Plunging Oil Prices act as $350-Billion-Dollar Stimulus Package
It was only five months ago that oil prices hit a record high of $147 a barrel. Now they’re below $40 thanks to slowing global demand. At the same time, gas prices have plunged from over $4 a gallon to around $1.67 nationally. (And some analysts think they’re heading to a buck a gallon.) And just as high energy prices were a drag on the economy last summer, they’re giving it a boost heading into 2009. JP Morgan Chase economist James Glassman estimates that the drop in oil prices represents “a boost equivalent to a $350 billion stimulus.” To bring that down to the average consumer, Glassman explains, think of it this way: The typical household drives 15,000 miles annually. So a drop in gas prices to, say, $1.50 a gallon would represent a savings in their annual gas bill of $2,500 from when gas was at $4. This could boost GDP growth by as much as two percentage points.
Read the rest at: 5 Reasons Why the Economy Might Recover Faster Than You Think in 2009
Has OPEC Lost Control?
OPEC wants to prop up the dive-bombing price of oil, to keep their bank accounts flush with fresh cash. Russia is also feeling the pinch, as the rest of the world decides it _can_ live on less oil than previously consumed. OPEC would like Russia to join them in cutting output, in an effort to bring prices up.
Opec has been eagerly trying to recruit Russia to join its efforts and analysts say together the two could announce a further reduction of as much as 3m barrels a day of oil production within the next week.
Chakib Khelil, Algeria’s oil minister and Opec’s president, told state radio on Thursday there was a consensus among Opec members to reduce production when they met in the Algerian seaside town of Oran on December 17. He said: “The Oran meeting will decide a severe production cut to stabilise the oil market.”
Time will tell if they can woo the worlds consumers back to heavy consumption at the same time they bring prices back to “normal” profitability. If they are successful at turning this train around, then it’s likely the run-up and recovery of recent history were always under OPEC control - then what does it say about their intentions, as America teetered on the brink of the housing investment crisis in an election year…
What do you think?
Fighting Forclosure: One Woman’s Goal to Avoid Forclosure
I use Google Alerts to help monitor the web to find new websites and blog postings for the search term ”FuelClinic” in an effort to understand how marketing and other promotional efforts are going. It’s a useful tool that will email you once or twice a day if Google spots any new pages matching your search term. (It’s a good way to keep an eye on the competition also!)
Usually the Alerts tell me something I already knew - like this new blog post will probably show up later today or tomorrow as an Alert in my email. It’s nice to know that Google notices my hard work.
But my favorite Alerts are those that are not expected, like this one from earlier this week from “Fighting Forclosure” - a blog by Dawn who journals her monthly fight to save (or as she says ”find”) an extra $900 each month in order to cover her mortgage payment after a recent divorce left her with the house.
Google Alerts found Dawn’s recent post when she wrote about using FuelClinic for the past six months, and says it’s helped her understand her fuel usage better. This makes me very happy to hear, and helps inspire me to continue to struggle to build the rest of FuelClinic so that it may be even more useful to her and others.
At a time where many people are in a similar struggle with their mortgage, Dawn’s honesty, ingenuity, and advice is very inspiring. If you are in a similar situation, I recommend you read her blog. While you are there, you can click on an advertisement or two as well.
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Update: Two Million Miles!
Earlier this month FuelClinic.com members climbed past 2-million-miles of tracking and managing fuel efficiency using the tools on the website. Together we’ve stopped to refuel over 10,000 times - buying just under 90,000 gallons of fuel. Continued-usage statistics for the site are very strong, as a good number of our users return every few days to continue recording mileage. Thank you!
No More Chasing Investment (for now)
You may have noticed that development has stalled on new features like the Twitter interface and the training modules. Over the past two months we’ve been actively seeking start-up funding so that we may go full-time in continuing the development of the site. This has taken a tremendous amount of time and effort.
While we’ve received a good deal of very positive feedback, our timing was very poor. The economic downturn since September, coupled with the dramatic drop in fuel prices since November, has made it very difficult to get past the “Gee you have a good idea, come back to talk to us in six months” stage. Overall, it was a very worth-while effort, as continued business-plan development has really helped us find and focus on our core model.
We’re keeping a few investment doors open, but are no longer counting on investment until Summer 2009 at the soonest, and are not actively chasing investment. This means we’ll continue to boot-strap FuelClinic.com development for the foreseeable future, and development of new features (as opposed to seeking funding sources) will again be the focus of our limited resources.
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OPEC Promises “Significant” Cuts - Again.
OPEC is to meet again on December 17th to mandate their members turn back their production output valves, in an effort to bring the price of oil up from it’s current lows.
OPEC President Chakib Khelil, who is also Algeria’s minister for energy and mines, told the Associated Press that a consensus has emerged among OPEC producers that a “significant reduction” is warranted by the current price slide.
Khelil would not discuss specifically how deep the cut might be. But he used the word “severe,” and noted that some analysts have predicted cuts of as much as two million barrels a day.
OPEC previously announced a 1.5-million-barrel-a-day reduction in October, but the decision failed to halt the fall in prices and markets have been expecting another cut at the Dec. 17 summit.
Why not keep OPEC on the run - regardless the price of oil - conserve as much fuel as possible w/o degrading your standard of living. Use resources like FuelClinic.com ( http://www.fuelclinic.com ) to learn to conserve and track your progress.
Continue to demand alternative sources of energy for your personal transportation. Demand “future-proof” FLEX-FUEL capable cars to take advantage of ethanol and methanol mix fuels w/o expensive new equipment, demand plug-in hybrids that charge overnight using clean electricity, demand small clean diesel engines that can run on bio-diesel that can be produced from algae.
Consumers cut consumption as a result of summers painful fuel costs - and pulled the rug from under OPEC, causing oil to “crash” back down to market value. Keep it going even lower by continuing to curb consumption, and keep pressuring government and industry to bring to market ways we can _replace_ most of oil from our transportation requirements.
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Why Conserve When Gas is Cheap?
I’ve been fielding some questions lately from friends and relatives about the importance (and sensibility) of fuel conservation at a time when the price of oil is dipping below $50/bbl and a gallon of gasoline costs less than $2/gal.
It was just 4 short months ago that the gasoline seemed destined for $5+/gal, and the cost of a barrel of oil was sure to climb to over $200/bbl. American consumers are enjoying “cheap gas” again, and some are already questioning the painful lessons of the summer. (For the record, gas prices are still twice as high as ten years ago when a gallon of gas cost you right around $1/gal)
Here are my thoughts:
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This too shall pass. Oil prices will not remain low for very long unless there is a major shift in the way our transportation sector is powered. Our dependency on oil is still nearly absolute, and there are major forces already acting to raise the price of oil.
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OPEC is cutting production by millions of barrels per day. In the past these kinds of cuts were successfully used to raise the price of oil world-wide. (I say “in the past”, read below…)
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Focusing too closely on the cost of fuel at the pumps today or in recent weeks ignores the inherent weaknesses in the capacity of our existing production, pipeline, refining and distribution systems. If consumers return to unbridled consumption, there is stil not enough capacity to meet that demand.
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Security experts have warned that one successful attack on major oil infrastructure can still have catastrophic effects on supply, which will immediately drive the costs to record highs.
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Improving fuel-efficiency appeals to a diverse group of people; including the penny-pinchers, environmentalists, and the national security hawks. The low cost of oil actually worries two out of the three, and the third is still feeling compelled to save.
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Environmentalists fear that cheap gas acts as a green-light to consumers to continue to buy gas-guzzling and CO2 belching SUV’s they don’t really need, and to slip back and continue wasteful consumption.
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National security hawks understand that the market is fragile and is still run by countries and organizations that openly wish to do us harm. Low-oil prices do hurt the war-chests of some state sponsors of terrorism and radicalized Islam, but these same players have enjoyed several years of record profits and have amassed enough fortune that they can wait-out any temporary drop in oil prices. We only reach security goals by replacing oil-based fuels with alternative sources of fuel and energy.
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And still the penny-pinchers need to save money. The economic trouble that exists alongside the cheap oil prices means that money is still tight, in spite of cheaper fuel.
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- The real damage to our economy is not yet realized, and we’ll need to continue to conserve and produce alternative sources of energy just to survive.
Personally, I think that the oil cartel has overplayed their hand. I think world-wide consumer confidence is shattered, and there will be a period of suffering for oil producers as the rest of the world works to replace them.
I think more than anything, last summers outrageous jump in fuel costs was an education for Americans, that our system truly is out of control, and that it’s not sustainable. It was an expensive education, to be sure, but one that may pay dividends as we continue to conserve as we develop and implement replacement technologies and fuels to ween ourselves off the oil tit.
US Govt gives automakers $25B in loans; drops fuel-efficiency mandate
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By Peter Forman |
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The United States continues to “perpetuate” a broken auto industry. Because of pressure from Detroit, unions, and Michigan lawmakers, the “Big Three” auto makers have been insulated from the real market-place of competition for the past 30 years. The Japanese and Germans have figured out how to build cars in the American South profitably–but not the Big Three. That’s fine and good except now we have a completely broken auto industry that is unable to compete. Now exposed to declining demand and lacking access to “cheap” capital, they are likely to disappear in their current forms–even after we spend untold billions in short-term assistance. The move, aimed at ending what the White House called partisan “gridlock,” represents a significant escalation in the political battle over aid to the Big Three auto makers. This is ahead of an expected showdown next week in Congress between Democrats and Republicans. While we are unlikely to ever see a return of these funds, the car companies could at least agree to manufacture all cars beginning in 2012 with flex-fuel compatibility and continues progress towards EVs (electric vehicles). Without at least those commitments, what will we have to show for this “investment”? Demand that your Congressperson and Senator act–call today! |
Used w/ Permission: MoveBeyondOil.org
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“Keep Your Receipt” Reminder Magnet
One of the comments that I hear from time to time by FuelClinic.com users is “I have a problem remembering to get my receipt!” We’re working on ways you can record your transactions remotely, right from the pump; using your mobile phone and a to-be-release mobile version of FuelClinic, send a “tweet” to us via Twitter, or just a text message.
But for those users not so interested in mobile technology, we’ve developed a decidedly low-tech (albeit good-lookin’) way to help remind you to grab your receipt before you leave the pump.
About a month ago I had a local sign-shop create a short-run of these magnets for family and friends, with the intention that they will help people to remember and get their receipt before leaving the pump.
It’s been suggested that I make these available to all users, to sell them on the website so everyone can display them on their gas tank hatch and use them to help remember the receipt. So I checked in to getting a commercial run of these created, and figured the price per magnet would be about $5/ea. after manufacturing, packaging, and mailing them.
If you’d like to have a magnet like this for your vehicle(s), and think $5 is something you could part with to get one, let me know by leaving a comment on this thread.
I’m just judging interest at this point - there is no obligation (they don’t even exist yet).
Citizens for Energy Freedom Founding Conference, January 2009 at Florida Atlantic University
Join me at the The Citizens for Energy Freedom Founding Conference this January at Florida Atlantic University for the founding meeting of this new grassroots energy-independence campaign.
The Citizens for Energy Freedom Founding Conference
January 17th & 18th, 2009
at Florida Atlantic University, Jupiter, Florida
Announced last month at the Energy Freedom Summit in Chicago, this two day convention will feature a series of talks and panels by leading experts on energy, economics, technology, national security, and politics.
Invited guests include:
- Sen. Mel Martinez
- Sen. Bill Nelson
- Sen. Hillary Clinton
- and Former Speaker Newt Gingrich
If tailored after the Energy Freedom Summit, this will be an intense two day collection of industry and government experts at panels, presentations, discussions, and workshops focused tightly on educating and motivating attendees to help organize to support a workable energy independence plan. Bring a notebook!
Sign up today at the bottom of this page to reserve your seat at this conference.
I’ve already reserved mine. :)
Dude, Where’s My [Electric] Car!?!!
Another great find tonight, and I can’t believe this one snuck past me. Thanks to the guys at PowrTalk I think I just found my next car. And it’s already monogramed for me!
Ready to hit the American market in 2010, Miles Electric Vehicles 4-Door Sedan is the first practical, affordable, 4-door, high-way-speed rated, all-electric vehicle you can buy (if you can still get a car loan…) for around $35K USD.
According to the Miles EV website:
“In early 2004, concerned by growing environmental problems linked to micro-carbon emissions, Miles Rubin set out to make a difference – by developing a line of safe, affordable, all electric vehicles that produce zero emissions. He centered the company’s activities in Tianjin, China, where the battery industry had expert manufacturing experience. Since then, Miles Electric Vehicles has begun importing low speed vehicles and is working to develop a highway speed, all-electric, midsize sedan.”
“The MILES XS500 prototype sedan currently under development will top 80mph and travel over 120 miles on a single charge – for about the cost of a gallon of gas.”
“Miles Electric Vehicles is owned by Miles Automotive Group, Ltd, and headquartered at the historic Santa Monica Airport in Santa Monica, CA.”
Hopefully I can get in touch with my local rep for some additional information and to arrange a demonstration. I’ll keep you posted.
DOD’s Energy Plan is Running on “E”
Tonight, while scouring the web for the best sources of energy and new fuels information I can find for you, I stumbled upon a gem of a blog ( DOD Energy Blog ) that focuses on the impact of our energy crisis on the Department of Defense - the worlds single largest oil consumer.
And what perfect timing! First up, a post about a report that will get us all right up to speed on current DOD energy issues.
I’m not exaggerating when I tell you Dr. Sohbet Karbuz’s ”Can the U.S. military move to renewable fuels?” in last month’s Bulletin of Atomic Scientists is perhaps the best, most concise summation of the military’s fuel concerns in 2008.
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Please Support FuelClinic.com on IdeaBlob.com
Today I learned about IdeaBlob.com - a start-up idea website that has a monthly contest that awards $10K for the idea voted to be the best by members of the site.
If you’d like to help support the continued development of FuelClinic, please visit IdeaBlob.com and participate by voting up my idea, making comments, providing advice, and promoting the site to your friends, social networks, etc.
While you are there, look around at some of the other great ideas that could use your support.
