Blame Oil Speculators, Not Obama, For Rising Oil Prices

reply to post by speculativeoptimist


It is a disaster all around. There are many to blame for the current state of matters. The alternative energy technology for vehicles is not yet mature and we will be dependent on oil, refined hydrocarbons, and natural gas for quite a few decades. One thing that irks me if the finding of oil fields below Greenfield Island larger that Saudi Arabias proven reserves. We could be oil independent if we used our oil internally, but the known reserves would have to be tapped. If we had tapped these reserves 10 or 20 years ago we would not be in this situation. We would not need to worry about the Middle East either.

I hear the argument that drilling won't produce a drop of oil for 6-8 years. Well, in 6-8 years we will be having this same debate again. Those 'supposed leaders' 20 years ago should have had the foresight to prepare for 2012. Even if 5 years from now the technology was developed or released to make electric vehicles much more reasonably designed with the range, power, and speeds comparable to hydrocarbon vehicles, oil can be used for many strategic and manufacturing reasons. We could even sell it to foreign buyers, and corporations.

I could go on for hours, but I am preaching to the choir here anyway.

First we need to replace the word speculator with the word manipulator and we'll be on the right track. Second we need to come to terms with the fact that the "free market" died in 1913 with the establishment of fractional reserve banking and income tax. Once we do this it is easy to understand the problem. Anyone suggesting the "free market" as the culprit has their head in the sand or they profit from the manipulators actions. Author Jordan Maxwell likes to use a phrase that mostly states that nothing in the world works the way we think it does. This thought process should be applied anytime you are getting opinions from the MSM. The criminality of someone making money by causing their own country grief is rampant on Wall Street. Wall Street players can bet on the failure of things in this country and then cause the failure vis a vis their own market manipulation. The irony is when people that do this or support it and yet they have the audacity to consider themselves great American patriots. I suspect the evening of the playing field isn't as far away as everyone would think it might be, but that's only my opinion. The best way to fight the system is to drive something that gets great mileage because waiting for transparency and accountability is a tedious process.

reply to post by spirit_horse


The problem isn't drilling or a lack of oil. The market is being manipulated. Supply and demand now makes up only a small percentage of the actual price you pay. Even the Keystone pipeline is a sham. The oil from it already reaches American refineries, but they don't want the oil to go there, they want to send it to an export terminal in Texas. Once it's built prices for Americans will go up even more, as the oil glut in the midwest will be lessened as they refine this product for more lucrative sales in foreign markets.

I've also posted a link showing the US has issued nearly 500 Gulf permits for drilling since 2010. It's not a lack of drilling, as Bill Richardson rightly states; Richardson: 'You can't drill your way out of the problem'

The Saudis told Bush as much as well, when he begged them to increase production. They told him flat out it wasn't a lack of production that was driving up prices but market manipulation and speculation by a handful of Wall Street banks. JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs alone have nearly 300 millions barrels stashed away aboard rented supertankers, just to keep prices elevated.

Originally posted by Blackmarketeer
JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs alone have nearly 300 millions barrels stashed away aboard rented supertankers, just to keep prices elevated.

That doesn't make sense for three reasons: 1. if they're hoarding the oil, then they are losing profit; when they finally release all that oil then the net profit will average out as if they supplied all of it in the first place, and 2. Inflation. Since most currencies are being inflated/devalued, there would be a net loss because $20 of value today will mean $10 of value tomorrow, 3. If people are buying oil at the current prices then the current prices are what the market has dictated and therefore this increase in price has to do with the further devaluation/over-regulation of the currency being used to purchase it rather than hoarding. However, there's also a flipside to this. If demand has gone down, then that means either the supply right now is enough or the supply right now is too expensive, which also decreases profit and they will be forced to adjust the market information according to the strength/weakness of the demand.

It's sketchy to claim there's self-interest in not satisfying demand. If there's enough oil to meet demand and it's not being supplied then it's probably due to the lack of free-trade.

reply to post by imherejusttoread


They buy it and hold onto it until the prices skyrocket, then sell it and take their profit. They "predict" it will hit $112 this time around - when it does they'll sell enough to make a nice little chunk of change, then they'll start the process over. They can use their army of traders to inflict fear into the markets by claiming a pipeline ruptured, or a refinery shut down, war with Iran, a hurricane, etc.

JPMorgan Hires Supertanker for Storage, Brokers Say (Update3) (Bloomberg News)

Obama--during his campaign in 2008, went on and on about the price of oil and how it was hurting 'the regular folks" and how..when he was president he was going to do something about it.

That was when oil was a mere $2.80 a gallon.

I can tell he's been very busy on this oil issue.

Did you ever hear the statement "the buck stops here?"

reply to post by jdub297


I think I would like some of what you are smoking.. There is no demand in Europe as the economy is collapsing in the worst economy since the Great Depression.. You are right though, Amerika / Nato forces in cutting off Libya, decimating Iraq, and now cutting off oil from Iran makes Europe without supply... artificially... Lindsey Williams was right!

Originally posted by Drew99GT

Originally posted by SkyMuerte
You can no more blame just Obama, or just Speculators, or just Bush, or just Goldman Sachs, or just Anyone Else for this mess anymore than you can blame a single cancer cell for killing you.

The mess is systemic. The patient is dying and all the doctors are out golfing.......

You know what? There's more truth in your post than any post in this thread. The system is BROKEN and every last corrupt actor is scrambling for the crumbs that remain of the US's economic pie.

Thanks for seeing reality. I sure wish there was a safe way to get people to understand exactly what I said. Good luck to you and your in the coming times ( :

Gas Price Experts: Wall Street 'Casinos' Raise Pain At The Pump
(Huffingtonpost.com)

WASHINGTON -- Americans are paying for $4-a-gallon gasoline because Wall Street "casinos" have blocked regulators from cracking down on rampant oil speculation, finance experts argued on Capitol Hill Wednesday.

In an effort to counter Republican claims that gas prices are high because the Obama administration does not allow enough drilling, House Democratic leaders staged a hearing featuring former Reagan and Clinton administration oil and trading analysts who blame the surge on speculation.

And the vast profits from that speculation do not go into developing more oil or creating jobs, the analysts argued.

Best quote of the article:

"Your constituents should know that every time they break their heart by buying $4 and maybe soon $5 gasoline, that money isn't going into production," said University of Maryland professor Michael Greenberger, who served as director of the division of trading and markets for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in the Clinton administration. "It's going into homebuilding in the Hamptons and yacht building."

Gas is at $78 a barrel and falling, but prices at the pump are still in the $3.50 range. Price gouging in full effect.