or force Americans to force the govt to implement changes.

think of all the gas guzzlers on the road...not to mention the utility vehicles business use for daily operations as well as the trucking industry.

so changing driving habits means not driving. the fallout in the housing is and will lead to credit fallout because the US consumers do not have blank cheques for credit.

people cant simply unload those vehicles or stop using them b/c it means they lose more money getting another vehicle and businesses cant stop shipping and daily operations b/c they will go out of business thus causing unemployment to rise to levels making us belief were in 1930's again.

the analysts want to paint a happy picture and outlook but the monies people spend on energy must come from somewhere. Assets = liabilities’ + owners equity. the equation must balance (sorry had to throw that in there ;) )

so driving habits isnt the answer we need realistic efforts being put into energy alternatives...and not in the next decade or two...we need them to have already been started or be started.

Edit - habits arent the only answer, only a part of it :o)

p.s. i do know that rambling about such items is nothing less than beating a dead horse. im only asking this stuff, to get others take on what needs to happen and what would, could, etc...

its as good a conversation as any i guess.

it will be even better when we have interest rates that rival those from the 80's :shake:

I don't know that there is any quick solution that can be provided, most especially by the government. We are now paying for the lack of drilling for our own oil...all that environmental crap sounded really good when gas was 1.25\gal. Now, even if they allowed us to drill all the oil that we have at our disposal, it would take years to realize a real savings. Not to mention the cost of facilities.

We've screwed ourselves and now we're paying for it.

by govt, i meant more stringent fuel economy standards. cars getting 15 MPG HWY is reeruned. people buying those types of vehicles "now" are a few lambchops short of a mixed grill...if ya know what im saying :o)

i say let gas continue to skyrocket....bring on a recession and get it all overwith so those speculative buyers in oil can lose all there investment.

Happy Thanksgiving.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20071121/D8T20S6G0.html

Oil Prices Rise Above $99 a Barrel

SINGAPORE (AP) - Crude oil prices rose to a new record above $99 a barrel Wednesday, lifted by worries about inadequate supplies as the Northern Hemisphere enters winter and on news of refinery problems.

The declining U.S. dollar and speculation that the Federal Reserve will again cut interest rates also boosted prices. Some investors put their money into oil contracts as a hedge against the dollar, betting that oil gains will offset dollar weakness.

"The market is now really looking at $100 a barrel as the next target to hit," said Victor Shum, an energy analyst with Purvin & Gertz in Singapore. "The fact that we are having this surge in pricing in this short trading week underscores the strength of this bull run for oil."

Light, sweet crude for January delivery rose as high as $99.29 a barrel in electronic trading after the New York Mercantile Exchange closed, breaking the previous intraday record of $98.62 on Nov. 7. Midafternoon in Singapore, oil was trading at $98.64 a barrel.

Energy futures got a boost on news of problems at two oil facilities Tuesday. A Valero Energy Corp. (VLO) refinery in Memphis, Tenn., that processes 180,000 barrels of crude a day has shut down for 10 days of unplanned maintenance. Also, a Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB) plant that converts bitumen from Alberta's oil sands region into 155,000 barrels a day of synthetic crude oil was temporarily shut down due to a fire.

Beyond these temporary concerns, investors are anxious that as global demand for energy grows, fueled by China and India's rapid development, oil supplies won't be able to keep up.

Currently, oil producers are turning out about 85 million barrels a day, while the U.S. Department of Energy says consumption is between 85 million and 86 million barrels a day.

"The long-term underlying trend is that demand is powering forward and the supply situation looks tight," said Jeff Brown, managing director and chief economist at FACTS Global Energy in Singapore.

Oil prices also got support after the Fed said it thinks U.S. economic growth will slow next year to between 1.8 percent and 2.5 percent, less than the Fed's previous projections. It also projected that U.S. inflation should fall next year to between a 1.8 percent and 2.1 percent increase.

That could mean the Fed will cut interest rates further, and that could weigh on the dollar. The euro hit a record against the dollar Wednesday, rising as high as $1.4856.

"When the U.S. dollar hit a record low, oil also surged ahead. It's been an inverse relationship," Shum said. "Also, the Fed indicating worries about the U.S. economy has caused worry that the Fed will cut interest rates."

Crude prices are within the range of inflation-adjusted highs set in early 1980. Depending on how the adjustment is calculated, $38 a barrel then would be worth $96 to $103 or more today.

Oil product prices also rose. December heating oil futures were up 1.74 cents at $2.7075 a gallon after closing in New York at $2.6901 a gallon, a record settlement. Gasoline prices added 2.05 cents to $2.4720 a gallon.

Traders were also closely watching for the release of Wednesday's petroleum inventory report from the U.S. Energy Department's Energy Information Administration.

Analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires, on average, predict that crude oil inventories rose by 800,000 barrels last week, while refinery use grew by 0.4 percentage point to 88.1 percent of capacity.

Gasoline likely grew by 700,000 barrels, the analysts predicted, while inventories of distillates, which include heating oil and diesel fuel, fell by 400,000 barrels.

Natural gas futures rose 1.3 cents to $7.49 per 1,000 cubic feet.

That $4 a gallon is not looking so alarmist anymore Donger.

No, it still is. Crude would have to start selling at around $150 for that to happen.

As the American dollar loses more and more value it's becoming more apparent now. I never thought the increasing demand of oil consumption and the devalue of the dollar could coincide to create such a monster problem.

I still say that crude is going to drop, although having it rise this time of year is unprecedented.

im staying out of this round Donger ;)

Let gas get as high as it wants, prices continue upwards i will continue to buy even less i have literatly cut my gas bill in half by car pooling, and planning my trips or just buy not driving the higher they are the harder they fall. Gas is due for a large correction..gas this high would only be due to a shortage..and there ARE NO LINES. whoops said im staying out of it :o)

...unless you own stock in walmart....the time to sell stocks in retail is now. this seasons back Friday is going to be disgusting :(

I hope Crude Sweet does drop, I hope, I hope, I hope.

I was wrong. I can't believe it is this high....

Oil crosses $100 threshold

http://money.cnn.com/2008/01/03/mark...ex.htm?cnn=yes

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Oil prices, after taking an initial dip on a weekly government report on inventory levels, crossed the $100 threshold Thursday and continued a six-year, five-fold spike driven by surging demand and limited supply.

U.S. light crude for February delivery crossed $100 a barrel around 11:30 ET on the New York Mercantile Exchange before slipping a few cents. Oil had traded down 63 cents just prior to the report's release.

On Wednesday, oil briefly touched $100 for the first time - although that amount was paid by one trader who bought one contract - before settling at the end of the day at a record $99.62.

The latest market mover was an inventory report showing a drop in U.S. crude supplies.

In its weekly inventory report, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said crude stocks fell by 4 million barrels last week. Analysts were looking for a drop of 1.7 million barrels, according to a Dow Jones poll. It's the seventh straight week crude inventories have fallen.

Distillates, used to make heating oil and diesel fuel, rose by 600,000 barrels while gasoline supplies gained by 1.9 million barrels. Analysts were looking for a 600,000 barrel decline in distillates supplies and a 1.3 million barrel increase in gasoline stockpiles.

Oil prices initially fell after the report. One trader said the drop was not as big as some of the previous inventory reports.

"The market was expecting a bigger draw," Ray Carbone, president of Paramount Options, said from the floor of the NYMEX. "This is a market that's slightly exhausted, you're going to need something to really push it."

What $100 oil would cost you

The inventory report is just the latest mover in a market that is hyper-sensitive to news. Oil prices have surged five-fold in the last six years, going from under $20 a barrel in early 2002. In 2007 alone, crude jumped nearly 60 percent.

Most analyst blame the runup on rising demand - mostly from developing countries and the U.S. - that eats up any new gains made in oil production.

Oil companies have posted record profits for the last few years. While their budgets for finding new oil have increased, most of the windfall has been returned to shareholders in the form of dividends and share buybacks.

The companies - and oil industry analysts - say vastly increasing spending on oil and gas exploration won't do any good, as there's only a limited amount of equipment and manpower available for the task. Plus, many analysts say new, big oil fields are getting harder to find, especially in countries friendly to Western oil firms.

The bad boys of oil

This tight supply and demand scenario has also attracted a ton of investment money, although its effect on prices is debated. Some say investment money has a minimal effect, accounting for a premium of maybe $10 or $15 a barrel, and is generally good for the market as it provides liquidity.

Others say investors are making a bundle off Americans who must pay record gas prices at the pump, and are adding $30 or $40 to the price of a barrel.

Tight supply and demand also exaggerates the effects of geopolitical tensions, as there is less spare capacity to make up for a disruption in supplies.

The falling U.S. dollar has also played a role, since investors buy oil and other commodities as a hedge against a lower dollar.

This combination of factors has led many analysts to believe oil prices are, on average, only headed higher.

"Why aren't we over $100? Give it time," said Carbone.

Wednesday's surge of over $3 was fueled by violence in oil-rich Nigeria, the prospect of more interest rate cuts and a lower dollar, a halt in Mexican imports and talk of the expected drop in U.S. crude stockpiles.

Adjusted for inflation, oil is at or near the prices of the early 1980s. At that time, following the Iranian revolution and the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq war, oil traded in the high $30-a-barrel range, the equivalent of between $92 and around $103 a barrel in current prices, depending on the contract cited and the inflation calculation used.

Retail gasoline prices have not risen as fast as oil prices over the last few months, largely due to weak demand.

But with oil prices so high, gasoline is beginning to catch up. The national average price for a gallon of regular Thursday was about $3.05 a gallon, a penny less than last month but about 30 percent higher than the same time last year, according to the motorist organization AAA.

"Unfortunately, we also continue to believe that new record high prices will be paid by consumers for gasoline in the year ahead," AAA spokesman Geoff Sundstrom said in a statement Wednesday.

Why?? Any reason they can find they will raise the price even if it is nominal..

If I had to venture a guess, it would be pure investment speculation. Supply and demand are still getting closer, but not enough to keep the price this high. Hopefully, they'll start taking more profits and the price will fall. If not, this spring and summer is going to be ugly.

You know what? **** it. Let it climb way the **** up there and price some of these mother****ers on the streets out of driving. Maybe then I'll actually be able to drive somewhere without tearing my ****ing hair out.