Should the Government cap the price of gas?

[SLCPUNK]

I am strangely excited......

I never fantasized about making out with Wilma Flinstone before......

[Queen of Everything]

I am strangely excited......

I never fantasized about making out with Wilma Flinstone before......

  You can call me Wilmmy Mr. Sexy arms!!!!

[SLCPUNK]

Two pseudo-superpowers working together to hold the world's last remaining oil supplies before the USA gets to it?


Venezuela opens fields to Chinese oil corporation

Venezuela and China signed a "preliminary agreement" for a joint company to drill for light and heavy crude in eastern Venezuela, reported the government owned Petroleos de Venezuela, or PDVSA.

Beijing and Caracas also signed an agreement to quantify and certify oil reserves in an area of the Orinoco Strip, in southeast Venezuela.

The deals were closed in Beijing by the minister in charge of China's State Development and Reform Commission, Ma Kai, and Venezuelan Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez, who also heads PDVSA.

The mixed company formed by PDVSA and China National Petroleum Corporation, or CNPC, will drill in oilfields in the area of Zumano, site of an estimated 400 million barrels of light and heavy crude oil and 4 trillion cubic feet (some 113 billion cubic meters) of gas, according to Venezuelan data.

The companies also agreed to conduct a study of area Junin 4, a 640-square-kilometer block in the Orinoco Strip, for the purpose of quantifying and certifying oil reserves, estimated at 20 billion barrels, PDVSA said.

After the preliminary study, "we will proceed to discuss a joint project for the production and upgrading of crude, combined with a project to refine in China" indicated the official joint release.

According to PDVSA, Brazil?s Petrobras; China?s CNCP; Spain?s Repsol; India?s ONGC; Iran?s Petropcs and Russia?s Lukoil and Gazprom, all government owned will join in the project.

Venezuela is the world's fifth exporter of crude and the United States' fourth main supplier which represents 70% of all the country?s oil exports.

China is the world' second top oil importer and seeks "to broaden its pool of suppliers to meet its growing demand for energy", concludes the PDVSA release.

[Prometheus]

I thought at one time I heard that the "shortage" of oil was being blamed on the Chinese.  OPEC wants to produce only a set amount of oil per day (barrels) and if there is an economy that at one time wasn't using these products and now they are, that is causing an impact/shortage here in the US.

Now I'm not trying to blame the Chinese or anyone...don't get me wrong.  I think it is a wake up call to us (Americans) that oil is a limited natural resource and we need to be thinking about the impact of this now.  You know, maybe one day there won't be any oil or anyone to drill or produce it...what would we do?

Where I live, water is a resource that we have to get from other states primarily.  So we pay dearly for it.  I use it sparingly and it has just becomes a way of life after awhile.

I think everyone will adjust and hopefully use alternative methods to save on gas.  If not, there will be less money to spend elsewhere.  Everyone is feeling this and I feel sorry for those small businesses that have to pass along these costs to us, the consumer.

see you are almost right on the mark.... let me guide ya back a bit.

India and China in 15yrs or less that will be the population placements are growing rather fast and their own demand on the current supply is forcing the price up. OPEC being the power hose controls a rather large stake in teh oil production world wide. it was always said that they maintained a 20% ceiling on production.... what we are finding out now is that they are currently near 90-95% production capibility world wide..... and they cant make the step up to the next level, and curb the prices to create a price fall. With teh growing demand pressure being put on by these 2 insanely large markets, in 10 years fo trends remain the same with growth and exploration there will be a -1% on supply, and that is also because the new feilds are located in harder and harder to reach locations, making the cost rather high for production. Another problem that makes the oil gap on domestic production rather large is much of teh east coast oil has very high sulphur content. making the refing process more expensive and as such much of this oil is sold to other nations with lower enviroment reg's and we get theirs for our own production. Coming from a rather Oil rich provience in eastren canada (higher sulphr then west of NA) we ship 2 tanker of crude to veneula for 1.5 tanker of their crude. that is a rather intresting trade.... but it makes for cleaner air at home........

But with developing nations such as INdia and China (there about 20yrs behind overall on oil demands) catching up to us, the supply problems will only ge worse not better.... and the change over needs to occur asap..... africain countries can be pushed past this growth point and it will assist them into the future..... its teh big brother principal.... we as the west over all need to step up and take the lead in thse technologies and help others come beyond their reliance faster. its teh only way to the future..... one where we are only fighting over fresh water..... LOL

I like what you have to say...but the way you post, I swear you are half dyslexic.

Is it just me?

so my secret is out?.....no wait.... i jsut cant type worth shit....... tring to code was a night mare..... always ahaving to double check

LOL

[pilferk]

In order to decrease demand in the immediate future (5 years), hybrid vehicles are the best way to go.? A vehicle that runs on batteries only would require charging stations? which are few and far between.?

To answer the original question...No, the government should not put a cap on gas prices.? High prices are the ONLY way to get the US off its appetite for oil.?

I've always wondered about the possibility of synthetic fossil fuels were....

Hybrid vehicles are a great idea...but have a long way to go for much of the population.

Take me, for example.  I travel 120 miles, round trip, every day to and from work.  Most of that is spent on the highway.  A hybrid car, right now. wouldn't really help out my mileage because, after you start traveling approx 40 MPH, the gas engine kicks in.  I spend 95% of my trip over 40MPH, and most of it up around 65 MPH.  For me, right now, a hybrid just won't help.

I drive a Subaru Forester.  It's got GREAT fuel economy (I get about 27 to 28 MPG, highway).  It's got AWD (I can't miss work due to a storm due to the nature of the industry I'm in).  Still, I'm spending about $60 a week strictly for fuel...when about a year ago I was spending roughly $38 a week.  That's almost a 60% increase.  That's insane.

Hopefully, the other new techs (fuel cell, etc) will prove to be a bit more practical for communters (and there are lots of us).