Thanks to ethanol mandates, thanks to increasing the costs of doing businesses for US industries (energy, taxes, environmental etc.) to the point where they outsource / relocate, and thanks in some small measure to hybrid vehicle subsidies / green power subsidies etc., US oil demand has essentially remained flat for the past 4 years. During those same 4 years, Chinese demand for oil has grown geometrically. While not shown on this graph, the same is true of India, Vietnam and any 'growing' third world country. Thus worldwide demand for oil is guaranteed to grow no matter what the US does, and world pricing of open market oil will continue to stay high.
Basically there are only two things which could short-circuit this trend. The first is a worldwide economic depression that would reduce oil demand in China / India / Vietnam along with the USA. The second is a new source of oil for the US which doesn't have to be purchased on the international open market.





Gas will go to $10 or even $15 a gallon. I'm laughing my ass off just thinking about it. Shadenfraude is oh so good sometimes!
Exxon/ Mobile got $14 Billion (yes, with a B!) in subsidies and tax breaks in 2007 alone.

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