OPEC to Bush: Pump This!
By: Lowell
Published On: 3/5/2008 9:07:17 PM
This is exactly why we have to break our oil addiction ASAP:
Oil prices reached a record close, surging above $104 after OPEC decided Wednesday to keep its production unchanged. The cartel ignored calls from President Bush to pump more oil into an ailing economy.
OPEC rebuffed its top consumer, arguing that the world was well supplied with oil and blaming financial speculators and mismanagement of the United States economy for the current high prices.
Translation? OPEC gives Bush and the United States its middle finger. Now, it's time for us to reciprocate the sentiment by embarking on a crash program to slash our oil consumption!
Comments
It would be easy to argue... (ericy - 3/5/2008 9:12:33 PM)
That they simply can't increase output, but they don't want to admit it. This public statement is just some window dressing so that they can pretend that they could increase output.
Well, the Saudis CLAIM to have (Lowell - 3/5/2008 9:31:23 PM)
spare production capacity. So either they're lying or they have chosen not to increase output. Regardless, we need to launch a crash program to get the hell off of oil.
There have been many debates (ericy - 3/5/2008 9:49:13 PM)
at theoildrum.com about where things really stand with Saudi oil. Some argue that they can't, some argue that they have been overproducing, and they need to decrease production to avoid damaging the fields.
At the end though, getting off of oil is the obvious direction that we should be heading.
Why would they increase production? (Hugo Estrada - 3/6/2008 12:20:06 AM)
Who will give up the opportunity to make more money with less effort? :)
Furthermore, the mess in Iraq means that Iraq's oil producing potential is going to be shaky for a long time.
The nice thing about the cartel is that in a free market, OPEC's control of the oil supply happens. And once it happens, the supplier get to determine the rules. :)
Bush cowers before his oil masters (TheGreenMiles - 3/5/2008 11:46:43 PM)
This is one of my all-time favorite Bush clips. Watch him turn into a sniveling pile of goo when asked how he'd talk to the Saudis about oil ...