(potential) war effect on oil prices?

[Lemon[H]ead]

oil prices skyrocket when anything minor happens and the execs in charge are like "yah...fears of war, yadda yadda"

what exactly changes? does the oil all of a sudden become more costly to extract because bush and blair are frowning in the direction of baghdad?

People have even just accepted the fact that oil prices increase when a war looms without questioning why.

IMO we're being screwed.

[Mike]

Well I just STFU and pay the prices.. So the cheapest gas is $2.05 a gallon, what can be done? I need to drive places..



Mike Chund

[Epidemic]

I would love to have the answer to a few questions regarding that as well.

Oil industry experts.

Ok bidding begins on a tanker filled with oil it is bought for W dollars. Processing and storage = X

So W+X = the whosale price Y

Now Gasoline price is set based on Y right. Now lets say that it takes 3 months from ship to station. Now something happens to put the supply in jeopardy so W increases and new price Z is defined. Now one can assume that Z price would take effect when oil from 3 months ago hits the nozzle. However when there is a crisis Prices ramp up quickly and trail off slowly leaving unusually high profits for that 3 month supply of stored oil.



Now this price skimming is ok from a business perspective. You have a demand at the price gas will bear. All is fair in capitalism if you want a greater price you need only charge it and if people still buy you can raise the price again until the bell curve says so.

Of course the competition can keep their price low and undercut you and steal all of your business.. ramble ramble ramble.

Ahhhh I find the whole thing confusing.

Why are banks not open during from noon to 8pm. You would think the bank that did that would get all the business.

Someone explain the world to me?

[Lemon[H]ead]

I blame GW Bush. I want him out of office and wish Nader was president instead. I think if Nader was in power in the states, and Charles Kennedy (lib-dem leader) was in power in the UK, then we'd not have this whole iraq issue. Stuff would be sorted out.


i agree with you on the banks issue. I can NEVER get to a bank unless i go between 9am and 11am on a saturday (too early) as the banks are always open when i'm at school (closed during lunchtime, of course) and closed afterwards. It sucks, i guess they want people to leave their money in the accounts.

[Chuckiechan]

Well Lemon[H]ead, why don't you move over here and vote! Or if you are a US citizen, I presume you vote absentee. Just don't put anything on the envelope to let the Democrats think you are a US serviceman, or your vote won't be counted!

I think the price of oil will fall. But due to France's sweetheart deals with Iraq, theirs will rise!

[Bluezman]

We don't even get oil from Iraq
Why are they gougeing us.....because Bush is letting them?

[Epidemic]

have you really read the green party platform.

It is in all ways identical to communism afaic.

Lifelong Public Education: Free, quality public education from pre-school through graduate school at public institutions.

Great now you can go to school for the rest of your life never work a day I will bet we get a few thousand people who will choose that as a way of life.

Environmental Home Rule: Establish the right of every state, county, and municipality to restrict or prohibit the production, sale, distribution, storage, or transportation of any substance it designates as dangerous or toxic.

Nice on the surface but this one will come back and bite you in the arse.

Break Up Corporate Agribusiness: Create family farms and farmworker cooperatives through a homesteading program and land reform based on acreage limitations and residency requirements

Great steal peoples land from them take the money from investors like good old grandma and grandpa who saved their whole life to live good in their old age.

Periodic Review of Corporate Charters: A public corporate charter review process for each corporation above $20 million in assets every 20 years to see if it is serving the public interest according to social and ecological as well as financial criteria.

Hmmm, I wonder if any one can have a boat any longer. No more extravagences. I am sure that motorcycles would not make these requirements. Just mopeds.

Workplace Democracy: Establish the right of workers at every enterprise over 10 employees to elect supervisors and managers and to determine how to organize work.


Yea I can see some of the kids I have worked with in the past electing supervisors. Yea but bob will let us go home every day at 2 and give us 4 day work weeks.

Maximum Income: Build into the progressive income tax a 100% tax on all income over ten times the minimum wage

Well what is 10 times 26,000 bucks. No income above that ehh. I think later they step on that number. But I am sure you will have alot of inscentive to spend 80 to 90 hours a week making a better moustrap.

Indian Treaty Rights: Honor all treaty obligations with Native Americans and Chicanos.

Oh well lets give back the midwest hmmmm, wonder where that family farm fits into that

End the "War on Drugs:" Decriminalize possession of drugs. Regulate and tax drug distribution. Release nonviolent drug war prisoners. Treat drug abuse as a health problem, not a criminal problem. Drug abuse treatment on demand.


Oh well I guess there has to be a pearl in every insane plot.

Ban Prison Slave Labor: End the use of US prisoners to produce goods and services for sale to the public.

First off I believe that prison labor is always voluntary but beyond that you commit a crime like earning too much money they should make you work hard to pay back the community.


Right to Work Short Hours: No discrimination in pay and promotion against workers who choose to work short hours.

God forbid you should compensate people for working longer hours away from their families.

No For-Profit or Religious Charter Schools: Stop the diversion of public funds to for-profit corporations or religious organizations running charter schools with unaccountable administrations, uncertified teachers, and segregated student bodies.

God fobid you should give the kids the best education they can have. Lets get the public administration in charge of these religious private schools they are way to successful. It makes other kids look stupid.

No High-Stakes Testing: Stop the curriculum takeover by commercial standardized test and test-prep corporations. Stop linking administrator and teacher pay and student graduation and retention to standardized test performance. Stop reducing education to answering multiple choice questions. Put teachers back in charge of ongoing, genuine assessment in the classroom.

No, no, no, can't have accountability. What would we do if there was accountability in schools. (note I am not fond of the current method of teacher and school evaluation but it is a start improve it not eliminate it.)

Well those are just some bullets from their plan.

A recipe for disaster.

They talk about all the programs they will institute with the money which we save from inflated fatcat wages and progressive taxes.

Yea the only problem is that there is no inscentive for innovation, for excellence, and basically you have removed rich peoples money from luxury industries.

There is no more house maid or nanny because who can afford to support one with the new income cap and minimum wages.

There are no more gardeners because who can own a house expensive enough to require one.

Basically you would cause a depression that would make the 20's look like the good times. And make today look like the high point in human history.

Yea you go ahead and want nader in control. You are right there would not be a war right now. Flip side of that the only intervention they would suggest is talking nice to other people. Saddam could take over a world set up like that with his current force.

[daveleau]

The war won't have much of an effect. The reason oil prices are rising now is because Venezuela's oil production was completely halted for several weeks. The last I heard, they were up to 2/3 production of 2 million barrels/ month (normally it is 3 million barrels). We get more oil from Venezuela than anyone else.

Iraq has 0 effect on our oil prices.

The weather has been pretty cold here, recently with lots of icing. I think we should blame that on the US policy towards Iraq as well.

[Mike]

Sean should move to the U.S. and vote? He's got the right idea. I don't plan on voting in the next election because hopefully I won't be in the country anymore.

[daveleau]

Didn't a bunch of celebs say they were going to boycott the US and move when Bush won the election?

Are you leaving the US because of politics? Well, I hope you will post when you get to your new nation, if so. I think you will be very surprised at how well you have it here, no matter where you go.