$5 A Gallon Gas Forecast Has Ex-Shell Exec Making Headlines

Gas to Hit $5 a Gallon? Yes, Says Ex-Oil Exec
"In the U.S., we use 20 million barrels a day. We produce about seven. We're not drilling. We're going to produce about six a year, year-and-a-half from now. That means we have to import more Oil, while the whole rest of the world is also importing oil. It's going to put tremendous upside pressure on the Crude Oil price, which is the only way to tamp down demand. It's very worrying for consumers and, really, for the American Economy to think we would go back to such high prices." Hofmeister cal...

Ex-Shell President: Gas Might Go Up To $5 a Gallon in 2012
The one good thing is that both parties have a narrative/answer for this -- the Republicans, expanding domestic drilling, including in ANWR, and the Democrats, filling out tanks with starshine and rainbows -- but prices at this level will compel moving on both. The public may still want their starshine and rainbows, but they're not going to be content with only that option. "I'm predicting actually the worst outcome over the next two years which takes us to 2012 with higher Gasoline prices," he...

Obamas Energy Policies Will Cost U.S. Dearly
The fact is every $1 increase in crude Oil Prices reduces the US Gross Domestic Product by an estimated $100 billion. Every one cent increase in Gasoline prices lowers disposable income by an estimated $600 million. US government regulations in the Gulf of Mexico; no drilling off the East and West coasts; increased environmental regulations; restriction on Nuclear Power plants, limits on coal fired Power Plants, etc, etc, will increase our energy costs and increase our importation of Crude Oil. ...

Oil prices dip before inventory report
NEW YORK, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- Crude Oil Prices slid away from a run towards $92 per barrel Wednesday in New York, as trading remains light between major holidays. Traders are also waiting for a weekly report on U.S. stockpiles that generally provides hesitancy before the Wednesday afternoon report is released. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, February delivery light, sweet Crude Oil dropped from an overnight peak of $91.53 per barrel to $91.18. Heating Oil Prices shed 0.24 cents to $2.5331 per ...

$5 Gas by 2012? Ex-Shell Oil Exec Predicts
John Hofmeister, former president of Shell Oil, believes the $5 gas will be average in 2012 here in America. During a recent interview, Hofmeister, who left Shell Oil in 2008 and now heads Citizens for Affordable Energy, predicts that the price of a gallon of gas will be $5, if not more, by 2012. Last weekend, the taped interviewed was aired on Platts Energy Week television. Hofmeister blames global demand, tighter supplies and government inaction for a increases at the gas pump. Already, the p...

Coming and Going
Gasoline prices typically deflate during winter months when demand is relatively low. When the weather warms, price rises in step with increased seasonal demand. This doesn't bode well for 2011. (In June 2008 prices peaked at over $4.50/gal.) Up until a few weeks ago crude Oil Prices were in the low $80s per barrel. Currently, the price is $91. Rising crude has prompted speculators to jump into the oil market . That trend likely will continue, with major Investment Banks projecting a return to $...

Top 10 energy picks for 2011
Demand for Oil will continue to rise as developing economies in Asia and elsewhere fuel their rapid growth. Here's how to play a Bullish outlook on oil. As we move into 2011, we remain Bullish on Crude Oil fundamentals for the long term. Increases in Merger and acquisition activity and in capital spending by the Oil and gas industry reinforce our view. And countries in the developing world, particularly from Asia, will continue to demand more barrels to fuel their Economic Growth. Energy compan...

Writers and Authors
Wednesday, December 29, 2010 By Rich Galen I am a professional writer. Not an author, but a writer because I have never had a book published (at least, in part, because I've never written one). According to Webster's Third Unabridged, an author is defined as "the writer of a literary work (as a book)." See the difference? I just counted the number of MULLINGS I will have sent out by New Year's Eve this year: 146. Each is about 750 words - the length of a standard newspaper op-ed. Allowing ...

Oil Stays Above $91 As OPEC Signals No Output Hike
Monday, December 27, 2010 By Alex Kennedy, Associated Press Singapore (AP) - Oil Prices hovered above $91 a barrel Monday in Asia as some OPEC ministers signaled the group doesn't plan to boost output to cool the recent jump in crude. Benchmark Oil for February delivery fell 17 cents to $91.34 a barrel midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Thursday, the contract rose $1.03 to settle at $91.51, the highest level since October 2008. Global Oil mar...

Oil hovers above $91 as traders eye crude supplies
Oil prices hovered above $91 a barrel Wednesday in Asia ahead of reports that may show a third week of U.S. crude inventory reductions, a sign demand is improving. Benchmark Oil for February delivery rose 1 cent to $91.50 a barrel late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 49 cents to settle at $91.49 on Tuesday. Crude supplies likely fell 3.2 million barrels last week, according to analysts surveyed by Platts, the energy informatio...

Former shell executive raises the specter of $5 per gallon gas
Gas Prices became a major topic of discussion this week after the former president of Shell said that the United States could see gas prices as high as $5 per gallon in 2012. "When American Consumers are short or prices are so high — $5 a gallon for Gasoline, for example, by 2012 — that's going to set a new tone. It's going to be panic time on behalf of the politicians," John Hofmeister, who was president of the company from 2005 to 2009, told Platts Energy Week. Platts Energy Week aired t...

Energy prices lower, still around two-year highs
NEW YORK (AP) - Energy Prices fell Wednesday, while the East Coast continued to dig itself out of Monday's blizzard and a cold snap swept across other parts of the country. Heating oil, Natural Gas and other energy commodities usually get more expensive as the weather chills. But analysts said most traders already have locked in their energy contracts for the year, and those still buying are looking ahead to 2011. With the U.S. sitting on higher than average heating oil and Natural Gas supplies...

Energy prices lower, still around two-year highs
Energy prices fell Wednesday, while the East Coast continued to dig itself out of Monday's blizzard and a cold snap swept across other parts of the country. Heating oil, Natural Gas and other energy commodities usually get more expensive as the weather chills. But analysts said most traders already have locked in their energy contracts for the year, and those still buying are looking ahead to 2011. With the U.S. sitting on higher than average heating oil and Natural Gas supplies, temperatures wo...

Hutchison: EPA climate rules like a new gas tax
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) is calling on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to delay plans to implement new greenhouse-gas standards on oil refineries, arguing the regulations would amount to “a new gas tax.” The new greenhouse-gas standards “will hurt every American driver, trucker, farmer and flier with higher Gasoline, diesel and jet fuel prices,” Hutchison said in a letter sent Wednesday to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson. “Higher prices passed on to consum

Oil steadies above $91 ahead of U.S. inventory data
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil steadied above $91 a barrel on Wednesday ahead of U.S. inventory data expected to show a drawdown in crude and distillate stocks in the world's largest oil user. NYMEX crude for February delivery slipped seven cents to $91.42 a barrel by 0531 GMT (12:31 a.m. ET), while ICE Brent Crude fell 14 cents to $94.24. U.S. Oil Prices climbed to a 26-month high of $91.88 on Monday, driven by a broad spectrum of factors ranging from The Dollar and cold weather to OPEC and surging ...

Fuel consumption falls in Iran after subsidy cut
Tehran, Iran — Fuel consumption has fallen by a fifth since the government began slashing energy and food Subsidies earlier this month, a top government official said Wednesday, claiming an early sign of success in the Controversial program. Gasoline prices quadrupled and bread prices tripled after the cuts came into effect Dec. 19, part of a government effort to boost Iran’s ailing economy by reducing the massive drain on the state Budget from the subsidies. The economic shock has ...

Gasoline Prices Are Spiking Way Out Of Season
Email Sent! You have successfully emailed the post. Doug Short is the CEO of Dshort.com. On our brief Christmas afternoon drive home from a family gathering in Clayton NC, we spotted a Wal-Mart service station sign for $3.019 regular gas. The post-Thanksgiving Holiday Season is not one I normally associate with high Gas Prices. As the chart below shows, the general pattern is for Gasoline prices to peak in the summer and decline after Labor Day. This year has run counter to the pattern by a si...

Fuel consumption falls in Iran after subsidy cut
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Fuel consumption has fallen by a fifth since the government began slashing energy and food Subsidies earlier this month, a top government official said Wednesday, claiming an early sign of success in the Controversial program. Gasoline prices quadrupled and bread prices tripled after the cuts came into effect Dec. 19, part of a government effort to boost Iran's ailing economy by reducing the massive drain on the state Budget from the subsidies. The economic shock has brough...

Fuel Consumption Falls in Iran After Subsidy Cut
Wednesday, December 29, 2010 By Ali Akbar Dareini, Associated Press Tehran, Iran (AP) - Fuel consumption has fallen by a fifth since the government began slashing energy and food Subsidies earlier this month, a top government official said Wednesday, claiming an early sign of success in the Controversial program. Gasoline prices quadrupled and bread prices tripled after the cuts came into effect Dec. 19, part of a government effort to boost Iran's ailing economy by reducing the massive drai...

Iraqi's Maliki welcomes foreign oil firms
BAGHDAD, Dec. 28 (UPI) -- Iraq needs foreign investors in the oil sector to help break a bottleneck at southern ports, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said. "We have no restrictions on their entry. We want them," Maliki told The Wall Street Journal of foreign investors. "We need speed. We need money." Maliki last year gave the nod to a series of oil deals aimed at boosting the country's Oil Production to more than 12 million barrels of Crude Oil per day in less than a decade. Exports and pr...

Gold soars in year-end juggling
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold gained $23.60 to $1,406.50 per troy ounce, shy of the Dec. 6 record above $1,420, but a gain of about 1.7 percent. A possible explanation for the run-up is investors ditching equities to seek end-of-year positions for tax purposes. On Wall Street, trading was light with only 2.4 billion shares exchanged. Crude Oil Prices for February delivery added 23 cents to $91.23 per barrel. The Dollar index rose 0.1 percent, as the dollar was l...

Oil steadies above $91 ahead of U.S. inventory data
By Randy Fabi Singapore | Wed Dec 29, 2010 1:12am EST Singapore (Reuters) - Oil steadied above $91 a barrel on Wednesday ahead of U.S. inventory data expected to show a drawdown in crude and distillate stocks in the world's largest oil user. NYMEX crude for February delivery slipped seven cents to $91.42 a barrel by 0531 GMT (12:31 a.m. ET), while ICE Brent Crude fell 14 cents to $94.24. U.S. Oil Prices climbed to a 26-month high of $91.88 on Monday, driven by a broad spectrum of factors rang...

Despite Huge Tax Revenue Increases, North Dakota Legislators Cautious About Tax Relief
Tax revenues from Oil Production in the state are projected to dump $700 million into the state treasury this year alone, and that figure is expected to hit $1 billion next year. Overall, despite a roughly 23% increase in state spending, Governor Dalrymple’s Budget projects a $1 billion state surplus at the end of the 2011 - 2013 biennium. But despite this, our legislators are “cautious” about giving North Dakotans any tax relief. After all, if we cut taxes, it might caus...

Nigeria's restive delta: The president is threatened by a fraying amnesty
Mr Daniel and his classmates (some of them pictured above) are former Militants from Nigeria’s Niger Delta, which lies above Africa’s biggest Oil and gas reserves. In a campaign for a larger share of the vast revenues from these resources, local gangs in recent years have blown up Foreign Oil groups’ Pipelines and kidnapped expatriate staff. The consequent drastic drop in Oil output has hit energy giants such as Royal Dutch Shell and America’s ExxonMobil that operate in t...

Iraq oil production tops 2.6m barrels a day
Iraq's Oil output has risen to more than 2.6 million barrels a day, its highest level for two decades, Oil Minister Abdulkarim al-Luaybi said Monday after a ceremony to mark his official takeover of the ministry. "Today, our production is over 2.6 million barrels per day," Luaybi told reporters after the ceremony. "This figure has not been reached for more than 20 years." Luaybi, who was previously a deputy Oil minister, took over from Hussein al-Shahristani, who oversaw the signing of billions ...