Wednesday, June 02, 2004
As global oil production peaks . . .
Isn't it fun to watch the OPEC charade. "We's finding you mo' oil, boss," the Saudi's say, "Once we get these pesky anti-monarchists to behave." But somehow there isn't enough oil to decisively drive the price down.
Meanwhile, demand keeps growing. In China, the People's Daily writes:
Meanwhile, demand keeps growing. In China, the People's Daily writes:
Output will total 5.7 million vehicles, up from the expected 4.3 million units this year, said Jia Xinguang, chief analyst with the China National Automotive Industry Consulting and Development Corp.Look out. Here comes, "The Chinese Way of Life."
"Passenger cars will continue to be the biggest growth engine for total vehicle output next year," Jia said.
Output of domestically-made passenger cars is expected to surge by more than 50 per cent to 2.7 million units in 2004, he said, forecasting that this year's figure would exceed 1.8 million units.
He predicted that both truck and bus output would rise 10 to 20 per cent in 2004.
"Domestic demand for vehicles, especially passenger cars, will continue to be very strong next year," he said.
Comments:
I say nothing better could have happened than the oil price going through the roof and nobody, not even OPEC having any control over it anymore.
We did get our wake up call in the early 70s, didn't we?! We wasted 30 years ignoring the writing on the wall. So, I say, we deserve this and I'd personally like to see prices go even further, let them go past $50, $75, $100 per barrel, not because I am a nasty person, but because I think we ought to be kicked into realising that we can't go on with a fossil fuel based economy. It's not sustainable.
This whole thing is just a reality check and we should welcome it. It shows us how much we have got our priorities wrong. The Bush administration has pledged billions to a program to send people to Mars and they have spent billions to fight a war to oust a dictator who could probably have been convinced to leave voluntarily by diplomatic means if only the Western world had stood united and the US government had had a bit more patience.
In the face of the real problems we face on this planet, Do we really need to go to Mars? Do we really need to police and govern other countries?
Where is the government program to fund -say- solar powered hydrogen plants in the desert fueled by ocean water brought in via pipeline. For the money wasted on manned space flight and the war effort in Iraq, it would be easy to build and the lessons learned from such a project would translate into real progress for mankind.
Of course it isn't as spectacular to watch on TV as is a rocket launch or a war. Perhaps what mankind really needs to make progress is getting rid of television. It makes people addicted to bullshit, lazy and fat.
We did get our wake up call in the early 70s, didn't we?! We wasted 30 years ignoring the writing on the wall. So, I say, we deserve this and I'd personally like to see prices go even further, let them go past $50, $75, $100 per barrel, not because I am a nasty person, but because I think we ought to be kicked into realising that we can't go on with a fossil fuel based economy. It's not sustainable.
This whole thing is just a reality check and we should welcome it. It shows us how much we have got our priorities wrong. The Bush administration has pledged billions to a program to send people to Mars and they have spent billions to fight a war to oust a dictator who could probably have been convinced to leave voluntarily by diplomatic means if only the Western world had stood united and the US government had had a bit more patience.
In the face of the real problems we face on this planet, Do we really need to go to Mars? Do we really need to police and govern other countries?
Where is the government program to fund -say- solar powered hydrogen plants in the desert fueled by ocean water brought in via pipeline. For the money wasted on manned space flight and the war effort in Iraq, it would be easy to build and the lessons learned from such a project would translate into real progress for mankind.
Of course it isn't as spectacular to watch on TV as is a rocket launch or a war. Perhaps what mankind really needs to make progress is getting rid of television. It makes people addicted to bullshit, lazy and fat.
# posted by 
: 6/03/2004 1:42 AM
: 6/03/2004 1:42 AM
Yesterday (June 4, 2004) I was speaking to my investment advisor. She told me about a speaker she had just heard at a brokers meeting from a mutual fund company. She told me that this man said G. W. Bush was buying oil for the Strategic Petroleum Preserve to keep prices high. Also that Bush would stop buying oil for the SPR just before the election so the price of oil would drop and he'd look like a hero who accomplished that.
I saw right away that was a very plausible strategy, and we joked about how he'd do that only if he wanted to be President again. Sounds devious doesn't it?
While I think she'd like Bush to be elected, I don't so I went home and looked up news reports to confirm this claim. Here's an example of what I found:
http://www.registerguard.com/news/2004/05/30/b1.ed.col.oilreserve.0530.htmlMichael Glowacki, CH
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I saw right away that was a very plausible strategy, and we joked about how he'd do that only if he wanted to be President again. Sounds devious doesn't it?
While I think she'd like Bush to be elected, I don't so I went home and looked up news reports to confirm this claim. Here's an example of what I found:
http://www.registerguard.com/news/2004/05/30/b1.ed.col.oilreserve.0530.htmlMichael Glowacki, CH
