ouch! anyone else's wallet in pain?

[AKA_Monet]

Originally Posted by TexasWSP

Are you trying to say that oil companies blatantly create high gas prices for their personal gain knowing that the country has to pay for it?? Just asking....I kind of sense that from the "cartels" and "fixing prices" remarks.

Originally Posted by TexasWSP

As evidenced already by AKAMonet's thoughts on "cartels" "fixing prices". I'll put it this way. The largest oil and gas company in the United States controls around 4-5% of the world's oil. You honestly think they are the ones "fixing" the price here? No. I mean good lord......our country is importing 75% of its energy. If you don't think distributors in other countries have a large hand in these high prices then I don't know what to tell you.

I don't know you well enough to suggest your reading style, but to let you know something about me, I am a lot older than you think and pretty well-traveled. So first, the US does not allow cartels in its country, it fails to promote "free-trade" and capitalism. So that means foreign countries and possible governments have cartels--pretty much like drug cartels--the same with crude oil/gas. As such, they (namely OPEC) can charge whatever they want for oil. That is what I read, heard and saw in all the latest media. Our oil companies are being held hostage to whatever prices these fools charge us--thus they are passing onto the consumer...

The other issue was read in Science Magazine last year sometime that all ACCESSIBLE oil within environmental treaties is low overall. Now there are inaccessible fields and then there is environmentally destructive fields. But, I dunno? Shouldn't our R&D money be spent on better energy production uses? Maybe our cars won't be able to go as fast as a hydrocarbon vehicle, but there will be plentiful fuel using something different. And steam was going somewhere at the turn of the 19th century--who says it cannot be revisited with newer technologies? Also there are other forms of carbon based fuels--coal and organics (CH4 and EtOH) and even H2/He gases that can be better contained.

R&D is different now, given enough money--like the Gates Grand Challenge--with Warren Buffet $$$ many things can be accomplished. The company that makes it happen first, MIGHT be the most successful... Whatever happen to the Ansari [sp?] Prize?