret oil source?

Tom Whipple rocks, twice.....

 

http://www.aspo-usa.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=373&Itemid=91

 

Includes this tells-all quote:

“When supplies from Venezuela and Mexico were reduced to the U.S., who supplied the difference? We supplied, to the tune of an additional 300,000 barrels per day, from 1.4 to 1.7 million barrels per day, for our customers in the U.S. So how much more can we do?”

      — Ali al-Naimi, Saudi Arabia’s oil minister

 

http://www.energybulletin.net/44435.html

 

Starts out with:

The evidence is mounting that the US might just encounter the first real crisis of the oil depletion age before the year is out. The crisis at first will be one of spiraling prices for diesel [see chart] and heating oil that will cause considerable economic havoc, and then there may be actual shortages right here in the United States.

 

 

Check out the video from Squawk Box that started at 6am EST Tuesday. Extensive peak oil coverage! There were graphics of countries production histories, showing their peaks, an interview with Robert Hirsch....

 

http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=747947551&play=1

 

BTW, check out the price of oil and RBOB (wholesale gasoline) at nymex.com. Oil is headed for $130 per barrel and wholesale gasoline is nearing $3.30. Add 70-80 cents per gallon to the wholesale price for transportation, marketing and profit to get the retail price which will probably top $4 per gallon at most stations.

No, this is not a late April Fool's Day joke. Instead it's Congress showing the world how stupid and spoiled we are. As someone on the peakoil.com forum said: "Why does America remind me of a druggie who's jonesing so bad he's threatening to kill his dealer?"

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080520/pl_nm/congress_opec_dc

 

House passes bill to sue OPEC over oil prices

By Tom Doggett

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved legislation on Tuesday allowing the Justice Department to sue OPEC members for limiting oil supplies and working together to set crude prices, but the White House threatened to veto the measure.

 

The bill would subject OPEC oil producers, including Saudi Arabia, Iran and Venezuela, to the same antitrust laws that U.S. companies must follow.

 

The measure passed in a 324-84 vote, a big enough margin to override a presidential veto.

 

......

I heard Laura Inghram on slamming Obama for even suggesting we curb our American (God) given right to drive the biggest, fattest, gas-guzzling SUV Detroit can churn out – both for economic and ecological reasons.  Well as we Americans (principally) continue to suck the earth dry of this finite source while, in the interim, Detroit continues to drag its feet on developing a serious electric car or one that flex to ethanol or some other alternative source, I hope Laura and her conservative cronies will pony up for $4.50, maybe even $5/gallon perhaps before the summer is over... creeps.

 

I haven’t scanned all the above posts, but did anyone see CNN’s special “Out of Gas” the other night?  It looked interesting but, sadly, I was distracted on the phone and only really was able to see one segment focusing on Brazil’s conversion of a portion of its vast sugar cane crop into an ethanol-like (I forget the name) alternative fuel source.  It sure put America to shame with our intransigence towards doing anything but dancing to Detroit’s tune of big cars, more gas and, oh by the way, continued trashing of Amtrak, funding-wise, and local mass transit.  And these pitifully weak (very) long term “goals” for increasing car MPG (something like 25 MPG by 2025) is pathetic.

 

I love my country but, damn, sometimes its Laissez-faire, lightly-regulated corporate-dominated system leaves me feeling that the only really important person in this country is the corporate "person" created in a legal document, not the real flesh-'n-blood ones, who corporations often seemed designed to crush not serve.  The real sad fact is that, it seems we as a country aren’t motivated to really change the situation as long as there are those wealthy enough to pay the gas prices… oh yeah, like those wealthy corporate types from companies like GM … who are probably Republicans to begin with.

 

As Charlie Brown’s Lucy would say: ‘Good grief!’