President opens up offshore drilling?

**LotoSteve** · 03-31-2010 11:12 AM

Something stinks about this. Not sure what it is yet, but it will be exposed eventually. I bet it has something to do with cap and tax and in the end he will phuck us somehow.

**BBB725** · 03-31-2010 11:14 AM

Gas hit $3 a gallon, this should drive the price down, just covering his butt is all

**phragle** · 03-31-2010 11:36 AM

poor people need gas too and the concept of gas stamps won't fly??

**LotoSteve** · 03-31-2010 11:40 AM

I think its carrot hanging in the rear of a trap. "Some" offshore exploration in exchange for a huge cap and tax bill.

**cigdaze** · 03-31-2010 11:48 AM

It's little more than a token gesture. He opens up some Atlantic sites off Virginia - locations which deserve no merit for their limited potential - but maintains the strict restrictions in Alaska and in the Gulf. It's meaningless. But you're right Steve, in that this is only to distract from the pending Climate bill which is coming up very shortly. The new House bill is sponsored by Kerry, Lieberman and a couple others and yes, you guessed it, it includes a new petroleum tax which will be passed onto consumers!
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a28df5a6-3...44feabdc0.html

**LotoSteve** · 03-31-2010 11:57 AM

Originally Posted by CigDaze

It's little more than a token gesture. He opens up some Atlantic sites off Virginia - locations which deserve no merit for their limited potential - but maintains the strict restrictions in Alaska and in the Gulf. It's meaningless. But you're right Steve, in that this is only to distract from the pending Climate bill which is coming up very shortly. The new House bill is sponsored by Kerry, Lieberman and a couple others and yes, you guessed it, it includes a new petroleum tax which will be passed onto consumers!
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a28df5a6-3...44feabdc0.html

I figured it would be something sneaky.

On the flip side, I hope the oil speculators get their azz handed to them.

**Chris** · 03-31-2010 12:02 PM

It's definitely a magic trick. He gets to say he's opened up all these new offshre sites without having to pay any price from his environmental supporters. The site has no impact if no one wants to drill there.

To play Devil's advocate for a moment...

Gas around me is at about $2.70 a gallon. It's that much for one reason and one reason only- that's what consumers are willing to pay for it. If the suppliers could get $8, they'd price it there. But when they inch it up, demand drops and the supply pipeline begins to back up. The price drops to remove the constraint. So will a new tax really affect prices at the pumps? A 15 cent increase in tax may get passed along to the consumer. But the consumer isn't tax sensitive. They're fuel price sensitive. So demand will drop, supplies will back up and prices will drop. The net effect being the oil company is now paying the tax.

To look at it more simply, if there was 15 cents to be had, the oil suppliers would be seeing it now.

Am I missing something?

**Wobble** · 03-31-2010 12:08 PM

I think it may be straight forward in its scope.

However, the "not in my backyard" people will be screaming bloody murder.

Maybe he intends to show where the real resistance to offshore drilling comes from.

**Chris** · 03-31-2010 12:15 PM

I completely understand why he doesn't want to open up the West Coast. All that coastline is covered in homes of wealthy people and wealthy people make campaign donations. But Alaska? Alaskans want it. The rest of us want it. The inpact is about nil. I'm missing what the barrier is.

And it's foolish on his part $1.50 unleaded would insure him a second term.

**catastrophe** · 03-31-2010 12:17 PM

This thread would be interesting reading if anyone on here knew what they were talking about.

It reminds me of the Fountain thread where everyone was guessing what was going to happen and the Mercury thread also.

**fund razor** · 03-31-2010 12:24 PM

I found the thread to be interesting. I also enjoyed reading the article from Financial Times that Nick linked.
I felt that Nick and Chris each knew what they were talking about.

Is it ok for me to post that?

**mustang** · 03-31-2010 12:29 PM

Originally Posted by Chris

"But Alaska? Alaskans want it."

Agreed completely and I think some good points are being brought up and debated. Did you know that all residents of Alaska receive a yearly subsidy from the oil companies? A friend of mine lives in Juneau, has nothing to do with the oil industry and receives a check every year....basically just for being a resident of Alaska. Whether the oil companies are buying their support or not...they do have the support of the Alaskans.

**clayinaustin** · 03-31-2010 12:36 PM

drill baby, drill!

**cigdaze** · 03-31-2010 12:43 PM

Originally Posted by Chris

It's definitely a magic trick. He gets to say he's opened up all these new offshre sites without having to pay any price from his environmental supporters. The site has no impact if no one wants to drill there.

To play Devil's advocate for a moment...

Gas around me is at about $2.70 a gallon. It's that much for one reason and one reason only- that's what consumers are willing to pay for it. If the suppliers could get $8, they'd price it there. But when they inch it up, demand drops and the supply pipeline begins to back up. The price drops to remove the constraint. So will a new tax really affect prices at the pumps? A 15 cent increase in tax may get passed along to the consumer. But the consumer isn't tax sensitive. They're fuel price sensitive. So demand will drop, supplies will back up and prices will drop. The net effect being the oil company is now paying the tax.

To look at it more simply, if there was 15 cents to be had, the oil suppliers would be seeing it now.

Am I missing something?

Actually, demand rose steadily all the way up to $4.50/gallon back in '06 & '07.

**Wrinkleface** · 03-31-2010 12:49 PM

Originally Posted by clayinaustin

drill baby, drill!

Dude, this isn't the porn section!!!!

**GENERAL LEE** · 03-31-2010 01:37 PM

Originally Posted by catastrophe

This thread would be interesting reading if anyone on here knew what they were talking about.

**Ted** · 03-31-2010 01:59 PM

Originally Posted by GENERAL LEE

No laughing from you! Tell us what you know Big Oil Guy

**sledge** · 03-31-2010 03:03 PM

Originally Posted by Chris

So demand will drop, supplies will back up and prices will drop.

The hitch in that analysis is refinery utilization. Refiners are already getting killed and the majors are cutting back on refining. There's recent stories of big layoffs at the plants because the oil cos are looking at long-term reduction in refined gas demand. We've been running around 80% for a while due to a lot of maintenance. The question will be how many refiners will start back up if price of crude continues to rise? Refiners will stay offline until price of gas/refined products goes up. The taxes WILL be paid by the consumer.

And let's not forget the near complete disconnect between demand for the physical commodity versus demand for the financial commodity. If the Billionaire Boys Club wants it, we could see the price of oil move 50% in either direction within a matter of weeks.

**catastrophe** · 03-31-2010 03:21 PM

Originally Posted by fund razor

I found the thread to be interesting. I also enjoyed reading the article from Financial Times that Nick linked.
I felt that Nick and Chris each knew what they were talking about.

Is it ok for me to post that?

You are way way too obvious.

**Bobcat** · 03-31-2010 03:27 PM

The title of this thread is misleading......

Thread: President opens up offshore drilling?

Thread Tools

Search Thread

Display

Posting Permissions