Money Beat

First & Foremost, We need ot do more drilling here in the US. I do not care what "alternative energy plan" you buy into, NONE of thme are viable yet for the general public at an affordable rate, nor will any of them be for years to come!

Mike_C

Nice idea, except that drilling will take years to have any effect as well and there simply isn't enough oil on U.S. soil or off the shore to have any appreciable effect on our economy or gas prices. The victor this centurie's spoils will go to is the one that forges ahead with new energy technologies and strategies. Peak oil is a simple fact we must consider in making plans for the future.

no need to worry about high fuel prices. they will be going up soon. not a problem since breaking the 3 dollar barrier. by summer expect an average of 4 per gallon. for now, its a good time to take that vacation you have been dreaming about all these years. last chance.

its interesting how americans talk about the middle east and russia ( or china). They give u oil and cheap goods and re-invest money backinto american by the billions every year which keeps the economy going , yet the anericans have the audacity to say bad things about them ?
you americans should have a better understanding who ur friends are....oh , i forgot , a typical american is the joe six pack guy who sucks up to his boss and wife !!!

Give us oil and cheap products? Not hardly! SELL us oil (ie take our money) at often inflated prices and peddle cheap knock off products that drive our own companies out of business. How is this good for us? The number of times I have to throw cheaply made products away and buy more crummy replacements is just appalling and what's worse, is i can't even buy a good quality product because the companies who made them were driven out of business by the cheap import peddlers with their dime an hour labor. I'm tired of having to buy cheap junk and I'm tired of seeing our jobs leave this country. - phil

why does MILK cost more than gasoline?

Given the extreme over production in the last several months the US and othre like them have oil reserves higher then ever before. Any cuts in the near term will likely not have any effect not only because lack of co-operation, but implementation of these reduction are often implented months after reduction announcements. the price jump (or in this case stop falling for a short period after the announcment) but will continue to fall. Demand just isn't there, in the US, anywhere. I won't be placing any bets on oil until the automakers sort out their discussions with government.

"Nice idea, except that drilling will take years to have any effect as well and there simply isn't enough oil on U.S. soil or off the shore to have any appreciable effect on our economy or gas prices. The victor this centurie's spoils will go to is the one that forges ahead with new energy technologies and strategies. Peak oil is a simple fact we must consider in making plans for the future." MAX

I love this mentality that since oil will not make us energy independent then let's not pursue more oil at all. So short sighted. Such a lack of understanding global markets. Even the threat of drilling sent oil prices down this summer. What would happen if we actually started to create a larger domestic supply for oil. Gee we might actually impact the world market and break the OPEC monopoly. Will oil alone make us energy independent? NO other energies will be necessary too like -insert your alternative fuels- if we don't drill for more oil we will look back 20 years from now and realize we are enslaved to our enemies because they will have the oil and we will be wishing we had drilled.

Nice idea, except that drilling will take years to have any effect as well and there simply isn't enough oil on U.S. soil or off the shore to have any appreciable effect on our economy or gas prices.
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Max,

Try actually investigating this on your won instead of buying into liberal BS. IT WILL NOT TAKE 10 YEARS.

Total BS from the lefties & wacko environmentalists!

Gas is $1.76 gallon in my town in Minnesota.

I have heard that the oil fields in the Middle East developed by American oil companies, were built on the contingency that a percentage of the revenue from the oil sales HAD to be invested into U.S. T-notes to support our country financially. If that is so, the less money earned from oil sales, the fewer treasury notes are purchased. So while we may cheer that the OPEC nations are not profitting so abundantly, it is hurting the American coffers as well.

Secondly, I heard from the same source as above, that the price of oil is not set by OPEC, it is set by Wall Street. American greed on Wall Street profits OPEC, as well as itself.

I trust the source because he said in July, when a barrel of crude was at an all-time high, that the power-brokers on Stock Market were going push the price down and it would go to $50 quickly. He said that in July 2008. Well, today the price of a barrel of crude went just under $50.

The same gentleman said a gallon of gas would fall below $2.00, and here it is $1.76.

So just in case you might wonder what else Lindsey Williams said, he said the rejoicing in the streets over cheap gas would not last very long, if Saudi Arabia and the other OPEC countries who have loaned the U.S. billions stop loaning to us, or start asking for their money back!

Does anyone ever stop to wonder where our country gets the money to be $10 trillion in debt? China, Japan and yes, OPEC countries loan us billions.

You think the banking crisis of is bad -- what do you think it will be like if China and the others want their money back because their economies are failing in this financial crisis?

What will happen if the U.S. government goes bankrupt?

Think it can't happen?

I feel sorry for OPEC..they shouldve let the oil price at a steady level instead of jacking up to 147. I mean around the 100 a barel mark. That way the econmy will still be in good shape and people wont lose their job. Now people are cuting back because they are getting away for big trucks and suvs.

GW is setting up BO for the fall. GW has Big Oil in his pocket, and in 6 months when the price of gas is above $4 again, the Republicans are going to say "look at how our last administration left this country, this is what you get with the new office, we're worse off now".

Reb:

Your comment is way of course; first of all, no one HAS to invest in Tnotes, countries in the middle east choose to do so because the dollar is,has, and will continue to be the reserve currency of choice. Furthermore, they peg their own currencies to the dollar.

Buying Tnotes doesn't directly support us, because of Treasury offering of bills, bonds, notes is handled by the primary dealers, who stand to buy these if no one else does- but someone does buy them because there is always a need to hold treasuries amongst institutional money managers. The fact that middle eastern countries bid on them only affects it indirectly.

You are correct in that OPEC doesn't directly control the price of crude oil beyond the price of extraction; it does however, influence the futures market (where oil contracts trade), in their capacity to cut/increase production; however, their efforts have largly been futile over time.

Third, foreign nations that hold Treasuries can't just demand payment when they want as treasuries are non-puttable, so they either hold them to maturity or sell them in the secondary market.

Lastly, our 10T dollar debt doesn't mean that we owe other countries 10T, but rather the sum represents the countries debt plus unfunded liabilities such as entitlement programs, and future expenditures.

Oh and one more thing, in times of global financial crisis, countries, like China, don't want their "money back"- in fact the opposite, they want dollars- tons of dollars. The U.S. Gov can't go bankrupt because it can simply print more money....

Drill baby drill...the pockets of investment bankers.

The ivory tower on Wall Street kept betting and manipulating the oil market until they went broke. HAHAHAHA!!!!!

Test to see if I'm registered.

FWIW legislation shoiuld be passed that bans speculation on ANYTHING!

Brian Levine-Pearls of Wisdom right there. If we let these big guys go out of business, then better companies will rise to meet the need of the consumer.

Now, the article. Didn't these same people tell us that we were going to be paying seven or eight bucks a gallon by now? If you ask me, prices WILL rise, but they won't skyrocket. We DO need to invest in other ways to get energy, but in the meantime, we should try to become as oil independent as possible. I don't care if there actually IS a Caribou in ANWR, because we need to get our oil. Another new thing about alternative energy. Have you heard about the new mini nuclear reactors that you will be able to get in a few years? They will cost around $10 million, (I think that was the price, I read an article on it)and will be able to provide electricity for 20,000 homes for 7-10 years, after which they will need to be reloaded. Expensive down payment, but GREAT pay-off! This will TOTALLY beat out coal for electricity!