OPEC is cutting production. Oil is at the same price as it was on June 13, 2007. OPEC thinks that is too low and is taking steps to increase the price, despite the global recession.
I don’t know about you, but my economy was much better on that date, before the rising price of fuel drove up the cost of everything.
I guess the OPEC nations were poor on June 13, 2007, as they require oil to be priced higher.
Ralph
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081023/bs_afp/opeccommoditiesoilprice
Ralph,
Do a little Google Search on “Dubai”, in the United Arab Emirates. Check out the man made islands on the coast. It takes a lot of money to pump sand. They are pumping a lot of sand. I think this is some of that “spread the wealth” concept some are pushing. I think we are supportiing Arab hospitality. I guess you wanted a thank you.
Ric Golding said:
Ralph,Do a little Google Search on “Dubai”, in the United Arab Emirates. Check out the man made islands on the coast. It takes a lot of money to pump sand. They are pumping a lot of sand. I think this is some of that “spread the wealth” concept some are pushing. I think we are supportiing Arab hospitality. I guess you wanted a thank you.
So far the tactic didn’t work. Fears of world-wide recession have caused crude futures to fall again. For us this is a good thing. I have another 7 days to lock in my heating oil price cap for the winter and I’m holding out as long as the price keeps falling. Gasoline is at it’s lowest point in over a year, so I’m not complaining.
I have no love for any of the governments of the OPEC countries, but does anyone really expect them to sell their commodity for less than they can get for it? Are they being held to a higher moral standard than any other commodity producer? Did we in the west think twice about diverting agriculture products to produce bio-fuel, thus driving up the price of food in the third world?
It’s not OPEC’s fault that we are addicted to oil.
Kevin Morris said:
I have no love for any of the governments of the OPEC countries, but does anyone really expect them to sell their commodity for less than they can get for it? Are they being held to a higher moral standard than any other commodity producer? Did we in the west think twice about diverting agriculture products to produce bio-fuel, thus driving up the price of food in the third world?It’s not OPEC’s fault that we are addicted to oil.
Ralph Berg said:I agree totally. It's what I have come to expect from such people. But it's not unique to OPEC.
It is a matter of greed, plain and simple. They were among the richest nations per capita when oil was $35 a barrel. The head of the Royal Saudi family was the largest landowner in Manhattan 15 years ago. You can raise the price of most anything by reducing supply. They are trying to manipulate the market to get more for their product. As for bio-fuel, the purpose was not to drive up the price of agriculture products. It was an unwelcome consequence. Now they are working on using non-food products. Ralph
A few years ago, when I lived in the arctic, I offered to scan some slides for a friend who was edited a guidebook. He said he paid $2 per scan from an outfit in Edmonton. I agreed to $2 per scan, which would save him postage and be much quicker. We were both happy with the deal.
News got around and soon other people were asking me to scan their slides. Then a local framing business began to send a lot of work my way. I discovered later that they were charging $5 per scan. I wouldn’t have begrudged them $1 commission, but I felt $3 was just plain exploitation, so I cut them off. They complained that I was very un-businesslike. It seems greed happens on even the smallest of scales.
We can fight OPEC’s greed. Drive less. Use a smaller vehicle. Drive 5mph slower (this boosted my economy by 15%). Etc. Etc.
Three contractors are bidding to fix a broken fence at the White House in DC: One is from New York, another is from Tennessee and the third, is from Florida. All three go with a White House official to examine the fence.
The Florida contractor takes out a tape measure and does some measuring, then he works some figures with a pencil. ‘Well,’ he says, ‘I figure the job will run about $900: $400 for materials, $400 for my crew and $100 profit for me.’
The Tennessee contractor also does some measuring and figuring, then says, ‘I can do this job for $700: $300 for materials, $300 for my crew and $100 profit for me.’
The New York contractor doesn’t measure or figure, but leans over to the White House official and whispers, ‘$2,700.’
The official, incredulous, says, ’ You didn’t even measure like the other guys! How did you come up with such a high figure?’
The New York contractor whispers back, ‘$1000 for me, $1000 for you, and we hire the guy from Tennessee to fix the fence.’
‘Done!’ replies the government official. And that, my friends, is how government contracting works!