Some statistics to consider about oil
Demand for oil is tanking, but for some reason that fact seems completely disconnected from price. We continue to be wrong about the euphoria that continues to grip the oil market. WSJ:
The IEA…said it sees world oil demand growing just 0.9%, or 800,000 barrels a day this year in a market of 86 million barrels a day. The original forecast last July was for growth of 2.18 million barrels a day…
In the U.S…Americans drove 11 billion fewer miles in March versus the same month a year ago – the sharpest monthly drop since the government began collecting such data in 1942 and the first contraction in that month since the 1979 Iranian revolution. That…was well before pump prices reached a nationwide average of $4 a gallon last week. At current prices, some economists say fuel expenditures as a percentage of workers’ take-home pay is now as high as it was during the oil shocks of the 1970s…
the IEA has dropped its forecast for China’s oil demand this year to 5.5%…from 6.1% last July. It cautioned that Chinese consumption may get an extra kick later this year as areas of the country are rebuilt following the devastating earthquake…
the biggest drop in gasoline demand is coming from the developed world. In Japan, brokerage Sanford C. Bernstein Ltd. says passenger car miles were down between 3% and 5% in 2007 – roughly the same amount that bus and rail miles were up. Businesses are axing work days, travel and opting for teleconferencing to beat high oil costs.
The International Air Transport Association, which represents 230 airlines globally, says premium travel for business and first-class services suffered its biggest drop in five years in March and that economy travel growth slowed to less than 1% at the end of the first quarter…
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is dealing with its second worst PR disaster of this decade by holding an oil conference of producers and consumers on June 22. It’s hard to believe that this is going to work, given the previous self-serving and cynical statements of OPEC members.
(Finally, a question: is it in fact immoral for the Democrats in Congress not to allow drilling in ANWR and other places, when the foolish policy of a lack of such E&P activities, as well as biofuels mandates, have arguably resulted in the poverty and even death of children around the world?)
June 10th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
(Finally, a question: is it in fact immoral for the Democrats in Congress not to allow drilling in ANWR and other places, when the foolish policy of a lack of such E&P activities, as well as biofuels mandates, have arguably resulted in the poverty and even death of children around the world?)
A certain Republican should also be asked that question.
The drilling issue is begging for a national politician to get on it and ride it. I’m surprised that Huckabee is refraining…because of Vice-Presidential or Cabinet aspirations, perhaps?
June 11th, 2008 at 8:35 am
Re is it immoral to block domestic drilling? I would think that repubs would gain considerable traction by campaigning on this and calling it what it is, an economic attack on the poor by the dems, and advocating drilling at home. Admittedly, I am feebleminded. Repubs are much more politically savvy, as evidenced by their recent success at the polls.
June 11th, 2008 at 11:20 am
Instapundit notes that Newt Gingrich is pushing the drilling issue. I signed the petition although I’m no fan of Gingrich.
Gingrich is hawking something called the Platform of the American People. Apparently he hasn’t considered the obvious acronym.