Energy chief: Flat production driving oil prices

Either he is 1) Ignorant regarding the speculative "bubble" that hedge funds & institutional investors have created in oil futures, and needs to fire the person on his staff responsible for educating him, 2) Is deliberately mis-leading the public and press, in which case HE needs to be fired by the President, or 3) he only gets his news from the TV and Wall Street, and there is no hope for him or his staff. Wall Street, the CFTC, ICE, hedge fund managers, institutional investors, and individual speculators are all a part of this scheme to steal wealth from the American public and line their own pockets. And this comment coming from a financial conservative.

Our energy chief is a lying sack of crap - oil prices are being driven by greed, speculation , manipulation, and more greed.

IMO, it is wrong to lay this at the feet of Arab nations, other oil producing nations, or even the oil companies. I agree with nbctjon: GREED, and that at the expense of poor people and the middle class the world over. I certainly hope that people go to jail over this. It is no different than Enron or WorldCom.

This administration has lied to us about the war, has been totally cluless about the housing bubble (notice how they longer boast about the rates of home ownership), and are now cluless about energy prices. Speculators need to be controlled. Its amazing how the largest speculators can predict 150.00 a barrel oil, and get away with it. Also we need to tap into the vast oil resources in this country. Any congressperson who refuses to allow hsale oil, off shore oil to be tapped, should be kicked out office.

The world economy can not support 200.00 a barrel, but we shouldnt wait for that collapse. I wonder if oil sepculators can be bought up on charges of treason, as they are doing more to destroy the USA then any war ever has.

Suppy and demand, huh? After nearly eight years of devicive and deceptive, why should we believe
anything that the "energy chief" from the current administration has to say? Yet, somehow, the oil
companies have made all time record profits. Amazing! It is always nice to be treated as if we are
stupid. The American public should be outraged!

It is scary how dumb this administration and its leaders are (and I am a Republican). This has less to do with supply and demand and more to do with market manipulation by speculators. It would be nice is congress and/or the administration would get off their backsides and do something. Since they cant figure it out by themselves, let me help: close the enron loophole, re-regulate the futures markets, dump 30 million barrels of oil on the market from the spr. Those moves would crush the specs and bring prices down about $50 per barrel. At that point rather than these stupid stimulus checks, get real about increasing fuel efficiency and giving meaningful credits for renewable sources of power.

Oil from shale resources won't come onto the market for at least 10 years - alternative energy sources are a much better investment. Plug-in electric cars, for instance could be available for the mass market at affordable price in 2-3 years if the US auto industry could be convinced to make the investment in this countries future. That and a solar panel would get me back and forth to work during the week and to the bank, store, etc on the weekend. We are already paying at least 40%, probably more for oil than the rest of the world, why would we want to invest our future in an industry that is robbing us blind?

the us gov is pitiful, it makes me sick the way we being herded like cattle. im ready to take arms and join the revolution ,that is the only solution.

Of COURSE the US is also subsidizing the oil prices - the difference is that the subsidies are going into the pockets of the oil executives and speculators and NOT helping the consumers. The only way we'll see real innovation in developing alternative energy sources is when any funds aimed at developing these technologies are diverted to competitors of big oil that have a true incentive to make some big breakthroughs. Until then (I won't hold my breath), we'll continue to see oil prices skyrocket, the oil executives and traders getting richer, and the rest of us paying for it, even when the "demand" declines because of those prices.

The flat supply is directly a result of our DEMOCRAT run congress. They have been put in office by special interests groups that demand that there be no drilling anywhere there is an issue with wildlife or scenery, which is the entire planet. This is clearly a case of the national interests outweighing the speculation that irreversible harm will be done if drilling is allowed. They even stand in the way of wind power, power transmission and nuclear energy production. This entire mess is the result of congress not using their brains and instead pandering to the minority vote with the big bucks, environmentalists. Most of the money isn't even raised in the US! Talk about outside interference. As an example of the waste and greed these "tree huggers" represent, NY state has spent millions of dollars building a bike path across the state. It is used by so few that it is a disgrace to those who have to live near it and be constantly reminded about how vulnerable they are to special interest lobbies while their counties are near bankrupt from medicare mandates. Waste and development hitting dead ends due to environmental lobbies must stop. Just look at the number of high milage cars ready to go into production but unable to get startup capitol or buyer incentives from congress. Wind farms have repeatedly been prevented by a host of special interests. If the world is going to change to greener power the congress has to give up their special interest funding and get things moving. Stop blaming the republican party just to get votes too. Bush has called for bills and appropriations for years now and all congress has done is either stonewall or load on so much pork that it is self defeating to try to save while spending more. Pelosi is running the biggest blackmail scam we have ever seen. Now they want a one party system, imagine that!

I made the following website out of shear frustration. Maybe a grassroots movement is what is needed to nudge auto manufacturers, gov't & whoever else is needed to make long term changes that will affect our fuel consumption, methods and cost. I realize it may not be the best answer but it's something. Most of us are struggling on what to do & how to keep making ends meet. I'm not a scientist or financial analyst. I'm just a working middle class American trying to stay that way. I would be interested in your opinion either way. www.stopbuyingcars.com

I think it is more lies that they are telling us. We are heading for deep dark depression and the Bush and marry men and woman.
As long as they are making money they are happy....

This article is a perfect example of how the government has used other countries as an excuse for its failed economic policies.

IT'S NOT ABOUT SUPPLY AND DEMAND, IT'S ABOUT THE RAPID DEVALUATION OF THE US DOLLAR.

OPEC oil production is at an all-time high. The oil is available, however as the value of the US dollar collapses, it causes prices to increase. Pegging the price of oil to the US dollar just makes this a global phenomenon. Weaker buying power = higher prices. If this was simply a supply and demand issue, why are grocery and other prices also rising? It's because they're falling victim to the same fate. It costs more to buy the same goods when the dollar is weak.

There is no easy solution to this mess. The Fed needs to begin raising intrest rates, and we need to get our economic and monetary policies back in order. Until this trend is reversed, things are going to get a lot harder. (Regardless of who controls Capitol Hill or the White House)

I agree with all the comments I have read here. Except blaming one party over another, our entire governing body is at fault for this mess and the destruction of the American people. We already get 60% of our incomes stolen from us in hidden and openly seen taxes. This gouging price of gas is just one more thing to suck away more of our incomes.

Anyway, I just heard two pieces of information (within the last week) that really makes me angry about this whole oil "crisis".

First - I was told that Russia is swimming in oil to sell, but we don't buy it because they are not a member of OPEC! What The Hell!! If this is true, It just shows how ridiculous and truly greedy our government is being. That amounts to funding terrorism by only buying from Middle Eastern Countries.

Second - I was told that there are three huge oil fields in Alaska. All three have been drilled. Two have been capped and the other is being refined. But the refinery is only running one shift per day and only five days a week. This being far below the capacity available. This fact is purportedly being hidden by our government, and in fact the refining and use of said oil is being thwarted by our own governing body, because our elected officials and their cronies are getting rich off the high oil and gas prices, at our expense. Who couldn't figure that part out. Anyway, supposedly just one of these deposits would be enough to run this country for 200 years. And the price for our gas would drop to about $1.50 to $2.00 per gallon if it's use was opened up. This makes me furious. If all that is true, it is obvious that our government is not looking out for our best interest. I guess that "for the people" part of our constitution was just garbage to our elected congress. Yet again, who couldn't figure that one out. I was told to do a search on "Gull Island" to get the facts on this. Since this is new news to me I have not had time to check it out. I sure hope some of you have time to do some research on it. Supposedly all the information about this is fully documentable, as in all facts can be verified.

That's My 2 Cents

This is the timeless, age old battle of the powerful vs. the relatively powerless. This will be the time of a new ying vs yang. When one side of the political spectrum becomes so self serving, so blinded by greed, so driven by speculation, so focused on one outcome, so empowered by monopolization, so void of principal, so self-centered, so manipulative, so embedded, so entrenched, so one sidedly fortunate, then the other side rises up. Enter the likes of the French revolutionaries, the early century labor movement, and most recently, the resurgence of the political left by way of Mr. Obama.

Should be interesting to watch this unfold.

This guy is either an idiot or the biggest crook the Whitehouse has hired yet. Anyone with an ounce of gray matter between their ears knows the oil speculators and greed is driving the price of oil and they should be bought up on charges. We put people in jail for Enron for a lot less money. I guess Washington will do something when they get the Depression we are headed for!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We need an energy chief to tell us this? America has enough oil, we just need to ignore selfish environmentalist who block any attempt to produce more oil. They use oil but don't want us to drill for oil, go figure? Go to this site and read about America's huge deposits: www.AmericansForJobsAndEnergy.org

The oil companies learned in the 1970s we would buy energy at any price. They also learned to cut supply so we would be very happy to pay at any price. What we have now is a systemic manipulation of supply and raising of prices. The oil companies are producing less but charging more. This accounts for the increased profits. By producing less they save lots of production cost. But by charging more they reap in the outrageous profits. I think most of us would be happy to work 4 hour days but be paid for 12 hours work. That is what the oil companies are now practicing.

Who does this 'Energy Chief' think we are? He is doing nothing but lying just as he is told to do!! He and others need to watch a simple video of the 'REAL REASON' oil & gas is so high!! Then again, HE may be a source of the problem as well by adhering to this treason set up back in the '70's or early 80's... IF you people out there want to know the real reason, then watch this video, an hour long, but you will THEN KNOW the real reason all of this has come about. You may have to copy and paste the link into your browser to see it, but you'll be glad you took the time to watch it!!
They need to quit blowing smoke up our a**'es, as it's not working!

NOTE: take ALL the -'s out of this link, as they blocked it...
h-t-t-p-:-//-v-i-d-e-o-.g-o-o-g-l-e-.-c-o-m-/-v-i-d-e-o-p-l-a-y-?-do-cid=3-34-027-469-716-70-11147

Whether it is greed, bad leadership, or a lack of oil resources...It doesn't matter.

It is time to stop being held hostage by oil.

The US is a great nation that has great people with great minds. Our people can more than likely put together a alternative fuel system to stop the oil consumption all together. It is time to stop the "business as usual" and start working together as an independent country - not relying on foreign oil to further crush our economy.

Brazil decided to stop oil dependency in the 1970s and they implemented a completely oil free, pollution free system. Brazil did it....we can do it. It is time to stand up as a nation and insist on change in spite of the greedy government control that is currently in place....remember "they" work for us! Make your voice heard, make your vote count.

How can you blame the Democrats in congress when they do not ha the majority to get anything past the veto of this most inept of presidents? He is an oil man and since his ascendancy into power gas has gone from about $1.79 to $4 a gallon. Venezuela citizens pay $0.12 per gallon. You would think that the governments of Saudi Arabia and Kuite would still be grateful to our nation for saving their butts in the first Gulf War. The Republicans have had a virtual stronghold on our nation for the past 12 years and look at the mess we are in. Yes, we should get into smaller more efficient vehicles and yes we should get into renewable resources. But, do not forget the market manipulation of the 70s.

To JRD311945

I take issue with two of your statements. #1 We wouldn't have to import ANY foreign oil if it were not for the very favorable tax incentives we give to the oil companies. Ever hear of the "Oil Depletion Allowance" This is a tax incentive given to oil companies who EXPORT our oil. Oil that costs them far less than imported oil. We have enough pr oven oil reserves in this country to last for the next 200 years we just have to stop exporting it

#2. You say "make your vote count" just ask the fine citizens of Florida and Michigan if their votes counted. Your vote does NOT count in America unless you own an ELECTORIAL VOTE.

If flat supply is driving prices, how does he accounts for yesterday's price hikes which resulted from news of Israel planning to attack Iran. The rise in prices are due to instability in the Middle East and crude oil traders capitalizing on it. If you track the rise in crude prices you will notice that it started around the invasion of Iraq. Clearly, the administration wants to detract attention from the real cause of the spike in crude oil, their misguided policies, see

I have read several times about the oil field ("play") that lies under N. Dakota, Montana and Saskatchewan, that is larger that those in the mid-east, and our newer technology could access economically. I have also known people in the oil business who tell me that refineries are not running at capacity, owners are subsidized to keep their pumps turned off, and oil companies have bought up patents on devices and processes that could save us all billions on fuel consumption, but the oil companies do nothing with these patents.

Considering the state of our economy, shouldn't we at some point say these actions that are nothing but greed, are also TREASON? Isn't there anyone in a position of power or influence who is willing to tell the truth and DO SOMETHING?