Former Shell oil exec predicts $5 gas in 2012...and blames Obama

[ProSense]

Former Shell oil exec predicts $5 gas in 2012...and blames Obama

by Jed Lewison

Remember John Hofmeister?

He's the former Shell Oil president who spent the BP oil disaster claiming that the leak could be cleaned up by attaching a big vacuum cleaner to a supertanker. When they finally tried Hofmeister's plan, it was a miserable failure, but he still got a ton of from the media for his idea -- including his totally false conspiracy theory that the Obama Administration was blocking his plan at the behest of unions because they were refusing to waive the Jones Act.

Well, Hofmeister is now making a new claim: he's saying that by the time the presidential election rolls around, gas will be at $5 per gallon.

<...>

And who does Hofmeister say is to blame for these increasing prices? Well, naturally, President Obama:

Hofmeister, who earlier aired his concerns in an interview with Platts Energy Week, criticized the administration for cracking down on domestic oil drilling in the wake of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

"It is pure politics that keeps us from drilling more of our own resources," he said.

Sure. It's Obama's fault that oil is a finite resource. If he would just wave his magic wand and release the ingenuity of the oil industry, we'd have an unlimited, cheap, and risk-free source of energy right at our fingertips. I mean, if we just did more drilling like Deepwater Horizon, we'd have everything we could ever want in the world, and it would all be here within two or three months, because the people who say oil is a limited natural resource are crazy. Right?

[Hawkeye-X]

1. No. Look at the mirror. That is the person you need to blame.

Fuck you, Hofmeister.

Fuck you, and more.

Fuck you.

Fuck you.

Fuck you.

Fuck you.

Let's get jillions of dollars in alternative energy going NOW.

Hawkeye-X

[cutlassmama]

6. +1

[GiveMeFreedom]

12. Hey Hawkeye-X

can I borrow some of those "fuck you" comments?

That's how I have felt since 2007 towards the corporate scam on the American working class.

[Hawkeye-X]

15. Sure - I got a whole bunch of 'em.

And a blast from the past.

[DJ13]

2. Obama should respond by launching investigations into commodity trading

That would shut him up.

(And save the people from being screwed again by the speculators.)

[Andy823]

10. +1000

I agree. Stop them now before it starts all over again! There is no reason for price to keep going up, only GREED is forcing prices higher not supply and demand!

I don't think food, or energy should be traded in the commodity markets! They are both things that we all need and when speculators are allowed to "manipulate" prices it hurts those who can least afford it!

[bluestateguy]

3. If we drill baby drilled for oil, wouldn't the Chinese and India just take it all?

If our gas was made 5 cents cheaper by drilling the whole East coast --in a few years--I'd be shocked.

[bullimiami]

4. Its always someone elses fault that they make obscene profit.

[yellerpup]

5. They aren't drilling 'our' resources

to produce oil for 'our' people. They are selling it on the open market to the buyer who is willing to pay the best price. No doubt they will drive up the price of gasoline to $5/gallon in time for the next presidential election and blame it on Obama. That will be a lie, but there will be those who will believe it.

[sweetapogee]

21. well...

It did work well for us in 2008.

[asjr]

7. I don't claim to know what is causing the price

of gasoline to escalate, but I fear it has something to do with skullduggery. Isn't there some committee in D.C. looking into this to find the truth, or is the committee made up of enablers or thieves? And the only thing the Repulsive party is going to do in 2011 is find some way to get rid of Pres. Obama. That is their sole reason for being. I am too old to move to another country.

[Hawkeye-X]

8. It's called speculation

and it should be made illegal, especially for oil/gas pricing.

As well as health care. Fire all of the executives and placed under arrest for sedition and treason.

That's what they deserve.

Kooch promised us an investigation, and it never materialized.

Hawkeye-X

[arcane1]

9. It doesn't matter if Daffy Duck is president

Prices will fluctuate, but they will ALWAYS go up. Especially when rich bastards are running the price up via speculation.

[applegrove]

11. The right wing just cannot stop with the mythmaking. They are always trying to

highjack the narrative.

[whosinpower]

13. If the oil companies want gas to be $5dollars/gallon in 2012

They will make it so.

I am reminded of a friend who owns a business that relies on oil crews. When George Bush was in power, at the beginning of his term - the price of a barrel of oil was $26 bucks. 26 bucks. Andmy friend's business was booming - there were tons of oil crews, working, drilling, exploring.

Now my friend keeps his eye firmly on the oil biz, because it is so important to his own economic health. When the recession hit, the oil crews dissappeared - and it wasn't because there was no more oil in that area....it was because they were waiting for it to go up to $70-80 per barrel. Finally, they are seeing biz return.

It is very strange that when oil was 26 bucks a barrel, there were lots of crews...and now those pumps are tapped off until it is more profitable to pump it out. That is what happens when oil hits outrageous prices. The oil companies can afford to sit on their hands until the prices make it attractive to drill again.

You will notice that this has absolutely nothing to do with demand. Demand has always been high - but they sat on their hands until oil reached a certain price before going out into the field again.

So....if the oil companies want gas prices to be $5bucks/gallon in 2012, then it will be so. Will they blame Obama? Of course they will. Is it right? ABSOLUTELY NOT! If it does come to pass, then Obama's policies regarding renewables will sound much more attractive.

[KansDem]

14. Just nationalize the oil companies...NOW!!!

Putting and keeping national security concerns in private hands just isn't working...

[DCKit]

16. We could always resort to processing some greasy politicians and corp honchos...

into bio-diesel. Those fat bastards who run the energy corporations could keep this country running for a year.

[demosincebirth]

17. Yea, Obama pulls the strings just like bush did in '07 when gas was

$4.50 a gal

[robcon]

18. If the guy's right (unlikely) he could make a killing in oil futures.

In fact, he may be holding some oil futures and trying to "front-run" those futures contracts to make a killing.

[hatrack]

19. Yes, because if we just developed the vast oil reserves of Delaware, Maine & Hawaii . . .

We'll have enough oil & gas to last . . . forever.

Let it also be noted that Hofmeister isn't even a petroleum engineer or geologist - he's an HR guy.

[bullwinkle428]

20. The industry will do all it can to push the "drill, baby, drill" meme by

the time the next Pres. campaign is in full swing.

[golfguru]

22. Well...there is a positive side to $5 gas

less pollution, short lines at the gas station, and best of all................
less traffic congestion!

[high density]

23. The cold winters when you can't fill up your oil tank with #2 are great as well

Additional money going to energy consumes additional disposable income of people who are already strapped for cash, so that is great for the economy, in addition to all of these other wonderful things.

[golfguru]

26. The additional money spent on energy

does not dissolve in thin air. It puts more money in to the balance
sheets of energy providers who then can expand operations with the
additional resources.

[moparlunatic]

25. I agree completely

I wish it would hit $6.00.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

24. Everybody Knows I Have Been Bullish On President Obama

But I am afraid $5.00 a gallon gas would kill the recovery and any chance of President Obama being reelected. This economy is too weak to handle it. The only "good" thing is it would quickly go down in price because we would be in a deep recession and there wouldn't be enough consumers to support $5.00 a gallon gas...