Off shore drilling?

[1bad65]

If that's the case, isn't the government regulation preferrable?

There are alot of assumptions and if's in your argument.

Almost 100% of the time Government is much more inefficient than the private sector.

Look at this example. Around the turn of the century, workers had no rights. No sick leave, retirement, insurance, no OSHA, etc. Well before the Government passed laws to 'fix' these problems, labor unions had been formed who had already corrected most, if not all, of these injustices.

[sanjuro_ronin]

What question? If it was regarding The Surge it was in 2007. But alot of other stuff happened that year too. The war started in 2003, if you're blaming demand on US forces then there should have been a spike in 2003. There wasn't.



Arab shieks? Just post the answer you are dying to post.

You don't get it do you?
My point is that the very info you gave CAN be used to make it look like the Iraqi war was/is the cause of the spike in Oil Prices.
The dates match up.
My point being that stats can be manipulated.
As for where the money goes, your own "intelligence" community knows, I know mine does.
If you don't think that some of it goes there, that's fine, your perogative.

[Old Noob]

There are alot of assumptions and if's in your argument.

Almost 100% of the time Government is much more inefficient than the private sector.

Look at this example. Around the turn of the century, workers had no rights. No sick leave, retirement, insurance, no OSHA, etc. Well before the Government passed laws to 'fix' these problems, labor unions had been formed who had already corrected most, if not all, of these injustices.

Yes. There are many assumptions. As I said before, I'm not an expert in economics, commodities trading, oil, or China. Therefore I'm very unwilling to state things as absolute facts. You don't seem to share that reservation when making your points.

[sanjuro_ronin]

There are alot of assumptions and if's in your argument.

Almost 100% of the time Government is much more inefficient than the private sector.

Look at this example. Around the turn of the century, workers had no rights. No sick leave, retirement, insurance, no OSHA, etc. Well before the Government passed laws to 'fix' these problems, labor unions had been formed who had already corrected most, if not all, of these injustices.

Ah, Unions....
Killing me softly...

[1bad65]

Really the only facts I've stated are that China is the #1 consumer of OPEC oil and that the war started in 2003. The rest is obviously my opinion.

[1bad65]

IMO, the unions were necessary at the time and fixed many injustices.

As they are now they only make sure that uneducated people can install plastic dashboards for ~$70/hour. They are also still ran by guys who are either criminals or operating on the fringes of the law. Their focus has shifted from worker's rights to basically being a PAC.

[sanjuro_ronin]

IMO, the unions were necessary at the time and fixed many injustices.

As they are now they only make sure that uneducated people can install plastic dashboards for ~$70/hour. They are also still ran by guys who are either criminals or operating on the fringes of the law. Their focus has shifted from worker's rights to basically being a PAC.

Big business were their own worse enemies in regards to the creation of Unions.
The Automotive industry owes its woes as much to unions as it does to crappy management.

[1bad65]

Big business were their own worse enemies in regards to the creation of Unions.
The Automotive industry owes its woes as much to unions as it does to crappy management.

Completely agreed.

[Old Noob]

Completely agreed.

Oh Lo'ord Kumbaya!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!

[Becca]

Retail price is the bottom line! In the US the taxes are pretty standard. State and local taxes vary slightly, but the Federal tax is the same for all 50 states.

So I can be clear, what do you mean by 'base price'?

Well, I work for a tax exempt organization and I do the fuel ordering. We don't pay any U.S. taxes. That is base. To this are added delivery fees, surcharges, ect. That is called list price. Retail is what the gas stations sell it to customers for. The total after tax is known as gross. Retail depends on who supplys the fuel, what area the store is in, what pipeline it had to come out of, ect. Once you ad station mark up, wich is anywere from 7 -12%, it becomes obvious that the retail price of fuel is not "standard" from county to countly let alone region to region.....

[Becca]

I think a big reason that oil has risen so much lately is the weakness of the US dollar. Oil is still based on the dollar, and if it is worth less, than the price goes up. The Euro, on the other hand, is increasing in value.

BTW - when we are talking about BILLIONS in PROFITS PER QUARTER, when everyone else is struggling and prices on everything are rising due to fuel costs, then I do think Big Oil has a responsibility to do something about it. Or do you think Capitilism has the right to destroy the country? Because I fear that is where things are headed.

-David

Yes, the weakness of the U.S. dollar is part of it. But before you start throwing hatchets at "big oil" stop and take a look at how those "prfits" are figured. They spend billions on exploration, trying to find and develop new sources every year. Those expenditures are not included in the cost of operation because the feilds are not yet listed as "active." A lion's share of what is being called "profits" are actually mislabled RND funds. RND is risky and expensive. Talking about drilling for more oil in one breath then ridiculing the oil companies over money mis-leadingly called profits in the next breath is a joke. Just what do you think they do? Stop by at the local quicky mart for an address for the next producing oild field????

[Becca]

The free market ALWAYS fixes itself UNLESS there is Government interference.

Dang, we are actuall trying to make the same point.... The rising cost of fuel isn't a problem, it is the market trying to fix itself. And we should let it.

[Shaolin Wookie]

There are alot of assumptions and if's in your argument.

Almost 100% of the time Government is much more inefficient than the private sector.

Look at this example. Around the turn of the century, workers had no rights. No sick leave, retirement, insurance, no OSHA, etc. Well before the Government passed laws to 'fix' these problems, labor unions had been formed who had already corrected most, if not all, of these injustices.

Xactly. At my last job with UPS Freight, I worked overtime every week, and still only had "part-time" status. They only allowed one full-time worker on every shift outside of management, despite my status as the second-most senior person on the shift. This allowed them to deny me full medical, and the partial medical I did have didn't cover anything. I always paid the full amount of the med bill every time I went to the doctor, instead of the 33% they said they'd cover.

It was completely corrupt management.

Then the Teamsters organized the terminal, promising better wages and full-time status for everyone. Instead, within a weak of initializing the contract, they fired all of hte part-time workers, hired a team of "teamster" drivers, and raised the wages.

LOl....

It was completely corrupt unionization.

God, I love America.

[1bad65]

Then the Teamsters organized the terminal, promising better wages and full-time status for everyone. Instead, within a weak of initializing the contract, they fired all of hte part-time workers, hired a team of "teamster" drivers, and raised the wages.

It was completely corrupt unionization.

Then vote Republican. The AFL/CIO and the Teamsters are huge backers/contributors to the Democratic Party. When the candidates they support win, their power increases.

[1bad65]

They spend billions on exploration, trying to find and develop new sources every year.

RND is risky and expensive.

Very true.

Not to go off-topic, but the R&D issue is a huge thing that universal, government mandated healthcare will likely destroy. As their will be caps on what new drugs can sell for, drug companies will cut R&D because a huge reason new drugs cost so much is the drug companies are trying to recoup their R&D investment in that drug. If they cannot charge what they feel they need to in order to recoup their investment, they will likely cut their R&D budgets.

The same thing may well happen if this 'Windfall Tax' garbage gets levied on the oil companies. They could cut their R&D/exploration budgets to make up for the money they will lose to more taxes.