Frequent contributor to P.E., Dave Miller, contributed some of these facts in a comment. The rest were found @Forbes
* The U.S. owned Aramco but recklessly gave it to the Saudis when President Nixon and Henry Kissinger panicked in the 1970s.
* Gasoline prices should have fallen recently to match the decline in crude oil, but refineries are enjoying a soaring windfall, with profits quadrupling from 2021 levels. Refiners have added $30 a barrel in refining margins on top of the price of crude—even though 1 million barrels per day in refining capacity was added in 2022 with more coming in 2023. That’s not counting the return of hundreds of thousands of barrels of capacity which was taken offline due to idiosyncratic outages and disruptions the last couple months due to refinery mismanagement.
* The billions of dollars oil producers lost in 2020 was not due to Biden, who had not been elected yet, but due to COVID-related economic shutdowns.
* Federal leases under Biden far exceed those under Trump—with 3,557 permits for oil and gas drilling on public lands in Biden’s first year, far outpacing the Trump Administration’s first year total of 2,658, with record numbers of unused leases. That’s the case even though all federal leases combined account for less than 20% of all U.S. oil and gas production.
* The U.S. already provides more gas to the EU than Russia did at its peak, and now the EU buys 80% less from Russia than they did before Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
* The recent Saudi/OPEC price hike was not justified by oil markets as producers were already making 80% profit margins. Only the inefficient oil producer Russia, with break-even production costs twice that of Saudi Arabia, needed these price hikes, to fuel its war.
* U.S. SPR releases are not political. Every modern president has authorized significant SPR releases, including Donald Trump—who likewise faced attacks from self-serving industry voices. Furthermore countries like Saudi and China maintain their own sizable strategic petroleum reserves from which they released ample supplies at least until this year.
* Biden’s new policy of replenishing the SPR through futures contracts, taking advantage of backward-dated futures markets where oil is hovering cheaply around $70 a barrel, locks in hefty profits for domestic oil producers for years to come—which Riyadh refused to do.
17 comments:
Let's hope the West's escape from dependence on Saudi and Russian fossil fuels is permanent. It would serve Putin and the Saudi crime family right to be left high and dry.
Shaw... thanks for the hat tip.
But here's the problem...
The US economy is holding up the world right now. Growth continues strong here, in spite of inflation. In 2023, US seniors will see the biggest jump in Social Security in generations. And the GOP is pushing for legislation to sunset all US Government entitlements such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security every five years. To say nothing of their vow to bring the economy to the brink with yet another government shutdown, all designed, according to their published programs, to cut entitlements.
And yet, the Dems are silent.
Nevada, where I live, is a swing state. I have seen not one ad or commercial ramming home each and every one of these facts.
Why not?
It's malpractice by the DNC in my opinion.
Maybe it's time to regulate the oil industry. At Least until the electric car industry takes better hold and people can't complain while standing at the pump.
Did I ever send you over to Bilbo's?
https://bilbosrandomthoughts.blogspot.com/2022/10/economics-for-dummies-election-edition.html
Another fact the radial Right must ignore:
Trump's tweet in April 2020: "Just spoke to my friend MBS (Crown Prince) of Saudi Arabia, who spoke with President Putin of Russia, & I expect & hope that they will be cutting back approximately 10 Million Barrels, and maybe substantially more which, if it happens, will be GREAT for the oil and gas industry!"
Bad News for Republicans. Good News for Americans.
Inflation is decreasing and the U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 2.6 percent in the third quarter, marking its first increase in 2022 and a sharp turnaround after six months of contraction — despite lingering fears that the country is at risk of a recession. The third-quarter gross domestic product figures, released Thursday by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, provide an upbeat snapshot less than two weeks before midterm elections.
Between Biden asking the oil companies to give their profits away and social engineering making wealth obscene we won't have to worry about the oil industry in the future. We will all drive our electric cars and spend all our time looking for a place to charge them. The electric companies are going to have to increase the grid to power them as soon as they find out how to make electricity without NG and Coal. I think this is a good example of unintended consequences.
Why is the government selling our SOR if we are such a great producer. You don't think this is political do you.
Shaw... as usual, the great thinkers on the right are focusing on small details, rather than the major thrust of the article you've cited.
And a lot of those folks are focusing on SPR [strategic petroleum reserves].
What they fail to understand are a couple of things. First, Pres Biden is not the first pres to release reserves to shield Americans from higher prices and/or to help shield allies from price volatility.
Many presidents have done this over the years. So the clowns like Rep Boebert who are calling for impeachment over this are just stupid.
But secondly, part of the reason for this is because we ARE supporting our allies who are suffering as a result of Russia attacking Ukraine and the US sanctions in place to cripple the Russian economy.
But all of that is theater. The real thrust of the article is this... America is more energy independent than ever before and a real threat to Saudi hegemony in international oil and gas markets.
That sounds a lot like America first to me.
And all accomplished, along with a booming economy, under the leadership of President Joe Biden.
Things change skud. Nothing is permenant. It is just the reality of the cosmos. And hence our lives.
As much as conservatives prefer to freeze their experience that is not reality. Which is probably why they are so angry and hate so much
Regulate OPEC? With what authority and what success?
Rev, "And the GOP is pushing for legislation to sunset all US Government entitlements such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security every five years." That is about as far fetched as doing away with the police which is a idea brought forth by some wacky progressives.
Even you cannot believe that is a true statement. It may have been something put out there but it would never pass. I have never considered SS and Medicare an entitlement because you pay in advance for those benefits unlike true entitlements.
Dube, Provide an upbeat snapshot two weeks before the election, what a surprise. Inflation grew at an annual tare of 8.2% while the economy grew at an annual rate of 2.6. Shouldn't those figures be reversed. Although you are not affected or concerned to some middle class and poor a high inflation rate is devastating.
ANON... I keep looking. Who is saying Regulate OPEC?
Skud... I am really trying to not even respond to you because you choose to ignore objective reality and spin your own view.
All I can conclude is that the GOP is so extreme in their public views that you will not believe it.
But for those of us who live in reality, here are the facts...
The leader of the Senate reelection campaign, Rick Scott, has released, in writing, the exact plan I reference. Linsey Graham also says we need to reform Social Security. Five ppl running in key senate races across the country have stated they are in favor of Scott's plan.
Likely incoming House Majority leader has said if the GOP wins the House, they will shut down government to force entitlement reform and cuts to benefits. And the rapidly growing House Freedom Caucus agrees with him.
What am I missing? What are you ignoring? Tell me when we should take GOP leaders at their word.
And once again on "Defund the Police." Your juvenile snark is noted. But the entire elected national Dem leadership said it was all BS. Because that's what leaders do when their fringes go rogue. Contrast that with the GOP response when their members said "Defund the FBI."
Did any GOP national leaders speak out against the crazies? NOT. A. ONE.
In fact, I've read your fellow conservatives on some blogs saying "Defund the FBI" was not what the GOP was saying.
How do you crackpots maintain a straight face saying when fringe Dems say it and leadership disavows it, it is policy yet when mainstream GOP members say it, and leadership promotes it, it is not what the party stands for?
Freaking amazing, and that's just your first paragraph.
IMNHO skud actuall supports the sh*t you addressed Dave. Either that or he is delusional. Or, maybe he likes straddling fences. At one time I did as well. tRump and his sycophants in the now Trumpublican Insurrectionist Party turned me into a pit bull who LOVE to see their ignorance brought down with a bang.
Rev, Reform is different that eliminate and SS does need reforming because when it was designed in 1935 life expectancy for men was 58. Now that the life expectancy is 74 the start of benefits needs to change. When LBJ moved SS funds from the SS Lock box into the general fund so he could support his great society plan SS was doomed to go broke. Now we have those working paying for those on SS and that is not sustainable. SS was designed to be a lock box and self funding but the great giveaway changed all that. Like Leslie says, things change.
Defund the police was a movement and to some politicians still is. They can walk it back and say they didn't mean it but that was what they wanted. They may not be the leaders of the democrat party but they are the loudest. One democrat representative want to eliminate the police not just defund them but their numbers are small much the same as the radical right numbers are small just more quoted by the left owned media. The FBI needs to be reformed in a major way because much like the concept of the Supreme Court they should not be politically biased but they are.
Skud,
To assuage my deep skepticism, please show evidence to support your claims:
1. LBJ moved SS funds from the SS Lock box into the general fund.
2. The FBI’s political bias.
There is NO evidence because the claim is bullshit. Just like most con garbage.
Dube,
In early 1968 President Lyndon Johnson made a change in the budget presentation by including Social Security and all other trust funds in a"unified budget."
Skud,
That's not what you said. You said SS was put in the "general fund".
What will your next deflection be?
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