Wow.
What a difference two months makes. Gas prices have dropped over $2/gallon in just eight weeks.
This is a delightfully satisfying wave of the middle finger to OPEC , for whom I have no sympathy:
As Oil Prices Fall, Tensions Among OPEC Members Seem to Deepen
For the first time in a decade, oil producers are facing a real test of their unity.
As the OPEC cartel meets in Cairo on Saturday, exporters are being pummeled by a triple whammy of lower prices, falling demand and declining revenue. The group, whose members account for more than 40 percent of global oil exports, is desperately seeking ways to stop the drop in prices, which have fallen from their summer peaks at a record pace.
Oh, I’m so sorry. You poor dears.
It’s also a delightful wave of the middle finger to Newt Gingrich, whose book on “energy independence” was rendered obsolete on its release date (September 23, 2008). Ha ha. What a maroon.
Since “drilling here” has had nothing to do with the dramatic plunge in gas prices, the past two months prove how intellectually bankrupt Gingrich and his cohorts truly are. Because what we have here is proof that the best way to lower gas prices is to reduce demand. But that puts ExxonMobil and the rest of the oil industry, to whom Gingrich and the rest of the GOP are beholden, in a tight pickle. They don’t give a crap about “paying less,” if they did they’d be screaming for conservation reforms at the top of their lungs. But conservation doesn’t help ExxonMobil’s bottom line, does it? Of course not.
But here’s another fact: you can give the oil companies all of the Arctic wildlife preserves and miles off-shore that you want, as long as oil remains at $55/barrel, not one drop is going to be pulled out of the ground. Got that? Not one drop.
There’s a reason that stuff hasn’t been drilled yet. It’s expensive. It’s some of the most inaccessible, unprofitable oil we have. That’s why it’s still there. And with oil at $55/barrel, there’s no profit in drilling it.
So as long as demand remains low, I get to wave my middle finger at ExxonMobil too. Ha ha.
Of course, with gas at $1.76/gallon, the morons in Nashville, Tennessee are already pulling their Hummers out of the moth balls. I saw three shiny behemoths barreling down Thompson Lane on Wednesday, in the space of about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, sales of SUVs and pickups are on the rise.
Boy, people can really be idiots. Here's a wave of my middle finger at you, too. You’re basically perpetuating the same dynamic that created September’s gas crisis. You're like children who stomp your little feet and cwy if you can’t have your toys.
Grow up, people. Quit acting like children. You know better. You can’t have your pudding if you won’t eat your meat.
