Excessive gas prices could lead to prosecution

[Sheriff Uling 3]

Gary...

I'm with you hydrogen is the way to go, but unfortunately there is so much resistence (at the moment), for obviously selfish reason, that it's going to take a long time to get there... Well, at least, longer that I'd like to see..

Sheriff Uling

Edited May 24, 2007 by Sheriff Uling

[Sheriff Uling 3]

OK, am I the only person that read the title as "Excessive gas prices could lead to prostitution"..?

It could very well head that way in the future. "Hey baby! What can I get for a couple of gallons?"

That is exactly what I'm mean... LOL!

Edited May 24, 2007 by Sheriff Uling

[Mags 112]

Our "new" (hahahah!) car is a Ford. I've called it Beryl.

Oh, so Larry bought that Ford 300 after all? Or is it Ford Fusion?

Bwahahaha, no such luck. It's a Ford Escort ZX2. :lol:

(Considering I'm from Essex I thought the Ford Escort reference was rather hilarious!)

[Fandango 1,439]

Beryl, lol

[Dan J 277]

I waiting to win the lottery so i can afford one of these: http://www.teslamotors.com/

Not a road trip car really, but it would work for driving around the city which is 95% of my driving.

[mawilson 2,133]

Bwahahaha, no such luck. It's a Ford Escort ZX2. :lol:

(Considering I'm from Essex I thought the Ford Escort reference was rather hilarious!)

LOL

Ford Escort? I thought they stopped making those in 2003?

PS. I meant "Ford Five Hundred", not "Ford 300".

[Fandango 1,439]

Bwahahaha, no such luck. It's a Ford Escort ZX2. :lol:

(Considering I'm from Essex I thought the Ford Escort reference was rather hilarious!)

LOL

Ford Escort? I thought they stopped making those in 2003?

PS. I meant "Ford Five Hundred", not "Ford 300".

I have a Ford Escort!

it's mah 'hoopty' car

[russ 1]

Lawmakers from both parties are hearing from constituents about soaring gasoline prices, which Wednesday hit a record national average of $3.22 for a gallon of self-serve regular. So they are working furiously to respond - even if there is little they can do to provide immediate relief.

This is insane. Of course there is price gouging in the oil market. It isn't controlled by US Corporations though. There is a cartel (OPEC, you may have heard of it). The sole purpose of this cartel is to manipulate prices through collusion of the suppliers. This is of course not legal in the US. But, the US does not control most of the worlds oil.

We could put pressure on OPEC not to operate this way. Of course, they would retaliate by not selling oil. I wasn't alive during the oil embargo, but I can see one happening again.

Americans tend to forget that there is only ONE global price for oil. If the prices are different between countries, that will trigger something called arbitrage. Basically, that means that if oil in the US was cheaper than it was in Europe, I would just buy it here and ship it to Europe, and pocket the difference. It costs about $1 to move a barrel of oil across the Atlantic (well, maybe a bit more with the higher prices these days). Bankers in London and Chicago have been doing this forever.

US Corporations only control about 13% of the oil production on earth. If they had access to more fields to develop, production would certainly increase and prices would drop. The opposite is true - US oil companies have lost access to fields they had developed in Ecuador, Venuzuala and Russia recently. The invested tens of billions into these projects, yet no oil will come out of them for political reasons.

There are other reasons as well. All crude oil is not the same. West Texas Intermediate can be turned into gasoline with a decent yeild efficiently, well more than 30% of it. Crude oil from Venuzeula isn't of the same quality - maybe 5% of it can be turned into gasoline directly (42 gallons in a bbl would yeild about a gallon of gasoline). More gasoline can be made by heating it (cracking, catalytic reforming, etc), though this uses energy. About 40% of the energy in a barrel of oil is burned refining it.

Adding 10% Ethanol to gasoline is also raising the price of gasoline. It takes more than a gallon of oil to make a gallon of Ethanol. The US does not allow imports of cheaper Ethanol either.

Adding to the problem, many oil exporting countires are also importers of refined products (gasoline). US refineries import oil from Mexico, but export the gasoline there. An increase and foreign refining capacity would lower prices. Allowing imports of Ethanol would also lower prices. Using cheaper to produce refined products would also lower prices (kerosene, intermix, diesel and jet A). Not using oil for as much electrical production would help as well.

Lower crude prices would result in cuts in US production, as it would become unprofitable. Production is always profitable in the middle east.

US Companies are actually pretty good at extracting oil efficiently. They need to be, given the high cost of production in the US. It takes a lot of technology to get oil out of the ground here. In Kuwait, sticking a drinking straw into the sand will produce oil (a metaphor yes, but production still costs a few dollars a bbl in much of the middle east. It can profitable at $40-50 in the States).

[Mags 112]

Bwahahaha, no such luck. It's a Ford Escort ZX2. :lol:

(Considering I'm from Essex I thought the Ford Escort reference was rather hilarious!)

LOL

Ford Escort? I thought they stopped making those in 2003?

PS. I meant "Ford Five Hundred", not "Ford 300".

Oh, Beryl is a second hand car, she isn't new. 1999 model. Here she is, in all her glory:

[mawilson 2,133]

I have a Ford Escort!

it's mah 'hoopty' car

Dang girl! how many cars do you own?

Oh, Beryl is a second hand car, she isn't new. 1999 model. Here she is, in all her glory:

She's cute!

She's (mostly) your car, I take it?

[Mags 112]

it's mah 'hoopty' car

Hey, MY Beryl is a well bred lass I'll have you know!

[Fandango 1,439]

I have a Ford Escort!

it's mah 'hoopty' car

Dang girl! how many cars do you own?

LOL, this is a 93 or 94, sun faded red, dents n all...it's a good knock around car...better on mileage, cosmetically ugly so I can go out and park it in pkg lots without having to worry about parking in the last spot furthest from the shops, etc .

But I own 3 currently...however, my jag is off the road because I'm trying to sell it.

And I bought the Ford because my jag was in the shop for a month...hence, why I'm selling the jag, lol.

[russ 1]

I'm with you hydrogen is the way to go, but unfortunately there is so much resistence (at the moment), for obviously selfish reason, that it's going to take a long time to get there... Well, at least, longer that I'd like to see..

I am all for hydrogen, if someone can tell me how to produce it without using oil. Nuclear power is the only way that I see, baring some huge advance in the efficiency and cost of solar panels.

Also, keep in mind that cars use as much oil being produced (about 45%) than they consume in their 10 year service life. The steel, paint, plastics, aluminum and transportation all consume quite a bit of oil. Hydrogen burning cars right now would require more oil up front to build, and oil would still be the cheapest way of getting the hydrogen they burn.

Most oil isn't even used for gasoline anyway. Chemical production, heating and power generation use most of it. Nuclear power and electric heating would actually make a difference in two of these.

[mawilson 2,133]

Hey, MY Beryl is a well bred lass I'll have you know!

She's a cute adorable little Barbie of a car

[Fandango 1,439]

it's mah 'hoopty' car

Hey, MY Beryl is a well bred lass I'll have you know!

oh it is! it's certainly not the caliber of my hoopty,hahahah....that's from the 'other' side of the tracks and your Beryl would be embarrassed to be seen with mine, lol