Edit post

Edit your reply below.

Post Body
Enter your post below.
[quote user="MP173"] Several points:1.  A very significant run up in the cost of a barrel of oil is due to the falling value of the dollar.  A month or so ago the price of oil was $125/B and E75/B.  The dollar and Euro were roughly even several years ago, perhaps 2001.  In other words $1 = E1.  Today the dollar is somewhere around E1.60.  A dollar purchases much less than a Euro compared to 7 years ago.  With the oil at E75, had the dollar not fallen (and why it has is another topic) our oil would be around $75.2.  Dont think OPEC is really happy with this high oil situation.  Short term it is good news.  Long term not so good.  Every dollar increase in oil allows more and more "alternative fuels" to become more attractive.  Oil at $140/B is more attractive and drilling for the deeper oils, or refining oil sands, etc is an option.  3.  Saudia Arabia is considering upping production to 15 million barrels a day to meet demand.  Yet, that creates potential problems for the structure of their oil fields.  The last time production was bumped up in the late 70's it resulted in damage to the oil fields and penetration of water into those fields.  Will that happen now?4.  At this pricing, more and  more technology is available to increase production.  Oil that wasnt attractive and wells shut down are now being reworked with plans for production.  This is even being done on wells with production as low as 3 barrels per day.I truly believe this is going to be a watershed election year.  By October this could be an "energy election", if not sooner.  The Democrats have established that they want no offshore drilling, nor ANWAR drilling.  The Republican candidate seems to be awakening to the fact this might be his only chance to secure the election and is starting to change his opinion on drilling.Regarding North Pole...I just heard that yesterday and dont have a comment.  But, is it possible that the warming is due to something completely different than emissions?  The earth has gone thru a number of periods of warming/cooling.  Is it possible we are in a cycle now?  What is happening to the temps on Mars and other planets, or do we know?ed[/quote] The falling dollar does seem to be cited often as being part of the problem.  I would like to hear a little more about what is causing the weak dollar.That is the one silver lining of high oil.  That is, that it spurs development of alternatives.  Indeed OPEC might be very nervous about the market.  Although high prices redound to their benefit right now, they may lead to a serious demand falloff if there is a worldwide backlash expressed in the form of conservation, or if there is a breakthrough in alternative fuel, -or- if U.S. politics allows more U.S. production.  In regard to this being an "energy election," I suspect that nobody is paying more attention to it than OPEC.  Any candidate that stepped up and declared that we will ramp up domestic production, and become energy independent within ten years would cut the world price of oil in half the minute the words left his mouth.        Regarding the North Pole, there is always ice melting somewhere, and the image can be broadcast to the masses.  But it is a big leap to attach the conclusion that the entire North Pole will melt within a couple years, resulting in the extinction of the polar bears.
Tags (Optional)
Tags are keywords that get attached to your post. They are used to categorize your submission and make it easier to search for. To add tags to your post type a tag into the box below and click the "Add Tag" button.
Add Tag