"Straydog" <nospam@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:47cac77c.1276799@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> The development of ethanol producing facilities is expanding very
> rapidly in the USA. Some 200+ plants have been built or are under
> construction, at least 40 more on the drawing board.
Yes, and we can see that reflected in the cost of milk and chicken. :-(
JG
>
> On Sat, 1 Mar 2008 20:10:25 -0800 (PST), indiaBPOking
> <indiabpoking@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>
>>http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080301/BIZ/803010340/-1/CINCI
>>
>>Record prices expected by spring
>>
>>Gasoline prices, which for months lagged the run-up in the price of
>>crude oil, are rising quickly, with some experts saying they will hit
>>a record - or even climb to $4 a gallon - by spring.
>>
>>The increases could not come at a worse time for the U.S. economy.
>>With growth slowing, high energy prices that were once easily absorbed
>>by consumers are now more likely to act as a drag on household
>>budgets, leaving people with less money to spend elsewhere. These
>>costs could worsen the nation's economic woes, piling an energy shock
>>atop the turmoil in credit and housing.
>>
>>"The effect of high oil prices today could be the difference between
>>having a recession and not having a recession," Harvard economist
>>Kenneth S. Rogoff said.
>>
>>Economists say energy's share of Americans' disposable income is
>>slowly creeping up again. In December, that figure reached 6.1
>>percent, the highest level since 1985. The increase of 2 percentage
>>points - amounting to $200 billion - is a huge sum, a little less than
>>half what Americans spend each year on new cars and automobile parts.
>>
>>"You're adding an oil shock on top of a crunch on credit and a housing
>>collapse," Nigel Gault, an economist at Global Insight, said. "Even
>>the U.S. economy cannot withstand all of that at the same time."
>>
>>A growing number of economists and energy specialists are predicting
>>that as demand for gasoline picks up further this spring and summer,
>>retail prices will surpass the high of $3.23 a gallon set last
>>Memorial Day weekend. That high fell short of the inflation-adjusted
>>record of $3.40 in today's money that was set in 1981.
>>
>>Friday's national average price of $3.15 was less than a dime off the
>>national record set May 25. The records for Southwest Ohio and
>>Northern Kentucky that day were $3.41 and $3.38 respectively,
>>according to the Oil Price Information Service (OPIS).
>>
>>Jim Brock, an economist at Miami University in Oxford, Friday
>>estimated that there was a 50-50 chance that gasoline prices could hit
>>$4 a gallon this year.
>>
>>"Gas price predictions are a very dangerous thing, but given where we
>>are now and what's happening, it's possible," he said.
>>
>>Brock acknowledged that while speculation has pushed crude oil prices
>>above $100 a barrel, oil companies are now pu****ng those higher prices
>>through to consumers.
>>
>>He isn't alone in a gloomy *****sment of what will happen to prices at
>>the pump.
>>
>>"Taking both gasoline market conditions and crude oil prices into
>>account, it is still likely that we will see gasoline prices peaking
>>at a higher level this spring and summer than we did in 2007," the
>>Energy Information Administration, the public information and
>>forecasting arm of the federal Energy Department, said Wednesday in
>>its publication "This Week In Petroleum."
>>
>>Prices last summer were pushed higher by an unusually high number of
>>refinery problems and shutdowns that created tight supplies, the
>>agency said. Refinery woes seem unlikely to be "as numerous or long-
>>lasting as last year," the agency said, adding that gasoline stocks
>>nationally are already 5 percent, or 12 million gallons, higher than
>>this time last year.
>>
>>But there are new problems in 2008, primarily crude prices that are
>>$40 a barrel higher than this time last year. In addition, high gas
>>prices this winter have cut demand - but only by 1.1 percent,
>>according to Energy Department data.
>>
>>The agency, which is forecasting a high gasoline price of $3.40 a
>>gallon, projects that crude prices won't go below $85 a barrel anytime
>>before the summer.
>>
>>Other analysts agree.
>>
>>"Crude prices still appear to be excessive, but excess can persist for
>>many months in any market that features lots of speculation,
>>investment, and 'spin' of the news to accommodate the desires of those
>>who believe that oil is a safe house for money," OPIS analyst Tom
>>Kloza wrote on his oil and gasoline blog this week..
>>
>>Gas prices "have consistently been around 75 to 80 cents a gallon
>>above 2007 levels in the first 59 days of 2008," Kloza continued. "If
>>that edge is maintained, we could expect that a $4-a-gallon national
>>average might be reached in late May.
>>
>>"$3.50 to $3.75 a gallon is the more likely target."
>>
>>For a decade, rising oil prices have failed to dent global economic
>>growth. In the United States, consumers absorbed the higher costs,
>>thanks to easy credit and rising prosperity, while in developing
>>countries, government subsidies helped ease the pain. The rise in
>>energy prices was a result of growing demand around the world.
>>
>>The price of crude has quadrupled in six years, and the close Friday
>>of $101.84 was not far below the inflation-adjusted all-time high set
>>in April 1980, after the Iranian revolution. That record, $39.50 a
>>barrel, equals $103.76 in today's money.
>>
>>American consumers have responded belatedly by cutting back on their
>>energy use. Oil demand in the United States grew by just 0.4 percent
>>in 2007 and is expected to be flat in 2008.
>>
>>But global oil demand is still expected to be up an average 1.4
>>million barrels a day this year, analysts estimate. That growth, from
>>China and the Middle East, might help keep prices up, whatever happens
>>to the American economy.
>
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