Tag Archives: oil

Dispersant Made BP Oil Disaster 52 Times More Toxic

Via Newswise: If the 4.9 million barrels of oil that spilled into the Gulf of Mexico during the 2010 Deep Water Horizon spill was a ecological disaster, the two million gallons of dispersant used to clean it up apparently made … Continue reading

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Add ‘Drill Baby Drill’ to the Junk Pile of Failed Economic Prescriptives

A Wall Street Journal article debunks the ‘Drill Baby Drill’ mantra and the corresponding message that gas prices will subsequently fall as a result: “U.S. crude production is expected to rise 12% this year and 8% in 2013, when it … Continue reading

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Effect of the Stimulus Program: 21 Economic Metrics

Michael Norman, JTF chief economist, provides a number of metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of the stimulus program (aka American Recovery Act). Each graph below has a horizontal axis ranging from March 2007 to March 2012. In addition Norman has … Continue reading

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America’s Reliance on Foreign Oil Declines

Bloomberg reports positive news regarding America’s declining reliance on foreign oil. “Crude output rose by 3.7 percent to 6.509 million barrels a day in the week ended Sept. 21, the Energy Department reported today. America met 83 percent of its … Continue reading

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Beneficiaries of Depressed Midwest Crude Oil Prices have been Midwest Refiners rather than Midwest Consumers

“The primary beneficiaries of depressed Midwest crude oil prices have been Midwest refiners rather than Midwest consumers.” Abstract Beginning in early 2011, crude oil production in the U.S. Midwest and Canada surpassed the pipeline capacity to transport it to the … Continue reading

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Sharp Increase in Demand for Liquid Fuels Outside the U.S. and Europe

The U.S. and Europe exhibit relatively constant utilization of liquid fuel products in recent years while very strong demand for the same products exists in Asia, Pacific and the rest of the world. Source: New York Times Related posts Explaining … Continue reading

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Were Gas Prices in the Good Ol’ Days as Good as We Believe?

Some of us can remember when we paid 25 cents or less for a gallon of gas. But 25 cents in 1958 is the equivalent of $1.97 in 2012 dollars, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation calculator. Don’t … Continue reading

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Oil and Food Speculators Drive Prices Up!

Robert Lenzer, national editor of Forbes magazine, utilized Goldman Sachs data to calculate that without speculation in oil futures the price of a barrel of oil might be as low as $74.61. Compare that price to the present price of … Continue reading

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How Much Do You Pay at the Pump Due to Oil Speculation?

University of Massachusetts economists, Robert Pollin and James Heintz, examined the influence of Wall Street speculation on the price of gasoline at the pump. While there are many variables which impact gasoline prices Pollin and Heintz found large-scale speculative trading is a … Continue reading

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