944J

I looked up some info on how much oil value is in irak and found the numbers to be widely varied, it could be a goldmine or could be not that much:

How Much Oil Does Iraq Have?
http://www.brookings.edu/views/op-ed...ft20030512.htm

Crude Oil and Total Petroleum Imports Top 15 Countries
http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/p...nt/import.html

It's not clear to me how much $$ the place is worth for its black gold and how that compares to how much we put in with costs to over take it.

Peckster

The cost of gas is actually quite similar in large markets around the world, that's the result of a healthy market.

The price varies mainly because of different levels of taxes, so unless your government hikes taxes the cost of your gas will not increase relative to other countries.

As owners of vehicles that get very good mileage we're actually very well off. I find it hard to believe anyone here can really complain about the cost when they're driving a Porsche.

How much do you pay for a a bottle of water?

944S2NUT

Only way to lower gas prices is to get ppl to stop buying those pointless monters trucks/huge SUVS.

Yah, yah, I know p-cars suck the gas too, but for every 944 there is, there are 40,000 Yukons, suburbans etc..

Legoland951

Not that much oil in Iraq? I could be mistaken but I thought they have the second largest oil supply in the ground globally right behind Saudi. What they are telling us about how much is coming out of there I just don't believe.

Yes they are using Billions of dollars of TAX PAYER'S MONEY. But what does that have anything to do with oil revenues? Do you really believe the oil they are getting is going to pay our national debt or federal budget? Here, let me make this simple. I take your money, take your able body sons and daughters to die in a war, take oil to make money for my friends and I. Later, your kids and grand kids will have to pay for the amount I spend in excess of what I can take from you including interest. This is what is most disturbing to me and why I mentioned Federal debt, economy etc in my earlier posts. Unless you know how to shelter your money from taxes or have enough money to pay someone to put them in shelters for you, YOU WILL BE SCREWED. I know this because I used to set up these tax shelters in my financial planning years. Just think, when the debt becomes so high that we can no longer pay the interest, do you think the government is going to declare bankruptcy (total collapse of the government dishonoring all debts causing world depression), become so efficient it makes a surplus for decades to spend all that excess to pay the debt, or increase your taxes to pay for these expenses? Figure that one out. All the very wealthy have their parachutes already and you will find many of the largest U. S. companies have corporate charters outside the U. S. (its how ex Tyco CEO tried to get out of abiding by U. S. laws). Time to check if you have your own.

Royal Tiger

We are all part of the cycle. If you have a mutual fund, it most likely has shares in "Big Oil" so you are profiting from this also. It's to big to stand there and say just stop buying from Exxon/Mobil, or Sunoco. Who do you think sells to WaWa, Sheetz, Circle K, etc...? No one will change anything in 2008. Who's going to run? Hillary? You think you are screwed now, just wait. There was also a valid story last week about China and the effect on oil prices. They will pay what it takes to acclerate thier entry into the first world. Oil demand and prices go up as China consumes on a level we couldn't fathom 5 years ago.

Legoland951

Why are they consuming? Because we are the ultimate consumer of their goods. Look at the trade deficit. However, whatever they are producing, we are not because we are replacing ours with theirs. Therefore, whatever oil they are using for manufacturing, we are not. They do use public transportation and bicycles much more effectively than we do though. I'd say we are definitely one of the most wasteful nations in the world me included. What they can't fathom is someone wasting gas to go racing or the typical bling single commuter driving an SUV in traffic. Yes we are all part of this cycle. If you use gas or any other byproduct of crude oil, than you are a part of the cycle. I am not a fan of either parties republican or democrats. Yes we will be screwed either way. I am a registered republican but do know that the largest percentage increases of the national deficit were done in the Reagan and Bush Jr. years. Someone is gonna have to pay that bill. Believe me so far the only thing I have not legally sheltered from future taxes is my house (have not found a way to shelter future property tax increases). Yes its coming no matter who is president. The money is already spent.

Royal Tiger

China is buying cars at a rate no one really thought possible. It is expected they will be the largest consumer for new autos in the world by 2020. Over a billion people. Do the math. They now have money that was never available before. It's not just manufactoring. I don't like buying gas at $2.85.9 for regular, but if we lived in Europe we'd have been spending over $5 for 15 years.

Little Porsche Boy

Ahhh. Green glowing glass. Allah Akbar

Peckster

And some of you guys get upset because you don't get no respect?

Too funny.

Legoland951

If you think they are buying that many cars, you need to be in traffic during Beijing rush hour traffic. It makes L. A. traffic look like kid stuff. At a point in the near future, its not possible to have any more cars over there and I would say most people can't afford to buy even one car with their entire life's earnings still. What most people don't realize is cars older than 10 years is MANDATED TO BE DESTROYED and cannot be driven on the road. Imagine what our "new car" purchase rate will be if every car built before 1996 has to be destroyed. However, that does not mean they have overall more cars. Just newer cars. As far as for nuking Iran, that's the kind of mentality which drives Iran to get nukes. I am sure they feel exactly the same way about Israel.

L8 APEKS

They don't have to. Other fuel will still be available...it just won't be the ONLY fuel we use.

F18Rep

I hear ya guys and I agree (well maybe not with the nukes). I just anted up for an 06 Jetta diesel, sold the gas pick-up (which btw I lost money on - big). First tank was 45.4 MPG. Its a nice car, not cushy, not luxery, but easy to drive & good german feel. They are pricey though - it's expensive to flip off the oil companies. Will let ya know how it goes but so far so good.

One small point missed in all this above... with the rising price of fuel, the individual states have been real quiet about thier collecting 2 and 3 times as much road taxes as that of just a few years ago. Bruce

goingboeing737

I think most states tax per gallon. Texas is .20/gal. So it does not matter how much gas prices go up (or down). If your vehicle holds 20 gallons of gas, the tax is the same whether the retail consumer cost is 1.00/gallon or 5.00/gallon.

20 gallons of gas = Texas gets 4.00

HERE IS A SITE WITH ALL STATES GAS TAXES

F18Rep

I stand corrected... I thought it was a percentage...Bruce

MichelleJD

I looked high and low for a TDi VW before I bought my Bimmer. COuldn't find one used and the new one was selling for a $5K premium - it takes a LOT of driving to pay that back. Europe is full of diesel cars. All the European manufacturers make them. Few to none are being imported here b/c our laws prohibit it. When the BMW 320 d is imported, I'll be the first on the list to get one.