Gas to hit 5 dollars

[Reigner92]

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/12/28/former-shell-boss-predicts-5-gal-gas-in-2012/

[RangerM]

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/12/28/former-shell-boss-predicts-5-gal-gas-in-2012/

If that guy has invested in oil futures, he's definitely set himself up to make money by making such dire predictions.

 

I'll treat this one like I do those "buy gold" (at today's price) commercials.

[V8-X]

Scary thought. But hey that's why I have an economical DD and the truck for the fun. But $150 to fill the tank (30 gal), that'd put a nice dent in the wallet.

[Ford Jellymoulds]

Scary thought. But hey that's why I have an economical DD and the truck for the fun. But $150 to fill the tank (30 gal), that'd put a nice dent in the wallet.

 

LOL $150 thats absolutely dirt cheap, watched this on CNN this morning they said spare a thought for the poor UK motorist who is pays on average $400 (Dead money) a month to fill up their Focus with gasoline & we are to getting hit with two other big fuel prices rise in Government fuel duty taxes & Government 20% VAT tax that will be added to both fuel prices, new car prices, spares parts you buy for your cars, & crash repairs come January 2011 so you have never had it so good Stateside huh $150 thats bugger all.

 

A chap l work with is putting in over $800 a month gasoline in his Audi for his 4 day commute into work and running around a home thats more in tune with an American commute, rather than a typical average 10,000 miles a year British commute.

 

Shell ex boss also said urban areas in the UK & USA and most big cities will be hit with with lots of lengthy electricity power cuts/blackouts after 2012 just as the electric car arrives on the scene which will make them about as much use as a chocolate tea-pot, which will make things like a little dusting of snow in the Big Apple seem like a good day as the expensive electric car gets greener by coming to a grinding halt.

 

Shells ex boss blamed it on under supply at the moment, the inability of supply to supply the worlds output demand will become impossible to match after 2012 as the Chinese tap suck off the worlds oil nipple supply with 13 million new cars every year for the first time ever joined by the Indians & many others who hit to the roads for the first time ever. Gotta say l did not see this coming MMmmmm still Ford are better placed to survive a storm thanks to big Al, a storm that l think won't go away it will just get worse.

Edited December 29, 2010 by Ford Jellymoulds

[mlhm5]

Ultimately expensive oil will guarantee that electrics will be profitable. Woe to the car maker who doesn't offer an electric option (BEV) when gas hits $5.

 

Nissan and Tesla are rolling theirs out in 2011. The Tesla for a 230 mile range is $57K, however at $4 a gallon, government subsidies, operating costs, it should be like owning a $35K car.

[Ford Jellymoulds]

Ultimately expensive oil will guarantee that electrics will be profitable. Woe to the car maker who doesn't offer an electric option (BEV) when gas hits $5.

 

Nissan and Tesla are rolling theirs out in 2011. The Tesla for a 230 mile range is $57K, however at $4 a gallon, government subsidies, operating costs, it should be like owning a $35K car.

 

MMmmm l wonder who will own the Electric Car market mlhm5? Electric Cars will be running on flat batteries in the UK come 2013 as we face blackouts as our governments past & present have failed to invest in new power stations they take about 10 years to get up to speed from conception to switching it on so we are not going to be geared up by 2020 at the very earliest to cope with the extra demand electric cars will place on our electric power grid.

 

 

UK is running OK on $8.97 a gallon diesel at the moment & we are going to get hit with two big tax hikes come January 1st 2011. We are getting by OK in the UK and surviving, so why won't you mlhm5?

 

China are deliberately buying up rare earth mines worldwide & pulling the plug on rare earth materials supply to the rest of the world at the moment in a bid to inflate prices, the cut supplies by 40% in 2010 and is set to slash supplies to the rest of the world by another 11% in early 2011 so the price of electric cars will soar unless they are Made in China, so the Chinese will be able to hold the world to ransom & charge top dollar prices for its electric cars.

 

 

(Reuters) 28th DEC - China said on Tuesday it will cut its export quotas for rare earth minerals by more than 11 percent in the first half of 2011, further shrinking supplies of metals needed to make a range of high-tech products.

 

China produces about 97 percent of rare earth minerals, used worldwide in high-technology, clean energy and other products that exploit their special properties for magnetism, luminescence and strength.

 

The rare earth issue could further strain U.S.-China ties, which have been battered this year by arguments over human rights, Tibet, Taiwan, the value of the Chinese currency and North Korean military attacks on South Korea.

 

Chinese President Hu Jintao is due to visit the United States next month for talks with President Barack Obama that both sides hope can stabilize the vital relationship.

 

Beijing says its curbs are for environmental reasons and to guarantee supplies to Chinese clean energy firms it is trying to promote internationally. But it has also said its dominance as a producer should give it more control over global prices

 

China's Commerce Ministry allotted 14,446 tons of quotas to 31 companies, which was 11.4 percent less than the 16,304 tons it allocated to 22 companies in the first half of 2010 quotas a year ago.

 

China slashed the export quota by 40 percent in 2010. The export restraints on rare earths has inflamed trade ties with the United States, European Union and Japan in particular.

 

In Washington, the U.S. Trade Representative's office expressed concern over the latest announcement.

 

"We are very concerned about China's export restraints on rare earth materials. We have raised our concerns with China and we are continuing to work closely on the issue with stakeholders," a USTR spokeswoman said.

 

Last week, the trade representative's office said China had refused U.S. requests to end export restraints on rare earths, and the United States could complain to the World Trade Organization, which judges international trade disputes.

 

TURBINES AND HYBRIDS

 

Wind turbines and hybrid cars are among the biggest users of rare earth minerals, which analysts say are facing a global supply crunch as demand swells. The minerals are also used in some weapons systems.

 

 

 

Jack Lifton of Technology Metals Research, a Chicago-based consultancy, said Molycorp and Australia's Lynas Corporation Ltd can eventually offset shortfalls from Chinese cuts in supply and refining capacity -- but not before early 2013.

 

"Until one of them can produce commercial quantities of high-purity rare earths on a regular basis, the market will belong to the Chinese entirely," he said.

 

In a short statement on its website (www.mofcom.gov.cn), the Chinese Commerce Ministry said it had added more producer companies to the quota list but cut volumes allocated to trading companies.

 

CLEAN UP, CONSOLIDATION IN CHINA

 

Japan has been hard hit by the export curbs. Japanese imports of rare earths shrank further in November, reflecting the impact from China's de-facto ban on shipments of the minerals that was lifted late last month.

 

The European Union has also expressed concern over China's limiting of rare earth exports, though the bloc's trade commissioner said earlier this month China had reiterated that rare earth supplies would be sustained.

 

With more than 100 mines and some 40 refineries, "the Chinese seem to be quite serious about cleaning up the sector environmentally and consolidating it," said Lifton.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 31, 2010 by Ford Jellymoulds

[jpd80]

Ultimately expensive oil will guarantee that electrics will be profitable. Woe to the car maker who doesn't offer an electric option (BEV) when gas hits $5.

 

Nissan and Tesla are rolling theirs out in 2011. The Tesla for a 230 mile range is $57K, however at $4 a gallon, government subsidies, operating costs, it should be like owning a $35K car.

Some more car for your list:

 

GM has the Volt in production

Toyota has PIH Prius and BEV RAV4 (Tesla) on the way

Ford has BEV Focus and Transit Connect on the way

Edited December 31, 2010 by jpd80

[630land]

There's been predictions of sustained high priced gasoline in the US for decades. And in 2008, "experts" claimed $6 a gallon by November elections.

 

Whenever it gets high, the oil producing countries cut prices, and then the hysteria ends for a while.

 

Also, where is the extra electricity going to come from to power all the EV's, thin air? Fossel fuels will end up in more power plants and then cancel out any 'savings'.

Edited January 21, 2011 by 630land

[RangerM]

EVs are not going to solve any problem. The primary factor is range (not to mention the cost of entry), not gas price. It doesn't matter if you don't use gas, if you can't get there.

 

Mlhm5's "woe" will be felt by those who need to eat, and whose food is transported by truck. That would be everyone. There would be such an uprising in this country that any moratorium on drilling would be too (politically) toxic for any politician to sustain.

Edited January 21, 2011 by RangerM

[Big Vito]

3 years ago it was only $3.00 avg.

[kamieo]

How fast we forget that gas was at $1.75/gallon this time 2 years ago. $5 a gallon will be a reality sooner than we think. This year or next? Not likely, but it's very likely in the next 3-5 years.

[goinbroke2]

Here's what I wonder;

 

1) is this guy American

2) is he left or right wing

3) does he believe in the American dream or even understand it

 

Here's why I question the above, any capitalist (ESPECIALLY AMERICANS) should realise that if there is a need there will be vendor.

In other words, America made itself great by inventing things to make life easier/better/fairer whatever. If we run out of oil, then necessity being the mother of all inventions, we'll use something else. And more than likely an American will invent it and make huge profit off it. (which makes up for the 5 Americans who went bankrupt trying to invent their own version or idea.

 

Some get it, some on the left or those who are anti-capitalist don't understand where everything they enjoy now, came from. They think the government invented the airplane, the car, pasturizing milk, whatever. It was people getting sick from drinking the water in the "new land" that everybody started making beer and whisky in north america. The government didn't step in and tell people to drink alcohol.

 

Call me nieve, but I'm not ready to panic yet. Oil goes to $200.00 and all of a sudden something that costs less will be "discovered". Or, it will be expensive enough that other technologies which have been to costly to do, are now seen as economically sound.

Like, oh, I don't know...tar sands? Get sweet crude from the ground easy or dig in a tar pit...hmmm, but now that the price of a barrel went up, hey look at all the reserves we have in easily mined tar pits! yay for us!

 

Besides, I think idiots who scream the price is going through the roof on something, and then make a huge profit when the stock does jump because of the hysteria they created or fed into, should be shot and pissed on.

[jpd80]

At the moment there is a reasonably good supply of oil and gasoline, the recovery in the US is relatively slow

giving oil producers ample time to ramp up production. So as the dollar strengthens, the price of oil should fall

but if supplies tighten, that could drive the price of gasoline back up.

 

All in all, I see the realtive price staying pretty flat at $3.00 to $3.50/gallon over the next three years or so,

that's still enough to sharpen buyer's attention to fuel economy but not enough to scare them off the

newer more efficient larger vehicles...

[Live4therut]

I can about guarantee gas is going to go up. I am thinking about buying a new 250. LOL!

[mlhm5]

US says that we are already at peak oil and there is nothing that can be done to slow the price rise.

 

"The US fears that Saudi Arabia, the world's largest crude oil exporter, may not have enough reserves to prevent oil prices escalating, confidential cables from its embassy in Riyadh show.

 

The cables, released by WikiLeaks, urge Washington to take seriously a warning from a senior Saudi government oil executive that the kingdom's crude oil reserves may have been overstated by as much as 300bn barrels – nearly 40%.

 

The revelation comes as the oil price has soared in recent weeks to more than $100 a barrel on global demand and tensions in the Middle East. Many analysts expect that the Saudis and their Opec cartel partners would pump more oil if rising prices threatened to choke off demand.

 

However, Sadad al-Husseini, a geologist and former head of exploration at the Saudi oil monopoly Aramco, met the US consul general in Riyadh in November 2007 and told the US diplomat that Aramco's 12.5m barrel-a-day capacity needed to keep a lid on prices could not be reached.'

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/feb/08/saudi-oil-reserves-overstated-wikileaks

[silvrsvt]

US says that we are already at peak oil and there is nothing that can be done to slow the price rise.

 

"The US fears that Saudi Arabia, the world's largest crude oil exporter, may not have enough reserves to prevent oil prices escalating, confidential cables from its embassy in Riyadh show.

 

The cables, released by WikiLeaks, urge Washington to take seriously a warning from a senior Saudi government oil executive that the kingdom's crude oil reserves may have been overstated by as much as 300bn barrels – nearly 40%.

 

Heres the counter point

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110210/ap_on_re_us/us_shale_oil

 

 

 

Within five years, analysts and executives predict, the newly unlocked fields are expected to produce 1 million to 2 million barrels of oil per day, enough to boost U.S. production 20 percent to 40 percent. The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates production will grow a more modest 500,000 barrels per day.

 

By 2020, oil imports could be slashed by as much as 60 percent, according to Credit Suisse's Morse, who is counting on Gulf oil production to rise and on U.S. gasoline demand to fall. At today's oil prices of roughly $90 per barrel, slashing imports that much would save the U.S. $175 billion a year. Last year, when oil averaged $78 per barrel, the U.S. sent $260 billion overseas for crude, accounting for nearly half the country's $500 billion trade deficit.