From the Washington Post:
With the world economy so weak, why are oil prices so high?
Economic crisis grips Europe, slow growth plagues the United States, and China’s breakneck expansion shows signs of a slight slowing.
Euro zone leaders aim to stem the continent’s debt woes as protesters take to the streets in some countries to show their dissatisfaction with austerity measures.
Yet the global price of oil might set a record this year as consumption creeps up and world output struggles to keep pace.
The Energy Information Administration said this week that the average retail price of regular gasoline is the highest ever recorded during Thanksgiving week, 49 cents a gallon more than this time last year. AAA says this year motorists are on track to pay a record $490 billion for gasoline, burning a hole in consumers’ pockets.
Recently, prices at the gas pump have tapered off. AAA says that gasoline prices have dropped about 12 cents in the past month to a nationwide average of $3.33 a gallon for regular, giving holiday motorists some reason to give thanks.
But this season is usually a period of relatively weak gasoline demand, and retail gasoline prices are still high by historical standards in the United States. Although U.S. motorists seem to change their driving habits most when gas prices near $4 a gallon, the EIA statistics show that consumption this month has been as low as or lower than any November since early in the previous decade.
Moreover, the prices of other petroleum products have been heading higher. With cold weather starting to set in, home heating oil prices stood at $3.94 per gallon as of Nov. 21, an increase of 83 cents a gallon from a year earlier, the EIA said. The higher prices will primarily affect homeowners in New England, where heating oil is still commonly used.
Diesel prices have climbed, which analysts said was a sign of improved economic activity and constraints on refiners because of the government’s low sulfur requirements. A recent Barclays Capital report said that total miles driven by U.S. truckers was up 3.5 percent over the year before.
Diesel prices Wednesday stood at $3.98 a gallon, up 13 cents from a month ago and up 80 cents from a year ago, AAA said.
Diesel prices, closely linked to the trucking business, suggest a disconnect between the economy and the glum mood of consumers.
“The sentiment indicators are gloomy, but the production indicators are pretty good,” said Adam Sieminski, chief energy economist at Deutsche Bank. “If you add up what consumers are spending, the numbers are higher than last year. If you ask them how they feel, they say ‘terrible.’ ”
Behind the retail prices of petroleum products lies a global crude market that is still roiled by geopolitical turmoil and economic uncertainty.
The benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude oil this year has averaged more than $94 a barrel, only slightly below the record year of 2008 before the recent recession, and nearly 50 percent more than levels just five years ago. The more widely used benchmark Brent crude in London has cost more than $100 a barrel since early February. On Wednesday, it fell $1.81, or 1.7 percent, to $107.22 a barrel for January delivery after pessimistic economic signs in Europe.
Save 40 to 90 cents Per Gallon Of Gas With Fuel Directs' XP3
Showing posts with label oil prices. Show all posts
Showing posts with label oil prices. Show all posts
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Thursday, June 2, 2011
15 Reasons For Gas To Hit $5 Per Gallon
1. Japan is boosting oil and gas imports as their nuclear program melts down
In the past few months, the tsunami and nuclear disaster in Japan have slowed the need for energy. But in the coming weeks, oil imports are set to surge as the rebuilding gets underway and industrial production ramps up to meet demand.
2. On April 28th, Russia put a 44% tariff on oil exports
The people in Russia and their leaders have pointed fingers at the evil “Wall Street market speculator” and “oil price gougers” as the scapegoats responsible for high gasoline prices.
The political solution was to institute price controls. It has worked as well as expected...
Domestic prices that were now below the cost to produce oil caused sellers of energy to export their wares out of the country so that they could get a higher price. This in turn led to shortages within Russia. Buses and trucks stopped running due to lack of gasoline.
The politicians reacted by supplying even more government. The export tariff was raised to 44% to encourage domestic supply. This plan has failed; the gasoline producers would still be selling at a loss.
They are now sitting on their gas and waiting for better days.
3. Rolling blackouts in China
China is attempting to stop inflation by setting low prices for oil. This has created rolling blackouts in key industrial provinces that will take half a percent off of GDP.
4. India is paying billions in subsidized prices
India is in a similar boat as China. The country imports 73% of their fuel. Inflation is inching towards the double digits.
Do they allow the fuel prices to float — and feel the inflation and suffer the corresponding riots... Or do they continue to spend billions they can’t afford to keep prices low?
5. Sudan rescue workers can't move food because they have no gasoline
In war-torn Sudan, a border village was attacked last weekend by the North. Doctors Without Borders and other aid workers can’t get in to move food and shelter, due to the lack of gasoline for the trucks.
6. The Mongolian stock market lost 30%
Mongolia imports the vast majority of its gasoline from Russia — or did before April 28th...
The stock market fell in the past month because miners can't run their gear without diesel. I was scheduled to speak at an investment conference in UB that may be canceled due to lack of transport.
That said, Mongolian-based oil companies are doing very well.
7. Kenya is rationing gasoline
Two weeks ago, I was in Kenya. Many gas stations didn’t have any more fuel to sell. The shortage lead the news for the entire week I was there.
The U.S. has an effective ban on offshore drilling. There have been no new offshore oil drilling permits issued by the Federal Government since the BP spill last summer.
8. Libya is in chaos
Our newest war in the Middle East has entered its fourth month. More infrastructure is destroyed daily.
9. Chavez nationalized failure
Venezuela oil production continues to slide due to corruption and poor management. From UPI:
State-run oil corporation PDVSA sacked half of the directors on its board after the energy giant's pension fund was found to have lost $453 million in a Ponzi scheme linked to an investor in Connecticut. It was the latest of financial woes to strike the troubled oil company. The fraud apparently took place in 2004 but was discovered only recently.
10. No nukes
Germany is halting all nuclear power production by 2020; seven older plants have already been closed.
Nuclear energy is now supplying 25% of Germany’s energy needs.
Despite what you hear out of the green party, the majority of this power will be replaced by oil or natural gas — not by wind and solar.
11. Global oil production is flat and falling
oil june 2
12. Exports are expected to decline
exports june 2
13. The U.S. dollar keeps falling
dollar june 2
14. The Saudis can’t help
A senior Saudi oil official recently said the Kingdom “expects oil production to hold steady at an average of 8.7 million barrels per day to 2015.”
Domestic Saudi oil demand is increasing 10% per year. So expect a net decline in exports from our “friend” in Arabia.
And the final reason that oil stocks are going up...
15. Energy stocks have found support
Save $0.75 Per gallon of gas with Fuel Direct
In the past few months, the tsunami and nuclear disaster in Japan have slowed the need for energy. But in the coming weeks, oil imports are set to surge as the rebuilding gets underway and industrial production ramps up to meet demand.
2. On April 28th, Russia put a 44% tariff on oil exports
The people in Russia and their leaders have pointed fingers at the evil “Wall Street market speculator” and “oil price gougers” as the scapegoats responsible for high gasoline prices.
The political solution was to institute price controls. It has worked as well as expected...
Domestic prices that were now below the cost to produce oil caused sellers of energy to export their wares out of the country so that they could get a higher price. This in turn led to shortages within Russia. Buses and trucks stopped running due to lack of gasoline.
The politicians reacted by supplying even more government. The export tariff was raised to 44% to encourage domestic supply. This plan has failed; the gasoline producers would still be selling at a loss.
They are now sitting on their gas and waiting for better days.
3. Rolling blackouts in China
China is attempting to stop inflation by setting low prices for oil. This has created rolling blackouts in key industrial provinces that will take half a percent off of GDP.
4. India is paying billions in subsidized prices
India is in a similar boat as China. The country imports 73% of their fuel. Inflation is inching towards the double digits.
Do they allow the fuel prices to float — and feel the inflation and suffer the corresponding riots... Or do they continue to spend billions they can’t afford to keep prices low?
5. Sudan rescue workers can't move food because they have no gasoline
In war-torn Sudan, a border village was attacked last weekend by the North. Doctors Without Borders and other aid workers can’t get in to move food and shelter, due to the lack of gasoline for the trucks.
6. The Mongolian stock market lost 30%
Mongolia imports the vast majority of its gasoline from Russia — or did before April 28th...
The stock market fell in the past month because miners can't run their gear without diesel. I was scheduled to speak at an investment conference in UB that may be canceled due to lack of transport.
That said, Mongolian-based oil companies are doing very well.
7. Kenya is rationing gasoline
Two weeks ago, I was in Kenya. Many gas stations didn’t have any more fuel to sell. The shortage lead the news for the entire week I was there.
The U.S. has an effective ban on offshore drilling. There have been no new offshore oil drilling permits issued by the Federal Government since the BP spill last summer.
8. Libya is in chaos
Our newest war in the Middle East has entered its fourth month. More infrastructure is destroyed daily.
9. Chavez nationalized failure
Venezuela oil production continues to slide due to corruption and poor management. From UPI:
State-run oil corporation PDVSA sacked half of the directors on its board after the energy giant's pension fund was found to have lost $453 million in a Ponzi scheme linked to an investor in Connecticut. It was the latest of financial woes to strike the troubled oil company. The fraud apparently took place in 2004 but was discovered only recently.
10. No nukes
Germany is halting all nuclear power production by 2020; seven older plants have already been closed.
Nuclear energy is now supplying 25% of Germany’s energy needs.
Despite what you hear out of the green party, the majority of this power will be replaced by oil or natural gas — not by wind and solar.
11. Global oil production is flat and falling
oil june 2
12. Exports are expected to decline
exports june 2
13. The U.S. dollar keeps falling
dollar june 2
14. The Saudis can’t help
A senior Saudi oil official recently said the Kingdom “expects oil production to hold steady at an average of 8.7 million barrels per day to 2015.”
Domestic Saudi oil demand is increasing 10% per year. So expect a net decline in exports from our “friend” in Arabia.
And the final reason that oil stocks are going up...
15. Energy stocks have found support
Save $0.75 Per gallon of gas with Fuel Direct
Thursday, April 7, 2011
The High Cost Of Oil
The U.S. economy has been designed to use massive amounts of cheap oil to transport massive quantities of goods over vast distances. When the price of oil goes to $100 or $150 a barrel, it fundamentally changes the dynamics of our economic system.
Nobody has ever been able to prove that the U.S. economy can successfully handle a price for oil over $100 for an extended period of time.
Do you remember what happened back in 2008? The price of oil hit a record high in June and then the entire financial system came unglued just a few months later.
The price of oil affects the price of almost everything else. Almost all forms of economic activity use energy. Almost all goods have to be transported a significant distance.
When the price of oil goes too high, some types of economic activity simply become unprofitable. If the price of oil stays this high from now on, there are many businesses across America that will be forced to close.
A high price for oil is also going to hit U.S. consumers really hard. According to AAA, the average price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States is now $3.70.
Many are convinced that the average price of gasoline is going to shatter the all-time record of $4.11 that was set back in July 2008.
So how much did a gallon of gas cost a year ago?
One year ago the average price of a gallon of gasoline was just $2.83.
Over the past 12 months the average price of gasoline has gone up about 30%.
So has your paycheck gone up by 30% over that time?
The truth is that wages have been very stagnant in the United States for a long, long time.
That means that U.S. household budgets are being increasingly stretched. People have to fill up their cars so that they can get to work or to school. Americans can cut back on pleasure driving to save money, but most of the driving that all of us do is to get to places that we have to be.
So if gas costs more that means that consumers are going to have less to spend other places. Consumer spending accounts for approximately 70 percent of the U.S. economy, so any slowdown in U.S. consumer spending would be extremely significant.
Already a substantial percentage of the American people are feeling quite stressed about gas prices.
According to a recent Associated Press-GfK poll, approximately two-thirds of the American people believe that rising gasoline prices will cause significant hardship for their families over the next six months.
We are heading for some really difficult economic times.
So the question is, what can we do about the higher costs of oil. Fuel Direct!
Nobody has ever been able to prove that the U.S. economy can successfully handle a price for oil over $100 for an extended period of time.
Do you remember what happened back in 2008? The price of oil hit a record high in June and then the entire financial system came unglued just a few months later.
The price of oil affects the price of almost everything else. Almost all forms of economic activity use energy. Almost all goods have to be transported a significant distance.
When the price of oil goes too high, some types of economic activity simply become unprofitable. If the price of oil stays this high from now on, there are many businesses across America that will be forced to close.
A high price for oil is also going to hit U.S. consumers really hard. According to AAA, the average price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States is now $3.70.
Many are convinced that the average price of gasoline is going to shatter the all-time record of $4.11 that was set back in July 2008.
So how much did a gallon of gas cost a year ago?
One year ago the average price of a gallon of gasoline was just $2.83.
Over the past 12 months the average price of gasoline has gone up about 30%.
So has your paycheck gone up by 30% over that time?
The truth is that wages have been very stagnant in the United States for a long, long time.
That means that U.S. household budgets are being increasingly stretched. People have to fill up their cars so that they can get to work or to school. Americans can cut back on pleasure driving to save money, but most of the driving that all of us do is to get to places that we have to be.
So if gas costs more that means that consumers are going to have less to spend other places. Consumer spending accounts for approximately 70 percent of the U.S. economy, so any slowdown in U.S. consumer spending would be extremely significant.
Already a substantial percentage of the American people are feeling quite stressed about gas prices.
According to a recent Associated Press-GfK poll, approximately two-thirds of the American people believe that rising gasoline prices will cause significant hardship for their families over the next six months.
We are heading for some really difficult economic times.
So the question is, what can we do about the higher costs of oil. Fuel Direct!
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Oil could hit $200-$300 on Saudi unrest
Oil prices could rocket to $200- $300 a barrel if the world’s top crude exporter Saudi Arabia is hit by serious political unrest, former Saudi oil minister Sheikh Zaki Yamani told Reuters on Tuesday.
Yamani said he saw no immediate sign of further trouble following protests last month calling for political reforms but said that underlying discontent remained unresolved.
“If something happens in Saudi Arabia it will go to $200 to $300. I don’t expect this for the time being, but who would have expected Tunisia?” Yamani told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference of the Centre for Global Energy Studies (CGES) which he chairs.
Save $0.40 to $0.90 per gallon of gas with Fuel Direct.
Yamani said he saw no immediate sign of further trouble following protests last month calling for political reforms but said that underlying discontent remained unresolved.
“If something happens in Saudi Arabia it will go to $200 to $300. I don’t expect this for the time being, but who would have expected Tunisia?” Yamani told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference of the Centre for Global Energy Studies (CGES) which he chairs.
Save $0.40 to $0.90 per gallon of gas with Fuel Direct.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
The Price Of Oil
Most people believe that the U.S. dollar is the currency of the world, but really it is oil. Without oil, the global economy that we have constructed simply could not function.
That is why it was so alarming when the price of oil went above $100 a barrel earlier this year for the first time since 2008. Virtually everyone agrees that if the price of oil stays high for an extended period of time it will have a highly negative impact on the world economy.
In particular, the U.S. economy is highly, highly dependent on cheap oil. This country is really spread out and we transport goods and services over vast distances. That is why the following facts are so alarming....
*The average price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States is now 75 cents higher than it was a year ago.
*In San Francisco, California, the average price of a gallon of gasoline is now $3.97.
*According to the Oil Price Information Service, U.S. drivers spent an average of $347 on gasoline during the month of February, which was 30 percent more than a year earlier.
*According to the U.S. Energy Department, the average U.S. household will spend approximately $700 more on gasoline in 2011 than it did during 2010.
Rising prices of gas at the pump can be a real budget killer. While we can't do anything about the world events affecting oil, we can take charge of our family budget. Learn how to save $0.40 to $0.90 per gallon of gas with XP3 from Fuel Direct!
That is why it was so alarming when the price of oil went above $100 a barrel earlier this year for the first time since 2008. Virtually everyone agrees that if the price of oil stays high for an extended period of time it will have a highly negative impact on the world economy.
In particular, the U.S. economy is highly, highly dependent on cheap oil. This country is really spread out and we transport goods and services over vast distances. That is why the following facts are so alarming....
*The average price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States is now 75 cents higher than it was a year ago.
*In San Francisco, California, the average price of a gallon of gasoline is now $3.97.
*According to the Oil Price Information Service, U.S. drivers spent an average of $347 on gasoline during the month of February, which was 30 percent more than a year earlier.
*According to the U.S. Energy Department, the average U.S. household will spend approximately $700 more on gasoline in 2011 than it did during 2010.
Rising prices of gas at the pump can be a real budget killer. While we can't do anything about the world events affecting oil, we can take charge of our family budget. Learn how to save $0.40 to $0.90 per gallon of gas with XP3 from Fuel Direct!
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Oil prices surge 6 percent as Libya protests mount
Oil prices soared to the highest level in more than two years as Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi urged his supporters to attack protesters who are violently challenging his 42-year rule.
Only a small part of Libya's oil production appeared to be affected, though analysts fear that similar revolts will spread to OPEC heavyweights like Iran.
Benchmark West Texas Intermediate for April delivery jumped $5.71, or 6.4 percent, to settle at $95.42 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil hasn't been that high since it settled at $97.92 on Oct. 1, 2008.
Retail gasoline prices in the U.S. held steady overnight at a national average of $3.171 per gallon.
Libya holds the most oil reserves in Africa and is the world's 15th-largest crude exporter at 1.2 million barrels per day, according to the Energy Information Administration. As the Libyan government cracked down on protesters, Western oil companies including Eni and Repsol-YPF temporarily suspended oil production in the country. BP has started evacuating workers.
As the unrest spreads throughout the middle east gas prices will continue to move higher. We may see $4-$5 per gallon at the pump by the end of the summer.
As prices move forward your only recourse to save your families budget is by using XP3 through Fuel Direct.
Only a small part of Libya's oil production appeared to be affected, though analysts fear that similar revolts will spread to OPEC heavyweights like Iran.
Benchmark West Texas Intermediate for April delivery jumped $5.71, or 6.4 percent, to settle at $95.42 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil hasn't been that high since it settled at $97.92 on Oct. 1, 2008.
Retail gasoline prices in the U.S. held steady overnight at a national average of $3.171 per gallon.
Libya holds the most oil reserves in Africa and is the world's 15th-largest crude exporter at 1.2 million barrels per day, according to the Energy Information Administration. As the Libyan government cracked down on protesters, Western oil companies including Eni and Repsol-YPF temporarily suspended oil production in the country. BP has started evacuating workers.
As the unrest spreads throughout the middle east gas prices will continue to move higher. We may see $4-$5 per gallon at the pump by the end of the summer.
As prices move forward your only recourse to save your families budget is by using XP3 through Fuel Direct.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)