Why Do We Pay So Much For Oil and Gasoline?

Most folks do not really understand much about oilbarrel, thus, just under the amount needed for our
barrel prices or how the price of gasoline gets so highenemies to turn a profit, but high enough to garner
in the summer each year - although most everyonecapital investment. Meanwhile, the lever against that
does realize that events around the world are a hugeabuse could be alternative sources of fuel, a
factor, so let's discuss this for a moment, shall we?percentage of electric cars, etc.
Not long ago, an acquaintance of mine asked meIndeed, much of the price of oil has to do with the
several questions about these issues;commodity trading aspects of it all, and the
"Do you understand how this whole oil thing works? Inmanipulation, not any of this other stuff. Historically and
the summer when demand is higher, they raise theyou can go back many decades oil prices always
prices, and in the winter when they are selling more -ratchet up in summer months. May as well invest in oil
they raise the prices. Now because of a lack ofstocks in Feb - March and sell at the top of the price
demand in a poor economy, they have not been ablepoint. Many savvy investors do this "every year" and
to invest in production and will have to raise prices. So,always win.
if they don't sell it, the price goes up versus if they doThen we have those who've placed their bets on oil
sell it the price goes up. Aren't these merelyfutures using the media to ramp up the fear, using
manufactured problems?"extrapolation and doom and gloom predictions every
Well, consider if you will that at $35 per barrel in thetime someone in Nigeria blows up a pipeline, some
current global economy, the nations who own oil fieldsgroup in Saudi Arabia terrorizes the royal family,
and production cannot make money. In some waysPresident of Iran threatens to go to war in and block
that is good for us - for instance - Iran, Venezuela, andthe Staights of Hormuz, Hugo Chavez makes a
African Nations which are not such good human rightsspeech at ALBA, a Hurricane heads for the Gulf of
folks. Of course, next door in Mexico, which is at aboutMexico, or Soros and company starts bidding up the
their peak oil challenge right now, Pemex cannot makeprice with his friends with numbered Swiss accounts
money, and that translates to nearly 30% of theirbuying huge trades on Sweet Crude.
economy. Bad for us, as a collapsed economy inThe poor consumer, yah that's you, has no choice,
Mexico, anarchy, or an out of control lawlessness willtakes it in the shorts (how does that feel?) and starts
spill over the borders.having to borrow on credit cards to buy gasoline to
Consider if you will that Mexico sends folks here toget to work paying another 18% in interest (don't
work and perhaps you are in an industry which hasbelieve me, ask any single mom with a Honda Car),
seen your job disappear to some aspect of this jobthen the US government and local states want to
migration. Mexican workers in the US can send money"Tax" oil because it is dirty and take that money and
back to their families struggling in tough times in Mexico,gift it to alternative energy schemes which are not
see, how this effects us? In times of high employment,viable, to balance the playing field to MAKE them
that wouldn't be too catastrophic for our US economy,economically viable in the market place, how absurd is
but in times of recession, completely a problem forthat? Please, that's ridiculous.
economic recovery in many sectors in our economy.And my acquaintance did bring up the politics, money
When we have above $70 a barrel we definitely seeflow, lobbyists, coo'coo' heads, and the
the effect in our economy, as it becomes similar tooenvironmentalists who are preventing pipelines, drilling,
and mimics a huge burdensome tax on our overallstorage, production, usage - by filing lawsuits for EIRs
economy as everything is effected by transportationetc, raising the costs to $100 million dollars just for the
costs. Next, I'd like you to consider politics of World OilEIR to upgrade? And, as long as we are talking about
Supply - for instance, we have levers in Saudi Arabia,energy, let's talk about our non-transportation energy
UAE, Kuwait etc, to get those OPEC members to seecomponent too?
our way when oil gets too astronomical, as in aboveYou want CO2 out of the air? Fine, allow the coal-fired
$80 or $90 (currently - that will indeed change in theplants to put in better scrubbers, upgrades, and
future as India and China etc grow and demand more,clean-coal smoke-stack technologies, that solves the
build more cars etc.).problem, but no, the Global Warming Alarmists with
Meanwhile the huge oil fields in Iraq are even biggertheir new religion wants to file an EIR and deal with
than Saudi Arabia, but we don't have a good controllaw-suits for 10-years, while they deal with a new Cap
on that, and even if we did, it will be a good 3-7 yearsand Trade tax which could double and in some cases
before that oil is flowing in large quantities anyway.triple electric costs?
Also, on the world oil consumption front, we have evenSo, whereas, I can charge up my golf cart for $1.80
more challenges and we need to worry about Chinaand drive it 26 miles, now it's triple, so, I may as well
doing what they are doing with iron ore, industrialtake the car even if gasoline is at $5 per gallon or
metals and rare earth elements in the oil sector, wehigher, see that point. The economics do not work, as
SHOULD expect them to do that.there is a free-market component and consumer
Perhaps, a recent clue to illustrate this point was thechoice. "Ah, but if we take away consumer choice it
Tar Sands bid in Canada, which was so high that oilcan work!" says the socialist-liberal, okay great, then
would have to be $100 per barrel to make it worthy ofwe all pay more anyway, and since the money isn't
a decent ROI or even a break-even point. Wow, $100going to be worth anything if we keep spending - we
oil is in our future, and the Iraq supply is not even onlinedestroy our economy based on the law of unintended
yet. Nor are the planet's Northern Most oil depositsconsequences and socialist-liberal academics in
anywhere near available to be harvested, that is waygovernment.
off, along with Argentina, Brazilian, and Cuban coastalSome say; "We ought to tell them to go pound sand -
oil. Those deposits are massive when put together.tar sand to be exact," but that seems unfortunate, as
The environmentalists have made a mockery ofthey are still going to be the ones our government
production, supply, distribution, drilling, and usage. Theyturns to in the future to solve the very problems that
propose more taxes, meanwhile we have a Cartelare being created today. Alienating that group is
"OPEC" which we would never allow in the US,unwise, and it is obvious they believe they are wiser
remember anti-trust law history, but we are deeplyand thus, do not care what the citizens of this great
involved in that as well. The USA should have seizednation think anyway. Please think on all this, and read
the oil in Iraq to pay for the war and removal ofthe rest of the 50-articles on energy, oil, and the future
Saddam, then used that as a lever to control OPEC,in this series. Thanks for listening.
and worked production to keep oil at $45-65 per