GAS

Just saw 5.29 reg.unleaded at several station in Michigan City... Good grief

$4.80 this morning when I stopped to fill up and get gas for the mower.

It's times like these that I'm glad to have chosen to drive small cars that get good gas mileage.

There is no supply shortage. Look it up. Refineries are running just like always. The companies are charging this because they know we will pay it. If they thought we would pay $10 a gallon, they would charge that.

Easy to blame a President, but do you think that the CEO of Chevron sits around thinking about how to make your gas cheaper?
Biden has plenty of problems but this is not his fault.

Time for an investigation into price fixing and collusion. Where is Teddy Roosevelt when you need him?

Big oil Guys are laughing all way to the BANKS

So, I guess that it's just coincidence that the price of fossil fuels started to climb the minute he announced that he wanted the USA to be weaned off of fossil fuels in 30 years? O.K. Sure. Believe what you want.

The pandemic slowed demand dramatically. The companies slowed exploration and production accordingly. The pandemic abated. Demand skyrocketed. The companies are slowly ramping up E&P, but E&P takes considerable time to build back. Oilfield workers moved on and there is a shortage of hands. Rigs were idled and have to be brought back to operation. Also, shareowners are demanding that the record profits be used for dividends and stock buybacks, not exploration.

Knowing that the future of fossil fuels is uncertain at best, the companies are reluctant to spend billions on risky exploration and development that, even if successful, would not bring finds to sales for years. Remember, the companies are acting on a long view for their interests, not yours.

To say that if Biden would open the Keystone XL prices would come down is wrong. If the tar sand oil was intended for us, it would have been cheaper and easier to build or expand refineries in the northern US. Why ship oil from Canada to the Gulf, refine it, and ship it back north? Also, the huge recent finds in the Permian are now able to provide the coast refineries with all they can handle.

Finally, when you hear "they won't let us drill", that is BS. The rig count in the US is steadily climbing and has been for many months. Check the Baker Hughes charts.

Is Biden totally blameless? No, but corporate long-term planning, investor unrest, the war in Ukraine, the pandemic and the oil majors realization that fossil fuel dependency will eventually end are the biggies.

I saw an article in the OGJ about a refinery that is building a major solar farm to power itself. ExxonMobil is investing heavily in alternative energy research. So is BP. They see the future.

The bottom line? "Drill,baby,drill" and "Open the Keystone" are political sound bites, not related to the actual situation.

And one other thing-someone complained that the government raised the royalty rates. Yes they did - from 12.5% to 17.5%, which is in line with what is paid to private landowners.