I dont ever see the price at the pump falling even if a barrel of oil drops 20 bucks........sorry but thats just what I see

If you look back in this thread you will see that over the last year my predictions were pretty close...............also that the price of diesel would be 5 bucks by the 4th of July

I know one day soon we only wish we could buy fuel for 5 bucks

I know I pay 2x's as much at the pump compared to a year ago but also at the same time my investments are now 2x's what they were too..................its all good in the end

life hands you lemmons make lemmonaid

 

Theres only one ultimate solution to the oil dilemma,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, to consume less oil



back in the 1970 Brazil relied on the rest of the world for 85% of its oil. The result? Debt ballooned, and rampant inflation became the norm for decades. But those high prices pushed the need for change, and change is exactly what Brazil got. Innovation and commitment to overcoming the oil burden pushed Brazil to energy independence today by way of sugar cane-based ethanol (which is, importantly, far different from the corn-based ethanol made in America.) The oil embargo of the 1970s also pushed Denmark, which was 99% dependent on imported oil, to become one of the world's leaders in alternative energy, such as windmill technology. The important thing to realize is that it's highly doubtful that any of this would have happened if higher prices hadn't spurred people to action.

Here at home, higher gas prices will be one of the only things that ramp up both oil exploration and alternative-energy technology. The investment community is paying serious attention to companies such as Capstone Turbine (Nasdaq: CPST) and Sasol (NYSE: SSL), and attention is exactly what's needed to push the energy industry into the next inning.

Bite your lip. Suck it up.
None of this is to say gas pains are anything to scoff at. It's taking a serious toll on people. The more serious question to ask, however, is what the state of the economy will look like 10, 20, 50, or 100 years down the road if the issue keeps getting swept under the rug -- which is where it'll go if low prices return.

Yes, $4-a-gallon gas is painful, and $10-a-gallon gas could be catastrophic. That's why you should embrace $4 gas now, and welcome it for the changes it will inevitably bring. Problems correct. Markets work.

Demand in the us is constantly dropping in past months and the price of oil is constantly rising. That is because of the demands coming from the emerging countries. You talk like US is the only country on earth. @#$% your conservation. It doesn't do @#$%. Lets go back to reality here, and the only doable solution at this moment/time is to increase supply. Researching for alternatives is going to be helpful in the long term but not at this time/moment.

 

Out of Gas:Exxon to Exit Low-Profit Retail Pumps
By Russell Gold

Exxon Mobil Corp., purveyor of one of the most recognizable gasoline brands in the world, is getting out of the domestic retail gasoline business. The oil giant said Thursday that over the next few years it will sell the 2,220 gasoline stations it owns in the U.S.



One would have never guessed this ..............makes sense to me though

 

LONDON, June 13 (Reuters) - Germany's 275,000 barrel a day Wilhelmshaven refinery has cut run rates due to poor refining margins, traders said on Friday.

One trader said the refinery, owned by ConocoPhillips has cut runs by as much as 40 percent.

A refinery spokesman declined to comment.

 

On the subject of sales by Esso / Exxon:

This is a multi edge sword - the low cost of retail profit (yes I said that) - is a problem. Next, the high cost of employee salaries, the ultra high cost associated with EPA and other requirements as a result of aging infrastructure (tanks, trucks, terminals, pumps etc.)

Makes perfect sense.

 

Pump up Your Portfolio With Oil Stocks

How to cope with surging crude prices? You can offset the rising cost of driving by making smart energy-related invesments.

By Andrew Tanzer
June 13, 2008

Watching the price of oil go up and up this spring, you probably wondered what it would take to really disrupt the U.S. economy -- or at the very least, disrupt the driving and spending habits of the American population. Maybe now we know.

Gasoline at $4 a gallon seems to be the tipping point. Americans, who consume nearly 40% of the world's gasoline, are finally curbing their driving habits. Consumers and investors are worried about gushing oil prices, as they should be.

So we think high oil prices are here to stay. In this environment, in which the politicians and political parties are unwilling to face realities, what's an investor to do? One thing you can do is hedge the rising cost of driving your car by making smart energy-related investments. To generate some ideas along those lines, we asked one of the hottest growth managers and one of the best value managers in the business to name some favorite stocks.

Gerry Jordan, manager of Jordan Opportunity (symbol JORDX), is indeed hot. His aggressive, large-company growth fund has returned 21% in the 12 months to June 12 -- an astounding 30 percentage points more than Standard & Poor's 500-stock index. Jordan favors oil services firms like Schlumberger (SLB) and Weatherford International (WFT) over oil producers, saying that even ExxonMobil, the ultimate big-oil villain in the eyes of Congress, is showing no growth in output. Both Schlumberger and Weatherford have strong overseas businesses, even in inhospitable nations that are off-limits to exploration by oil majors. Jordan says high oil prices will lead to accelerating demand for drilling.

Jordan is also predicting massive power outages across the globe this year due to shortages of electricity capacity. So he likes independent power producers including Calpine (CPN) and Reliant Energy (RRI), which have pricing power with customers. Calpine's base is on the West Coast and Reliant is strong in the Midwest.

Steve Romick is one of the best value investors in the game. His FPA Crescent (FPACX), a balanced fund, has returned an annualized 13% over 15 years and 4% over the last year, a treacherous period in which to invest.

Romick's investing style is diametrically opposed to Jordan's (Romick's annual stock turnover is 20%, compared with Jordan's 300%), but he, too, likes energy stocks. "We're using more oil than we're finding," he says. His largest holding is ConocoPhillips (COP), which he calculates would generate strong profits even if oil prices tumble. Romick also likes drillers such as Ensco International (ESV).

Whether the economy has also tipped into recession, we still don't know. But the damage done by $4-a-gallon gasoline is simply enormous. Consider the numbers: Americans now spend about $1.5 billion a day on imported oil. At that rate, the country sends abroad $550 billion a year to feed our oil fix. David Rosenberg, economist at Merrill Lynch, says that recent inflation in energy and food (closely linked to energy inflation, thanks to our ethanol policies) is draining $300 billion from consumer spending, which is double the value of the income-tax rebate.

Congress seems to focus more on allegations of windfall profits by Big Oil and on market speculation than on the fundamental problems in energy. Let's face it: We've known about the oil supply-demand imbalance for many years now. Yet this country has failed to embrace any coherent energy policy, whether the fellow in the White House is named Clinton or Bush.

"The U.S. tends to live for the moment," says Jordan. Says Manny Weintraub, head of money manager Integre Advisors: "Americans are stuck with decisions made in the past. There's a lot of opportunity for improvement in energy policies after the election."

BP just published its annual Statistical Review of World Energy, which doesn't make cheerful reading. For instance, oil output by Mexico, one of the largest suppliers to the U.S., is dropping fast, and our southern neighbor's proven oil reserves have plummeted by a frightening 75% in a decade. Populous Indonesia, a member of OPEC, is now a net importer of oil due to falling production (down by a third in a decade) and rising domestic demand. That's right, a member of the OPEC cartel is now importing oil.

BP chief executive Tony Hayward writes: "Maturing basins in the OECD, limited access elsewhere, constrained capacity, higher costs and rising resource nationalism challenge consumers and producers alike." Hayward says that growth in oil consumption is now concentrated in countries that subsidize consumer prices of oil products, primarily oil exporters like Iran and Malaysia and rapidly growing importers such as India and China, whose citizens are paying less than half the world price of oil today. China alone accounted for more than 50% of global energy consumption growth in 2007, according to BP. Economic policies that favor massive budget subsidies for oil are cockeyed and ultimately unsustainable, but the U.S. government has little or no leverage over those governments to reform their politically tinted policies.

 

You know Kevin, what are we all going to do when we find out that there isn't a shortage and this has all just been a big joke on the backs of consumers?

I'm all for conservation and sustainability but at what cost? I had an email from Randy (OP) the other day and he once again reminded me that this is all a big farse. Not sure who to believe but it does make you think.

 

Pelosi and all the liberal Democrats need to Wake-Up........... China and Cuba will be side drilling in the Gulf of Mexico for the next few years sucking out all our Oil while Pelosi and all her butt kissing Washington friends ride around in their Gas Gusling Limos getting wine and dined by all the special interest who keep her in office with plenty of Cash to fund her re-election and gooberment de-bockles around the world while the US public goes broke.

 

I don't know who you are taling about - remember I'm a Canuck!

 

talked to a guy there had been in turkey buying tractor parts, he paid Us $ 14.00 a gal.

gas and diesel is cheap compared to other countries.