Only a few hours into the day and oil prices are soaring. Why? The usual reason, fighting in the middle east, is being used to justify this increase. The other reason, which, when you think about it, is surrounded in just as much bullshit, is a shutdown in Alaska.
Oil prices jumped by more than $1 a barrel Monday following a production shutdown at an Alaskan oil field that accounts for about 8 percent of U.S. production and more fighting in Lebanon.
That 8% translates into a mere 400,000 barrels per day.
The news of the Alaska shutdown caught traders by surprise, said Kevin Norrish of Barclays Capital, who added that the current ability to compensate for lost production was "severely limited."
Not being able to compensate is a big problem. This is a problem that I believe the energy companies have known about. It is a problem, that if not corrected, will give the energy companies the right to grab you by the proverbial balls, and hold you.
We need to have AVAILABLE alternatives. Tesla's nifty electric car has an extremely hefty price. I'm not even going to hit on the previous demise of electric cars. Even hybrids have prices higher than their fully gas counterparts. This to me just doesn't make any sense. If these cars are supposed to be cheaper to run, shouldn't they also be cheaper for the consumer to buy?
"Oil prices could increase by as much as $10 per barrel given the current environment,"
[...]
Victor Shum, an energy analyst with Purvin & Gertz in Singapore, noted U.S. crude inventories are at a five-year high.
Let's just continue to give to the energy companies -- until death do us part.
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