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Macavity says - blame oil prices on anyone but me
BillieTheBot
Posts: 8,721 Bot
Not quite, but he might as well have done. The Beeb reports: "Gordon Brown has urged oil industry leaders to come up with ideas for improving supplies as fuel costs soar. The government has announced moves to increase North Sea oil production, but Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks said they would have no impact on fuel prices. Lorry drivers have staged protests against rising costs and Labour MPs have urged ministers to rethink increases in both petrol and road tax. The PM, who met industry bosses [today], warned that high oil prices were here to stay." Click here for more details.
I never thought I'd say this, but Broon has got one thing right. The oil industry has much to answer for at this time. It's very much in their interests that oil prices remain high, on the grounds that this brings vast wealth to oil-producing nations. Saudi Arabia must be raking it in at the moment. However, I somehow doubt that the members of oil cartel OPEC, and the rest of the oil industry is going to listen to our pathetic joke of a Prime Minister - especially when he fails to mention a number of facts. Not when he has recently been shedding crocodile tears about how he "understands" and is "listening" to people who are complaining about high fuel prices.
As always, Macavity sticks to the script prepared by his vast team of Downing Street spin doctors and presents no new ideas. If he's serious about helping out the motorist, and helping out the country at that, he could take the advice of the respected accountants Grant Thornton. They say that because the Government is raking it in due to high oil prices, they can cut the price of fuel duty by 9p a litre immediately. Here's the link for that, if anyone wants to read more. If he wants to become a little bit more popular with the electorate, he could do well to heed this advice.
Or will he continue to listen blindly to metropolitan types who live in cities such as London, where there is an abundant supply of public transport available? Or another group who only ever think about number one - politicians such as himself who have never driven a car in their lives?
I never thought I'd say this, but Broon has got one thing right. The oil industry has much to answer for at this time. It's very much in their interests that oil prices remain high, on the grounds that this brings vast wealth to oil-producing nations. Saudi Arabia must be raking it in at the moment. However, I somehow doubt that the members of oil cartel OPEC, and the rest of the oil industry is going to listen to our pathetic joke of a Prime Minister - especially when he fails to mention a number of facts. Not when he has recently been shedding crocodile tears about how he "understands" and is "listening" to people who are complaining about high fuel prices.
As always, Macavity sticks to the script prepared by his vast team of Downing Street spin doctors and presents no new ideas. If he's serious about helping out the motorist, and helping out the country at that, he could take the advice of the respected accountants Grant Thornton. They say that because the Government is raking it in due to high oil prices, they can cut the price of fuel duty by 9p a litre immediately. Here's the link for that, if anyone wants to read more. If he wants to become a little bit more popular with the electorate, he could do well to heed this advice.
Or will he continue to listen blindly to metropolitan types who live in cities such as London, where there is an abundant supply of public transport available? Or another group who only ever think about number one - politicians such as himself who have never driven a car in their lives?
Beep boop. I'm a bot.
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Comments
as much as we agree normally
Yes the Saudis could invest billions to give us more oil, but strangely they are reluctant to spend lots of money to see the price go down.
High prices are here to stay, and in many ways they are actually a good thing. The profits made are largely put into finding all the oil there is (good thing because alternatives seem a long way off). And it means that alternatives are getting relatively cheaper so they will get investment.
:yes:
.. and with less money, they wouldn't be able to buy weapons from Britain. :yeees:
They clearly need those jets for...the princes to ride around in and look big and tough.
I cant, I got rid of it, **Helen** then thought it would be funny to give me one of the strange choices available because shes so funny.
China/India and the other growing asian economies?
Speculative investment is forcing oil prices through the roof as investors seek to make profit from bonds issued against oil. It works in exactly the same way as the gold boom, or the property boom, or the dotcom boom.
Higher prices are here to stay, but the current level of $130/barrel is due to speculative investment and not because of consumption. People are making money issuing bonds against oil stocks and this is driving up prices as everyone clamours to make money on oil bonds.
According to the investment bank the Lehman Brothers the oil market is overpriced by up to a third because of these investors.
Source
How the hell do you reckon the middle east are ripping us off?
Oil has to be gotten from under the ground ...under the sea ...it has to be transported in thousands of miles of pipes ,,,big fuck off ships ...road tankers. Huge investments and running costs and after all that ...it ends up being sold to you for around thirty pence a litre.
The government then slap on their massive ninety pence per litre tax.
o explain to me again how the producers in the middle east are ripping us off selling THEIR product?
It's a hell of a lot cheaper than beer which is vegatable water.
Don't worry, it'll be fine: according to conventional economics the rise in price will lower consumption, balance supply/demand, and the markets will clear...:nervous:
Consumption will hardly be effected.
The investment market will correct itself, of that I have no doubt, I just hope it does it sooner rather than later. Could be a while whilst the dollar remains so low.
Conventional economics is a bit crap a lot of the time...they still haven't got their heads around the basic boom/bust.
In case there was any confusion; I was being sardonic in that analysis.
Economists are always behind in this kind of cycle. Each one is as nuanced and idiosyncratic as the preceeding example, which is easy to observe with any basic understanding of economic history.
Most economists know this full well, but their livelyhood depends on being able to sell their skills as much as the next person. Hence they offer answers when they are well aware that there are none.
Most contemporary economics is comprised of articles of faith or mindless dogma rather than science.
if the goverment wants to enhance public transport why not reduce the tax on fuel for public transport it costs me more to travel from wellingborough to plymouth by public transport than by car and its a VERY tedious journey so guess which option i choose and yes I hate doing it (to the environment) by why should I take 50 % longer and 50 % more cost and a lot of hassle plus having to wander through a city I don't know ?
Are those figures real?
Ten billion!
It's reckoned that in the UK we spend between seven and ten billion quid a year just on cannabis ....just to put it in perspective.
erm go back to the news a couple of months ago ok maybe it was million I might be confused there all I'm saying is from one year to the next they made an increase in profit of about 500 % now I don't think they suddenly sold 5 times as much gas do you ?
from what I was told by someone centrica the parent company rank the price of gas up by reselling it from one subsidery company to another so officialy the gas is sold on in reality they get the profit (as they are all part of the same group) and the overall price goes up. oh and wait for it what comes at the end of the article those magical and all anger quenching words about investing in alternative sources of energy pft when will they stop making alternative energy methods look like a burden, I live near a wind farm I beleive its managed by a private company and to hell I sure don't think they would run it if they were making a loss they're in the business to make a profit just like BG but BG need millions and millions to do what others do as a standalone company !
I got a letter saying that my electric was going from 16p/KW to 23p/KW again that is an increase of 44 % why on earth do they get away with it ? they are telling its 15 % 17 % but its total bullshit and the gov sit there on thier asses and let them do it to us. my spring bill is just as much as my winter bill, I turned my heating off ages ago having got cavity wall insulation !
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4684886.stm