Oil Hits $88 per Barrel!

17 Responses to “Oil Hits $88 per Barrel!”

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   Rashiid Amul Says:
   October 16th, 2007 at 1:30 pm

   It’s disgusting really.

   Perhaps someone could tell the idiot in the White House, and then we could attack
   Venezuela and take their oil. They don’t have too many muslims there. Shouldn’t be a problem.

   No, I am not serious.  
   
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   Dave B Says:
   October 16th, 2007 at 1:46 pm

   Sooner or later this is going to hit gas prices…and Joe Neighbor.

   This is a good thing for GM and the Volt…people need to be hit in the pocket before making a stand.  
   
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   Tom Says:
   October 16th, 2007 at 2:06 pm

   Somebody needs to get rid of the traders,
   we are not getting this price at the well head.  
   
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   Steven B Says:
   October 16th, 2007 at 3:51 pm

   The traders are parasites on the system. Profiteers and nothing else. But I think it is more important to immunize us from this market sector. Get off of oil for everything, just like we stopped using it for electricity in the 70’s! Use bio-materials for fuel, plastics, and everything else we get from oil. We’ve known all along that we are going to run out of rock oil. And we’ve known since the 70’s that we’ve become dependent on foreign production. Now is the time to fix both of those problems. Let’s make sure to keep it in the ground or let everyone else pay to use it!  
   
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   Drake Says:
   October 16th, 2007 at 4:19 pm

   Note that this did not happen as a result of…

   1) A Terrorist Attack
   2) Another hurricane in the Gulf
   3) An attack on Iran
   4) A refinery problem
   5) An extra cold winter

   We are on thin ice as it is at $80+ a barrel. Over the next year or two I expect to see it well above $100.

   GM has a massive success in the works with the Volt.  
   
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   kent beuchert Says:
   October 16th, 2007 at 4:45 pm

   Don’t get too overjoyed – a third or more of the increases since June are from investor’s speculating in oil futures contracts – sort of an oily version of the housing boom’s crazy prices. I also heard a guy on CNBC this morning wondering why everyone was worried about oil prices – they are less (on a real dollar basis) than they were 20 years ago. And every time oil prices go up they predict it will cause demand destruction. They fail to realize that people aren’t cruising the highways joy-riding and burning up oil hand over fist,willy-nilly. There simply isn’t any
   easy way to use less oil. Do you think my neighbor with his thirsty $40,000 Mustang is stupid enough to sell it for a gigantic loss just so he can buy a car that gets a few more miles per gallon? Get real.  
   
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   Rashiid Amul Says:
   October 16th, 2007 at 7:10 pm

   You guys are really going to hate me.
   Although I am a computer programmer, I work for and support the energy traders. My job is to make sure their programs and computers are always working so that they can raise the oil and gas share prices as quickly as possible. Seriously.

   Kent, “There simply isn’t any
   easy way to use less oil.”
   I wholeheartedly agree. What can we possibly do about it? Nothing. I can’t use some other form of energy. I can’t use the train (actually that is $2 more per day to use than driving). No bus service. I live 50 miles from work and houses close to work cost 3 times more than mine did for the same thing. There really isn’t any good alternative until the Volt comes out. But the Volt does not eliminate the home heating oil problem. We use oil to heat the house, can’t get gas, don’t want coal, and forget electric heat. So we pay the oil man. It is expected to reach around $3.00 per gallon this winter. We’re screwed, and for the time being, there is nothing we can do about it.  
   
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   Neil Says:
   October 16th, 2007 at 7:51 pm

   Rashiid: Sorry to hear you’re still on oil heat. You may want to look into a ground based heat pump (sometimes referred to as “geothermal”). They can be expensive or very expensive to install but they can give you up to 400% heating efficiency for the electricity you put into them (they also double as AC systems) and would improve the value of you home. If you live in an area that doesn’t get too cold there are cheaper air based heat exchangers that would also do the job.
   With the lifespan of todays cars demand destruction will happen, but only over the long term.  
   
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   Joshua Hazelton Says:
   October 17th, 2007 at 7:30 am

   I burn corn for heat and being in western New York it can be pretty cold up here. You can buy bags of corn at most stove stores. Costs you about 5 bucks a bag. I heat my old not energy efficient house for under 500 bucks. I love it!!  
   
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    Tim Says:
    October 17th, 2007 at 9:29 am

    The FED (a private company incorporated in 1913) has been flooding the market with fiat US $Dollars http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYZM58dulPE which is rapidly devaluating the currency and creating inflation. At the same time, several Middle-East oil producers have decided to accept Euros for their oil instead of US $Dollars. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1oPEfa9Lws The price of oil in the US will now rise rapidly as the US $Dollar collapses and is replaced by the Euro as the global currency.  
    
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    Kagato Says:
    October 17th, 2007 at 11:05 am

    The reason the price might be going up is that we have passed the point of Peek Oil. Check out this site and get a glimpse of the future. Society as we know it will no longer exist.

    http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/  
    
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    Rashiid Amul Says:
    October 17th, 2007 at 2:58 pm

    Neil, Thanks for the advice. I will check into it.  
    
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    Steven B Says:
    October 17th, 2007 at 3:27 pm

    There is plenty to do to eliminate our need for oil. But the most significant current grid-tie to the oil markets is the transportation sector. We need electric drive transit and we need it now. There is currently not enough biofuel sources to provide the transition. We can also get into biogas to do so. Effective insulation is also important, as are PV and micro wind power. If you’re in a place that gets enough wind, you can by your own wind power turbine for significantly less than PV. My recommendation is to do some serious financial evalutions to decide what kind of alternative to fuel oil you can get. It’s probably not a bad idea to allow in your financial evaluations an increase in oil prices, as well as natural gas. I’ve also seen that Honda has a co-generation furnace that you can use to heat and power your house, so that’ll cut down electricity costs as well. Plus it is also a generator, obviously, so if you can have that to use too. Here in central Texas, we’re not that prepared for winter, ever, and we do tend to experience blackouts when things are iced over. Make sure not to be grid-bound in terms of oil dependence! There are options, and make sure to explore as many as possible. And explore the market for investment opportunities in the future of energy!  
    
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    Bill Says:
    October 17th, 2007 at 7:54 pm

    That’s “peak” oil.

    And the reason U.S. production peaked was economics.

    Even with transportation costs, by the late 1970s it was much cheaper per barrel to pump oil out of middle eastern oilfields than those in Texas.

    >we have passed the point of Peek Oil  
    
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    John FK Says:
    October 17th, 2007 at 8:20 pm

    I’m overjoyed. I’m been waiting for this for a long time.

    If you wonder why look at all the IR&D going into alternative energy now. Look at all the new eager adopters. There is something about a $100 price tag that causes people to think, ‘ This is too expensive. I’ve got to change something.’  
    
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    Van Says:
    October 19th, 2007 at 10:48 am

    When oil actually comes into short supply, we will not be able to get it at any price.
    PHEV offer protection from this coming reality. But do we have “billions” being poured into battery production and nuke generators? Nope. This feels like the days before WWII, where everyone knows it is coming, but we cannot muster the will to prepare.  
    
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    Sky King Says:
    October 24th, 2007 at 6:45 am

    I reduced my home heating oil consumption by 65% by installing solar thermal evacuated tube solar collectors that make hot water for DHW and space heating using radiant floor heat. Cost is double that of a conventional forced hot water system but adds $2 to your property value for every $1 you invest and system payback is 8 years or less with oil at $3/gal that will hit $3.50/gal here in New England before the heating season is over.  
    
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