Hey guys, the big oil companies are a pack of thieves operating with government approval. The only signifcant reason that gas prices go up is because they want more of your money.

The 1974 "gas crisis" was a fraud. I was sailing offshore at the time and at the height of the so-called crisis there were thirteen fully loaded oil tankers sitting off shore near Long Beach. I sailed up to one and asked them what the deal was and the reply was that their orders were to heave to and wait. They were not being allowed to land and off load their oil. This was not big secret either, it was reported in the papers but nobody seemed to believe it. The whole thing was a scam to get people used to paying a lot more for gas and be grateful to get it. It worked. People still think that there was a shortage.

There are alternatives to gasoline. Check into the 'alternative fuels' forum. There are a bunch of guys there that are doing some pioneering work with fuels. And we need to support them.

Biodiesel is easy and has no downside to it. Ethanol is a very acceptable fuel for gasoline engines. Some countries have already made great strides in this area. Brazil for instance is ALL running E85. That's 85% ethanol.

Consider that this country sends vast quantities of money to the OPEC countries that could be spent at home. It would mean a massive boost to U.S. farmers and create a whole new industry. In Iowa and other places, they are working on this big time. It could save the U.S. dollar that is now in a lot of trouble.

Ever hear of Canola oil? That is the Canadian name for rape seed oil. Rape is a yellow flowering plant that is grown for it's oil content. (The Canuks named it Canola oil because RAPE OIL doesn't sound too good.) It makes excellent diesel fuel. There is still a lot of debate going on as to which crops are the most productive for diesel.

Same is true with Ethanol. It can be made from a lot of different crops, anything with a high sugar content.

There is a lot of BS going around about it too. Some rumours (wonder where they get started?) such as, if we devote our resources to making fuel from crops there won't be enough left to grow food and we will all starve. We have plenty of land that can support crops that has not been touched.

 

Now that the price of oil per barrel is increasing it's making it more worth while to touch the Alberta Tar Sands. For years it's always been too expensive to go there and drill but now they're considering it. There's more oil there than in all of Saudi Arabia.

The Alberta Tar Sands alone have over 1.7 TRILLION barrels of oil. Now once they build the infastructure to extract it, what do you think is going to happen to the price of oil?

Supply and demand anyone?

Should be an interesting time we're living in...

Just my two cents.

 

OMG....if gas was ummm like cheap.....i would drive EVERYWHERE with my truck. LOL.

Cant wait to get my licence, but was concerned about gay gas prices for when i do start driving....if it got cheap, i would drive like alll the time and not care bout gas

 

Magee is correct... Oil is just like any other material, air, water, gas, gold, copper, aluminum, sodium, iron, etc, etc. It has been here since the formation of the earth from stardust... Some of the outer planets are huge soupy blobs of hydrocarbons. We can run out of oil just like we can run out of any other mineral resource but there is a lot of it around. As the price of easy supplies goes up it becomes economical to produce fuel from less concentrated sources. Somewhere along the line it will be more valuable as a chemical feedstock than just to burn. Other energy sources will become more important. The nuclear waste disposal "problem" has been solved. We are just starting to develop technology to "mine" our waste dumps and processes for raw materials. There is hope...

 

"Peak oil is the point in time when extraction of oil from the earth reaches its highest point and then begins to decline. We won't be able to say with certainty when we have reached peak oil until after the fact. Many experts say we have already reached the peak. Others say not yet, but within the next few years.
What does Peak Oil herald? It heralds the end of cheap energy. In just a short 100 year period our civilization has built a high reliance on cheap, abundant energy."
With China's expanding demand and countries like India going from bicycles to automobiles, demand and prices will continue to rise. We have ignored the obvious for decades and will finally be forced to address a bad situation. Many alternatives mentioned sound good but are not cost effective with current technology and infrastructure and must be subsidized to exist. There are no easy answers, but at least 3-digit a barrel oil prices may just wake us up.
Dono

 

Since India and china are part of the problem, b/c they want to expand so quickly, make them pay $5.00 a gallon of oil and the US $1.00.
I know it won't happen and theres alot of other reason, but that migh slow them down a bit.

 

We are in no position to make anyone pay. In today's game they hold the best cards. We are our own worst enemy, not expanding foreign economies. We are 5% of the world's population and use 25% of the energy. That's not a bad thing in itself if we chose to use it wisely, but we continue to cling to the past without set plans/programs for the future. We once set a goal to reach the moon within a specified time and we did it. Why can't we have a program for energy? If we can afford $1 trillion to invade and occupy a small country (not getting political here - just talking relative costs/benefits), why can't we fund our future energy?
Dono

 

The problem with oil is difficult to pen down. Oil companies say they are looking at the big picture. The big picture is, that within 10 to 20 years, 4 billion chinamen are going to be trading in their bikes for cars. That is a good point.

However, the problem with 4 billion more drivers, and cars belching out emissions (do you honestly think china is going to have half of the emissions restrictions we have) is what thats going to do to the enviroment.

I don't like paying 3 bucks a gallon, I can't stand seeing someone get fat and happy off of the american consumers that are leaving less of a enjoyable life because they are using extra money for gas. But I am worried about the planet that I live on. We've got to come up with an alternative fuel source, or we are up a poop creek.

I forsee a future for biodiesel, and a ethanol market for all of us out there with gas engines that can't afford brand new stuff.

Every long term projection from automakers talks about diesels, and flex-fuel vehicles. Look at Ford and their hydrallic hybrid models they are trying to put on the market by 2009. Its mainly designed to run on a 5 cylinder turbo diesel engine.

I'm excited about the next 6 or 7 years in the world. We have got to get out from under the thumb of the OPEC nations. We have got to come up with an alternative fuel source that we can make, and wouldn't it be nice to sell that to China ourselves?

Our lawmakers are starting to see this light. Instead of fighting like dogs for scraps, why not be the ones throwing the scraps to the dogs? There is no other nation in the world that can farm as well as the United States. If we can pen down bio-diesel, and make that a major source of our energy, we'd be in a great position world wide. It would end a considerable amount of terrorism as well. Then we wouldn't keep funding these fanatics by buying oil. And the biggest benefit, perhaps, just maybe, the air I breathe would be a little cleaner than it is now.

I'm not even going to talk about hydrogen, until the government lays down some serious money to build a infrastucture for it, thats not going to happen.

 

it's been 2.75 here all week. Our local supplier is working on a monopoly or something, they charge at minumum 20 cents more/gal than anywhere else around us. Drive a half hour and pay 20-30 cents less. I'm not all that concerned about gas prices staying so high. I'm sure it'll work itself out eventually, like someone said before, we still have plenty of it. I was driving down the road today lookin at prices and can remember when if gas got to 1.35-1.40 it was rediculous and noone bought it. And I'm only 21. Now I'd be happy if it was consistantly 2.50

 

[QUOTE=shizats]Now that the price of oil per barrel is increasing it's making it more worth while to touch the Alberta Tar Sands. For years it's always been too expensive to go there and drill but now they're considering it. There's more oil there than in all of Saudi Arabia.

The Alberta Tar Sands alone have over 1.7 TRILLION barrels of oil. Now once they build the infastructure to extract it, what do you think is going to happen to the price of oil? [QUOTE]

We've been building that infrastructure for thirty years. Current oil sands production is right around a million barrels a day. Work is underway to triple that in the next fifteen years.
Even with all that it won't lower the price of gas. That oil, just like the oil pumped in the USA is sold on the world market to the highest bidder.

 

There is also a considerable amount of oil off of the coast of Florida. The only problem is that the people of Florida don't want to be able to see the rigs way out there on the horizon. There is also the problem of the "environmentalists" who bully our government, our oil industry and in effect us. When describing these people, "overzealous" comes to mind. Protecting the environment is a good thing, but it is also silly in a way. We may destroy ourselves, but we can't destroy the earth. It's alot tougher than we are. Somebody in a leadership role, such as the President, should grow a pair and tell everyone that we are going to actively seek oil in our own country. There's no reason for us not to be. In a way, our very own catering to environmetalists is helping to fund the very countries that hate the U.S. and our allies. We have got to get a grip. I'm all for altenatives, and E85 seems to be the best bet so far. But...we should be able to supply our own oil or at least most of it. There just needs to be some realistic thinking when it comes to our environmental laws.

 

I totally agree that we need to tap whatever sources of oil that we can in our own country. However, don't bash all enviromentalists. I'm not a card carrying member, but I am worried about emissions, and gloabl warming. Your right when you say "We can kill ourselves, but we can't kill the earth" I don't think global warming will kill the earth, just us. I'd rather be around if I had any say in the matter. A renewable, cleaner source of automotive transportation is needed. E85 and Biodiesel do seem the quickest, and probably easiest to implement. Hydrogen for the long term.

Not to mention the immediate threat of terroists, the quicker we break the OPEC death grip, the quicker we put an end to some serious terrorists. The way to end OPEC's hold, completley do away with oil dependance, that also means renewables, not using oil on our own ground. That just prolongs the problem.

 

Thanks for that Snake. I'm with you.

I imagine that the earth thinks of humanity a case of fleas. When we bother it too much it will just take a giant flea bath. Maybe a series of massive volcanic explosions and a couple of quick polarity shifts to shake us off.

 

Caring about the environment is a good thing. It's just that the whackos give everybody who cares about the environment a bad name. There's just too much extremism and the bad part is that the people on the fringe do not actually represent the people that they align themselves with, they just get all of the attention. I'm not bashing environmentalists, just the nuts that try to make this country into a sissified, scared, bunny hugging insult to our founding fathers. Heck, I make my living in environmental health so it's my job to keep things clean and healthy for my kids and their kids and ...well, you get the point. As for global warming...I won't get into that.

 

Interestingly enough, oil inventories reached a 7-year high just a couple of weeks ago...in the midst of skyrocketing crude oil futures.