Tha REAL answer!

[davidfkon]

best response yet!

 

[voltaire1102]

I'll stick with my standard response, if you can't afford $4.00 + gas then go get another car. You bought a Land Rover for a reason and the gas is the least of the expenses you will encounter. Quite whinning and go get yourself a Civic....lol

 

[Rover junkie]

It's sad so many have been misled. I'm no hot head but just very passionate about this great country and get frustrated when so many don't see the facts. I understand completely what the hedge funds are doing to the commodity market, they have a big impact on the fluctuation of gas prices. However, the single largest contributor to high prices is supply and demand. If supply outpaced demand, the prices would drop dramatically. What better way to increase supply than to access the resources that we have. We have enough known crude oil in the lower 48 states alone to supply our fuel at the current rate of usage for 200 years. This does not include Alaska and oil from shale. These are facts. Not talking points. These facts are listed on the U.S. Geological Survey's website. Check it out. Anyone need a job? How many jobs do you think would be created if we were allowed to extract our own oil? Shell could be pumping 50,000 barrels a day in 6 months if they were allowed, but the EPA would not allow it. The high cost of exploration is a direct result of environmental red tape. Politics. The current supply problem is due to a refinery in Texas that was shut down last month because of "environmental" issues. That wasn't on the news was it? Politics? There are a lot of other factors involved as well but supply and demand is the greatest problem. I own a '73 Ford Bronco that's all original and gets 20 MPG. Here we are almost 40 years later and you can't find a new V8 SUV that gets 20MPG. So that's another issue. Emissions. Not to mention $0.40-$0.50 tax on every gallon of gas. But politics doesn't have anything to do with it. We could almost double our current supply by building another refinery but the government won't allow it. Keep blaming the commodity traders. I'm not whining about the price by the way. I just posted this because there were so many other threads that were complaining about it. I want people to know the facts. I can afford it and I'll keep driving my rover if gas hits $10 a gallon because it's the best vehicle on the road and if I get into it with a Prius guess who's family will be safe?

 

[merrion13]

******, I don't know where to start with you so I'll try to briefly fill you in on why you are mistaken:
-You are right that when supply outpaces demand, prices fall. But your logic assumes that demand is going to stay stagnant. That goes against all recent evidence (with the emergence of China, India, and many other countries) that demand is increasing (therefore, prices will continue to rise overall).
-The US only has 2% of the world's oil reserves, yet we consume 25% of the oil. Even if we were able to satisfy our demand domestically (would never happen), our oil is still competing on prices set on a global market. You think Exxon, BP et al would see US customers oil for $100/barrel when it can sell the same oil elsewhere for $150 a barrel?
-Multiple studies by not only the EIA but also the American Petroleum Institute (the oil industry trade group) acknowledge than an increase in domestic supply (again, assuming current demand levels) take at least 5 years to bring online and additionally, would only reduce the cost of gas at the pump by three cents.
-You state the high cost of exploration is a "direct result of environmental red tape". Really? You think the cost of administrative review is higher than building a highly complex platform in a turbulent ocean able to withstand 100+mph winds, 60+feet waves, all the while operating a long, thin drill shaft a mile below the surface drilling through the earth's crust, not to mention all the expertise/labor to operate this system (and I'm leaving the refining and shipping off this list)?!?
-You seem to really think we should disregard any public safety and environmental review when it comes to oil, so please, spend 5 minutes on Google searching for pictures under the phrases "Nigerian oil" or "Ecuador oil" and see what happens to the people and environment when you don't have any oversight.

In summary: the cost of oil is directly related to numerous factors, one of which is supply and demand. Quite simply, we don't and won't have the domestic capabilities to put a significant dent in gas prices.

 

[BBLR3]

******, I don't know where to start with you so I'll try to briefly fill you in on why you are mistaken:
-You are right that when supply outpaces demand, prices fall. But your logic assumes that demand is going to stay stagnant. That goes against all recent evidence (with the emergence of China, India, and many other countries) that demand is increasing (therefore, prices will continue to rise overall).
-The US only has 2% of the world's oil reserves, yet we consume 25% of the oil. Even if we were able to satisfy our demand domestically (would never happen), our oil is still competing on prices set on a global market. You think Exxon, BP et al would see US customers oil for $100/barrel when it can sell the same oil elsewhere for $150 a barrel?
-Multiple studies by not only the EIA but also the American Petroleum Institute (the oil industry trade group) acknowledge than an increase in domestic supply (again, assuming current demand levels) take at least 5 years to bring online and additionally, would only reduce the cost of gas at the pump by three cents.
-You state the high cost of exploration is a "direct result of environmental red tape". Really? You think the cost of administrative review is higher than building a highly complex platform in a turbulent ocean able to withstand 100+mph winds, 60+feet waves, all the while operating a long, thin drill shaft a mile below the surface drilling through the earth's crust, not to mention all the expertise/labor to operate this system (and I'm leaving the refining and shipping off this list)?!?
-You seem to really think we should disregard any public safety and environmental review when it comes to oil, so please, spend 5 minutes on Google searching for pictures under the phrases "Nigerian oil" or "Ecuador oil" and see what happens to the people and environment when you don't have any oversight.

In summary: the cost of oil is directly related to numerous factors, one of which is supply and demand. Quite simply, we don't and won't have the domestic capabilities to put a significant dent in gas prices.

Well said.

In other words, just because the oil comes out of the ground here doesnt mean it stays here. Oil Companies are global enterprises. Anything they pull out of the ground is distributed on a global scale, not just for the US. That said, Oil companies dont help the US citizen, they help shareholders.

 

[Rover junkie]

Well...it's obvious that too many Americans get their news from the the liberal media. Those are nice talking points, but only talking points. Not facts. If you were in the oil business you'd understand. I never assumed or implied that demand would remain stagnant. What do you mean remain stagnant anyway? If demand was stagnant, prices would be much lower than they are now. You%2

 

[merrion13]

Right, only talking points. You stated "We have enough known crude oil in the lower 48 states alone to supply our fuel at the current rate of usage for 200 years"...that assumes demand to stay stagnant, and not increase which all signs point to actually happening.

Now, as to facts, according to the EIA, as of 12/31/09 there were 22.3 billion barrels of proven reserves in the US (this includes lower 48 and Alaska). This estimate is based on information provided by 1,200 owners/operators/producers in the field. I don't know where you got your 200 year figure (I searched the USGS site and couldn't find it), but I did see that the Energy Information Administration states that US oil usage in 2010 was 6.99 billion barrels, up from 6.85 in 2009.

So, if we exclusively relied on our own resources (22.3 billion barrels of known crude), and we continued to use at our 2010 level (6.99 billion barrels), then we would exhaust current known reserves in 3.19 years. That's a bit less than 200 years, unless my math is way off.

I realize we are talking about the difference between KNOWN reserves and those which may be discovered, but again, your original post was directly related to prices of gasoline and you have to realize that even if we were to discover a new field in US waters, it will take a minimum of 5 years to access/extract/refine that oil and will have little, if any, impact on actual prices.

In the meantime, let's get back to enjoying our vehicles.