Gas Watch

[Bob Campbell]

Should we add in an immediate ban on SUVs, Pickups and other gas guzzlers?

Current estimate on the ANWR is almost a month's supply if we drill every drop.

Why are we paying market price to the Iraqis for oil? And if not, why aren't we getting every drop the pump?. Hell, I'd offer 'em 25 bucks a barrel for all they have. We got a hundred fifty thousand troops there. Get 'em out of Baghdad and get them to the oil fields and pipelines.

[AmpedNow]

I blame the speculators for the high runup of oil prices.

They are always running up oil futures based on crap that could happen but almost never does. Some tribes in Nigeria starts throwing sticks at each other and the price jumps three dollars...

Because high prices equal huge profits for them.

It's bullshit. Nobody holds them accountable.

[genlock]

Think of what news of a big oil strike or even news that USA is going to drill for new supplies would do to those charaacters who have bid on (promised to pay for) oil 6 months to a year away. The big profits are going to the speculators at this time while the oil companies are still making 8.75 to 9.25 percent profit. A drop in the price of oil, however great, will not change the profit margin of the oil companies. I am not saying that the country should continue to depend upon oil for motive power, but right now we have no choice. There is no policy for energy that makes sense. Tax breaks are given to companies that spray petroleum pitch on coal. Power companies are forced to pay production costs, no mater the margin, for power generated by inefficient methods such as wind, solar, and others. Most of these schemes are political and are ment to buy local votes. Environmental rules are preventing the construction of new hydro power and are causing plants to burn oil instead of coal or gas for grid power. A new nuclear plant has not been built in this country for decades. Pipeline construction is stymied for the same reason. As long as we the people put up with this non action, we will get the same results.

[David Paleg]

Wis. man won't buy gas for 31 days, maybe longer
May 16, 3:37 AM (ET)

SHEBOYGAN, Wis. (AP) - Brian LaFave couldn't care less how high gasoline prices climb these days - he's parked his pickup truck and is refusing to buy gas for a month, possibly longer.

"The goal is to not use one drop of gas for 31 days," LaFave said, calling it his personal stand against the oil companies.

Now LaFave, 31, is riding his bicycle or walking everywhere he goes. He won't even let friends pick him up unless they already planned on being in the neighborhood.

"If they're not going out of their way, I can take the ride," he said. "But if they're going out of their way, then ... I'm still consuming gasoline so it kind of defeats the purpose."

LaFave started the effort May 11. He bikes to his third-shift job at Aldrich Chemical in Sheboygan Falls, a 9-mile commute.

"I did like a practice run ... two days in a row to make sure I could do it," he said. "I'm not in the greatest shape. The mornings are the worst. It feels like it takes forever. I get like a mile down the road and I want to die."

It's a big change for someone who put 300 miles on his truck the week before he stopped driving it.

LaFave fills out a chart each day listing how many miles he bikes, the destination and the gas price that day, among other things. He plans to compute his savings and donate that amount to a charity that provides food to children in Africa.

"I think just with the gas prices being so high, everybody complains about it but no one ever really does anything about it," LaFave said. "People continue to drive nonstop and not think about it, but I just wanted to take a stand and say, 'I'm not gonna pay this much money for gas.'"

[AmpedNow]

Yet, the Saudi Prince once again politely told us to eff off.

There is no policy for energy that makes sense.

Probably won't be anytime soon, either...

It's gonna get a lot worse before it gets better. The only hope we have is for more people to start walking and driving less so demand plummets. But as soon as it does, people start driving more and buying tanks again.

It's a vicious cycle we're caught in...

[Big Media]

Yet, the Saudi Prince once again politely told us to eff off.

F-ckin Arabs.

Oh.. wait. That wasn't politically correct. Oh well. Too late now.

[Arp2]

I blame the speculators for the high runup of oil prices.

They are always running up oil futures based on crap that could happen but almost never does.

Quid pro quo?

On CNBC the morning of Monday, January 30, 2006....

Politicians & Exchanges

Politicians have largely stayed out of the competitive battles between the various stock and commodity exchanges, even as they become public companies with massive balance sheets and begin to expand even overseas. But that may be changing. On Friday, Senator Chuck Schumer took sides in the simmering competitive fight taking place between the New York Mercantile Exchange and the Intercontinental Exchange, a fully electronic trading platform.

Schumer is asking regulators to prevent the Intercontinental exchange, also known as ICE, from being able to trade future contracts on oil, one of the bread-and-butter contracts traded on the rival NYMEX. This contract allows for the first time professional traders -- everyone from hedge funds to the major oil companies and investment banks -- to trade oil futures on an electronic exchange.

Schumer says the problem with what ICE is that there’s no regulation over its trading activities; The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or the CFTC, the main regulator of the trading of futures contracts, does not regulate ICE because it’s technically an overseas exchange regulated by the Brits.

But Schumer wants to change that. He recently wrote the CFTC and said he wants to end the ICE’s “exempt status,” effectively putting them under the same kind of regulator constraints as the NYMEX.

This story is fascinating for several reasons. It appears to be the first time a major politician has picked sides in a face off between competing exchanges. No one I spoke to on this can recall someone of Schumer’s stature getting involved in the NYSE-Nasdaq wars.

But it’s also significant for another reason. Politicians appear to be waking up to the fact that all this movement toward electronic trading could have a direct economic impact on the places that they represent. Schumer is a ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee but he also represents New York State, and while the ICE is a couple of computers located in Atlanta and London, the New York Merc has 816 seatholders trading on the floor of the exchange, not to mention clerks, etc. They are part of the foundation of the lower Manhattan economy, and the financial community has always been a big supporter of Schumer over the years; and, now that the NYMEX is going public, it needs protection more than ever.

One big question that people are asking about this issue is whether Schumer did this on his own initiative or if the NYMEX pushed him to write the letter. The NYMEX has been a major contributor to Schumer over the years, and people at the Intercontinental exchange say they suspect Schumer is merely responding to the wishes of one of his supporters. A NYMEX spokeswoman says the exchange is nonpartisan and gives to both political parties, and it was Schumer that initiated the move.

[Force Commander]

'Squawk Box' Guest Warns of $12-15-a-Gallon Gas

http://www.businessandmedia.org/article ... 45247.aspx

[Cameron]

I think you're missing the point.

The current leadership in DC is in the OIL BUSINESS.

[Hoosier Daddy]

I think you're missing the point. The current leadership in DC is in the OIL BUSINESS.

Yup. Helen Keller can see that one.

By the way, we hit $4 a gallon here this morning ...

[Dr. Whiplash]

Tonight (Thu) at 8:00 & 11:00, CNBC will host a panel of top corporate leaders and market analysts discussing the future of oil.

This morning on 'Today' Jim Kramer called the $12-15/gal guy an alarmist, pointing out that people will stop driving before we get to that point. But Jim says $5 is likely, $6-7 possible, looking at increasing demand from emerging markets. He said in reference to the Chinese, "they aren't gonna stop driving now, they just got cars."

Are we at Peak Oil? If we are, hold on tight, it's going to be a rough ride...

[Lester]

I think you're missing the point.

The current leadership in DC is in the OIL BUSINESS.

Fuckin' Rockefellers.

[Force Commander]

I think you're missing the point.

The current leadership in DC is in the OIL BUSINESS.

True, and the dems are in the enviromentalists back pocket. Who have demanded for years huge prices for oil so we would stop driving at all. Neither side is going to try to help us because of their political interests. The elected officials on both sides will just pay lip service to us and nothing more.

I more and more wish I could find a decent job in KY or WV. As things look we eventually will have to stay put where we live because we can't afford to go anywhere to visit. I am starting to think if you can jobwise it might be to come home. People in KY, WV, and around the surrounding areas do seem have a survival instinct (at least historically) to make it through tough times and real tough times are coming almost for certain.

[nuggie99]

People in KY, WV, and around the surrounding areas do seem have a survival instinct (at least historically) to make it through tough times and real tough times are coming almost for certain.

That's because we've been down so long it seems like up to us.

[Big Media]

I foresee a return to "community". My grandparents lived in a small community which had everything they could possibly need within a very short walk or bicycle. From their house, you could easily walk or cycle to the following: grocery store, gas station w/convenience store, small restaurant, the elementary school (which contained the little league park, basketball court, playground, etc.), church (which hosted most large community "events" including weddings, funerals, showers and the like, along with the boys scouts, cub scouts, girl scouts, and the lady's club. In addition, you could walk to your neighbor's house, the firehouse, the doctor's house, the dentists house.... you get what I am saying.

If you've ever read any of Homer Hickam's memoirs, you will see the similarity of what I am talking about. Coalwood, WV, was a mining town that had EVERYTHING within a short walk or bicycle ride. The only reason to leave Coalwood was to see a movie, go to the hospital, or see the black lung specialist in Welch. I wouldn't mind raising my kids in that kind of community.

The problem today is that you wouldn't dare get on a bicycle and take a ride down Rt. 60 to Wal-Mart because you will get your ass run over by Billy Bob in his Hummer.

[Lee]

Gas is $4.19 a gallon in Coal Grove, OH.

$3.95 a gallon in Ashland, KY.

[Hoosier Daddy]

I foresee a return to "community". My grandparents lived in a small community which had everything they could possibly need within a very short walk or bicycle. From their house, you could easily walk or cycle to the following: grocery store, gas station w/convenience store, small restaurant, the elementary school (which contained the little league park, basketball court, playground, etc.), church (which hosted most large community "events" including weddings, funerals, showers and the like, along with the boys scouts, cub scouts, girl scouts, and the lady's club. In addition, you could walk to your neighbor's house, the firehouse, the doctor's house, the dentists house.... you get what I am saying.

The place I live now is just about what you describe.

[genlock]

I grew up in Omar, WV.
We had a theatre. It burned down.
By then we had TV tho.
5 channels. WSAZ, WCHS,WHTN, WOAY and WHIS.
2 abc, 2 nbc and one cbs.
Siren on top of the store sounded at 7:30 am, noon and 5pm.
It also sounded for fires and at 11 am on November 11.
Two food stores, a liquor store, a barber shop, gas station, barber, doctor and dentist.
No lawyers.
Even a shoe shop. One gas station. One beer joint.
Grade school, Jr high, 2 churches.
The creek was an open sewer.
I used to use a .22 to shoot at floating turds.
The good old days.

[AmpedNow]

'Squawk Box' Guest Warns of $12-15-a-Gallon Gas

http://www.businessandmedia.org/article ... 45247.aspx

Yep, the damn speculators again...

Yesterday, the price of oil jumped six dollars per barrel based on shortage predictions five freakin' years from now...

These people have too much control over oil prices. Their greed will put us all in the poor house.

There's still a counter balance in all of this... When the dollar is worthless, their massive profits will be, too.

[David Paleg]

No lawyers.

Almost Heaven, West Virginia. Now get rid rid of the politicians and it will be heaven.