Just curious to know your thoughts on the stagnate demand. Is it the oppressive administration? Is it the recent cost increase? Is it overall better fuel efficient vehicles?
I'm providing some charts that I think may be helpful to this discussion. It is stuff I shared a couple of weeks before in this community.
That said, I have to wonder what kind of "oppressive administration" would want to raise gas prices and stagnate demand in a contentious election year at a time of record low popularity ratings.
First let's start by looking at domestic oil production figures at monthly rate from 1920 to now. As you can see in the chart below from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, since the 1971 peak, and a second, lower peak around 1986, production has generally followed a declining path.
Until around 2009, when it started climbing again. Obviously the overall long-term trend is still down, as explained by peak oil and the Hubbert curve. No one can reasonably make the case that Obama is contributing that downward trend.
Source: http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=pet&s=mcrfpus1&f=m
(In fact, here's a report on well drilling permits applied for and approved by the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement: http://www.bsee.gov/Regulations-and-Guidance/Permits/Status-of-Gulf-of-Mexico-Well-Permits.aspx, showing that Michelle Bachmann was lying when she said back in March 26, 2011, "One. That's the number of new drilling permits under the Obama administration since they came into office." There have been many dozens of new wells permitted since the BP Macondo disaster just in the Gulf of Mexico alone, and there were more allowed even before that tragic disaster led to a temporary moratorium on drilling. But that's how talking heads like to mislead us, right?)
And here's another chart on U.S. monthly crude oil and petroleum imports since 1980.
Source: http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=MTTIMUS1&f=M
I'm not really defending Obama (I have almost as much dislike of him as I do Bush or McCain or Romney, etc.). I think we would have had similar well-drilling increase under any president, driven as they are are by the oil prices of today's post peak oil economy and the power of the oil industry lobby.
And I think we would also have had similar oil import reductions under any president. Factors being: increased domestic production, higher oil prices, and the economic downturn we are still in (and likely will continue to be in for the rest of this decade and beyond, regardless of who is in office, unless we have yet another bubble like the one Bush, Greenspan, and the banks helped manufacture).
Exports
FriscoMike, one thought I had was, what's REALLY causing prices to go UP, despite increases in domestic production and significant drops in refinery deliveries to U.S. service stations? Could it be exports? I checked just now and found this.
Source: http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=MTTEXUS1&f=M
These are very rough figures, but if we're producing more, while both using less and importing less, it does seem like perhaps the explanation is exports... Perhaps it makes sense for a business to sell to the highest bidder, whether at home or abroad, especially when Middle East tensions are high. Do you think the current administration should try to stop this?
Poet
Just curious to know your thoughts on the stagnate demand. Is it the oppressive administration? Is it the recent cost increase? Is it overall better fuel efficient vehicles?