$150 Barrel of oil

[Z-Michigan]

We have a geothermal unit in our house. Prior owner put it in, we just got lucky. Electric costs for the geo unit run around $40-60 a month, year round (it provides heat, AC, and hot water). We also have a propane backup for heat only, plus for stove and dryer - we only use around 200-250 gals/year of propane, maybe even less. Oh, and the house's insulation is nothing special, probably built just up to whatever standard was in place in 1999.

I'm not sure if a geo unit makes sense when looking at monthly costs vs. installation - maybe it does. My wife grew up in a passive solar house and to me THAT is the way to go in the north - truly free heat and no real maintenance. You need some kind of backup heat, but the amount you need is a lot less than without the passive solar. And passive solar costs hardly any more to build if planned before construction; it just seems that no one wants to build them.

 

[CDsdad]

$120. I think that'll be tops this year. But I've been wrong before.
I work in the oil business so even at the risk of getting bombed here, I hope it doesn't crash. Go down some, but not crash. But if it does, oh well. I made a living when it was $9/bbl in 1999, and I'll make a living at $209 bbl in 2019.

I can't blame anybody for not wanting to drive a small fuel efficient vehicle or even not so fuel efficient. I won't put my wife and kids in one.

The inflated price now is over pure speculation. Commodity traders and stock brokers twist any little piece of news to create volatility which in turn helps create profits. The company I work for forecast yearly profits of $3.80 per share on higher profits than same quarter year ago. Stock promptly dropped 10% in one day because they missed estimates by $.20. Pure speculation and knee jerk.

As far as supply and demand, this I know:
world produces 84-86 mmbpd
world uses 85-87 mmbpd.
Supply and demand, and that math's pretty simple. Give it 20% for fear and speculation, and next thing you know it's $100/bbl.

 

[Z-Michigan]

I can't blame anybody for not wanting to drive a small fuel efficient vehicle or even not so fuel efficient. I won't put my wife and kids in one.

I drove one for a long time - even had a Civic hybrid which honestly got 40-45mpg. Then my wife's parents, in a Saturn SL, got killed by a drunk (0.34 BAC) in an F250, who had a couple bruises and no worse. Now I drive a Suburban. I would like to get 40mpg, but living to old age is more important to me. I would be fine in my old Civic if no one on the road had anything bigger, but that's never going to happen.

 

[CDsdad]

My sentiments exactly Z. As far as the teenage and young adult males around here, the ones most apt to drink and drive, they all have 3/4 ton 4wd trucks or bigger it seems. Momma ain't got a chance against them in a small car.

 

[artfull dodger]

I myself am not a "car" person by nature. But at the same time, I cannot afford the diesel fuel my Suburban burns, was 120ish every 2 weeks at 3.35 a gallon. I have since sold it and driving our jeep and we got my grandmothers like new 88 Corsica. When someone decides to get a small S 10 sized pickup with a 4 or 5 cylinder turbo diesel on the market at an affordable price, I will buy one in a heartbeat. I have high hopes for the small Mahindra pickups we are supposed to see in the comming year or so. I hope the big 3 follow suit and get a small turbo diesel pickup with 35+mpg on the market. Cheers Mike and Michele T

 

[KennyV]

I think if you check the price history of oil using the Euro, (the current standard), you will see it is not oil that is going up, as much as it is the value of our US Dollar, (the old standard), going down

 

[nysdotinspector]

Another reason that we are paying so much for oil and related products is the greed of the traders on wall street. There becomeing richer by the day. Look up, "stop the enron price gouging .com.". This will make you think about how much we are all getting ripped off.

 

[Rara Avis]

I think if you check the price history of oil using the Euro, (the current standard), you will see it is not oil that is going up, as much as it is the value of our US Dollar, (the old standard), going down

Oil is still priced in Dollars...
Persian Gulf states seen as unlikely to drop peg linked to dollar - MarketWatch

http://www.newswithviews.com/guest_opinion/guest114.htm

Chavez tried a few deals in Euros...but the World Pricing of oil is still linked to Dollars

 

[Z-Michigan]

True, but I think the important point is that while oil is priced in dollars, the rise in oil prices coincides with a drop in the value of the dollar relative to many other currencies. I saw on another site that the price ratio between oil and gold was pretty constant right now, with a barrel of oil equaling roughly 1/10 ounce of gold pretty consistently. Both have seen prices skyrocket recently, relative to a purchase in dollars.

 

[turbo36]

Two emotions drive all things in this world; fear and greed. I suggest doing a goggle search on the influence of the hedge funds, pension funds and foreign government controlled invest corporations into the price escalation of oil. The price isn't being determined by normal supply and demand rather how many times the oil is traded before it hits the consumer market. On a daily basis there is as much as 30 times more oil traded then consumed.
If some of the predictions hold true oil will peak at around $150/ barrel this year before the greed turns to fear and the price falls to $50/barrel (or lower).

I don't provide any specific links because when I have in the past people attacked the source and didn't even look at the data.