Wow, taking advantage of a hurricane to pork the people, even the republicans are pissed.
They are pissed because ignorant constituents who don't know how commodities markets work or understand supply, geography and hurricane damage are pissed and they are politicians whose business is to be outraged, as appropriate.
Well Golly-geen, if you didn't rape the American public after the hurricanes, maybe there wouldn't be a need fund a program to heat homes of poor Americans.
You don't know an awful lot about our petroleum infrastructure, do you? Don’t know supply, demand and what happens when two hurricanes shut out 10 percent of gasoline supply with a 3 percent leeway. Without those prices there would have been dry tanks. $3.00 gas for a week or no gas frequently or 3 hour waits in line -- you make the call. Don't worry, there are plenty of politicians with the same level of ignorance working to pass laws that may **** the consumer back to regulated 1970s gas prices and supply shortages
If consumers want even lower prices then they should think conservation (****can the SUV and 250+hp “sedan”) and stop buying all those Chinese made Wal-Mart products and outsourcing tech work to Indian that is contributing to energy growth in those countries.
Refineries? Why would they want refineries? They are getting filthy rich without them
What has been the average return on refining and how does that compare to the S&P? How much reinvestment takes place in refining for no ROI (think ULSD regs or mobile point). Why have the majors worked so hard to sell off their refining interests? I have a great idea though. Let's pass laws so that refineries can't make a profit once in a while (compared to 5 percent average). Just think of all the investment that would flow in to help build new refineries or keep the existing ones open or expanding capacity if you cant' expect to ever make any money on that investment.
Oil is $60 + bbl. The demand is so high and growing that production can't keep up. Selling lots of oil at super high stock market set prices = tremendous profits. Oil prices are set by the Nymex. There were traders bragging that they didn't have to pull a ticket until the New Year after Katrina -- where's their contribution to heating fuel costs?
Even at $3.00/gallon gas was still cheaper, adjusted for inflation and growth, than gas was in 1981. In 1981 you couldn't buy a car that had a V8 engine with any power or had a speedometer that registered over 85-mph on the speedometer. We all had to "Drive 55!" Now, you get a guy *****ing at the price of gas during Katrina while taking a 5000 mi a round trip in his Hummer to drop his daughter off at collage (true story). What has changed? The reality is we're not going to see oil price below $40 - $50 again, short of a major demand killing recession. 1973 wasn't the exception, it represented the rule to come. The 1990s were an exception -- that time is passing.
The recent performance of the oil companies is just more proof of why essentially laissez-faire capitalism isn't ideal for essential products. What's good for the oil companies isn't what's good for the country as a whole.
We already tried the alternative from 1973 to 1981 -- it didn't work. Don't worry though, we may all get a chance to revist exactly why it didn't work here and why it doesn't work elsewhere with our 15 minute attention span and "do something" Congress. There is simply too little oil being produced (though the Saudis and others are ramping up) and too much, and growing international demand with most of that coming from America.
Charon
