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its costing me a fortune to mow my grass!
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Smoke it!Originally posted by Little WhiskeyC.H.U.D.Comment
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Buy a goat.Originally posted by Freak OutOriginally posted by 3irty1Comment
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The high cost of gas is now affecting the folks of Janesville, Wis., as GM is shutting down the plant there that makes trucks.
I personally love trucks and have owned a couple, but with the way gas prices are I will not buy one anymore. I would love to buy an oldie though just to drive on weekends. Some want to drive a Harley for a Sunday drive, I want a classic truck from the 50's or 60's (or maybe older).
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McClatchy Washington Bureau
Posted on Tue, Jun. 03, 2008
Speculation helping to drive oil price skyward, Senate panel hears
Les Blumenthal | McClatchy Newspapers
last updated: June 03, 2008 07:08:22 PM
WASHINGTON — One is a billionaire financier and the other operates seven gas stations and convenience stores in a farming community of 7,000 in eastern Washington state.
But George Soros and Gerry Ramm delivered the same message Tuesday to the Senate Commerce Committee: Rampant speculation has helped spur out-of-control crude oil prices.
In the measured tones of high finance, Soros, whose hedge fund by some accounts made $3 billion last year, talked about a "speculative excess" and warned that the run-up in oil prices could drag the United States into a recession.
"There is a strong prima facie case against institutional investors pursuing a commodity index-buying strategy," he said. "It is intellectually dishonest, potentially destabilizing and distinctly harmful in its economic consequences."
Ramm, the president of the Inland Oil Co. of Ephrata, Wash., was a bit more plainspoken.
"Excessive speculation on energy trading facilities is the fuel that is driving this runaway train in crude oil prices," he said.
Others testifying at the hearing said that speculation by investment banks, hedge funds, institutional investors and others may be responsible for more than half of the skyrocketing price of crude oil. The Federal Trade Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, they said, have failed to investigate.
Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and others at the hearing said they welcomed the news last week that the CTFC, for the past six months, has been investigating the trading of contracts for future deliveries of oil, commonly called futures contracts. But they said the investigation was too limited in scope and fell far short of the tougher probes required.
Cantwell, who chaired the hearing, was especially critical of the CFTC for deciding that regulators in London and Dubai should patrol international crude oil markets rather than doing so itself.
Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., who chaired the hearing, was especially critical of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for deciding that regulators in London and Dubai should patrol international crude-oil markets rather than doing so itself.
The International Petroleum Exchange is in London but is owned by an Atlanta exchange; the oil trading exchange in Dubai is connected with the New York Mercantile Exchange. In addition, West Texas Intermediate Crude is the benchmark used on most international oil markets.
Cantwell said that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission had oversight authority over international exchanges but so far had refused to act. Speculators are taking advantage of the situation, she said.
"This is no different than when U.S. businesses take out a post office box in the Cayman Islands to avoid U.S. business laws," Cantwell said. The commission, so far, has proved to be a "toothless tiger" which has "abdicated its oversight responsibility," she said.
Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., said he thought that there had been an "orgy" of speculation when it came to the oil markets.
"The law of bubbles is that all bubbles burst," Dorgan said.
Even as speculators and others are getting rich, the retail side of the industry is getting squeezed, Ramm said.
"Last year, gasoline dealers and heating oil retailers saw profit margins from fuel sales fall to their lowest point in decades as oil prices surged," he said, adding that most station owners make their profits by selling drinks and snacks.
Ramm, representing the Petroleum Marketers of America, said retailers were near the limits on their lines of credit because of the high petroleum prices.
"This creates a credit crisis with marketers' banks, which creates liquidity problems and may force petroleum marketers and station owners to close up shop," he said.
Michael Greenberger, a University of Maryland law professor, said that not only were speculators playing the markets, they also were starting to take delivery of the petroleum products. As they drive prices higher, they then can sell their products for even more. Greenberger said that one investment company was currently the largest owner of heating oil in New England, where oil heats 80 percent of homes.
If speculation were reined in and trading rules tightened, Greenberger said, the cost of crude oil could drop 25 percent.
McClatchy Newspapers 2008C.H.U.D.Comment
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In some part of CT, 35 miles from me, it's $4.09.............down the street, it's $4.49.Comment
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and who should we be blaming??
ANWR Exploration
House Republicans: 91% Supported
House Democrats: 86% Opposed
Coal-to-Liquid
House Republicans: 97% Supported
House Democrats: 78% Opposed
Oil Shale Exploration
House Republicans: 90% Supported
House Democrats: 86% Opposed
Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Exploration
House Republicans: 81% Supported
House Democrats: 83% Opposed
Refinery Increased Capacity
House Republicans: 97% Supported
House Democrats: 96% OpposedLombardi told Starr to "Run it, and let's get the hell out of here!" - 'Ice Bowl' December 31, 1967Comment
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????? This is permitted.Originally posted by sheepsheadC.H.U.D.Comment
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Not at the moment--unbelievable isnt it?Originally posted by Freak OutLombardi told Starr to "Run it, and let's get the hell out of here!" - 'Ice Bowl' December 31, 1967Comment
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Originally posted by packinpatland
It's a little spendy to live out by you.Comment
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No.....I'm sorry you misunderstood me. This is a permitted process. If you meet permit requirements then you can build a refinery. A very expensive endevour these days but still possible. Tesoro closed one refinery up here because of "lack of demand" for product a few years ago and most of the equipment was shipped overseas.Originally posted by sheepsheadC.H.U.D.Comment
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Diesel Beats Gasoline as Traders Bet on Widest Spread (Update1)
By Nesa Subrahmaniyan
June 9 (Bloomberg) -- Diesel, the world's most-used transport fuel, is so prized by traders they'll pay the biggest premiums in at least 15 years to buy it.
Because refiners can't make enough, diesel sells for $145 a ton, or 14 percent, more than gasoline as China halts exports, the Middle East boosts imports and power shortages force mines from Australia to Chile to run oil-fed generators. For the first time, refiners Valero Energy Corp. and ConocoPhillips this summer will make more money from diesel than gasoline in the Northern Hemisphere, said Andrew Reed, an analyst at Energy Security Analysis Inc. in Boston.
``Diesel is in the driver's seat now, and will be at least in the next few years,'' said Anthony Nunan, assistant general manager for risk management in Tokyo at Mitsubishi Corp., Japan's largest trading company. ``About 43 percent of the world's gasoline is consumed in the U.S., and with high prices and a soft economy, that market is stalling.''
Diesel use in developed economies is growing about 2 percent this year, or 200,000 barrels a day, while gasoline use in the U.S. falls for the first time since 1991, according to Merrill Lynch & Co. The trend will continue, boosting diesel's premium to gasoline by 31 percent, to more than $190 a ton in Europe by year-end, swap contracts from broker PVM Oil International show.
Refiners will profit by producing more diesel instead of gasoline, and the biggest winners will be those that process cheaper, heavy grades of crude. Reliance Industries Ltd. will start operating the world's largest refinery on India's west coast this year, with equipment designed to produce about 247,000 barrels a day of diesel from every 580,000 barrels a day of crude, 22 percent more than the world average.
Saras, ERG
Saras SpA, owner of the Mediterranean region's biggest refinery, Italy's ERG SpA and Greece's Motor Oil Hellas SA also have plants with units designed to maximize diesel supply.
``ERG, Saras and Motor Oil's bias toward diesel production versus gasoline positions them well to exploit the global shortages of diesel and upgrading capacity,'' Merrill Lynch analyst James Schofield said.
The world consumed 30.2 million barrels of diesel and related distillate fuels, 16 percent more than the 26.1 million barrels of gasoline in 2006, according to statistics compiled by BP Plc.
Most U.S. refiners can't maximize diesel production and cut back on gasoline because they lack the flexibility to switch from one product to another. That means when gasoline profits dropped and refiners cut output, they reduced diesel supplies too.
Focus on Gasoline
U.S. oil refiners for the past seven years focused on increasing gasoline production, adding the capacity to make another 1.2 million barrels a day, almost double the additional 700,000 barrels of diesel, according to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
To be sure, some analysts say diesel's gains have peaked. Higher prices will curtail demand, and capacity ``should increase markedly'' as refineries come back online after maintenance and new plants are added in China and India, Credit Suisse said in a report last week.
``Diesel prices may decline over the second half of this year,'' said Jit Yang Lim, a Singapore-based senior consultant at FACTS Global Energy, who also said diesel's best is past. ``Part of the reason is that in the second half we have new refining capacity coming, particularly Reliance in India.''
Last week a fire shut down shipments from Apache Corp.'s Varanus Island natural gas plant off Australia, boosting demand for diesel from the region's mining companies. Apache said it may take two months to restore production.
Supply Crunch
Even before the fire, the diesel supply crunch prompted Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analysts led by London-based Henry Morris to increase estimates of refinery profits in Europe to $8.20 a barrel from $6.95 for 2008, and for 2009 to $8 from $7.50.
``In Western Europe, diesel is all the time gaining market share compared to gasoline,'' Jeroen van der Veer, chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe's largest oil company, said in Kuala Lumpur. ``We expect those trends will continue.''
European demand for diesel is growing at an annual rate of 4.4 percent, Energy Security Analysis' Reed said. Carmakers Volkswagen AG and Bayerische Motoren Werke AG are making more diesel-engine cars, cutting demand for gasoline, while Shell, Total SA and BP Plc's plants can't make enough of the fuel.
Stricter emission standards for diesel in the U.S. and Europe are also helping to push up diesel, Reed said. The European Union starting in 2009 requires sulfur content in diesel to be lowered by 80 percent, to 10 parts per million, he said.
Trucks, Trains, Ships
Diesel for prompt delivery in New York gained 32 percent this year, the result of increasing demand from trucks, trains and shipping companies, outpacing gasoline's 20 percent advance. U.S. diesel consumption in March rose 3.3 percent from a year earlier to 3.5 million barrels a day, while gasoline use declined 1.5 percent to 9.1 million a day, according to the International Energy Agency in Paris.
Diesel has ``gained a new lease of life,'' said Tom O'Brien, a director of closely held Trafigura Pte in Singapore, the Asian unit of Trafigura Beheer BV, the world's third-largest independent oil trading company. ``Diesel has cleaned up its image as a dirty fuel by lowering its sulfur content in the developed world.''
To contact the reporter on this story: Nesa Subrahmaniyan in Singapore at nesas@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: June 9, 2008 06:10 EDTC.H.U.D.Comment
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What we need is biodiesel. I've read you can make biodiesel from hemp. Do you think the gov't will allow that?Comment
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Well, at least if you smoke your fuel, you won't care whether you get where you wanna go or not..."Greatness is not an act... but a habit.Greatness is not an act... but a habit." -Greg JenningsComment
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You would never make it past the first Taco stand.Originally posted by MJZiggyC.H.U.D.Comment
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