[Vision2020] Gas prices [was: Can we not find...] Libya: 52 cents/gallon, Venezuela: 12 cents/gallon

Fri Aug 19 14:48:46 PDT 2011

US citizens, when viewed as a nation, given our large population their high
rates of gasoline consumption, are among the most "gouged" by gasoline costs
of any nation:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_in_the_United_States
The United States <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States> is the
largest energy <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_development> consumer in
terms of total use, using 100 quadrillion
BTUs<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quad_(energy)>(105 exajoules, or 29
PWh <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watt#Petawatt>) in 2005.  The vast
majority of this energy is derived from fossil
fuels<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_fuel>:
in 2005, it was estimated that 40% of the nation's energy came from
petroleum <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleum>, 23% from
coal<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal>,
and 23% from natural gas <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_gas>. Nuclear
power <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power> supplied 8.4% and renewable
energy <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_energy> supplied 7.3%
-----------------
I did not agree with W. Bush very often, but in President Bush's State of
the Union Address, January 2006, I agreed 100%:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/31/AR2006013101468.html
"Keeping America competitive requires affordable energy. And here we have a
serious problem: America is addicted to oil...."
----------------
US gasoline price could be lowered significantly by government subsidies.
Consider the gasoline price in "socialist" Venezuela and in Libya ( http
://www.dailyfinance
.com/2011/03/29/gas-prices-world-high-low-country-pain-pump/ ) where gas per
gallon costs are less than a gallon of oil, given world market price.

But this approach would seem to contradict Bachman's brilliant and coherent
stance on economic, political and social issues... Excuse me... Actually, if
Obama was the socialist the political extremists who label him thus claim he
is, it should be Obama rather than Bachman advocating government
intervention in the marketplace to lower gasoline costs.  Well, of
course she probably meant that by getting the big bad government regulation
and taxation out of the way, gas could be lowered to 2 dollars a gallon by
the marketplace alone.  But without subsidies, given the oil price per
barrel that world markets now appear to accept as a new norm, the so called
free market is unlikely to support 2 dollar a gallon gas.  Maybe a massive
worldwide recession/depression could lower oil price to this level.

An interesting article on nations with very low gas prices is below:

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/shocking-gas-prices-globe/story?id=13349235

Shocking Gas Prices Around the Globe
 By SUSANNA KIM
April 12, 2011

*3. Libya: 52 cents a gallon*

Dewhurst said Moammar Gadhafi
<http://abcnews.go.com/International/libya/>has had a long-standing
policy during his 42 year reign of subsidizing the
price of oil for its citizens.

"That has been his policy to keep his people reasonably content through gas
prices," Dewhurst said.

Dewhurst said the policy is also practiced in other oil-producing countries.

"They subsidize the price so the gasoline sold at the pump is less than
equivalent gallon of oil," Dewhurst said. "In those countries, they do it
politically -- to satisfy the population so the regimes stay in power."

*4. Venezuela: 12 cents a gallon*

While many consumers and businesses in the U.S. say high gas prices are
hurting the economy, Venezuelans are concerned that gas prices are too low
there: 12 cents a gallon, according to the Department of Energy.

Dewhurst said subsidizing gas for citizens has been a consistent policy
throughout Hugo Chavez's tenure since he became president in 1999.

Cheap, widely-available gas domestically could reduce the oil available to
the country for export, an important source of revenue in Venezuela. But
citizens in Venezuela, who already suffer from high inflation, would also
suffer because of higher gas prices.
------------------------------------------
Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett

On Fri, Aug 19, 2011 at 11:37 AM, Ralph Nielsen <nielsen at uidaho.edu> wrote:

>  Right you are, Jay. That was why I wrote this. Don 't count on Bachmann
> either.
>
> I was also pointing out that Americans have very little to complain about
> re gas prices when compared with most other countries.
>
> Ralph
>
>  On Aug 19, 2011, at 11:26 AM, Jay Borden wrote:
>
>  Aside from taxes, it doesn’t matter what party is in office, they have
> very little (if any) control over the cost of gasoline.  (Foreign wars and
> unrest in the middle east not withstanding).  The BIG OIL companies that
> many on here love to bash so heavily also have very little to do with the
> cost of fuel at the pump.  If you take a peek at their model, it’s a pretty
> straight-forward “cost-of-goods to produce + markup” business.  Yes, a VERY
> BIG BUSINESS, but one that makes the profit on VOLUME, not on price gouging.
> ****
> ** **
> The two largest driving forces in the cost of oil?  OPEC and taxes.****
> ** **
> The government makes more in taxes on a single gallon of gasoline than the
> BIG OIL company that refined it and delivered it to your local gas station.
> (If I remember reading it correctly, this has been true for the past 25
> years, with only 1 or 2 years being an exception).****
> ** **
> The other driving force, OPEC, is just unified enough to keep the
> supply/demand metric at a price point JUST above the break-even point for
> alternative forms of energy to become economically viable… and they damned
> well know it.  (They produce something like 45% of the world’s crude oil
> supply… so they are the 800 pound gorilla in the market).   If indicators
> show that suddenly a new form of wind technology or solar energy design can
> be made for cheaper, by some MIRACLE the cost per barrel of oil goes down
> just a tad.    OPEC is business collusion in its WORST form.****
> ** **
> Think about it this way:  a 42-gallon “barrel” of oil sold on the market
> today is right around $84 (rounding to make the math easy).****
> ** **
> That means that the COST of the oil is $2 a gallon before it goes to any
> refining process… tack on a refining cost, tack on
> transportation/distribution costs and then tack on taxes… and now you’re
> starting to approach the current cost of a gallon of gasoline.****
> ** **
> This is why I roll my eyes when morons like Bachman declare “when I’m
> president, I’ll return to $2.00 a gallon gasoline” [to paraphrase]… (yah,
> good luck with that).****
> ** **
> ** **
>  Jay****
> ** **
>
>
>
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