Wednesday, December 29, 2010

$5-a-gallon gas coming?

A former Shell Oil executive raised the possibility of $5-a-gallon gasoline by 2012 yesteday. Meanwhile, Greenfaucet notes that gas prices went down by 9 percent during the George W. Bush presidency.  For those of you who have driven long distances during the holidays, I'm sure you've notice that gas prices are heading up. They average about $3.30 a gallon on Chicago's North Shore.

Drill here, drill now, pay less.

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2 comments:

Paul Mitchell said...

I averaged about 2.89 while traveling from Kentucky to Mississippi. I do not envy y'all at all.

6:34 PM
Greybeard said...

What's the threshold?
Four dollars?
Five?
Electric cars are on the way. Most are like me and will only consider one if fuel costs make purchasing one worthwhile. Others, fearing "electric death", would only consider one for short trip stuff, and even then only then if a "super golf-cart" could be purchased at a reasonable price.
But gasoline at $5/per would, I suspect, change that equation for many.

As you know John I became a motorcycle owner after a 30 year hiatus in the Fall and anxiously await the warming of Spring. Riding the bike to work will cut my fuel costs in half, and I'll consider gearing up and riding in all sorts of nasty weather if gasoline gets that expensive.

People will downsize.
People will, of necessity, use their fuel-burners more efficiently.
Lower demand will moderate fuel prices.

And then there's the supply side of things...
Higher prices will spur exploration. Sucking oil out of shale fields becomes more attractive.

It's gonna be interesting to see how high costs go.
What's your guess?

2:05 AM

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