Gas Prices :-(

[Reverend Blair]

I'll have to swing by Cosco and check it out.

 

[Jo Canadian]

 

[no1important]

According to gastips.com in Edmonton its 1.20 as of noon today.

 

[Jo Canadian]

Sooooooo, effective today on PEI the prices of Gas had jumped from


99.7/litre

to 110.0/litre

to 1.34/litre In the same day!!


uke: Guess what...And we're Regulated!!!!!!

:banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead:

 

[Ocean Breeze]

US now faces major energy crisis as oil supplies fail




*** The US is facing a major energy crisis in the wake of the hurricane that devastated the Gulf coast region, where the US regime locates a quarter its oil, gas, and gasolene production. The fact that energy supplies can be disrupted by a single storm, even in the most rich and powerful nation on the planet, is an unmissable warning sign signalling the increasingly precarious balance between global energy supply and demand. As oil supplies continue to run out, and the final world-wide energy crash looms ever closer, the real reason for invading Iraq and Afghanistan becomes all too obvious. It is instructive to observe that the money and resources now deployed to save American lives in a major Western city after the greatest natural disaster in US history, are less by several orders of magnitude than the assets mobilized for the invasion of Iraq thousands of miles away. And while there is no limit on the money available for the occupation of Iraq, the US regime was in the process of reducing the flood-defence budget in the Gulf coast region before the hurricane. America, for goodness sake, wake up, the ruling elite serve only themselves, and the time has come for power to be restored to the ordinary people. ***

Gas crisis looms

Experts fear near-term hit on economy from hurricane Katrina; say longer-term fallout less dire.

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The impact of Hurricane Katrina on U.S. oil production may be worse than initial reports estimated and could lead to a national gas crisis in the short run, analysts warned Tuesday.

With the U.S. economy cruising at about 4 percent growth, economists still see Katrina's effect as only a speed bump in our path, and not the end of the road.

"The story is all about oil," said Michael Englund, chief economist with Action Economics. "This is still a fluid situation but we have enough information to feel comfortable lowering our economic growth estimate even further."

Englund lowered his forecast and now sees third-quarter economic growth at about 4.0 percent, down from his earlier forecast of 4.6 percent, due to the disruptions in U.S. oil production and refinery in the Gulf Coast region in the aftermath of Katrina.

"Without the hurricane we had perceived a bounce in U.S. oil inventory,' Englund said. "But if refineries are out of commission because of damage or flooding for an unspecified period of time, it will shock the entire system and I expect firms will hold back their production."

This could send oil, gasoline and heating oil prices soaring higher than their current record levels.

Industry watchers said the uncertainty surrounding the scope of the damage to Louisiana's oil offshore oil rigs, refineries, and its ports which account for half of all oil imported into the country, was pushing commodity prices higher.

Crude oil struck a new record, near $71 a barrel Tuesday, while the average national price for unleaded gasoline hovered at about $2.60 a gallon, up 39 percent from a year earlier.

Said Englund, "Going into the hurricane we had a shortage of refining capacity anyway. This just throws a hand grenade into the already delicate balance."

Consumers have been absorbing the sticker shock at the pump for months already without greatly altering their spending habits. However, analysts cautioned that if gas prices reach $3 a gallon, it could force consumers to make noticeable changes to their budgets.

And if spending slows, that in turn threatens to dampen economic growth since consumer spending fuels two-thirds of the economy.

"Apart from refineries, some pipelines may also have been damaged," said Englund. "Companies can switch over production to other refineries but it's not a quick process. It's very likely that we could have a short-term gas crunch which will keep prices elevated."

Hidden benefits lurking?
J.P. Morgan senior economist Anthony Chan agrees that higher energy prices will curb both regional and national economic growth in the near-term.

"I think a 0.2 percent decline in economic growth due Katrina's impact on oil and the regional economy is a realistic assumption," Chan said. Longer-term, Chan believes hurricanes tend to stimulate overall growth.

Said Chan, "Preliminary estimates indicate 60 percent damage to downtown New Orleans. Plenty of cleanup work and rebuilding will follow in all the areas. That means over the next 12 months, there will be lots of job creation which is good for the economy."

Prof. Doug Woodward, with the Division of Research at the Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina, has researched the economic impact of hurricanes.

"On a personal level, the loss of life is tragic. But looking at the economic impact, our research shows that hurricanes tend to become god-given work projects," Woodward said.

Within six months, he expects to see a construction boom and job creation offset the short-term negatives such as loss of business activity, loss of wealth in the form of housing, infrastructure, agriculture and tourism revenue in the Gulf Coast states.

In a note late Tuesday, Standard & Poor's estimates that Katrina could "shave a few points off our forecast of 3.7 percent growth."

Among the industries affected, trade, tourism, agriculture, and construction (Florida's largest industries), as well as Louisiana's energy-related industries will be hurt in the third-quarter, the firm said.

"At the same time, repairs to hurricane-related damage in Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and other regions affected by the storm should boost GDP in subsequent quarters," S&P analysts wrote in the note.

"Natural disasters bring in a lot of money from the outside to help in the rebuilding," he said. "The rebuilding boom will generate incomes. Insurance money and federal relief money will pour in. This happened very quickly in Florida last year," Woodward said. "Give it a year. We'll see positive economy results maybe by the third-quarter of next year."

 

[Nascar_James]

This is awful. I am now paying 3 bucks a gallon for gas. The prices shot up almost 50 cents in the last few days. I remember back in early 2002, it was only 99 cents/gallon.

hmmmm ... maybe it's time to get rid of my super duty F-350 pick-up truck...get a mini cooper instead...heh heh heh...definitely an eye stopper...

 

[Reverend Blair]

You should get one of those little scooters, James.

 

[Robair]

Currently shopping for a house, this may actually have a bearing on which one I buy, uh, I mean finance.

Might have to start looking harder at the stuff closer to work...

 

[Reverend Blair]

Might want to consider getting a well-insulated one too...this will also push up the price of heating and cooling.

 

[zenfisher]

That's true. You think people are screaming about prices now...just wait till the bills for heating homes start coming in.

 

[mrmom2]

The wood stove is going to be ordered this week .Feck the gas company all there getting me for is hot water this winter :wink:

 

[zenfisher]

Luckily we 're electric. Still...this is gonna hurt a lot of people... Adds a whole new meaning to the trickle down theory.

 

[Laika]

Thought of the day:

Invest in bicycle companies. :|

 

[mrmom2]

Wood stove companys too :wink:

 

[missile]

It's 1.40 a litre here this morning! If enough of you buy wood stoves,just watch the price per cord of wood go up.

 

[Reverend Blair]

There's a whole whack of problems with wood heating if you are in an urban area too. Of course if you are in a rural area you need to drive a lot more because most of the services in small towns have disappeared.

That old broad who sang that song about houses made of ticky tack back in the early part of the last century is looking like a feckin' time traveller right about now.

 

[Nascar_James]

Re: RE: Gas Prices :-(

You should get one of those little scooters, James.

hmmmm ... not a bad idea Rev. I've also heard of vehicles running on old french fry oil. Problem is you would need to eat a whole lottta fries. ... ? ...? ...! ...!! ... Actually, that doesn't sound bad at all!

 

[Jo Canadian]

Re: RE: Gas Prices :-(

You should get one of those little scooters, James.

hmmmm ... not a bad idea Rev. I've also heard of vehicles running on old french fry oil. Problem is you would need to eat a whole lottta fries. ... ? ...? ...! ...!! ... Actually, that doesn't sound bad at all!

You may not have much of a problem with that. If I recall the last time I drove on an Interstate, there were McDonalds almost every 12 miles. Get their grease and stockpile it while you can before they start charging for the stuff.

 

[Reverend Blair]

You can run a diesel engine on extract of pig shit or extract of chicken shit too, James. Too bad that your leaders prefer to dump that where ever it lands and use fossil fuels instead. They refuse to provide any reasonable level of funding for the development of such fuels.

Speaking of pig shit, did you know that a new micro organism has evolved in the cess pits around corporate pig farms? It causes open, running sores in human flesh and in fish. It's gotten into rivers and lakes, so fly fishing has become an extreme sport in some places.

How can still support these guys, James? If you are a real conservative, they are destroying what you stand for. If you are a human being, or any other sort of life-form for that matter, they are working against your better interests. If you are an American, or want to be, they are destroying what the founding fathers of the US worked for and recorded in their speeches and writing.

So what's the deal, James? I'm honestly interested in what makes people support these bozos.

 

[Hard-Luck Henry]

Re: RE: Gas Prices :-(

You can run a diesel engine on extract of pig shit or extract of chicken shit too, James. Too bad that your leaders prefer to dump that where ever it lands and use fossil fuels instead. They refuse to provide any reasonable level of funding for the development of such fuels.

Speaking of pig shit, did you know that a new micro organism has evolved in the cess pits around corporate pig farms? It causes open, running sores in human flesh and in fish. It's gotten into rivers and lakes, so fly fishing has become an extreme sport in some places.

How can still support these guys, James? If you are a real conservative, they are destroying what you stand for. If you are a human being, or any other sort of life-form for that matter, they are working against your better interests. If you are an American, or want to be, they are destroying what the founding fathers of the US worked for and recorded in their speeches and writing.

So what's the deal, James? I'm honestly interested in what makes people support these bozos.

U.S. cuture has become one of misplaced, dewy-eyed optimism; they have this arrogant self-belief in their own greatness; the unquestioning love of country (right or wrong) and, of course, God Bless America (which isn't a plea, so much as a statement). Appeal to these shallow instincts and you can't go wrong.

The point is, of course, this is all faith-based - they prefer to remain ignorant: they aren't prepared to question anything, since the mere act of questioning causes the faith fairy to disappear.