Update: Oil smashes $86 for the first time
This week’s inventory report will be very interesting. If there is a significant build, the price could unravel quickly. If there is another surprise on the downside, we may crack $90 by the end of the week. But as long as oil prices stay at these levels, Saudi [...]
Price Of Oil,Price Of Oil >
Oil Tops $85 
100% Manipulation?
From the Detroit Free Press:
Oil prices go sky-high, but don’t fear $5 gas
If oil prices reach $100 a barrel for the first time, does that mean gasoline will be $5 a gallon?
Analysts say no — gas won’t even hit $4, because oil supplies are good.
“This is 100% manipulation by the financial players … and the [...]
Politics as Usual
I received a story today from U. S. Newswire that goes to show that some Democrats also don’t “get it”.
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today on news reports that the price of oil has skyrocketed to more than $70 a barrel:
“The Republican Rubber Stamp Congress has passed two energy bills, costing [...]
Gas Taxes and Long Range Energy Planning
I consider the level of dependence of the U.S. on imported petroleum to be a very large financial risk endangering the country’s future. There are certainly other import-related risks as well, but here I want to talk about the financial risk.
I consider it similar to having a mortgage upon which you pay interest each month [...]
Critiquing the SPR Swap Plan
This morning, I read an interesting editorial in the Wall Street Journal:
Obama Has a Plan To Manage Our Oil Reserve
The editorial was written by John Shages, a former deputy assistant secretary for petroleum reserves at the Department of Energy. The editorial essentially argues that the composition of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) is lighter than [...]
Peak Oil: End of the World?
I will have a new post up in a day or so (working with Vinod Khosla on something, and then I will finish that bio-butanol post), but until I get that finished, I will recycle this one (from 5/4/06) that details my views on Peak Oil.
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Perhaps like many of you, I spend a lot of [...]
Record Prices = Record Profits?
So, I am running through some of my daily news searches – things like “gas prices”, “gas gouging”, “alternative energy”, etc. I ran across this gem:
Gas price gouging becomes even more obvious
It is basically just another ignorant screed from someone who apparently thinks oil companies can just raise and lower prices at a whim:
As long [...]
Guest Essay on Energy Independence
I am still traveling for a few days, and will be back in Scotland on January 13th. One of the e-mails I received while I was traveling was a guest submission. The author wrote:
Mr. Rapier
After reading a bit of your blog, I am sending this to you in the spirit of promoting a lively debate.
Please [...]
A Storm on the Horizon
Trouble is brewing. Trouble I have been warning about since I started writing this blog. Trouble that was a big factor in me starting to write this blog:
Energy leader sees clouds
“An oil crisis is coming in the next 10 years,” John Hess said at the annual Cambridge Energy Research Associates CERAWeek conference in Houston. “It [...]
The Speculation Question
I have grappled over the past year with the question of just how much speculation is playing a factor in runaway oil prices. I think it is primarily a supply/demand issue, but I feel that such a large flow of money into commodities is also driving the surge.
Not so, says a new article in Fortune:
Hunting [...]
