We had a "slug bug" once Paul, one of the best cars we ever owned. We never got over 49 to 50 mpg, but ours was air conditioned and I souped it up of course, being young and foolish and I drove it hard. It was a great car, easy to work on and seldom any problems. Wish I had it now. We had a three cyl, two cycle SAAB 850 once too, it was a fun car with front wheel drive, it handeled like a sports car. It was not good on gas and you mixed oil in the fuel. A Horrible polluter there. We both know we need good electric powered vehicles.

The father of my musical partner has a small station wagon size VW. It's roomy, well built, safe, and has sufficient pick up in city or on freeway...and gets 57 MPG. If the Germans can do it, why can't we? Then again I don't believe the Germans have 77 lobbyists for every person in their congress as we do.

Most people fail to realize the Republicans initiated the largest tax increase in history. Add about $4 per gallon to what you ae paying at the pump (for military increases from invading Iraq), and this is really what you are paying. It's a well hidden tax they do everything they can to avoid speaking about, or the public figuring out. The worst part about it is these "Borrow & spend" so-called fiscal conservatives (yeah right) have been saying 'Just charge it!', and leaving Americans in the future to pay the tab.

As far as fast speeds on the open road they wouldn't consume that much gas if Detroit would pay as much attention to better transmissions (with say a 7 or 8 speed, or an over-over drive gear) as they do to continually foisting more & more powerful engines on us.

How about some useful NASCAR events in which the crews are only given x amount of gallons of fuel? Whomever completes the race fastest is the winner unless someone else close behind has enough fuel left to buy time off the clock. So much of a second off per ounce left. Teams could also cover their cars in solar panels for an additional mileage advantage. The cars would still be more than fast enough to provide the adrenaline junkies their 'rush' from danger, and it would add some excitement to see who could stretch out their fuel, comparable to how you feel with the needle on E and wondering if you can make it to the next gas station.

Exactly the point ~HOLLOW POINT~ you were in the 70s just to keep up with the flow of traffic. You say a few cars going 75? HAAA Haaa, don't know where you live but the speed limit is 75 in many states and everyone knows you can go 80 and not be pulled over. But most drive near the speed limits, which are really dumb.

I had over 2 million miles driving coaches all across the country so I'm quite familiar with driving habits and speeds etc. The price of gas has reached near $4 bucks a gallon now and few really seem to care. It isn't just BMWs, it's twelve year old gas guzzlers, SUVs, pickups and tractor trailers. The speed limit near all metro areas is still 55, if you drive it you're a road hazard, at 65 you're a menace. Hell a little two door KIA or Ford Escort etc, only get 30 to 33mpg, what a joke. And the joke is on us.

The US buck that has had a free ride for years as the bench mark for oil should be dropped and let America swim with the rest of the fish in the sea like the rest of the world has had to. Then maybe there will be a drop in the price. The weak buck is huge % of the current price so why should we suffer and the rest of the world because of Bush and his friends can't run a country?
KEM:
driving habbits and foolish egos. If a few cars are doing 70 to 75 MPH then the rest join in. I had a long drive yesterday and at times was into the 70's and just keeping up with traffic. Everyone of the speeders was driving a hot BMW etc with 4 or 6 cylinders. I do enjoy driving passed the trucks with a NASCAR and support our troops ( it is the only job my son could get since there are no jobs) stickers in the back.

Bush's visit and the Saudi "response" fits well in a scenario that places Cheney making the deal with the royals pre-911. The royals and Cheney/Bush have to put on this little show to continue the farce propaganda parade around the oil grab, and the, so far, amazingly successful coup and looting of the US. Connect the dots, follow the money, watch the show. The rumbling you might hear is the sound of dead patriots rolling over in their graves in Veterans Cemetaries at Arlington and all around the country, and the slow but steady awakening of the American people. The butterfly of truth has flapped its wings and the blowback will bring us a new world of peace and justice.
Support and defend the Constitution--it is a magnificent piece of work.

Those who would take over the earth
And shape it to their will
Never, I notice, succeed.
The earth is like a vessel so sacred
That at the mere approach of the profane
It is marred
And when they reach out their fingers it is gone.
For a time in the world some force themselves ahead
And some are left behind,
For a time in the world some make a great noise
And some are held silent,
For a time in the world some are puffed fat
And some are kept hungry,
For a time in the world some push aboard
And some are tipped out:
At no time in the world will a man who is sane
Over-reach himself,
Over-spend himself,
Over-rate himself.
LaoTzu #29 600 BC

Cheers

TurnoffyourTV has a valid point on the devaluation of the dollar and the price we all end up paying for oil products.

Hardly anyone in American media (having interlocking directorships with banks and oil corporations) is willing to discuss the devaluation of the dollar and the invasion of Iraq as related to the price of oil.

Try the following for an objective discussion on the weak dollar. The Euro is doing much better than the dollar under current international conditions in maintaining it's value for the purchase of oil. And keep in mind that Iran just stopped accepting dollars for their oil. When we invaded Iraq the Euro was around $.90 cents and now it takes $1.57 to purchase one Euro.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2008/02/26/stories/2008022650070900.htm

And at the following:

" Dollar depreciation reduces activities in upstream through different channels including increased cost, higher inflation rates, lower purchasing power, and lower return on investment. Dollar devaluation increases oil demand in countries with appreciated currencies because of an increase in purchasing power. It also increases the demand for gasoline in the US as Americans spend their summer vacations driving in the US. Large dollar devaluation reduces the supply of oil and increases the demand for oil."

http://www.mees.com/postedarticles/oped/a47n33d01.htm

Another major factor in the current situation is that Iraq's production has fallen since the invasion and occupation at a time when global demand is rising. The war of aggression (war crime) that was supposed to create cheap oil has done the opposite while Big Oil and the MIC are wallowing in record profits.

And as a double whammy, wild "defense" spending is a factor in the decline of the dollar. The funny money that the Federal Reserve has been creating by increasing the money supply and creating cheap credit is an attempt to compensate for the effects of the cost of waging "war" on a credit card.

For the average American, we are paying for all of this with our taxes as well as future debt ($5 Trillion more or less according to Stiglitz) in addition to paying higher energy prices and related inflation. And for most, our incomes are not rising as fast as the energy and war related inflation. Many have lost jobs and homes.

If Big Oil gets their way in Iraq they will privatize (steal) some of the easiest to extract but highest quality crude oil on earth. However, it appears this plan will cost more in terms of subsidized military occupation costs than the oil is actually worth.

War is a racket and so is the oil business.

Want another excellent point ~Thomas~? The Texans elected Bush to be their governor. They wanted him and they got him. So you cannot deny him bud, he may not be a born Texan, but he was born again, he's a Texan now. The First thing I noticed about Texas after he took over, was the wild flowers that had been planted all across the state on the interstates highways were gone. ___ No profit there.

"We are wasting millions of gallons of gasoline every single day by our driving habits was my point. And oh yes I'm sure few here want to see the speed limits reduced, It wouldn't be "progressive"."

Its a good point, and driving habits need to be modified. We are pooling grocery trips with our next door neighbor now, I believe someone mentioned that earlier. But the wasting of gasoline concernsd us all, its not progressive or conservative, its just good sense.

"Good ironic barb at progressivism. We need to examine ourselves lest we become self-righteous."

Another excellent point.

Tinylotus,
Funny but wise imagining. Reminds me of the beginning scenes of "2001" , aliens leave big black box to help human monkeys evolve intelligence, human monkeys use it to club each other over watering hole rights, leads to space race, they discover more big black boxes, astronaut has his consciuosness elevated to some sort of dreamlike state transcending space and time. Far-fetched ending, but it makes a better movie.
Kem Patrick,
Sadly, you are right. I only hope the the dying empire doesn't thrash around like a wounded tyrannosaurus, taking out everything in its path. Good ironic barb at progressivism. We need to examine ourselves lest we become self-righteous.

~BRAITHWA 842~ You forgot to mention tire friction, tire pressure, A/C off or on, etc, when you were telling us that wind resistance is so important to remember when talking about gas milelage.

My point was and is, we don't have to waste gas and drive 75 miles an hour on I-95 from Trenton to Philadelphia, or from Douglas to Bisbee, Arizona.

Yeah ~THOMAS MORE~ some cars get better mileage at 65 than 55 and some cars get better mileage at 75 than some do at 35, as you say, it depends on the car. We are wasting millions of gallons of gasoline every single day by our driving habits was my point. And oh yes I'm sure few here want to see the speed limits reduced, It wouldn't be "progressive". ___ LOL.

Should anyone visit this planet eons from now, perhaps they would conclude:

Human Monkeys went extinct after unearthing dinosaur energy....they brutally killed each other and other species in a frenzy over this energy source while paying little attention to the paradise they had.

Moderation in all things!!
Could be there is oil, could be there is not?

Could be the corporations are at our mercy, could be we are at the mercy of the corporations?

Could be we are capable of orderly transitions within our society, could be we are incapable of orderly transitions within our society?

WHAT determines the 'order of priorities' in each of our lives; will in effect cause an affective/effective ripple on the lake of Oneness!

WE ARE ALL ONE; especially as the old Mother Earth begins to Withhold and in turn we must grow to flourish and 'let go the ways of childhood'.

If YOU care, WE will ALL care and grow and flourish; it is all up to YOU/US.

Father, government cannot sustain the press, nor the 'press'.

The growing children must quickly move to the forefront to 'give back' in all ways possible. Make a difference in all small ways, and those small ways will grow bigger.

I have to wonder if we would have had to fight either of the Persian Gulf Wars if Ronald Reagan had not a) squandered the opportunity to invest in R & D for alternative energy production and b) caved in (with Congress) to the automotive industry on fuel efficiency standards. (To be fair, Reagan would have insisted on a UN-led response to Iraq's invsion of Kuwait, had he failed to prevent the invasion in the first place.)

Yes, I believe the Iraq War -- and its great expense -- is the proper context in which to see the record billions in oil company profits. But, Mr. Scheer, you hurt your case when you fault Bush for not knocking off the Saudis in response to 9/11. Everyone knows the Saudis exiled Osama Bin Laden.

Of course, Bush might have knocked out the leadership of Iran and replaced it (this time) with a true democracy. But, apparently, the oil was in Iraq (and the Saudis have beem our allies, sometimes secretly).

Elderlady May 21st, 2008 2:39 pm

Best comment here.

indijo May 21st, 2008 12:29 pm
TurnoffyourTV May 21st, 2008 1:07 pm
whatfools May 21st, 2008 1:29 pm

Excellent points!

" The arrogant SUV'ers with their "Support Our Troops" stickers must be grumbling bitterly these days."

Stereotyping at its best.

"That was a damn good idea, how much time does one actually save driving 65 or 75 on a forty mile run? How much money would they save over a year with a 10% less fuel usage?"

I would like to suggest that you are right in part, but in many parts of the country, distances are far more than 40 or 50 miles and also that many cars get better milage at 65 than 55 in those parts of the country. Still it depends on the car.

Just wait, talking to a dealer yesterday, he tells me their sales of big diesel duallies and big pickups is dead. Totally. Maybe the rise in gas prices is not so bad in the short term?

I'd also like to suggest that everyone sit back and as gas goes up, those that want everyone to get a car that gets better milage, takes less material and energy to manufacture will get their wish. Its not something you can or should mandate.

"fuck off Tex." That's what I'd tell him."

Kem....language....language and that SOB isn't a Texan by the way. He moved here, I suspect those up North asked his parents to get him out of there.

birdflewunder May 22nd, 2008 8:26 am

"This is why the Dems won't impeach Bush and Cheney because if we do, Pelosi becomes President and if something happens during her watch, another 9/11 for example, McCain becomes President, not Obama, because the Republicans will blame Pelosi and the Demes and the American mainstream sheeple will believe it because CNN ABC NBC…are controlled by corporations."

Pelosi won't impeach Bush because she was in on the warrantless spying on American citizens from the beginning. If she got the Democrats in the House to impeach Bush for that she would be subject to being impeached also.

Lobo Gris

Possibly(?) all forms of energy should come under the control of the Government, for the good of national security of course, and take the profits to start a nationwide building of sun,wind, water, etc, on all buildings, houses, land, waterways, etc. I know the oil execs will spew how a lot of retirements are connected to "the" profits, but I'd giveup the little bit of stock market retirement money for "Free" nationwide electricity.

Most Americans have finally woken up to the Republican party/media rape of the American middle class and the total destruction of the Iraqi people...the Democrats have done little to stop them because they want the power and they know if they do stop the Repubs the American people won't give them the power... and they're probably right, because "mainstream" Americans are easily brainwashed. Now that gas is at 4$, health care unaffordable and house prices in the toilet mainstream America is finally on board with the Democrats but this will last only until the Dems fix things and then the corporate media will begin the brainwashing and mainstream America will again vote to lower their taxes (cause they'll forget that lower taxes means more war if Repubs in power)

This is why the Dems won't impeach Bush and Cheney because if we do, Pelosi becomes President and if something happens during her watch, another 9/11 for example, McCain becomes President, not Obama, because the Republicans will blame Pelosi and the Demes and the American mainstream sheeple will believe it because CNN ABC NBC...are controlled by corporations.

When Obama becomes President we progressives must continue to push for serious reforms and the imprisonment of Bush Cheney Wolfowitz Rice... for Treason, war crimes, corruption, etc...we must strengthen and uncorrupt the FCC, FDA, EPA etc...

The Tragedy is the Iranian children must suffer our cluster Bombs sometime this summer just because the Dems won't impeach... its the only way Obama can become President, otherwise the Dems would have impeached Bush by now because they know he'll drop those bombs before he leaves office.

Our only hope is some corporate journalists will have the courage and do the right thing and keep mainstream America awake.

IRAN:
announced last week it was cutting production in the next 30 to 60 days. Bush fucks with IRAN and tries to hurt them with sanctions screwing with banks, threats to countries who want to trade with them and guess what? If IRAN is not allowed through these threats to openly trade with other countries I would do the same if I was IRAN. You know your product that makes its way to American cars or China or around the OPEC oil world is sold no matter what the price. USA tries to hurt IRAN ( lovely country by the way.) So IRAN stops using the US buck as the bench mark for selling oil, and cuts production. 150$ a barrel is what I heard 3 months ago by mid summer and guess what I can see much higher before Bush is removed from office

Congress, brought to you by Shell---Yesterday the big oil executives were in front of Congress "explaining" why oil prices are so high. They listed all their "expenses and investments" etc. for an hour. Guess what: PROFIT means AFTER expenses. So, why are they making record profits? Congress: ZZZZZZZZZZZ......Bought and paid for just like our "choices" in this "election"....

Of course what we're seeing on Capitol Hill is more political theater, with Dems pretending to be irate with oil executives. Oil prices are allowed to go this high because the White House and congress gladly allow it.

And by the way Mr Scheer, can we ask Hillary and Obama the same questions you're asking McCain?

Can we ask them why Democrats authorized Bush to go to war? And why they keep funding this carnage?

Bush & Cheney could NOT have succeeded in their war crimes without Democrats, who have gladly assisted them for 7 years now.

Kem,

At the speeds you mention, and if we assume a flat terrain. Most of the physical energy of the car is taken up by windage. The force of windage, and the energy needed to cover a distance is preportional to the square of the speed of the vehicle in the air.

The following are calculations for an electric vehicle, but the bottom line will
be the same for a petrol driven vehicle:-

http://www.cameronsoftware.com/ev/data/EVDrivePower.xls

Hydrogen is still the answer and if we were smart or had smart leaders we would have an Apollo type crash program to develop it ASAP.

Lobo Gris

Of course the war with Iraq was illegal, immoral and utterly stupid. Bush cannot see past the end of his nose and even if he could he's friggin stupid and McCain is perhaps stupider. __ That a good word, "stupider"?

Even if I can't spel good I know one thing for certain. The current price of gas, fuel and food is gonna cause the
depression here and that will be the end of the United
States as we know it.

The big problem there is, the current price won't stay current. The cost of everything is going to keep going up. It is not just
Gas, fuel and food, try buying materials to upgrade your house.
Copper has risen 150% in two years, lumber and plywood are sky high as is roofing, etc. Even the cost of Chinese made junk is
now going way up.

Now here is the strange thing for me. It gives me reason to believe the majority of us Americans really are selfish and stupid. We have cut my driving by near two thirds this last 12 months. We live five miles from the nearest road to town, then another 20 to town. That's a 50 mile round trip, or about $6
bucks to drive to town. When we have to go to town, we check
with three of our nearest neighbors and if they need anything we pick it up for them. We all share in doing that.

What's strange to us? The speed limit is 65 mph all the way to town on the two lane main highway. We have cut our speed to 58 max. We go 50 if there is no other traffic. That's a gas saving of 9% to 10%, which is significant at even $3.00 a gallon and now it's $3.78 here. We get pssed by every car on the road and most are doing 70mph or more, about half are SUVs or large pickups with a single person in them. __ They don't care, it's strange.

Remember when the national speed limit was reduced to 55? What happened? We Americans cried like spoiled kids and now speed limits are 75 in many states, 80 in some. That was a damn good idea, how much time does one actually save driving 65 or 75 on a forty mile run? How much money would they save over a year with a 10% less fuel usage?

If I were one of the Arab oil guys running OPEC, I'd tell Bush to shove it. I'd say, "Hey Hot-Shit, if your people want to waste gas like they do, they're gonna pay for it. When you dumbbells go busted and your citizens are killing one another for food, having riots and burning your cities down, we'll sell our oil to China, Japan and india. We don't need you and never liked you anyway, besides your damn dollars are worthless, fuck off Tex." That's what I'd tell him.

Okay all true, but the lament seems to be the price of gas and lack of getting a monarch to bow TO THE IMPERIAL-MASTER OF THE WORLD more than anything else.

How ABOUT AT LEAST ONE SENTENCE ABOUT THE HUMAN TOLL AND THE IMMORALITY AND ILLEGALITY OF IT ALL?

It would have been a much better plan if the US had invaded Canada and Mexico first. Secure those oil fields, then form a simple sea blockade around the oil rigs of Norway and the North Sea, and THEN move on to the Middle East. They got it all ass backwards.

Also plans should be made now to plant a US flag on the surface of the sun, it's wide open territory, a pristine source of energy waiting for exploitation. But they better act soon before the sun falls into the hands of eco-nutcases who think it's energy is available to everyone!

How much oil is used by the military to fight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? How much of the military budget goes for oil? And totally off the subject, how much does war contribute to global warming? To the production of acid rain? To contamination of fresh and salt water supplies?

The numbers of posters who understand what's happening is getting bigger; then there are those still blowing smoke out their asses, and they know it. The IEA is going to publish revised figures for reserves, which will likely cause oil to break $140 tommorrow.

Yup, Bush's Oil friends are happy happy happy. They got what they bought the Presidency for.

Western Europeans were paying the liter equivalent of $3+ per gallon for gasoline (mostly derived from middles east petroleum sources) 25 years ago! That price reflected European governments' gasoline-tax policies, which in turn recognized several non-debatable realities:

[1] W. Europe's access foreign petro resouces and pricing could no longer be controlled politically or militarily, as in the manner of the post WW II USA's new influence in the prime petro region. [2] Given the non-renewability and the inevitability of increasing demand-driven prices for this crucial resource, high taxes on gasoline could and likely would compel European auto manufacturers to build smaller, more fuel-efficient carriages and engines (which, as we can all see, W. Europe has now had for decades;)

[3] high gasoline taxes could also be used to build and maintain not just safer automobile transport infrastructures, but also far more efficient sass transport systems (another social and ecnomic feature we also see well developed in W. Europe; utterly lacking in the USA.)

Where the post WW II governments of W. European (governments which our once- nobler government helped to rebuild after the war) quickly came to recognize this eco-petro calculus, and formulated polices based upon it, we Americans went thereafter piggily along our way. We glibly elected, for decades, national, corrupt leaders who hypnotized us at our invitation into believing that we could take by deceit or outright force whatever petro resouces we might need then or in the furture. Apparently we came to belive that having saved human civilization from the Nazis at first, and the Communists later, we could proceed to behave as our enemies had, if only we underwent enough domestic flag waiving and enough self-puffing rhetoric to cover the recapitulated governance deception.

By any objective measurement, we Americans are certainly not paying 'too much' for our beloved, stinking gasoline. But we are finally beginning to pay the price for our mindless cockiness; by our demand to be comforted by political liars whom we choose, quite consciously, to hypnosis us; and finally by our implicit national willingness to manipulate and/or kill other human beings in foreign lands, in order to get what we need to feed our gluttonous American addictions.

If we Americans ever were a decent people, we sure as dirt have shown ourselves to no longer be so.
And it's anybody's guess, at this point, as to whether our sick culture can ever regain any kind of sane existential ground.

I'm not saying we can't or should try to save our nation. But if we fail to turn ourselves around in the next few years because truth can no longer penetrate us, no decent person would say that our country doesn't deserve to pass from history, nor that we should mourn its passing.

Why all this hostility toward Saudi Arabia? Last time I checked, we got more oil from Canada than from the Middle East. This article shows ignorance about the oil markets, which were altered after the embargo in the 1970s to reduce the influence of OPEC.

Also, this blaming of oil producing nations lets oil companies, many based in the West, off the hook. They are making HUGE profits.

What did the US ever to for Saudi Arabia and why are they supposed to be so grateful to us? We colluded with a corrupt regime to our mutual benefit, and at the expense of the Saudi people. They owe us NOTHING.

Americans seem to think they are entitled to everything, including cheap oil. Saudi Arabia's oil belongs to the Saudis, not to us. They are under no obligation whatsoever to overpump or sell oil to us for less than market value. The dollar is going down in value and rising stars like India and China are competing for oil. This will naturally drive prices up.

America was short-sighted to base the entire economy on cheap oil. Blame your own leadership, not the Saudis. They have every right to sell THEIR oil at market value to whomever they please!

Im glad that most CD'ers got it already. The Saudis have been already pumping the oil too fast. Pumping the oil faster than the optimum rate ruins the oil well to some extent, reducing the final amount that can be extracted from each oil well.

" Legendary Texas oil billionaire Boone Pickens says President Bush was wasting his time traveling to Saudi Arabia to ask for increased oil production.
"The Saudis claim they have more oil," Pickens told CNBC. "They don't." " :-
http://www.cnbc.com/id/24723260

At the end of the day, the Saudis take their orders from Washington. The US does not
have to invade Saudi Arabia in order to effect regime change. All they need to do is withdraw troops from Saudi Arabia. US troops are needed in Saudi Arabia in order to prevent the overthrow of an unpopular government by the masses.

No doubt this was ex

How do we know how much Oil there is? This information comes from those who control the Oil.

There is a huge gap between proven and probable reserves. It takes money to convert the probable reserves to proven reserves. Yet if the proven reserves can meet current market demand, and a low figure for proven reserves can justify higher prices, what is the motive to increase the number?.

Consider the oil flows. You invest in drilling to discover a new well (discovery). You invest to remove it from the ground (production). Store it and transport it to Buyer. It then gets Refined (by refineries). The end product gets distributed.

Increasing supplies at current levels of reserves requires investment in production capacity and refinery capacity.

The oil within it's borders is controlled by national oil companies in most countries. Most of the national oil companies have contracts with Big Oil to assist in the exploration (discovery) and production (extraction). Big Oil also controls much of the distribution and subsequent refining. Depending on how much Big Oil is required to do for the nations having the oil, this dicates the price Big Oil has to pay to the nations having the Oil.

Exxon does not pay market price to Nigeria for example. In fact, the reason most of the oil tankers are registered in places like Panama are to hide the profits. Say company "X" is set up and controlled by Big Oil in Panama to buy oil from Nigeria at 60 dollars a barrel, and then sells it to itself in the US at 120 dollars, then 60 dollars of profit, tax free, is locked in in Panama. Big Oil will take the profit made by the refinery that it controls in the US, and that is what gets reported. What they report sounds like a lot, but as indicated, most of the profit from imported oil is off-shore and hidden. Thats why Big Oil prefers imported oil to oil produced in the USA (Michael Hudson has a great article on this, google it if interested).

So Big Oil would like you to think they are dependent on the nations having the largest reserves, and most people blame the Saudis. In fact, these nations are utterly dependent on Big Oil. Even if they have the equipment and refineries, and their own tankers, much of the equipment and parts required for oil production and refineries are controlled by companies controlled by Big Oil.

So lets look at proven reserves, production capacity and refinery capacity. As indicated, increasing reserves, and increased capacity to remove these reserves and refine it, costs money. Demand is relatively inelastic. The world is dependent on oil. It's essentially a monopoly. There are not a lot of options (gas is also controlled by Big Oil, and the environmental scare mongers have eliminated the nuclear option, and Big Oil now controls uranium supplies now anyways).

So you have inelastic demand and a monopoly or cartel increasing prices by controlling the amount of proven reserves, and the supply of oil relative to demand by limiting the growth of production and refinery capacity. The consumers will pay what it needs, otherwise it will starve. If they can't afford it, they have to borrow it (international bankers, and also the World bank/IMF are happy). They may use less of it, say 10% less in a recession, but if the price increases 50%, so what, they still make more money.

Spending money to increase proven reserves and production/refinery capacity
would increase supplies relative demand. Price would go down, and not up.
Who wants to invest in something which will devalue your main product? Monopolies and cartels do not do that. That only happens in competitive markets when you want to eliminate your competitors by driving prices down.
Thats how Big Oil became Big. Little oil has been crushed, extinct as the dinosaur.

Who profits from not investing in finding new proven reserves, or proving probable reserves as proven, and in not investing in the added capacity to extract and refine the oil? This is clear. Big Oil, and the nations having Oil are willing to go along for the ride.

Also, assuming oil is a finite resource, and country B will run out of oil in 25 years at the current production rate. Would it make sense for this country to double it's production rate, by investing its own money to do so, which would help keep oil at 60 dollars a barrel, and then run out of oil in 12-13 years. Or would it make more sense to keep production rates constant, supplies become tight, and then sell it's remaining oil at whatever price the market will bear, be it 130 dollars, or even 200 dollars a barrel. If I am country B, I take the last option. Much more profitable. Of course, I can only take this option if Big Oil is ok with it.

So blame the oil producing nations all you want, but the current price of oil is dictated by Big Oil, and Big Oil would only dare to jack up the price of oil from 20 dollars to 130 dollars with our governments permission.
In fact, last June oil was at 60 dollars a barrel. All we would have to do is whisper in their ears "How about we nationalize you?", and oil would be back to 60 dollars a barrel in a jiffy. If Saudi Arabia protested, we whisper to the House of Saud, "Osama would love to be King, maybe time for regime change". Instead, Bush whispers to Big Oil, "ain't this great, how about going for 200 dollars a barrel, and really do some damage".

So don't be naive. Oil is at 130 dollars a barrel because Bush and his Big Oil buddies are making out like bandits, and it is a great weapon for the elite to be used against the oil consuming nations resisting globalization and free trade, and it keeps up demand for the USD since dollars are needed to buy oil.

If one of our Presidents had told us the truth, which is that the oil isn't going to last forever and we're going to have to voluntarily drive less and drive smaller cars and tighten our belts, we wouldn't have voted for him. Look what happened to Carter.

So it's our fault. Our leaders told us what we wanted to believe and now we're going to have to drive less and drive smaller cars and tighten our belts, anyway. It's just too bad so many people had to die before we could get it through our thick skulls that they were lying to us.

Of course, if ALL our politicians had gotten together and told us the oil was going to run out and we would have to drive less and drive smaller cars and tighten our belts, it might have been a different story. So it's their fault, too.

The trouble is that we tend to believe our elected leaders when it comes to stuff like this, instead of the people who really know what's going on: the scientists and economists. Global warming is another example. Too many Americans have a strong distrust in intellect and knowledge, which is why George Bush got to be President for two terms.

We just believe the wrong people. We always have. And they (the wrong people) have always lied to us, in one way or another. And now it's hurting us and it's hurting them. The fact that it's hurting them may be the only thing that can save us. Even if they won't listen to us, they have no choice but to listen to the scientists and economists now. At least I hope so.

The Iraqi occupation is the worlds biggest oil theft scam. The terrorists are the troops and mercenaries, their role is to clear out the local population by any means. The really big bucks going to the military support companies and the costs of shipping the oil out. The oil companies take the big profits on top of that. It all costs at the pump in US dollars, since that is what the US government keeps printing out to pay for it all, in depreciating paper money. The fool McCain wants to go and do it again to Iran, so it must be paying for his friends.

You say:
"And how did the Saudis thank us? "
But what has Bush/USA done that deserves Saudi thanks? It was Israel - not Saudi Arabia - that supported Bush's stupid war/occupation of Iraq. Saudis were not very concerned about Saddam, in fact Saudis have always been more concerned with Iran than Iraq, though Saudis were not really very concerned about either.
Remember 1973, when Kissinger went begging for oil to Saudis? USA was out of oil needed to fight its stupid war against Vietnam. Kissinger played his fear card, claiming that Saudis need USA protection from USSR, and Saudis actually provided USA enough oil to continue the stupid war against Vietnam. But today is very different, Saudis do not need protection from USSR, and if they need any protection or weapons, they can buy them from China or EU. And they can buy mercenaries just like the USA does in Iraq.
I had to laugh at Schumer's threat that USA would not sell weapons to Saudis unless they provided more oil. In fact USA needs to sell weapons MORE than Saudis need to buy them. As we used to say in the 4th grade: "is that a threat or a promise?"

Excellent comments from alexnosal. Presidents really only appear powerful when they are towing the corporate line.

I think this article raised some good points, but overall, I disagree with the implication that we need lower oil prices, or that the Saudis owe it to us.

We can't seem to get it through our heads that it is not our oil. Let them price it wherever they like. The best thing for us would be for oil to be so high that we actually pursue alternatives and conservation in a meaningful fashion.

The decline of the dollar is certainly contributing to rising oil prices. The Federal Reserve is certainly contributing to the decline by lowering interest rates. However, I don't think the dollar is declining by design (as one CD article stated). I think it is way off base to consider the president as a mastermind who is trying to collapse our economy to gain more power. Instead, think "incompetent". The economy is staggering under the weight of war. The President is desperate to prevent total collapse on his watch, so he's doing the only thing he knows how which is to lower interest rates.

Probably the biggest reason for climbing gasoline prices is supply and demand as China and India enter their period of affluence, while the world enters peak oil.

Stop this train to nowhere I want off!!!

This constant effort to blame the Saudis (a nation I would not defend on any other level) is pure bullshit.

Of the 60% of our oil we import, the majority comes from Canada and Mexico. We get 11% of our imported oil from the Saudis, the rest coming from Venezuela and Nigeria.

How many Americans know this? Ask a few. Ask them who our 2 biggest oil suppliers are. I guarantee you they will mention some Middle East country.

No serious person can blame the Saudis for our problems, when they provide such a small amount of what we consume, and amount which could be eliminated with something as relatively painless as higher mileage on our cars.

Stop repeating this bullshit. It is simply another way to start more wars in the ME.

Why did the Saudis give Billy Clinton $10,000,000.000
for his Trust or his Library in Arkansas, Do they owe him?
Where is Obama on this issue? The faliure of our presidential candidates to address these issues is the scandal. Will Obama rebuild our industrial base?

~KANE JEEVES~ Perhaps you don't know how to get past the first page of Common Dreams to read all of the articles? That article is still here. Click on the words "News Center" at the bottom of the screen. Or the word "Archives".

Read Greg Palast's "Armed Madhouse". Greg explains that the war in Iraq is about oil, but not to turn it on, but to turn it off so that OPEC can keep its monopoly. The war in Iraq is a huge success. It has acomplished its mission, to raise the price of oil and increase the wealth of OPEC and the oil companies lie Exxon. Neocons believe that a war with Iran, would help raise the price of oil even more, generating more wealth for the wealthy. So in a sense when George Bush stood on the deck of the Abraham Lincoln and announced Mission Accomplished five years ago, he was right.

I'm looking at a picture of an Iraqi mom weeping over her dead child and I'm saying
" i'm not sure you know how much americans had to suffer at their gas pumps so they could do do this"

scheer can put this where the sun don't shine

I hate to make this comparison, but you are starting to word
your articles in the same manner as many I read on GOPUSA,
and you're not expected to take that as a compliment.

In the instance of the paragraph describing the war in Iraq
as an inane effort, the implication is made that that is Sen.
McCain's opinion, although he is not quoted as saying so. You
take exception to the fact that he aptly criticized it which
was not the case. He has never strayed from the Bush/Cheney
Iraqi policy but only hurled criticism at the incompetent
manner in which it was conducted when Donald Rumsfeld was
Defense Secretary; mainly an allegation that more troops being
used earlier may have had different results (which is why he
so strongly supported the recent surge)

Whether that would have made a difference earlier would be
for military experts to decide but since it's "water over
the bridge", it of relatively little significance at this time
unless you just want to make Rumsfeld the scapegoat.

Scapegoats have been very fashionable during this current
administration; as witnessed by "Scooter Libby" taking the
bullet for Dick Cheney after our glorious VP "outed" Valerie
Plane but leave us not dwell on that.

In the final analysis, McCain will say what he thinks will get
him elected because that is how the game of politics is played
It doesn't really matter if you're a Democrat or Republican.
On either side, you have political advisors whose primary
function is to know what the voters want to hear and then
have their candidates tell them that; if there is any truth
in the matter, you can chalk it up to coincidence, nothing
more.

With the job the news media is doing on Barack Obama; first
with dragging out coverage of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright matter
(who will probably be remembered in history longer than those
2 brothers who took up flying at Kittyhawk) or now their
present hashing over his recent defeats in Pennsylvania, West
Virginia and Kentucky, McCain has little more to do than just
show up at some rallies, town=hall meetings, maybe ride on
the back of a pickup truck and then just have his best pressed
suit next January 20.

Does anyone honestly think these three most recent primary
wins by Hillary Clinton would be given the amount of attention
that they are had they been held at a different stage of the
primary process? No Ph_________way (I'm so classy, I don't
spell that word with an "F".

Since it is occurring at such a time that she is considered
the loser and he is being hailed as the presumptive Democratic
candidate, her decisive victories in those states are nothing
more than hype, BUT enough hype that if enough unsuspecting
souls swallow it, Barack can kiss the presidency goodbye.

Slit a vein or vote for McCAin

Our out of control consumption culture pushes people to buy oversized burgers, cars and houses and glorifies these overconsuming habits as examples of winners. Until our society sees the urgency of reversing this, our government will be starting wars for resources which will be paid for through the deaths of innocents.

peacecoup, 1:25 pm: We're paying more and a lot of that gas money is going directly to repressive petro regimes. The Republican answer is to use our military to liberate the Iraqi oil fields. That is a poor and illegal example to present to the world. We're spending billions of dollars on the military strategies while the Republicans deny benefits to veterans and decrease the percentage of money being spent on sustainable energy research. All short term thinking with private profits as the driving force.

Exactly. Short term bottom line this quarter is ALL that matters. Gotta pump those stock prices. Meanwhile the rest of the world sits back and laughs as we spend ourselved into the oblivion of third-world status on occupational quagmires. Three trillion dollars for the Iraq war would have bought a LOT of oil at $22/bbl, the price when Bush took office in 2001. Our militant interventionist efforts have driven the price to $133 today with no end in sight. This is said to be driving the stock market down, something like 400 points over the last couple days. So, of course, the FED decides the remedy for this is to take interest rates down again and create yet more inflation so as to bail out the stock market. Meanwhile the price of food doubles and triples. Good job Federal Government. Great job.

WAKE UP JOE SIXPACK!! WAKE UP DONNA CAMARO!!

"The real reason oil has gone up is the DOLLAR is DEAD! The dollar is the what oil is priced at. The less the dollar is worth, the more dollars it costs"

This factor is only a small part of the total picture. Convert to Euros and oil is still *way* up.

Check this out:

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/natural_resources/article3964957.ece

Now it says was the Iraqi Deputy PM who said that, but maybe the story came from Saudi -- after all, THEY don't want to be invaded, I mean liberated, I mean democratized, aww... have their oil stolen.

But if it is true, here are some numbers. Big ones:

350,000,000,000 (350 billion barrels of oil) multiplied by $130 per barrel = $45,500,000,000,000. Take away the $3 trillion cost of the war and it still leaves $42 trillion ($42,000,000,000,000) and change. Of course, it wasn't the oil companies that had to ante up the $3 trillion for the war, so even at $10 a barrel it was still a good investment.

The gas price hysteria seems to be hitting new highs this week as Chicago rose above $4. The arrogant SUV'ers with their "Support Our Troops" stickers must be grumbling bitterly these days. They have supported the Chimp with a love only seen between a mother and her young. (See- "What's the matter with Kansas?") Petro has risen to over $130/bbl and airlines are about to charge $15 to check a single bag.

After 8 years of stagnant or falling wages, even genetically republican Amurkans have to be feeling the heat from from $4 loaves of bread and gallons of milk. It doesn't bode well for McSame, who only promises more and worse of the same. Not even Appalachia is likely to fall in love with him seein' as he has considerably less charm than a bleached road apple. (Fruit of the Osage Orange tree) Some things are negotiable, but cheap gas ain't. There will be hell to pay out there in Dukes of Hazard country!

dennisj May 21st, 2008 1:58 pm -- 'If we've "conquered" the second most important pool of oil in the world after five years, Robert, why don't we just pump the oil out of Iraq?'

They're trying, but those nasty uncooperative "insurgents" keep blowing up the pipelines. Besides, there's that little matter of profit distribution to be settled and put on some kind of irrevocable legal basis.

It doesn't matter what response our leader receives in Saudi Arabia.

He will earn speaking fees from middle east 'talks' at $200k a pop much like Clinton did when he left office.

See the following link:

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/2007/clinton-speeches/list/

Don't we get it? The brass ring is earned after you leave office, not while you're in it.

If paying a high price for gas at the pump, is the ONE sacrifice all Americans have to make for this illegal, immoral war.

For the families of 4,000 plus, and the rest of the men and women in country......

It's damned too little, and much damned too late.

Robert Scheer is certainly correct when he says "The argument that [US] troops on the ground [in Iraq] have made us militarily more secure is absurd on its face."

Yet isn't this exactly the argument underlying George Bush's repeated claims that occupied Iraq is the central front in the global war on terror, and that we've righting them evildoers over there so we don't have to fight them over here?

Isn't this also the argument underlying General Petraeus's surge strategy, and underlying John McCain's bold pledge to double down the committment for five more years - when victory, peace, and stability will surely be in sight at the beginning of his second presidential term?

How absurd it is that so much of what gets passed off and goes unchallenged as gravitas, realpolitik, and tough minded political leadership when it is reported in the mainstream media upon closer examination turns out to be based upon this same, common, recurring absurdity.

Gas at the pump is destined to be expensive, and inevitably will become even far more expensive, when you keep on mindlessly trading blood for oil.

Bill from Saginaw

If we've "conquered" the second most important pool of oil in the world after five years, Robert, why don't we just pump the oil out of Iraq? Possibly because we're using so much oil to sustain our occupation of that country there isn't any oil left to pump out for the rest of us.
Also, may I remind you, this war was acquiesced to by a third if the people in this country and was and still is still supported by an additional third, many of whom drive around town or to and from their homes in the exurbs every day, making gasoline more expensive for everyone who would rather drive less and/or drive smaller cars.
Lastly, what about the negligent and possibly deliberate devaluation of the dollar as a consequence of the economic and fiscal policies of this administration, which would make a barrel of oil infinitely more expensive?
Sure, Robert, the Arab sheikdoms and the oil companies are making a killing, but that's like blaming the drug cartels and the dope dealers for an addict's addiction.
How about taking some responsibility for the demand, instead of just blaming the suppliers?

Is price-fixing illegal? If so, then all the oil execs should be jailed. I guess it's just a coincidence that gas prices rise before big travel holidays, then go back down afterwards? I still get sickened (or laugh like hell, not sure which - maybe both) when bush said to a reporter a month or so ago, "Gas going to $4/gal? I hadn't heard that." Maybe dick should keep him more up to date on happenings in this country and others.

Scheer makes it very clear he has no clue about what is happening in the global oil patch, no more than Congress did in trying to regulate OPEC through anti-trust laws. An old capitalist dictum comes to mind--Charge whatever the market will bear. Exceept that Saudi does NOT set the price of oil on the international markets--buyers set it through the process of bidding for the product. Thus Scheer also shows us he has no understanding of how markets work. What is even more revealing in this screed is how deeply entrenched the entitlement of cheap energy is in the psychology of people from Scheer's generation. Peak Oil is giving people a rather cold slap in the face.

Expect petroleum and its products' prices to keep rising. Crude futures are now in contango instead of the longstanding backwardation, which means that each successive contract's price is higher than that cronologically previous. This report shows the daily change in average fuel price. Remember, the oil currently being refined was bought at much lower prices several months ago, which means diesel will likely be well over $5 and gas over $4.35 by 4 July. I also expect several more US airlines to have closed shop by then. I invite folks to come to Theoildrum where much more info on Peak Oil and our overall energy dilemma is discussed. It's a place Scheer needs to go to get educated before he writes another screed like this.

I think I posted this yesterday: "and now we are finally sacrificing for the war at the pump, and the same ones that have those insipid little ribbons on their SUVs delaring support for the troops are the ones screaming about gas prices.

The right is trying to empty the coffers into their pockets while there's still something to empty, all the while calling anybody that opposes them "unamerican." Then they will abandon this country, and they won't care that maybe then people will call them unamerican, they'll be riding it out in Dubai.

We should make sure they can never return.

But first we should try to nationalize energy and health care before it's too late. But I'm sure we'll debate about that until it is, with the right laughing at our inability to decide as they always have.

...and like every retiree and baby boomer my retirement savings buys only half as much...

We're paying more and a lot of that gas money is going directly to repressive petro regimes. The Republican answer is to use our military to liberate the Iraqi oil fields. That is a poor and illegal example to present to the world. We're spending billions of dollars on the military strategies while the Republicans deny benefits to veterans and decrease the percentage of money being spent on sustainable energy research. All short term thinking with private profits as the driving force.

TurnoffyourTV - I can't find the article from CD a couple days ago. The gist was that Bush&Co actually engineered the devaluing of the dollar so that oil prices would rise. We all assume an american president would want to help americans by easing gas prices, etc. Not a good assumption to make.

The real reason oil has gone up is the DOLLAR is DEAD! The dollar is the what oil is priced at. The less the dollar is worth, the more dollars it costs.

The answer it out there. Buy small cars, develop public transportation and until we get it, suffer. Bush's idea to give enriched uranium has got to be one of the stupidest I've heard yet. If only we had listened to Carter

I'd just like to point out that we're not just paying for it at the pump. My monthly electrical bill has nearly tripled since this war began.

When cars hit the roads first, they got their fuel from the drugstore, and dodged trains and trams and buses. The Fifties saw that killed off.
Now 30mpg is considered adequate, and people won't ride in tiny cars like Aveos Metros, Suzukis, Daihatsus and the like that you see through the rest of the world. The Tata Nano is probably our future as well, if we're honest, and that'll spread out the time when we have to look at alternatives like short run electrics and longer run public transport.
The private BIG car is a bit like the fuel that powers it: a dinosaur, dead and soon to be gone

I think the author is missing the point. McCain cannot go against his corporate backers or else he will be banished to the badlands of ignominy by the Mainstream Media and immediately replaced with a corporate friendly sycophant. The same can be said for any mainstream candidate of either party. Rhetoric rules the day with an emphasis to avoid the real issues at any cost.
The fact that Iraq is a costly quagmire that costs primarily the middle class taxpayers (after all the rich don't pay a fair share of the taxes!) is irrelevant to the candidates. This is because a handful of corporations who 'elect' our leaders are making obscene profits from these misadventures. The consequences, such as our collective insecurity, only manages to feed the climate of fear instilled in the general populace which in turn justifies corporate America with their need to spend more of our taxes to defend us against these so-called imminent and apocalyptic threats.
Meanwhile these same corporations dictate to their cronies on the Beltway that increased gas mileage for our fleet of dinosaurs, the importation of efficient vehicles or the switch to alternative energy (i.e. electric or hydrogen) must be rejected and ignored at all costs. A pliant public blames the government or 'market forces' rather than the true culprit (the corporate puppet masters) as the ministry of misinformation (the MSM) reinforces the myths surrounding Iraq, the price of oil and increased poverty at home.
The only way out of this mess is for the public to realize where the blame really lies and follow suit by wholeheartedly rejecting the establishment and their hand picked officials. This is a massive undertaking due to the fact that the establishment has control of the airwaves, the printed media and a brainwashed citizenry, but the Internet (for now at least) still may provide our only hope of reversing this destructive course we're on.

"Instead of pointing out that the Saudis could easily open their spigots in gratitude for our keeping them in power, the president threatened the Saudi king not with an invasion but with a U.S. recession"

I'm not so sure the Saudis can open their spigots much more than what they are doing now. According to what I read the Saudi oil fields are past their prime (no one really knows) so they may be near maximum output now and have to find some excuse not to produce more oil rather than admit they can't.
Of course that is not the thrust of the article and Scheer's point, that Bush was in Saudi with hat in hand mumbling nonsense like a moron is disgusting.

The Saudi's are like every other OPEC nation. They've been lying about their oil reserves for so long, they probably believe the numbers themselves. The fact is, Saudi Arabia doesn't have any surplus to provide. They are likely pumping over capacity and will reduce the life of their own wells by doing so. I doubt that the conversation above took place, but that Faisal simply told him they were doing all they could.

Russia is now the world's largest producer of crude oil (see the latest issue of National Geographic). Let's run a pipeline across the Bering Straight and get our oil from them. They could use the money since they are re-arming for another cold war now that we are surrounding them with missiles. And with another cold war with Russia we could let go of the boogey man of Iran as a threat to our security. See...it's a perfect circle. We pay the Russians for their oil. They use the money to re-arm. We then have to expand our own weapons production which gives our economy a shot in the arm. The Chinese pay for it all by accepting our IOUs. The world would be back to normal. There is a solution for every problem. No applause, please.