Remember this http://www.buyandhold.com/bh/en/education/history/2002/arab.html (http://www.buyandhold.com/bh/en/education/history/2002/arab.html)
A gallon of gas was about sixty cents.
And how about that 1967 embargo? Coincided with the 'six day war'.
What the hell is going on?
Back in 1973 U.S. oil consumption wasn't 25 million barrels per day (bopd) and world consumption wasn't 84 million bopd (as they are now). Demands were well below what the oil countries could produce. That isn't true anymore. That meant there was lots of excess capacity. Saudi Arabia was the big "swing producer", they had the most excess capacity that could be turned on if any kind of an oil shock hit the market. Twice in the last year Bush has asked them to increase production; twice they have declined. Yes, they increased production a tiny bit, but no where near what Bush asked for. Though Aramco (national oil company of Saudi Arabia) won't admit it, I think their big fields are already in decline. The tap is all the way open, but no additional oil is coming out. Mexico has already acknowledged that their main (and only) big field (the Cantarell field) is already in decline and production is falling fast (10% per year or more). PDVSA (Venezuela's national oil company, pronounced Pee Da Vay Sa) has announced similarly for their big fields. Likewise, North Sea production is way, way down, and U.S. industry production as a whole has been in decline since 1972.
We're living in a whole new world compared to how things were back in '73. It used to be that the U.S. big oil companies controlled a large percentage of the world's oil reserves. Now, they don't even control 10% of the remaining reserves. Logically, that means our guaranteed supply of oil is much more tenuous than it used to be.
Expect the oil situation to get worse, much worse. If you don't already own a car that gets 40+ mpg (Toyota Corolla) or a motor scooter (60-80 mpg)...think about it. I've already got my bicycle tuned up, with spare tires and tubes stashed away in the garage.
P.S. U.S. and world oil demand is growing at 3% a year (roughly). In 10 years, the U.S. will be using (or at least wanting to be using) 35 million bpod. Somehow, I don't think it's going to be available... at any price.
n74tg, points I agree with. However, we must be swimming in oil; as evidenced by the supply, the willingness to pay the price, and our horrible driving habits.
Ooops, Hang on, just got an email for my carbon footprint tax credits!
My wife just gave me a bad time about getting my carbon footprint on the rug. [crz]
None of our illustrious political candidates seems to want to address the financial woes of the country or have a plan to solve them. I mentioned that to my neighbor yesterday and he said in his opinion none of them are qualified. So what the heck are we doing. We have candidates that survived their primaries who aren't qualified to deal with current issues. Talk about a doomsday feeling.
If you research the politicians you will find that they are all profiting nicely from the financial woes of the country.
They are doing great, so what's to fix? Ever seen a poor politician? OK, ever seen a working class politician?
Bush http://www.realchange.org/bushjr.htm#insider
Cheney http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=13509
Congolisa http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/12803
(http://www.aztlan.net/oiltank.jpg)
http://www.aztlan.net/oiltanker.htm
We could keep this up right on down the list.
The new candidates are carefully chosen for you to be more of the same. Any good ones will be eliminated by the time you are allowed to choose between the evils.