Wednesday, April 06, 2005

I Want to be an Oil Barron

So it looks like the yearly jump in oil/gas prices has started a little early this year. Today I woke up to 93c/ltr CAN, and there are roomers of other cities in Canada hitting a whopping $1.04.

The scary part is that this is only the beginning. If the US dollar stays week, and we see more heavy speculation by hedge funds the wholesale price of crude is expected to double within the next five years. On the conservative side, CIBC World Markets expects $77 US/barrel, and on the high end Goldman Sachs has an estimate of $105.

Now, those that know me well, know that I'm probably the biggest capitalist whore on the planet, but this is getting insane. It's high time that both the Canadian and US governments react to these obscene price fluctuations.

We as a country have more power then we think when it comes to leveling off prices in the oil market. After all, I do seem to recall a rather large plot of land in Alberta the holds more oil then the entire Arab world and could supply North America for over 200 years. I still need to look at this more, but I would think that flooding the market just enough could stabilize the per barrel cost of crude. Why can't we do the same with oil that we do with currency and interest rates? Makes sense, don't you think?

I could also go on the environmental trip....but that won't happen. There are way to many old guys in Washington getting banged by fat guys from Texas to make any real alternative fuel legislation.

So for now, I'm going to go fill up my car's tank as me and a couple million more gladly take it up the ass by a really happy Texan