down_shift wrote:Im not well read in this area so Im not going to pretend but hasnt all our recent spending and borrowing weakened the dollar making it more expensive for us to buy crude or anything else on the world market?

Well our weakened dollar has made it more expensive to buy crude. However, I have always thought the barrel price of crude is actually measured in US dollars. There was an agreement that was setup with the oil producing nations that crude barrel be sold in USD.

Additionally, contributing factors is the huge increase in global demand from emerging economies such as China.

However, despite all these reasons.. I still feel that Big Oil has taken the American consumer for a ride because they say that they aren't making all that much money and still post record profits.

In the recent congressional hearings where the CEO's of the big oil companies sat in front of a panel to be questioned about gas prices, none of them 'explained' why they made so much money while the American consumer is slowly being strangled into poverty by the high prices.

Their most common answers were ... US dollar, increase in demand, and how more needs to be invested into the discovery of new oil around the world.

Additionally, Congress was doing something about removing $18 billion in tax breaks from Big Oil to help further discovery of alternatives. Naturally, Oil was opposed to this and Congress pretty much told them to take their profits and use it for new discoveries.

"According to Markey, "These companies are defending billions in federal subsidies needed for renewable fuels and clean energy while reaping over a hundred billion dollars in profits in just the last year alone." It is definitely going to be tough for big oil to dispute that claim. Consider that Exxon Mobil alone earned a record of $40.6 billion in 2007."

When asked the question.. 'How are you posting record profits while the the US is facing the brink of an economic crisis due to increased costs?'........ they pretty much avoided answering them.

And let's not forget about speculation.

I'm not defending the big oil companies at all, but they are having import a lot more oil than they were 10 years ago, why? the democratic congressional assholes won the vote to enacted the offshore drilling ban in 1982, and ANWR drilling was banned in 2005 by a democratic vote win in the senate.

charlie wrote:And let's not forget about speculation.

make oil a commodity and most of the problem is solved, as for the economy the only thing that will fix the weak dollar is to reinstate the Gold Standard .

You're completely correct about another factor being that speculation that has been driving these crude prices up. The investors are trying to capitalize on the 'scare of shortage and supply limitations' to make money when these prices jump up.

I've been reading a good bit about this.. there are just so many angles and stances that are taken on this issue as to place the blame. There's just too many sources to blame.

Honestly, the best bet is to just be a cautious consumer and just use gas conservatively while balancing out cost/benefit. This is way better than depending on the govt. or any one else to fix our problems.

Eunos Roadster wrote:I'm not defending the big oil companies at all, but they are having import a lot more oil than they were 10 years ago, why? the democratic congressional assholes won the vote to enacted the offshore drilling ban in 1982, and ANWR drilling was banned in 2005 by a democratic vote win in the senate.

Isn't most of the oil in ANWR and off-shore "sour" oil?

yeah cuba is letting other countries drill off shore less than 100 miles away from florida. edit: turns out that is just an urban legend kinda thing.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/ ... 7282.shtml

personally i think oil is dumb. we need to invest in other fuels/sources for engery. we also need to get other countries to stop using oil for energy. mexico and other countries use oil for electricity and heat when they could be using hydro electric power or solar power.

do we need to invest in wind, solar, and noocular for electricity? yes for air quality reasons, not because we are "running out of oil", the running out of oil theory is a big oil company tactic to raise gas prices infinitely. there is now scientific proof to back the theory that oil is not "fossil fuel"



http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/artic ... E_ID=59991

Eunos Roadster wrote:

charlie wrote:And let's not forget about speculation.

make oil a commodity and most of the problem is solved, as for the economy the only thing that will fix the weak dollar is to reinstate the Gold Standard .

DAMN YOU IS SMART, FOR REAL! That may be the most sensible thing I've read in a while, Ron Paul fan I guess.

Ron Paul was a very GOOD candidate, unlike Clinton, McCain and Obama. our only hope right now is Bob Barr.

Eunos Roadster wrote:Ron Paul was a very GOOD candidate, unlike Clinton, McCain and Obama. our only hope right now is Bob Barr.

Ain't gonna happen, you better hope for McCain!

GTEAST wrote:

Eunos Roadster wrote:Ron Paul was a very GOOD candidate, unlike Clinton, McCain and Obama. our only hope right now is Bob Barr.

Ain't gonna happen, you better hope for McCain!

trust me, I am :fingerscrossed: we don't need the Obamba/Clinton fascist regime in D.C.

Bob Barr is not a good choice...trust me. The man is a fool.

Skwid wrote:Bob Barr is not a good choice...trust me. The man is a fool.

Sure is nuts, but so am I, therefore I should be El Presidente!!!!

HAHAHA what's your platform? lower tire prices for the US worker?