First Cutting Social Security And Now Impending Gas Shortage

What are you basing this info on?

Sorry, I assumed everyone ws in the know on these subjucts...but I'll find a link to post....

http://usatoday.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=USATODAY.com+-+Gasoline+supplies+likely+to+shrink%2C+prices+rise&expire=&urlID=9413366&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.usatoday.com%2Fmoney%2Fautos%2F2004-02-25-gasprices_x.htm&partnerID=1661

and then of course...

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/02/25/national/main602215.shtml

Okay, BPB, blaiming this on Bush is completely unfounded.

There are a number of market conditions at play right now and in the near future placing tremendous pressure on the fuel supply in the US.

There are three refineries pulling maintenance currently which means aprox. 11 million barrels less per week of finished product going into the pipelines. Why this many down simultaniously who knows, they all operate at about 98% capacity normally and barely meet supply demands.

On top of that the Dept. of Energy has decided that now is a critical time to resupply the federal reserves at a rate of 1 million barrels per week, but that is crude not fnished product. 600 million more barrels are requried to replentish the inventories that the gov't dumped into the market last year when supply was strained. The reserves do need to be there just in case so I wouldn't advise Bush to stop the process there.

Then some of the larger cities are to switch to a new EPA imposed formula, I think the first of April, so all pipeline flow will be dedicated to getting that product to the required cities to meet the deadline.

Any time there are this many supply interuptions imposed on an already barely adequate system there will be a certain amount of shortages, increases in prices.

Then as a side dish, OPEC cut production 10% so when the futures market begins buying June crude at the end of April it will be $40/bbl. The agreed barrel price by the big players was something like $28, but OPEC decided not to play.

In short plan on paying high prices all summer and seeing some news on short term shortages.

We should take over a country in the Middle East and steal their oil so these things won't happen.

whew....good thing bush inc. is in bed with OPEC so at least some americans aren't inconvenienced by all these pesky coincidences huh?

One things for sure I've learned in the last few years, it doesn't take much to screw up a good thing does it? :wink:

I'm blaiming Bush for the snow we got today, how bout you guys...

why would you do that brand x, that's silly.

uh, yeah... as silly as blaiming US oil market forces on him.

I thought it was all God's fault...

Big Oil is god.

Brand X you need to stop being so pathologically defensive about george. I didn't say bush made it happen, I said I can't believe God, who as we have all read and had reinforced to us many times, who is on george's side in all matters would allow things to deteriorate so badly on so many fronts in an election year especially. It's puzzling and frustrating.

You see, the great unwashed masses aren't clever
or resourceful enough by and large to figure out why things happen the way you are Brand X, and it's possible (God forbid) that they may just wake up one day soon and go "All I know is that things have gone to **** since GWB was elected". Now that would be bad for any politician, but for one directly connected to the word of God The Father it is positively unprecedented. "Course a lot of things about little georges' presidency(?) have been unprecedented..... :wink:

I wasn't defending GW, I was pointing out that your insinuation was off base.

And I'm not defending big oil, it's legalized price fixing and it's dirty. They whined all last year about this and that all the while they made massive record profits.

My main point is that the fuel supply system in the US is in the same condition as the power grid, one glitch and all hell unsues.

but you see brand x I didn't insinuate that. I was commenting about two more VERY sensitive issues going wrong under georges watch back to back in an election year.

When dealing with people who are constantly taking the moral high road AND who have in fact stated that God talks directly to them AND have no patience or tolerance for any opinion or view or moral stance other than their own, one does have to wonder about the validity of their claims to the inside track with the Big Guy when suddenly a lot of politically inconvenient stuff starts happening, wouldn't you have to agree?

One of these days george may actually have to leave the principals office and come have lunch on the playground with the regular guys.

I find it amusing, although not so amusing when I have to explain it. :wink:

God told you to say that.

The why ain't I the president? Or rich?

Me too either.

Well, there you go, common ground, solidarity. Cool.