In fact, the US is swimming in oil; the glut is so big that tankers are returning to the oil fields of Alaska with crude still in their holds because West Coast refineries simply can’t use it. Why? Demand for gasoline in the US has plummeted. People are driving a lot less than they used to, they’re taking mass transit more often, and when they do drive, they’re driving more fuel-efficient cars. Nalder reports that the demand for gasoline in the United States, as a result, has fallen sharply since 2007.
http://www.eastbayexpress.com/92510/archives/2012/04/26/the-current-oil-glut-proves-that-more-drilling-is-not-the-answer
"What happened in gas is happening in oil as we speak. The US will become a net
exporter of oil and gas in the next decade and the global repercussions of this
are unbelievable," Daniel Jaeggi, co-founder and Head of Global Trading of
Geneva-based commodities trading house Mercuria said during the Reuters Global
Energy and Environment Summit
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/17/us-energy-summit-gas-idUSBRE84F0Z620120517
because no new refineries have been built here since the 60's. lack of refining capacity does not equate to excess oil. if we must send the shit overseas to refine out the parts that are needed by industry then so be it. what refining capacity we do have is exporting gasoline due to lower demand, lower consumption, and high demand from china india, and other developing nations. stop pretending that OIL has shit to do with GASOLINE when the two are as disparate as wool and lanolin. once the two are separated from their common source material they become independent markets which rise or fall based on supply and demand.
when the balance shifts a little further youll see massive increases in everything you need to live the cushy lifestyle to which we are accustomed when the mid-weight hydrpocarbons must be imported in large quantities from foreign refiners thanks to the stupid and shortsighted policies of the econauts and left leaning dimwits.
for decades leftists have been touting higher gas prices as the panacea for america's dependence on oil, because like yourself they believ that OIL = ENERGY. it does not. OIL = RAW MATERIALS +
energy - REGULATORY BURDENS. without the feedstocks to fuel manufacture of the raw materials needed for everything you like we will be as fucked as guatemala or chad. the reason oil comes to america is because we can refine it, with greater efficiency than the russians or the chinese. if we have no roomm in the pipe, then it causes other nations (and US companies) to build more, and better refineries in far off lands. when our aging (cuz we arent allowed to improve or expand them) refineries go tits up, or hit the back side of the technological curve we will lose this extremely important, in fact VITAL industry to nations who see progress and want it, instead of ecological luddites demanding a return to the innocence and pastoral beauty of the 17th century.
more refineries will keep more oil here, resulting in more jobs, LESS pollution worldwide (for the same reason the US accepts almost 100% of the world's nuclear waste, who else can be trusted with this shit?) and better efficiency with the oil supply that we are currently forced to buy from other nations, despite the fact that we could get it right here cheaper and easier. it will NOT result in lower gas prices. only a massive glut or many more producers competing (actually competing instead of the "Not Quite a Cartel" we have now) if you could legally make and use your own methyl alcohol then the price of gasoline would begin to drop, or you would simply make your own fuel from lawn clippings old leaves, orange peels and old newspapers. thats a free market. when making something is difficult to accomplish for the common person who desires it he must buy it from a craftsman (or a company) when the technology becomes easier to use, and more craftsmen are making it the product becomes cheaper for the buyer, and less profitable for the tradesman. when government bans the competition through absurd regulations (like methyl) then they are ensuring high prices, scarce supply and hindering commerce
much like weed. the pot profiteers who thrive on the black market would suddenly find themselves without customers under total legalization, since any dimwit can grow some ok dope in his closet or on his patio, therefore these scurrilous blackguards push for "decriminalization" to ensure that their customers will be reluctant to grow their own.
