Gas prices on the Lake

[fatlazyless]

I like to blame the high price of gas on our invasion of Iraq but do not really understand why the big increases. For starters, from where does NH and the rest of the US get its' oil &/or gasoline? Possible crude oil producing origins could be Mexaco, Venuzualia, the Gulf of Mexico off Lousiana, Norway, Alaska, Saudi Arabia, Iraq & Russia plus there's probably other countries like in Africa. I like to think that invading Iraq was like eliminating the neighborhood bully for Saudi Arabia so they are no longer beholden to the US military but what the H do I know?

Fortunately, I have a 15'/190lb sailboat w/ a large main & jib, and no motor, and sailing it can be a challenge.

[Kamper]

Originally Posted by fatlazyless

... from where does NH and the rest of the US get its' oil &/or gasoline? ...

From what I've been hearing, most the eastern refining capability is in the Gulf states. A large part of our imported crude as well as Gulf production comes ashore in areas hit by Katrina. Additionally the main pipelines from Texas, Omaha and other oil producing states outside the storm areas transit Louisianna and Mississippi.

Those facilities use electric pumps along the way to keep the product flowing. Electricity delivery to the pump stations was cut off and is still in the process of being restored. As they get emergency power to the facilities they expect to get at least some flow restored. Refineries in the storm area will probably be restarted after the delivery system is able to accept their fuel.

The eastern/midwestern part of the country supposedly uses about 9 million gallons of fuel a day and when Katrina hit there was aprox 190 millions gallons in local storage. The bulk of cost increase is coming from the distributors. Depending on your point of view they are either taking advantage of market fears or trying to discourage consumption by raising prices because they are still selling fuel they had on hand already.

In the meantime, imported crude is probably floating off the coast waiting for refinery capacity to become available. Some of it is probably being diverted to other US ports with storage or refinery facilities. I expect some of it will probably be re-sold on the world market so the tankers can turn around and be ready with another load when we can use it.

The west-coast states have a system of refineries and pipelines to service areas west of the Rocky Mountains. There may be some pipe-line connection through the south-western states but that flow will still be bottle-necked in the storm zone.

Ken

[fatlazyless]

Iraq may not had any nuclear bombs but it sure has oil underneath their dessert sand, and lots of it. As long as the US Military is over there at huge expense, dying & getting wounded, why not carve out a Rhode Isnad sized oil rich piece of their Iraqi dessert just exclusively for our Amercan gas guzzling oil habit. How's 95 cent reg gas or die sound for a battle cry. '95 regular or die!' Just fill it up with that 95 cent gas from wackie Iraqi. Maybe, call it Saddam Gas, or Bush Gas, or Iraqi gas, or whatever.

In the 19th century didn't England seize Diego Garcia, a small island in the Indian Ocean for use as a British Navy ship coaling station so that's as good a precedent as any. Who knows, a strong US military presence plus a US economic interest in Iraq for their oil may even turn out to be good the the peoples of Iraq for some unthought reason. Plus,as a fatlazyless American, I deserve 95 cent gas for my gas guzzlin' pickup truck. Ayup!..........ahem

[Kamper]

Originally Posted by fatlazyless

Iraq ... sure has oil underneath their dessert sand, and lots of it. ...why not carve out a ...piece ... for our ... oil habit. ... I deserve 95 cent gas for my gas guzzlin' pickup truck. Ayup!..........ahem

Ah yes, the good old days of forced colonization and annexation. That'll teach us to sign on to things like the U.N. Charter. Hey, we still have Puerto Rico and Guam. Nice beaches.

Hey, have you heard the rumor about Stone Dam Island? Winni is acutually on top of an oil dome that has secretly been declared part of the national petroluem reserve since 1920. SDI is the site where the wells will go in when the govt decides things are grim enough. The wild-life sancutary is just a cover story. The original plan was to ship it by tank cars and the sightseeing trains are actually getting secret subsidies to keep the rail rights of way open.