Even more about gas prices
Tuesday, November 11th, 2008I’m sure people aren’t thinking too much about the high price of gasoline right now. It’s as cheap as it’s been in roughly 2-3 years. Here in southwest Ohio, we’re paying $1.89 for a gallon of regular gasoline. It’s funny how, when gas was costing $4 a gallon earlier this year, everyone was blaming George W. for the high prices, but nobody now will associate him with bringing prices down.
Actually, oil and gas did start declining in price after President Bush made a public statement about expanding U.S. exploration and drilling efforts here at home. When he made the statement in July, oil dropped every day during the following two-week time period. Apparently, the mere threat of increased supply was enough to cause oil speculators to begin pulling money out of the futures markets.
And now, we are seeing that the spectre of decreasing demand for oil is having the same effect on prices. But what’s going to happen when demand goes back up? Are we increasing our supply capabilites in anticipation of future use? If not, then we will surely see another spike in prices. I don’t think the current price levels will remain for long.
As other countries cut back on production and exporting, we should be endeavoring to find and secure more of our own energy supplies. Some countries like to routinely stage some kind of oil crisis, just to have an excuse to withhold oil from the evil United States. We shouldn’t let them affect us so much.
Here’s an example of what regularly happens abroad (from Yahoo Finance):
“Prices this week fell even as militants in Nigeria resumed attacks on the country’s oil installations. The military said it killed eight people while guarding a facility in the oil-rich south of the country.
Militants frequently attack oil facilities, seeking to hobble Africa’s biggest petroleum industry and force Nigeria’s federal government to send more oil funds to the southern states where the crude is pumped.”
Just click on the link for the full article:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Gasoline-continues-plunge-apf-13535926.html
The American government should allow Americans to use energy provided BY Americans. What could be more patriotic?