This from the wicked witch of the west, Nancy Pelosi, in a press release.
“Independent reports confirm that speculators are driving up the cost of oil, hurting consumers and potentially damaging the economic recovery. Wall Street profiteering, not oil shortages, is the cause of the price spike. In fact, U.S. oil production is at its highest level since 2003, and millions of acres have been cleared for additional development. We need to take strong action to protect consumers from this speculation. Unfortunately, Republicans have chosen to protect the interests of Wall Street speculators and oil companies instead of the interests of working Americans by obstructing the agencies with the responsibility of enforcing consumer protection laws. They have also repeatedly opposed our efforts to end billions of dollars in outdated taxpayer subsidies for oil companies enjoying record profits.
We support efforts by the Obama Administration to expand domestic energy resources, including natural gas and renewable sources like wind and solar that create jobs in America and will end our dangerous dependence on foreign energy supplies. This can be achieved because today, the United States currently has more oil and gas rigs at work than the rest of the world combined, and imports of foreign oil have decreased.
We call on the Republican leadership to act on behalf of American consumers and join our efforts to crack down on speculators who care more about their profits than the price at the pump even if these spikes harm the American consumer and our economy.”
The facts, no smoke blown.
1. US oil production has made but a small dent on imports. Demand due to the Obama recession has made a far greater impact. Between the two it’s less than a million barrels a day on a total of 9 million barrels.
2. Iran exports account for 3-4% of global oil exports. This will impact prices and supply.
3. U.S. gasoline prices track Brent crude over time, generally lagging.
4. WTI crude oil contracts outstanding track Central bank balance sheets. Money printing and negative real interest rates increase demand for real assets like oil/gold.
5. Brent oil is now 5 times higher than US natural gas prices on a BTU basis. If the US decided to cease imports from Venezuela, Russia, and the Persian Gulf, this would reduce oil imports by 30%. To replace the loss of 2.8 million barrels a day, electricity would have to replace the missing gasoline. We produced less than 100 terawatt hours of electricity from wind in 2010. That would need to increase to 475 terawatt hours of electricity from wind to replace the lost crude oil. If natural gas were used, as T. Boone Pickens wants, it would need to increase by 45%(US new production). Up from the 5% increse we expect from 2010-2030.
Speculate on that Pelosi. And, you and the Democrats stop lying to the public.
