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Gold/Mining/Energy : Oil & Gas Price Economics -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mark Adams who wrote (255)	9/10/2000 10:07:56 PM
From: rajaggs	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 350

This is a quotation attributed to the Quatari Oil Minister by a news report at YahooNews and could be found at their News/World/OPEC page. I am not picking this quotation out to distort the entire news report but to highlight the lack of thought that went into what he said. >> ``We think this is enough but we want consumer nations to work to reduce taxes,'' said Qatari Oil Minister Abdullah al-Attiyah.<< It doesn't take a PhD in economics to determine that reducing taxes on any product will stimulate demand for that product. Increased demand will increase prices or else supply will have to be increased, to bring equilibrium back to the marketplace. Either OPEC will sell less crude at the same price or the same amount at a higher price. Both of these are a problem for the western industrialised countries. So why the hell is he trying to blame high fuel taxes for the problem, when it is IMHO a demand problem and taxes are a partial source of a solution if they are increased, not decreased, over the long term. I agree with your assessment that no one action will suffice to solve the problem and that it requires a comprehensive energy management plan to be legislated and put into effect, unlike past environmental agreements, before the numerous long-term energy problems are going to be addressed.