iahflyr

Exactly. OPEC has us right where they want us. Huge price spike followed by a slight drop. Now everyone is happy with $105/barrel oil. Unfortunately, this is terrible news. Our country would be better off if oil was at $10/barrel, or if oil was at $210/barrel. At $110/barrel, we are screwed.

Stryker

Why would you hope that seeking out alternate fuels stops? Its not even an option anymore. There is a finite supply of oil, and with this new "greener and friendlier earth" we are attempting to reduce the amount of damage we do to it. Will oil always be needed? Probably in all of our lifetimes, but there will be other generations besides us that will have to deal with the damage we do to our planet.

That being said you should think about it this way, if we develop cheaper cleaner energy sources that run everything from heating systems to cars to public transportation what will happen to the price of oil? It will drop significantly. Supply and demand pure and simple. Airplanes are probably 15 to 20 years behind cars when it comes to using alternative fuels, but if the price of oil were cut in half because most of the world didn't need it I think the airline industry would be just fine...

__________________
If you strap a big enough engine to anything it will fly....

SrfNFly227

I am pretty sure that the poster meant "will NOT drop" as he goes on to say that anything could spike prices again if nothing is done. This is completely true and the research into alternatives needs to continue no matter what the price of a barrel goes to.

I agree with iahflyr that oil where it is now will hurt this country more in the long run. People are getting complacent again and are now happy with gas prices around 3.50. SUV/Truck sales are showing signs of going up and car sales have slowed. This could just be because of the deals offered by manufacturers and dealers or it may show the beginning of a scary trend.

The thing that is never mentioned in these debates is that modern life is based on oil. I am not even talking about the gas used in transportation. Even if every car, truck, plane, and boat were to run on something else, oil is still used to make wax, lubricants, and PLASTIC. It is a resource that will be needed for longer than we would like to think. Alternatives should be researched and they should be utilized as they become available. That being said, drilling is still going to be necessary. For the states that don't want drilling because it will affect tourism (FL, NJ, etc), I ask what their tourism will be like once people can no longer afford to fly.


These things being said, this thread is about the price of oil. Posting what it is half way through a day is pointless as the price will change unexpectedly throughout the trading session. Post end of day prices, fine, but lets quit saying what it is right now, as this has no effect on our industry of life.

Rant over. Sorry

stoki

will NOT drop research for alternate fuel sources is what I meant. Sorry for typo. Completely agree with you guys here.

ryan1234

Jan 1974 - oil jumps from $4.31 to $10.11
1979-80 oil jumps $15 to $40
oil holds at slightly under $30 til Mar 1986 down to $12
October 1990 oil hits $36
mid 90s oil stays around $20
2000 - oil rises to $30
2006 - oil rises to $76
summer 2008 oil hits the $140s

One of the reasons for the 1970s to 80s price increase was due to the U.S. Government price controls on oil.... in an effort to make oil go down it backfired for a number of reasons.

- also we shouldn't count on any new refineries built anytime soon unless the are subsidized by the government, because it generally takes 20-30 years for a refinery to pay itself off and most oil companies are not willing to bet on the price of oil and alternatives at that point.



forecast for oil is @ -/$102 for NOV. .... after that it's anyone's guess

__________________
If Guns kill people, spoons make Michael Moore fat!

Stryker

And we have all seen how reliable oil forecasters/speculators are... And Stoki, glad to see it was a typo... I was starting to think you lost it!! hah

__________________
If you strap a big enough engine to anything it will fly....

P-51D

Start the Hedging....