Oil Crisis!?

Question

I know everyone wants to blame Bush, futures speculators and the oil companies, but the reality of the sky high price of oil boils down to simple supply and demand in a free market. OPEC and all the other oil producers could sell us oil at $75 a barrell if they chose to, but they are jacking up the price just to see how much the American consumer is willing to pay. Right now a gallon of gas is at $4.50 a gallon here in Southern California and we are all still driving all over the place. Consumption has decreased little in comparsion to price.

Since OPEC is basically a monopoly, they are not going to lower oil prices unless consumption drastically drops. I imagine that If consumption drops hugely, it will be because we will already be in an serious economic crisis. Perhaps even a depression. Do you think if and when we reach this point, we could end up going to war over oil?

Answer 1

no

Answer 2

No.

Answer 3

i think there will be a war over oil.. it's inevitable and sad.. we are such a stupid species

Answer 4

There is no oil shortage. There is enough under Alaska alone to last the US 200 years. OPEC is gouging us up the yin-yang! And WE paid for a huge part of finding that oil over there!

We need to develop alternative fuel and drive the oil value to zero.

Answer 5

If there really is in truth a shortage of oil down the line,  then certainly  there is going to be friction among the world powers  to meet their needs for oil, a very dangerous situation,  an Armageddon  ?

Answer 6

Honestly, I don't think that there will be any kind of Oil War, much less any other kind of war because all we have money for is for our own personal expenses. But if people are really that ridiculous to want to start a war against the government they can go ahead, there's not much that can be done.

As for the shortage of oil, yes it is happening, but we are malleable people and can easily change our lives to meet certain requirements and necessities that we may have. If anything there will be a change in cars. It wont be sudden but gradual. We can't continue to use up oil if we're going to run out eventually, then what? This is something that should of been thought of in the early years, they should have thought of the future. We seem to be satisfied with what is in front of us and we can't pay attention to what's outside of our view. Soon or later, there will be new inventions for cars, new ideas.

I don't mean to be rude or anything, but I think that you're idea of the OPEC is a bit extreme. If people didn't have to go to work or didn't have to drive their kids to school, they would stop using their cars. And if things were much closer to one another, distance wise, they could easily look upon another option. It's not that we like spending $4.50 on gas, it's that we HAVE to.

Answer 7

I do not think we would go to war over oil. However, I do believe that these high prices are because the Saudi's like to play games. I think they are having Americans pay these high prices to insure that Pres. Bush has this threat over his head. I am sure you have seen Pres Bush kissing and smiling with the Saudi Prince. I am sure Bush does not really enjoy being with the Prince, but maybe he sees it as keeping the peace where he can. It would be nice if we were dependant on America only for oil.

Answer 8

Yes, there will be war over this. And the side part is it can be avoided but stubborness will not allow it to be.

However that said, there is ample evidence that the current price spikes are speculative and not based on supply and demand. People are driving much less right now for a variety of reasons. But this has not managed to moderate the price at all.

Also, consider these deals we are seeing advertised, where if you buy a jeep you will have a locked in 2.99 a gallon oil price for three years. This could only exist in a situation where the car companies and the oil people have made deals that do not reflect the market as it is presented to the public. The current price spike is a completely manipulated event.

People would be well advised to massively boycott. Don't drive if you don't have to, car pool when you can... and don't encourage the car manufacturers to keep on with their wasteful SUV's. A genuine drivers' rebellion could cause massive damage to the oil and car people. And, in my opinion, that would be a good thing, since they seem not to care about the massive damage they are causing to our world.

Answer 9

I thought there was already a war over oil....