http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1208..._us_whats_news

Folks this is the most clear news yet that peak oil has arrived and passed. Oil is trading at an all time real price high, yet Saudi Arabia (the #1 world exporter of oil) is not interested at all in increasing production.

"All the latest projections, at least up to 2020, do not require anything higher," Saudi oil minister Ali Naimi told Petroleum Argus in an interview. "Unless we see really genuine demand, we have to pause right now and see what happens," he said.

For those with subscriptions note the bias inherent here. Its not that Saudi Arabia doesn't _have_ the oil, its merely that they just aren't interested in increasing production.

Sure...the natural resource that gives your nation all its wealth its trading at an all-time high in the history of the world but they just aren't interested in selling more. Sure.

 

Good. We need gas prices to go even higher. Economics is the only thing that ever promotes new technology.

 

In 1976-80, our country had started a serious effort towards energy independence. The White House had solar collectors; there were serious efforts at using shale oil; and the national speed limit was 55 miles per hour. Then OPEC decided to drop the price of oil.

In 1981, the solar collectors were removed and within a very short period of time, the energy programs were disassembled. It took serious competition, a national commitment, to get OPEC to reassess the price of oil.

Competition, effective competition, is the only answer to high oil that I know works. But that means we, the voters, have to decide at the ballot box who we will send to government and in our purchases, profitability. Beware, there are many willing to make claims in the market place that have little or no relationship to reality.

Bob Wilson

 

Great points, Bob.

This clip from an interview with David Greene, who specializes in energy and environmental policy at Oak Ridge National Lab, echoes and provides further insight into the points you made.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/car/ope...gree-18-w.html

This came from the PBS NOVA - Car of the Future website. David Greene is one of the experts that will be featured on the program that gets aired Tuesday night on most PBS stations.

 

In my post above, I forgot to mention that the interview must have been recorded late last summer (as evidenced by the reference to the price of a barrel of oil). We need to keep that in mind when we listen to the commentary.

 

Even if it is an all time high, it will probably go up a bit more. Saudi Arabia may not abide by the bird in hand philosophy. Then again, I probably wouldn't either. The price of oil is more likely to go up higher in the near future, so they can just keep selling the same amount for more money.
I agree with competition breeding innovation...but it would be great to see innovation move along a bit faster.

 

Ok, fine. Let's raise the price of corn to $117 a bushel just for Saudi Arabia. Price of beef? Lamb? Chicken? $117 a pound... just for Saudi Arabia. Man cannot live on camel alone. What? That's not playing fair? It's called TRADE for a reason. You trade things you have for things you need at a reasonably equal value. Anyone feel an embargo coming on?

I know what you are thinking, any embargo only hurts the poor. The lower class.
Well, isn't that exactly what high gas price is doing to Americans? I don't think Oprah or David Letterman, or Jay Leno ( with 100 cars and motorcycles ) is being hurt by the price of gas.

What does S.A. have the least of? Looks like water to me. They only have ground water for 40% of their ever growing population. Nearly 60% of their water comes from desalination of sea water... which I'm sure, takes tremendous petrolem energy to produce. Too bad we can't send the oil supertankers back with fresh drinking water, at $117 per barrel.

Of course, there's the G.W.Bush way to solve the crisis... send a few 100,000 soldiers.

 

Well, while you're cheering away at high gas prices, you can pay for my fuel.

It's odd, after Hurricane Katrina, nearly every car I saw on the road slowed down within a few weeks, presumably as they felt the sudden spike in prices. After it dropped off and a few months went by, I went from being the normal or even slightly faster then average driver back to being the slowpoke. With the recent surges, I haven't seen the same effect again; everyone continues to roar past me to stop at that red light that I always hit green. On the other hand though, I'll admit I'm only doing 1/4 the driving now that I was doing then, but still.

 

The Katrina effect is like the frog in the boiling water....

I cheer for high prices also - just suck it up and pay your own bill. The gas you use costs everyone far more than $3.50 a gallon.

 

Believe me Rich, It sucks for me too. I run oil heat and live in the NE. Average cost of a 1/2 tank this year was about $450.00. I had lots of deliveries this winter. Home heating oil tends to follow diesel fuel prices, minus some taxes.
But if we are willing to sacrifice a bit now, I truly believe good things are on the horizon.

On the rare day I'm not at work, I am astounded by the traffic on my local roads during "working hours". Single drivers in big vehicles (usually on the cell phone too, don't get me started). Makes you wonder how people managed during WWII, with gas rationing, no rubber products, loved ones overseas. I really don't think we know sacrifice.