OPEC blames 'mismanaged' U.S. economy for soaring Oil Prices!

OPEC blames 'mismanaged' U.S. economy for soaring Oil Prices!

www.iht.com

OPEC, rebuffing calls from U.S. President George W. Bush to increase oil output, cited "mismanagement" of the American economy as a major factor driving prices up.

Record prices are suddenly creating the sharpest tensions in years between the oil cartel and the United States, the world's largest oil consumer. Two days after the president called for more oil on the global market, OPEC members, meeting in Vienna, Austria, chose to leave their production levels unchanged, declaring that the market has plenty of oil already.

The cartel's president on Wednesday blamed financial speculators and American economic problems, which have helped lower the value of the dollar, for the high oil prices. After the meeting, oil prices settled above $104 a barrel, a record.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Wonderful. So now WE'RE to blame for OPECs continual rape of us financially. It's like the abuser who say "you made me do it." LOL

It looks like they are thumbing their nose at us all while we suffer. We are now their hostages.

www.iht.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

you do know there is more crude oil on the market now than last year? any problems with prices within the US is down o profiteering and price gouging

Originally posted by DimensionalDetective
Wonderful. So now WE'RE to blame for OPECs continual rape of us financially. It's like the abuser who say "you made me do it." LOL

Well we ARE to blame.. The only reason oil is $104 a barrel is because it's priced in $US dollars and $US dollars are at historic lows against the rest of the world's currencies. They've bent over backwards to keep our oil price stable, even taking huge losses in currency exchange and tying their monetary policy to the Fed's rates to prop us up. It's time we started realizing we're less than 0.5% of the world's population and they've got other things to worry about than OUR problems.

So what's with the record breaking profits in recent times? WHO is gouging us to make those profits? How do we change this? This is beyond ridiculous! None of the vanishing middle class or poor have the means to keep this up! We're already struggling just to survive.

[edit on 6-3-2008 by DimensionalDetective]

Those companies have global income and it's not just us who've been contributing to their profits. Any number of UK and European posters here will tell you they've been paying twice our pump prices for years and it only got worse when the US moved into the Middle East. We've basically cut Iraqi oil production to a trickle, created uncertainty about Iran's future oil production and raised tensions throughout the whole Middle East. All that is what's pushed the prices through the roof and now the dollar is dropping we're finally seeing the effects of our actions.

I have a hard time see how US always cry out around the price for gasoline going up. You are driving in cars which never would have been considered if you had the same prices as we have here in Denmark for a gallon gasolin, at the moment 1 gallon is 8-9$ where you have 4$, also count in that we pay around 45% in taxes here, and yes i know we have free hospitals and so on but still our prices on gasoline is twice yours so please stop pundering OPEC for them saying the truth.

Instead write your local senator ask them to help stop the wars around since those are the ones making the Oil prices sky rocket.

Originally posted by DimensionalDetective
WHO is gouging us to make those profits?

Your country´s dear leader and all off his shadowy company and shadowy friends....

[edit on 6-3-2008 by Loke.]

IMHO there is plenty of blame for all to share in the soaring oil prices we have seen since 2005.

We USA citizens have enjoyed spending a percentage less of our incomes on oil fuel because we live in the largest and most technologically powerful economy in the world.

Our protests about increased costs for oil are no less valid.

There is more crude oil available in the world market than ever before; there is also more demand for oil than ever before, especially in China.

Iraqi oil production is currently estimated @ 1,481,000 barrels per day. Their estimated production capacity is 2,110,000 barrels per day. Hardly reduced to a trickle.

The total OPEC production for 2007 is estimated at 30,451,000 BPD and their estimated capacity is estimated at 32,230,000. Doesn't leave much room for expansion does it?
en.wikipedia.org...
www.cia.gov...

While it is true that the USA is the largest consumer of world crude oil and imports about 2/3 of it's consumption, on in the world economy what has a greater impact on the weakening USA dollar is the huge trade and budget deficits that just continue to escalate.

What is really hurting most USA citizens is this:

Since 1975, practically all the gains in household income have gone to the top 20% of households.

Long-term problems include inadequate investment in economic infrastructure, rapidly rising medical and pension costs of an aging population, sizable trade and budget deficits, and stagnation of family income in the lower economic groups. The merchandise trade deficit reached a record $847 billion in 2007. Together, these problems caused a marked reduction in the value and status of the dollar worldwide in 2007.

www.cia.gov...

Let's not forget that OPEC exists to individually and collectively safeguard their intrests and continue to produce the majority of their incomes. Let us also not forget that the first country to move toward establishing OPEC was Venezuela in 1949.

Amen Mythatsabigprobe!

Opec is right. Most of the blame for the present mess falls here, when the only US response to energy so far has been to invade a major oil-producing country and have Bush and Cheney on the tube telling us not to worry, don't conserve, buy a new SUV and we're thinking of sawgrass (remember that?) and ethanol as bandaids-cum-agribusiness-pork.

And what else do you expect when the dollar is in free-fall and oil is priced in dollars? Well, 2 + 2 = what?



[edit on 6-3-2008 by gottago]

the USD price is high , but look about at irans oil bourse and see the prices being paid there - and by the US amoungst other countries

So this is just terrific. Because of our idiotic leaders fiscal and foreign policy blunders, all of the peons are going to be forced into 3rd world status for a long time to come...The worst part is, although I agree with the above comments that it's america's fault-the people have had NO VOICE to change or stop these things from happening with the way things have been structured. Our leaders have stacked the deck against us in a way where they have all the power and we have none, outside of a mass uprising. People have been opposed to these practices all along, but everything we say falls on deaf ears-We are meaningless and voiceless to these tyrants. This is so frustrating.