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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices

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To: combjelly who wrote (254378)	10/9/2005 3:51:50 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) of 1572711

"was designed more to shield the Republican-controlled Congress from political fallout from high gas prices than to bring down fuel costs." No kidding. The reason why refineries are concentrated in certain areas is because there is an infrastructure already in place. Just plopping a refinery on an old military base solves no problems. Pipelines have to be built, terminals need to be expanded, roads need to be built or widened. Ditto with rail heads. Except for possibly San Diego, few bases are close to ports, for example. And the different blends aren't only for clear air reasons, they also are required because different areas have different requirements(temperature, elevation and humidity) so the cars can start and run properly. The other issue with this 'solution' is that it only addresses part of the problem. Its true that higher oil prices are due in part to the running of refineries at full capacity. That means if a refinery goes down, we're in trouble short term and gas prices spike up. But there are other reasons for why oil prices are so high. One is that demand is high.......China is like this big sponge that can't get enough of the stuff. The other is the geopolitical uncertainties that Bush has triggered in the world. Iraq's production is totally unpredictable from week to week due to insurgent sabotage. And there are fears that al Qa'ida will go up against oil operations in Saudi Arabia or in Nigeria. Adding to the uncertainties created by Bush is the instability of the Nigerian gov't. Further exascerbating matters are the major hurricanes that have plagued the US for the past two years. The irony of all it is that inventories, in fact, are decent. Both oil and NG inventories are down from last year but still are running on the high side of their 5 year averages. In other words, the high prices in oil and NG are more fueled by psychological fears than reality. The Bush administration knows that of course........they are responsible for many of the fears.........but as you have pointed out so many times in the past, these are 'awl' people working for Bush........and they're just lovin' these high prices. ted

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