was watching fox news a few days ago and they were saying that opec is talking 200$ a barrrel by year end.

thats about 7$ per gallon. I sure cannot afford that. (I believe europe pays 8$ and sierra leone(sp) is paying 18$

here is an odd thought.

will this douse the overseas markets? the cost of shipping imports would out weigh domestic products.
will it give more americans jobs in their hoe community? (bringing back the mom and pop stores?)
it should spur the economy inthe long run, killing off the walmarts (an all import store) and the major corperations that feel that superstores in the burbs (and make you drive 20 minutes, which costs gas) will stumble seeing as the populations of our country reside in major cities? in buffalo we have not one store in our inner cities. (seriously even food markets reside in the burbs)

if gas goes above 8$ a gallon I could see a revolt. Maybe not a violent revolt but a revolt.

I could see the mass transit becoming very popular (compared to now) increasing jobs and reducing traffic.
i can see the small stores in your neighbor hood becoming very popular.
I can see factories moving back to local communities to save on shipping and new factories looking for low income areas that they can employ people in.

the major car companies, will feel the worst effects from mass transit and a new evolution of a euro feel. people biking and riding mopeds. (not that i fit on a moped, i would have my knees in the damn handle bars)
but motorcycles will be much more popular.

I see a huge economic down turn in the near future.

I also see the self healing process in the distant future. what do you all think of this?

the basis of the thought comes from the industry of the 1800's and early 1900's being applied to modern day economic trends but with the loss of national trasportation.

Tim, you might have to keep it under 50 knots and get a lighter anchor the way its going.

UK its around $2 .25 a litre so do the math.....

http://money.aol.com/news/articles/_a/us-g...501105809990001

I stopped reading after that...




The masses bitch and complain about the price of gas yet still continue to pay and drive and drive and drive...

No one's mentioned the recent profits of the major oil/gas companies lately.
So as not to ruin your weekend I'll forego leaving you links to such stats...... check them out on Monday if you have your punching bag nearby.

yeah record profits.

eh, was wondering more or less regardless of the news or mainstream media, IF the fuel crisis may be a blessing in the long run? it would force us to do something about every aspect of normal day to day life?

I guess maybe humans greatest strength is its weakness too.... pushing things to their limits-but it seems we have priorities on what to push ahead of others - ie, greed before cures / reckless chance before wise methodical progress.... it looks like we'll push things with no choice but to adapt to whatever we will have to reap from what we [our politicians/resource hogs] sow..... It seems like nature may 'take care' of us with finality if we can't resolve our own issues progressively -let alone look after/abide with Nature.

Lets take a wider look at what’s going on in the world when it comes to the issue of record profits for the oil companies, and why oil has become so expensive. You mention the record profits the oil companies have been making this is a fact. But did you know that the oil companies profit margin per barrel of oil is only 10%. Believe it or not this margin has been this way since the 1970's and it has not gone up over the decades, very strange but true. The other factor is the growing global economy with China being a big player in the world market. With China's booming economy their thirst for oil is on its way to becoming greater than that of the United States.
In recent months China’s government has been meeting with the major oil producing countries big and small, from around the world to assure their stake in maintaining their oil supply lines are guaranteed not to be disrupted.
The people of China are also experiencing a way of life that they could have only dreamt of 10 years ago. A good majority of these people are now able to afford to own an automobile which was considered a luxury item only a few years ago, and we all know that China has the largest population in the world. Supply and demand my friend!
So why is China's economy booming? Well we all know that China makes a good portion of the products we buy here in America, you don't believe me? Take a look around your house and look at some of the items you have and see where they're made. Most likely a good portion of the products are "Made in China". So what does this mean? Stop your complaining about high gas prices because when in comes right down to it... we are to blame for the high gas prices!
There are other factors that also play into this issue but this is one of them that I wanted to touch on.

SnowMan hit a grand slam.
Everyone is up in arms over the reported record profits form the oil companins but they fail to put those numbers in context. I think it's to fluff the story.

For exmaple, Exxon Mobil's profit margin has remained right below 10%, this is by no means a great profit margin.
The only reason they record billions in profits in because of the vast volume of sales.
It easily does 100Billion+ in sales per quater and that number will only go up as consumption increases.
If you go strickly by revenue, Exxon Mobil's would be one of the biggest if not the biggest comapny in America, easily beating out the previous king Wal-Mart.
Yet it's not even in the top 100 based on profit margin.
If you want to talk about price gouging and record profits, you would be looking at Banking and Pharmaceuticals. Both of those industries on average have a profit margin anywhere from double to triple the oil industry ( 24-35% profit margins ).

Let's not forget that there just aren't enough refineries. From what I can tell we haven't built one since 1976. Sure, some have expanded and added capacity, but there just aren't enough. So, if you want cheaper gas, build more refineries and flood the market with gas.

Of course, nobody wants to live near an oil refinery. Just like nobody wants to live near a nuclear power plant, one of the cleanest forms of energy there is...

geez dont get me started on them...