THIS, for all the supporters of 'The ONE' and his MORATORIUM on OFFSHORE DRILLING in the Gulf of Mexico, is the REALITY that we'll be living with if it's not reversed. Or does anyone really believe that the Chinese, Russians, Mexicans, Venezuelans, Vietnamese, etc who are ALSO drilling on NON-American rigs in the Gulf are paying one damned bit of attention to the petulant little boychild who's playing 'president' at OUR expense ... ?

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http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/article/499176/Energy-Prices-Will-%22Skyrocket%22-If-U.S.-Stops-Drilling:-Former-Shell-Exec-Sees-$6-to-$8-Gas

$6 to $8 Gas? Prices Will "Skyrocket" If U.S. Stops Drilling, Says Former Shell Exec

Posted Jun 04, 2010 12:49pm EDT by Heesun Wee

Oily tar balls hit the sands of the Florida Panhandle Friday even as BP engineers adjusted a sophisticated cap over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The containment cap is the latest attempt to plug the worst oil spill in U.S. history, triggered when the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded April 20, killing 11 people.

Whenever the spill is eventually contained, and the best estimates are still in the "months" category, the BP disaster has major implications for the environment, America's energy policy, and consumers.

"The implications for the American consumer and our society and the domestic United States are very seriously at the front of what I think about," says our guest John Hofmeister, former president of Shell Oil and author of Why We Hate the Oil Companies.

The BP disaster has raised questions about halting risky, domestic oil extraction procedures altogether, including deep-water programs. But Hofmeister -- a longtime advocate of more domestic drilling -- says Americans simply can't afford to stop drilling. (America's net imports of foreign oil have jumped to 58.2 percent in 2007 from 34.8 percent in 1973, accoding to the latest annual figures from the U.S. govermment.)

Prices Could "Skyrocket"

"While we dream about a new energy system that is decades in the future, the prices that consumers will have to pay for things like gasoline, electricity, and diesel would just skyrocket" if America halts offshore driller, Hofmeister tells Aaron and Henry in the accompanying segment.

"Prices could get to the point where fixed-income and low-income people are simply taken out of the personal mobility marketplace, which would be a shock and unnecessary because of our unwillingness to produce domestic resources."

But as Aaron asks: "People also don't want oil washing up on their beaches, whether it's in the Gulf of Mexico or Florida or maybe up the East Coast. Do you that think the American public is going to say, 'We don't want you drilling at all offshore?' "

Only if the American public is willing "to accept $6 to $8 [per gallon] gasoline as the alternative, when they can get it," Hofmeister replies.

That's a bunch of horse ****, gas prices will go up because of pure greed plain and simple!

No. Greed is not a measurable economic force. Keynes tried to say that "animal spirits" (like greed) in the economy causes business cycles, but he's been disproven 8 ways from Sunday.

You don't think greed plays a role in higher gas prices?

Government greed does. Gas producers prefer to keep prices as low as possible in order to move product. Gas, like manufactured goods, is more profitable when sold in bulk than when sold at high prices. The reason prices get high is manifold. It has to do with regulations, seasonal changes in supply, etc.

You're wrong on this one. OPEC knows they have us over a barrel along with all the other oil barrens and for them to have a billion dollars is simply unacceptable when they can have 5 billion dollars...its corporate greed.

Let's not overlook the 'NIMBY' factor -brought to us by fine 'environmentalists' everywhere - that prevents us from exploiting American resources on American soil ... say 'Bakken Oil Shale', 'ANWR', 'nuclear', 'coal' ... oh - you maybe like all those other 'alternative' sources of energy ... ? Well fine - except for one leetle problemo ... combined, they don't add up to more than 4.7% of total energy demand ... so where's the other 95.3% gonna come from ... ? Nope, 'greed' is just ONE of the factors in the equation ... there are so many others that have been intentionally placed in the way of our energy independence by the Birkenstock'd Vulvo-driving, frappe-sipping crowd that we're forced to IMPORT the bulk of our GASOLINE as FINISHED PRODUCT because we can't refine enough of it here. Oh yeah - 'seasonal requirements' and a plethora of conflicting manufacturing priorities in different states mean that our refineries are forced to produce 'boutique' blends rather than ONE common 'one-size-fits-all' gasoline ... and don't even get me started on the 'ethanol' that's so successful at diverting our foodstocks into our gas tanks ... nope, 'greed' is such a small part of the overall picture it's not worth serious consideration ...

They need to stay the **** outta ANWR and any other wildlife refuge. As far as off shore drilling goes I'm in favor of it, but there needs to be a recovery plan in place before hand so we don't repeat the ongoing puzzle **** that is the BP disaster. They also need to impose harsh fines for those companies who try to short cut safety in order to get the rig online.

No, I'm right. There's plenty of oil that could be drilled domestically and overseas, but government interference in the market prevents this-thus giving you higher prices at the pump.

As scholar Justin Raimondo writes so aptly,

The rise in oil prices provoked a frenzy of opportunistic posturing by politicians of both parties. Yet neither Clinton nor Dole will acknowledge the real reasons for sustained high prices--taxes and environmental regulations designed to keep prices high--or the reason for the newest price rise itself. Both are complicit in their genesis, and both are conspiring to keep gas prices high and prevent American consumers from getting relief.

The President's response was to release some portion of the petroleum reserves--an action which put less than one day's worth of gas on the market. Why stop there? Why not release the entire stock, which was only established as a subsidy to big oil in the first place? Bob Dole suggested temporarily repealing the gas tax--a position that seems incomprehensible given that he voted to increase the gas tax on no less than three separate occasions.

Neither the Democrats nor the mainline Republicans want to talk about the core reason for the gas shortage and the resulting price increases: the U.S.-led international embargo against Iraq. This cruel blockade, which has led to the starving of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi children and untold levels of disease and death, is also blocking the output of one of the world's most oil-rich nations.

The result has been a artificial scarcity of crude oil, which in turn has driven up prices at the gas pump, with a little help from the oil companies. Oil companies depleted stocks intentionally over the spring in anticipation of a UN-broker deal that would have allowed Iraq to sell 700,00 barrels per day. When the deal was finally approved, prices didn't budge because the surplus had already been anticipated; it constitutes only a fraction of what Iraq could be selling.
...
American oil companies have since reaped what some Democrats have called "windfall profits." However, these profits did not fall out of the sky: they resulted from the harsh economic sanctions supported by most Democratic members of Congress, as well as Republicans. These are the same people yelping about the glories of Nafta and "free trade," except when it comes to Iraq.

The announcement that the Clinton administration is launching an "investigation" into possible "collusion" between the oil companies surely sets some sort of record for hypocritical cant. Price can't be controlled in that manner. But it is collusion, to be sure: collusion between the U.S. government, the Saudi regime, and certain sectors of the oil industry not only to prop up oil prices but also to control and cartelize the oil market.

ANWR is fair game ... the AlCan Pipeline is like a 'home away from home' for the caribou and reindeer in the winter because of its warmth. I don't have a problem with drilling being done in ANWR - it's no different from areas that are drilled for coal - at the end of the process, the land has to be bioremediated and brought back to original condition - and that's usually measured to make sure that the 'background radiation' levels haven't been increased, too ... It's all exploitable - and it's SAFER, 'cuz it's on LAND, not 5000 feet below the water's surface BEFORE the drilling even starts ...

why stay out of ANWAR? Noone owns it, after all-it's a "public good", which no one person can claim or defend.

Thanks for ruining some of the LAST prestine beaches in the world and THE BEST FISHING left in this screwed up world. DRILL BABY DRILL in your own backyard!!!!!!


Signed: SWFL

Its coming and and you IDIOTS cant stop it!!!!!!!!!!!!

The rise and fall of gasoline prices is nearly all dependent on speculators.The price of a barrel of oil should be 15 to 20 dollars right now.They have had record high inventories,low demand,and refineries operating at one fifth the capacity they normally do.There is no reason why we should be paying 3 dollars a gallon for gasoline during this recession with record low demand.

I can assure you that we will see a immediate rise in oil prices simply because of the news you just read.Any little excuse these speculators can find to rise the price of a barrel of oil they will use.It won't matter if all the refineries in the world are overflowing with oil out of every storage tank with nobody to sell it to.As long as the speculators can find reasons to jack up the price of a barrel of oil for any reason they will.

Obama has also said he wanted to stop the billions in tax breaks the oil companies get.Many may believe this is a good thing but I can assure you it is not.Oil companies that are losing billions of dollars due to more taxes are simply going to rise the price of a gallon of gasoline to double and triple the current prices.The government giving them those billions is what keeps gasoline cheap.You want to take away the tax breaks then don't complain when you are paying 6 or 7 dollars more for gasoline.

Why they are causing such a rucus over drilling in Anwar is beyond me.Have you ever seen that location?It's a artic wasteland and the nearest tree is over 250 miles away.Alaska hardly has anyone living there.It's as desolated and barren as you will ever see with hundreds of miles of virgin land for the animals with nobody to bother them.Yet the granola eating hippies have to have that one square mile of land for the animals to graze on where we want to drill.


America is never going to last at this rate.Our brainless leaders are putting bugs,worms,and frogs above human life.