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Politics : President Barack Obama -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tejek who wrote (100909)	9/6/2011 5:00:26 PM
From: Wharf Rat	Respond to of 149317

"Why do they use the European benchmark when about half of our oil is produced here?" Half of ours costs as much as Brent does. Why doesn't Cramer know this? westexas on September 3, 2011 - 4:04pm It seems to me that there are three groups that are primarily opposed to Keystone: environmentalists, Mid-continent landowners and Mid-continent refiners. Courtesy of Undertow, who posted some Bloomberg links, following are some closing prices for several crude oils. Excluding WTI, the mean and median price is roughly about $114. Tapis $121.90 Minas $120.40 Bonny $117.08 Forties $114.78 Louisiana $114.45 Urals $113.60 Brent $112.48 Alaska $111.60 Oman $109.01 Dubai $108.50 WTI $86.45 If we assume that about 4 mbpd of crude oil is priced at the WTI price in North America (half Canadian imports and half US production), then Mid-continent refiners are transferring about $40 billion per year from North American producers to their own pockets, which they are retaining in the form of the vastly increased WTI crack spread (as documented by Undertow). For the sake of argument, if the refiners wanted to spend about one-tenth of one percent of their annualized profits from the WTI/Global price spread, they could spend $40 million fighting the Keystone pipeline. theoildrum.com Meanwhile, back at the Bakken Ranch, Fuel Shortage Hits Dakotas, Minnesota FARGO - A critical shortage of gasoline and diesel fuel is showing no signs of improving. North Dakota Petroleum Marketers Association Executive Director Mike Rud says with the harvest getting underway and a huge demand for diesel, supplies are short. Rud says he and other industry representatives are working with the governor's office, trying to find ways to get more fuel into North Dakota from refineries in other parts of the country. Minnesota, South Dakota and Iowa are also experiencing fuel supply shortages. Source: Paul Jurgens kfgo.com Message 27614804 "And what right do the refineries have to price everything off Brent if they aren't getting all of their oil from that price?" The free market. It's called uh...um....errr.. oh, yeah...capitalism. Buy low, sell high. Shoot. I try and do everything high. Don't go grocery shopping when you have the munchies. “Barrels are going to other countries because of the Brent premium,” said Kyle Cooper, director of research for IAF Advisors in Houston. “If you are a refiner who can get your hands on WTI, you are going to process it because the margins are out of sight. The crack spread is wide enough that you will do well even with more expensive grades.” bloomberg.com.

To: tejek who wrote (100909)	9/6/2011 5:02:43 PM
From: John Vosilla	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 149317

That is a big one. Two huge additional drivers to the boom when Clinton was president were very low gas prices for consumers and a stable, affordable housing market on the upswing. No financial or energy crisis, no fake wars go a long way..

To: tejek who wrote (100909)	9/6/2011 8:36:48 PM
From: cirrus	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 149317

The refiners and retailers charge what the market will bear. Trying to figure it out is like herding cats. Ain't gonna happen. There's a guy off Interstate 80 in the Poconos who raises is price 30 cents a gallon for the weekend tourist crowd. Monday his prices go back down. Locals know enough to fill up Monday through Friday. His public response? The Holiday Inn across the highway raises its room rates for the weekends and no one complains. Why can't he raise his gas prices on weekends like the hotel? If the Philly/NYC crowd doesn't want to pay $3.99 let them fill up at home. They pay $3.99 at home? Well, then how's he gouging them? *What the hell gives?*