Oil prices down

[Gary68]

man o man I need to stay out of this thread or I will be banned for life.  highdesertranger

agreed,i'm out of here

 

[LeeRevell]

(Shrug) Roads and bridges don't build and maintain themselves. The money has to come from somewhere.

As exactly what I said.  Increased taxes do happen, though if the goobermints did their budgets correctly it wouldn't be necessary.  That doesn't happen.  Death and taxes - the two certainties of life.  BUT.....  once that special "Bridge" or "Highway" repair tax has paid for the project, it WILL NOT be rescinded.  We pay, and pay, and pay.    THAT is the real crime.  Lump another six or twelve or twentyfive cents a gallon "gas tax" onto the existing?  Sure, why the "eff" not?  It's only money.  When the gas goes to three times it's current price, no problem.....   We pay, and pay, and pay.  
Any day in these sunny United States, we all form a Lemming Train through the gas stations.  Gotta have our "Go Juice", no matter the price.

 

[gcal]

As exactly what I said.  Increased taxes do happen, though if the goobermints did their budgets correctly it wouldn't be necessary.  That doesn't happen.  Death and taxes - the two certainties of life.  BUT.....  once that special "Bridge" or "Highway" repair tax has paid for the project, it WILL NOT be rescinded.  We pay, and pay, and pay.    THAT is the real crime.  Lump another six or twelve or twentyfive cents a gallon "gas tax" onto the existing?  Sure, why the "eff" not?  It's only money.  When the gas goes to three times it's current price, no problem.....   We pay, and pay, and pay.  
Any day in these sunny United States, we all form a Lemming Train through the gas stations.  Gotta have our "Go Juice", no matter the price.

Cannot say much about gas prices. Only have cursory knowledge of that market,  and not familiar with all things that affect it. But I know a bit more about crude. All the producers, now, are acting in accordance with " the tragedy of the commons," destroying their own market by trying to get as much market share as they can before someone else does. Until some sort of regulation is agreed upon, they will continue to over produce. It is in the interest of those with lower production costs to drive higher cost competitors out of business and to keep prices at a level where those competitors stay out the business. There may be political and social influences involved on the fringes. But mainly it is pure, cut throat capitalism. Not judging whether it is good or bad for anyone else. Just observing that it is a rational business strategy for low cost producers and it seems to be what is being done.

 

[Canine]

Fuel tax last year was $13 billion short of what was spent on transportation.This shortfall was made up out of general revenues.There is no free meal.We will pay,one way or the other.

 

[GotSmart]

We pay per gallon.  Fuel efficiency is way up.  This is happening world wide, thus the problems for those selling oil.  Usage is down, taxes are down.  Wages are up, so a dollar of fuel tax does not do as much.  

I hate to admit it, but the US needs to do something in the New Deal style.  Put the homeless, that want to work, to rebuilding the roadways.  Solve two problems with one act.  I will pay an extra .25 cents a gallon.

 

[akrvbob]

The Climate Agreement Deal just signed in Paris shows the world is getting serious about shifting from fossil Fuels to Renweables. In the long run most of the world is better off in a Low Carbon world but nobody wanted the economic disadvantage of the pain caused by the switch-over.

With one stroke of a pen the whole world has agreed to start changing from Fossile Fuels to renewables and all the big players appear to be very serious about it. China has no choice, their environment is on the edge of disaster and they are already well on the way to renewable future. They know they have no choice but to stop pumping pollution into the air.

For now the USA has a politician that can look down the road and see that America is far better off by switching away from Fossile Fuels we buy from other countries and turning to renewable we make ourselves.

That creates the very real possibility of something called STRANDED OIL. That means there is more oil still in the ground than we can afford to burn and not raise global temperatures too much. Even if you reject that idea, the governments of the world have now officially accepted it and are taking real concrete steps to leave the oil in the ground. They believe it enough to sign an agreement that leaves them legally bound to reduce their use of fossil fuels.

The oil companies and oil producing nations can see the handwriting on the wall and are getting all of it out of the ground as fast as they can while the demand is still at it's highest.

I personally still think it's too little too late, we're looking at catastropic climate change by the end of the century, but I think it will also mean low oil prices probably from now on.
Bob

 

[Canine]

Well,the goal from the Paris accord is to limit warming to 1 1/2deg Celsius.I think this is doable without too much pain.Whether it will be enough remains to be seen.In the U.S.,electricity from solar is projected to supply 5% of our needs by 2020.That doesn't sound like much,but it's an increase from 1% today.China is leading the way in renewable energy because they have to.Citizens in cities in China are dying 5 years younger on average than rural folks.

 

[buckwilk]

It is being reported that 200 nations signed on to that agreement in Paris. This is historic because there are only 196 nations on this planet. Regardless of which side you come down on this agreement, what do you think the chances of all these countries following the regulations that are going to come out of this? Who's going to enforce them?

 

[LeeRevell]

The billions we waste on the HCGCC scam could repair a lot of roads and bridges.  But it is sad how much we waste on "pie in the sky" nonsense.  We won't see realistic highway funding until the trucks are having trouble getting food and goods to the big box stores.  
Another problem that will increase in coming years is reduced fuel taxes due to electric and hybrid vehicles.  Eventually the government will figure how to tax the road use by the electrics.