Originally posted by reeftool 
What many people don't realize is the prices of oil are determined by WORLDWIDE demand, not American drivers. We are currently importing oil because it is cheaper. It the Newt doesn't know this then he's the dummy. Most of our oil is difficult to get at and expensive to drill and pump. Unless he plans to nationalize the oil companies, this isn't going to happen until the prices rise to the level that drilling will be profitable and that won't ever be if gas is retailing for $2.50. The economy needs stable oil prices, not artificially cheap prices that can't be maintained and will be disruptive every time the prices rise. If I know it's going to cost me $800 every time I fill my fuel oil tank next winter, I can plan for that. Tell me it's going to cost $600 and the price goes to $900, I'm screwed. We are having the mildest winter in decades yet heating oil costs more even though demand is down. Why? Because demand is worldwide, not just the northern third of the US.
I suspect Newt knows all of this. With him it is not ignorance but just lying. The same is true of this nonsense about the pipeline and oil prices. We are the third largest producer of oil in the world, and our production is about 80% of that of the world's largest exporter, Saudi Arabia.
Top World Oil Producers, Exporters, Consumers, and Importers, 2006 — Infoplease.com Unless we nationalize our oil companies like some developing countries have done, our prices will be set by what the oil companies can get for their product on the world market.
BTW, We consume 2.5 times what we produce. We consume 3 times the amount of the second largest consumer, China with more than 4 times the population. It is highly unlikely that we could make a dent in prices with production, but a change in consumption could be significant.
Similar Threads 
