Oil is plentiful so why are gas prices rising?

[2]

Exactly. Funny thing is, as your article says, they want the price to be $70 a barrel to "recuperate investment". What the hell did they do with all the money they were raking in when it was $140 a barrel? The cost of pumping it didn't go up

Somewhat incorrect, when oil was $140 a bbl, fuel prices were high, thus this combined with the increased demand for drilling due to the high price of oil caused all the drilling and service companies to raise their rates drastically, so it was costing more to drill, pump and maintain.



Also, there are many wells referred to as "stripper wells" which means that they have x amount of reserves, so drilling and pumping them only becomes economically viable when oil is $x/bbl. So when those are tapped into and the price plummets those wells suddenly have less $ reserve than the cost of the drilling.



Around the same time prices started to plummet the Alberta government increased the royalties it gets from oil and gas companies as well as implementing even stricter environmental clean up criteria. (Alberta is the largest supplier of oil and gas in Canada to the USA)



Just pointing out it isn't all as cut and dry as it seems.

 

[Kevin Lang]

Alberta government increased the royalties it gets from oil and gas companies

They have to pay for that National healthcare somehow



Does anyone still use it? I thought everyone up there came "south of the border" for anything more severe than a physical.



So, ah, once the USSA adopts health care nationally (It's a right don'tcha know), where do we all go?



The "medical vacation" to india probably won't work--flying will cost too much thanks to the now escalating fuel prices.



If only gasoline's energy could be more effectively harnessed--30% for 70 years? Bogus. Hybrids are a dead end. There is no way that they are anything but a step in the incorrect direction.



So, why is BO not letting us drill offshore again? Alberta may have more oil than the middle east (alright!), but the ocean has far more...and the ocean isn't assessing royalties AND instating more extensive and expensive cleanups.