Running errands last Tuesday, my wife and I went down Gravois Road to Weber Road, home to a pair of gas stations. Gas at Circle K: $2.229 per gallon. Gas at QuikTrip: $1.829 per gallon.<\/p>\n
We bought gas. Guess where?<\/p>\n
About Facebook many of the Trumpettes want to document the end of civilization. One person claims that before Joe Biden\u2019s term the cost of gas was $1.54 a gallon [really?]. Another laments Biden\u2019s death sentence to the Keystone XL pipeline, claiming that in months Americans face shortages and $5.00 a gallon gasoline.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s start with the pipeline.<\/p>\n
The proposed \u2013 and partially built \u2013 Keystone XL pipeline would move raw crude to the Gulf of Mexico, where refineries are equipped to process the <\/em><\/strong>heavy, low-grade oil from the oil sands of Canada\u2019s interior.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n New York Times, 1-21-2021<\/strong><\/p>\n In other words, rather than build refineries for processing their cruddy crude, Canadians want to make a quick buck by pumping it through aquifers and under rivers, across farm land and Native American territory to Louisiana and Texas where people accept lots of pollution.<\/p>\n That\u2019s understandable. And, well, most of us prefer to do as little as possible to get our money while sticking someone \u2013 some place \u2013 else with the mess.<\/p>\n Still, besides being bad for the environment, the world doesn\u2019t need more cruddy crude. Oil keeps popping-up everywhere. Just today, for example, the New York Times<\/em><\/strong> writes of major pools of good oil off the coast of Suriname that\u2019s profitable at a $30 to $40 a barrel world price. [Spot oil price at noon on 1\/22\/21: $52.15 for West Texas Intermediate]<\/strong> That\u2019s way below the benchmark price needed to make Canada\u2019s \u201cmolasses\u201d like goop competitive. [ https:\/\/thenarwhal.ca\/albertas-record-low-oil-prices-what-the-coronavirus-and-a-supply-glut-mean-for-the-province\/<\/a> ]<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong>Meanwhile, sorry to say, the price of oil remains outside the president\u2019s control. <\/p>\n Remember when then Arab-dominated OPEC [Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries]<\/strong> punished America for supporting Israel by spiking oil prices in the 1970\u2019s? Or, the price spike when Iraq invaded Kuwait and the Saudi Arabian desert filled with American troops? Both of those events happened on the watch of business-friendly, oil-friendly Republican presidents!<\/p>\n Yes, an administration can promote alternative energy, force vehicle manufacturers to pursue fuel efficiency, and, work with Congress to tweak fuel taxes. Those actions, alas, just nip at the edges. The core cost of gasoline at Weber and Gravois results from forces which even Big Oil can\u2019t seem to control.<\/p>\n Oh, oil prices rise and fall. There is a good chance that prices will pop-up during Biden\u2019s administration. Or, prices may slip.<\/p>\n The Trumpettes, of course, still believe Trump\u2019s overwhelming victory was stolen from him. What chance they\u2019ll believe the oily realities of petroleum markets? <\/p>\n We can expect that every costly or unfortunate occurrence is Joe\u2019s fault \u2013 while every bit of good news will be credited to Donald Trump\u2019s brilliance on talk radio.<\/p>\n Glenn<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n\n