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The recent oil/gas price hikes have brought to my feverish brain thoughts of conspiracies going on behind the American — no THE WORLD’s back! I know Tom Clancy or Robert Ludlum are even now penning novels with these theories as their plot line, so let’s throw them out to you and see which one you’ll buy into.
Theory #1
A contingent of oil companies (OPEC?) have conspired to slow oil production, finance unrest in oil-producing nations such as Nigeria and Argentina in order to drive the price of oil up. They encouraged the banks to offer low-cost, no collateral loans to people thus fostering the housing crisis that has the world’s economy in shambles and making oil a huge speculator’s dream. They continue to foment unrest in those third world countries that sit on vast untapped oil fields making it too dangerous for foreign oil companies (read US) to develop those fields.
Theory #2
A group of US businesspeople conspire to, over time, drive the Middle East out of oil. They create such disasters as the Exxon Valdese incident and the Alaska pipeline leaks of the 80’s so that environmentalists will put so much pressure on American government that offshore drilling and further oil field exploration in the US is subjected to sanctions and basically put out of play. They pay off inventors who have invented alternative fuel, environmentally friendly motors for automobiles and trucks. Now it’s 2010 and the Middle East is running out of oil. Oil prices have skyrocketed and the American public is demanding that those here-to-now untapped fields be opened to drilling and exploration. But the overall goal of these conspirators is not to just reap gross profits in the bilions as they slowly, painstakingly drag out the development of these fields but to cause the entire Middle East economy to crumble and fall, thus enabling democracy to prevail.
Tom, Robert — if you aren’t already writing, here’s your next novel — just be sure to mention my name in the foreward!
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Tags: Business, Energy, Middle East, Oil and Gas, Oil field, Petroleum, Petroleum industry, US, writing
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June 19th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Well, I do think it’s a conspiracy… though I think it might be a #3. I don’t really think there is a shortage of oil… yet? I just think the prices are going up because the big wigs who have all the funny money want more funny money and are using us wee people as the means to get it.
I don’t think drilling off-shore in Florida is the answer, like they have been talking about on NPR this morning. That wouldn’t help for many many years anyway.
How about we use more renewable resources to power our vehicles? We need more renewable resources!
June 19th, 2008 at 8:48 pm
US is going to be the sole reason for the occurrence of 3rd world war. Its very hard to see the lives of people in Nigeria who suffer a lot only because they need to export oil to the US.
June 20th, 2008 at 4:26 am
Unfortunately, I think it’s a conspiracy, too. As for opening up US offshore fields and the Alaskan North Slope, well, that’s going to have to happen despite the projected date for that oil coming on line otherwise in 2033, we’ll have gas prices of $10 per gallon instead of $4 or $5.
Yes, the oil companies are out for the money. They always have been and they literally have us over a barrel now with the extreme dependency we have on it.
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June 20th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
conspiracy? Maybe. Supply and Demand, and a golden opportunity to make a buck? Most likely. As far as US refineries making record profits, if I were a good business person, I’d conduct business to make the most profit possible also. My share holders would DEMAND it! I think the worst thing that could possibly happen would be for the government to step in and regulate these companies. Give the government an inch, they’ll take a mile. Capitalism encourages competition which keeps prices lower, Socialism make the government the largest industry, which encourages sloth and raises prices. As far as the Mid East nations charging what they do for a barrel, well, they’re just laughing all the way to the bank because we just keep on buying it from them. It’s all simple supply and demand. When demand is high, you can charge a premium. I do it in my own business - I charge a premium on rush jobs - either you want my services or you don’t. So long as we keep buying expensive oil and gas (and everything made of plastic!), there’s no reason for the prices to drop. But when business slows, and customers become scarce, then the price goes down in a desperate attempt to make a sale. As a nation (and in the rest of the world), we’ve become dependent on oil, gas, and plastics. TAXES, on the other hand, are something the government can, and should, regulate. There’s no reason why New Yorkers should be paying $4.25 a gallon for 87 octane gas when my mom in Arizona is paying $3.79 for the high-test stuff!
Now, if you want to talk about a conspiracy… let’s talk about the corn industry, the government initiated ‘food pyramid’, the school lunch program, obesity and it’s related illnesses, and the epidemic ‘need’ for socialized medicine to help combat this problem which was caused by the government to begin with! Hmmmmm….
June 20th, 2008 at 10:26 pm
Supply and demand is a convenient answer and is true up to a point. The price of oil, however, until the mortgage debacle so destabilized the economy that the checks and balances that were in place got knocked for a loop, was kept at an even keel — yes it was rising, but not at the extreme rate it is today. There is no reason for oil to have increased 68% in price in the last 6 months. We (and the world) aren’t using that much more oil.
I do agree that we HAVE to and SHOULD HAVE BEEN for some time now looking for alternatives to oil for fuel and other things. This should have happened in the 70’s when there was an oil shortage, and continued to be developed over the last 30 years so that today’s world would have seen us driving cars powered by something other than gasoline and diesel.
Look deeper, Heidi — there’s more to this whole thing than simple supply and demand.
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June 20th, 2008 at 10:29 pm
Nigeria’s problems have their root in the rampant corruption that seems to go along with weak government and high dollars available from the exploitation of a weak country’s mineral fields. You see this where there are other precious minerals such as gold and diamonds as well. It isn’t so much OIL that is the problem, but once again, it’s greedy and unscrupulous PEOPLE who destroy, rape, and pillage.
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June 20th, 2008 at 11:33 pm
It is not a conspiracy. Read about the origins of OPEC - it was American Oil Companies (ARAMCO) who caused OPEC to be formed in the first place. Read about FDR’s promises to King Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia and then learn what Truman did. Also, study the president Carter years and his dealings with the Arabic world. As far as African oil - yes, Nigeria has it’s problems as well as the other oil producing countries there - you only hear about Nigeria because of their infrastructure. Also look at what then environmentalists have done to force us away from the best source of energy - nuclear power. Before you blow a gasket - educate yourself in this field as well — the lies that if a terrorist flew a plane into an American built nuclear facility would cause ZERO damage. Get the facts yourself rather than relying on the bs that’s touted in the news.
June 21st, 2008 at 12:26 am
Have you watched Zeitgeist: The Movie? That’s like the ultimate conspiracy theory documentary. Easy enough to find if you google, or you can find a post about it in the movies section of my blog.
June 23rd, 2008 at 1:22 pm
Mo: Anytime people in power and politics are present in a world-altering event such as the economy doing a belly flop of the proportions it’s done in the last few months, oil prices rising a the rate of an Apollo rocket, conspiracy is going to be looked at hard and deep. We all want to blame our problems on someone else; seek blame that points the finger away from ourselves. Conspiracies abound in this world. That is fact. It doesn’t necessarily have to be an evil conspiracy. Some fiction author who excels at writing plausible conspiracy theory based novels such as the two I cited are bound to pick up on this issue and run with it.
Mr. Pappagiorgio: I haven’t had the pleasure, but will check out NetFlicks for it! Thanks for the tip!