Tyranny22, allow me to enlighten you - and yes, I classify you as a moron, just an FYI:
1. Price increases in oil happened because "the impact of the economic crisis in Asia was either ignored or severely underestimated by OPEC". So
they increased the quota by 2.5 million barrels per day. The rapid growth in Asian economies had come to a halt so in 1998, Asian Pacific oil
consumption declined for the first time since 1982. That sent prices into a downward spiral.
So unless you seriously want to try and tell me that Clinton had something to with the rapid decline of the Asian economy in the late 90's, your
inference that Clinton had anything to do with low gas prices is nothing but unfounded and wishful thinking. And here's the kicker - I'm using YOUR
website source as the source for my information:
www.wtrg.com...
From here on, you need to take a look at your chart again:
2. From 1999 - 2000 the world price of oil was on a rise because OPEC reduced production by 1.7 million barrels in April.
3. It DIPPED from 2000 to 2001 - the time when Bush was elected to office, which is counter to your statement that prices started to rise when Bush
took office. The chart CLEARLY shows this as does your source:
"Prices finally started down following another quota increase of 500,000 effective November 1, 2000."
4. In 2001 prices went down further, as evidenced by your site:
"Russian production increases dominated non-OPEC production growth from 2000 forward and was responsible for most of the non-OPEC increase since the
turn of the century. Once again it appeared that OPEC overshot the mark. In 2001, a weakened US economy and increases in non-OPEC production put
downward pressure on prices."
5. The price of crude plummeted following the 9/11 attacks and were down by 35% by November 2001.
6. We don't start to see prices increase until late 2002, well after Bush was innaugurated and took the reins. So why did this increase happen?
Well, if we look back at your source:
"Problems in Venezuela led to a strike at PDVSA causing Venezuelan production to plummet. In the wake of the strike Venezuela was never able to
restore capacity to its previous level and is still about 900,000 barrels per day below its peak capacity of 3.5 million barrels per day."
So that started the rise in prices. OPEC countered by increasing quotas by by 2.8 million barrels per day in Jan and Feb 2003.
7. So now we get to the war. Was the war in itself the reason for high oil prices? NO! And your site clearly says:
"On March 19, 2003, just as some Venezuelan production was beginning to return, military action commenced in Iraq. Meanwhile, inventories remained
low in the U.S. and other OECD countries. With an improving economy U.S. demand was increasing and
Asian demand for crude oil was growing at a
rapid pace. "
It goes on to state that the cut in production from Iraq did affect oil production, but it goes on to say this:
"Other major factors contributing to the current level of prices include a weak dollar and the continued rapid growth in Asian economies and their
petroleum consumption. The 2005 hurricanes and U.S. refinery problems associated with the conversion from MTBE as an additive to ethanol have
contributed to higher prices."
So I'll give that you can blame Bush for the war as long as you blame ALL of the Republicans and Democrats in office who authorized it. But are you
seriously going to blame Bush for:
* Rapid growth in Asian economies and their petroleum consumption (That wold be India, China, Malaysia, etc)
* The hurricanes in 2005 that crippled refineries
* Refinery problems associated with the conversion from MTBE as an additive to ethanol
???
Again, I'm just using your own source for information. I think you need to go back and read a bit harder and open your mind a bit to the possibility
that not all evil in this world stems from Bush/Cheney.
[edit on 22-5-2008 by sos37]