An ill wind for gas prices (2008 hurricane season)

[jpak]

http://money.cnn.com/2008/05/22/news/economy/hurricane_season/?postversion=2008052213

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Batten down the hatches: hurricane season starts on June 1. It's expected to be a rough one, threatening to upend refineries and disrupt pipelines in the southern United States.

And that could send gas prices, already nearly 20% above what they were last year, soaring even higher.

That's what happened three years ago when the Gulf Coast was battered by two hurricanes - Katrina and Rita - in the span of a few weeks.

"With the market the way it is now, a move in crude because of a hurricane could really be exacerbated," said MF Global energy analyst Don Luke.

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[Zachstar]

1. Just the excuse for oil to go even higher...

Global depression by 2010... My prediction..

[angstlessk]

2. just what the speculators needed a new and improved way to hike oil prices

oil supplies were down in the US...the price goes us on reduced supplies...could it be because of reduced usage??? supplies were just replacing usage resulting in lower supplies??

[depakid]

3. 1 major storm = $5.00 petrol

I reckon that'll change American habits.

[Zachstar]

6. Very likely

The bigger problem is the explosion of diesel which WILL cause the failure of many trucking companies already on the edge... And the lack of transportation will take a chunk out of the ecnonomy.

1 major storm and we are in a depression.

[moez]

4. Ha!

The last two seasons were supposed to be "rough ones" too. I'll believe it when I see it...

[Zachstar]

5. That is not the point.

The point is such a prediction is going to be used as an excuse for speculators to continue to drive the oil prices higher.

150 USD by year end is a fantasy now. It will be closer to 175 or 200 And 250 is almost a given by 2010.

[moez]

7. I agree with you on that -

If it's not hurricanes though, it'll be something else.

Hurricanes screwing up refineries is actually one of the few legitimate reasons for causing a blip in the price....

I just doubt the accuracy of the hurricane prognosticators and their crystal balls.

[Zachstar]

9. We can't afford a blip...

Trucking companies are RIGHT on the edge... Even after major actions to reduce waste they are still RIGHT on the edge of being able to pay the bills and the paychecks.

When they go the economy goes for multiple reasons.

#1 The trucking industry employs a BIG amount of people. That dump of jobless on the job market is going to cut wages even further, Ruin Union deals... And reduce the amount of flow of money in the reconomy..

The resulting mess is going to cause people to panic and start selling. And while the sell off will not be as fast as the last depression. There will be few who can afford to add a ton of shares, as they will be most likely having to deal with a ton of debt and housing problems. So it will just continue to tank and tank until we wake up to people stating that it is a depression.

It took 3 months before people admitted we were in a recession...

[moez]

11. No arguments there -

I was just "picking the fly shit out of the pepper" regarding the hurricane prediction.

To add what you said, I think that the slowing economy is going to continue the downward spiral in the housing market. It's just a big vicious circle that we're in.... without any way out.

[glowing]

8. American habits cannot be changed all that much when there is a complete

lack of infrastructure. We need to build public transportation for the modern needs. People do not have to buy huge gas guzzling vehicles, but they do have to get to work. And what are people in rural areas to do? Farmers still need disel to operate their farms. I haven't seen any solar tractors in the piplelines... And I haven't seen any solar 18 wheelers on the line for production. Transportation in America needs to tackled like the space race. One thing that def. needs to happen is the gas tax needs to be removed from the thing that pays for roads. How do you get off of oil if that is your revenue for maintaining and building infrastructure? Where is the incentive to change the fuel efficiency.. As it is now, American's driving habits have changed drastically, so drastically that counties are having to charge more tax on the gas to pay for county roads projects.

[Zachstar]

10. Too late

Would take 2 decades to get modern infrastructure online...

The ideas are great but looks like the next step is going to be electric cars after the depression. If we GET out of the depression that is.

[glowing]

12. Yes, I think that would be an in between move.. but it will happen.. it has to happen.

If we don't start investing in Americans and giving Americans jobs.. then we will be in depression for a long time.. this is the way to move forward into the green revolution.

[Zachstar]

13. Forgive me for being such a downer but I think we will be in a depression for a long time regardless

Now in my VIEW I think that IF the Navy achieves a good fusion design it COULD lift us out of this oil caused depression within 10-20 years, However, what if that does not happen?

How is the "green revolution" going to happen when people cant afford to put solar panels on their buildings or communities unable to pay for tidal power generation?

[glowing]

14. Well, perhaps we should stop funding quite so much money for the Pentagon.

[Zachstar]

15. Third Rail

While there is room to cut waste. There is just not much that can be done without being called unpatriotic...

For instance the F-35 was built basically as a gift to fighter pilots of other nations knowing their time is up because drones are just about to replace them..

The mighty B-52 is not going to be replaced by the B-1 it is going to replaced with a missile touting drone.


Because of this transmission to unmanned. There is going to be HELL raised if major budget cuts happen.

And atleast they are trying. The Boeing K-135 replacement got turned down for an Airbus design that in the long run will be better for drones and save money. Except you know who and the freepers are already yelling about the decision being unamerican.

The Navy is forward thinking with its EMC2 project http://www.emc2fusion.org/ and their railgun research... Railguns are going to be the peacemakers of the 21st century because of their cheap power and range. It costs thousands for a single smart bomb... It will cost under a thousand for each "shot" and the shot is almost unstoppable without many lasers.

[glowing]

16. I think its time to close all of our worldwide bases. I don't think we need

to continue our imperialistic policing of the world. I think if we spend more money on educating the world, we will have less need for military all together.

[Zachstar]

17. Half of them I agree need to be closed.

Which I think will eventually happen but that changes nothing. Military spending is a third rail.