Running On Empty
Gov. George W. Bush of Texas said today that if he was president, he would bring down gasoline prices through sheer force of personality, by creating enough political good will with oil-producing nations that they would increase their supply of crude.
”I would work with our friends in OPEC to convince them to open up the spigot, to increase the supply,” Mr. Bush, the presumptive Republican candidate for president, told reporters here today. ”Use the capital that my administration will earn, with the Kuwaitis or the Saudis, and convince them to open up the spigot.” — New York Times, June 28, 2000 (via)
Average price per gallon of gasoline in July, 2000 = $1.59
Average price per gallon of gasoline in May, 2008 = $3.80
Saudi Arabia’s leaders made clear Friday they see no reason to increase oil production until customers demand it, apparently rebuffing President Bush amid soaring U.S. gasoline prices.
It was Bush’s second personal appeal this year to King Abdullah, head of the monarchy that rules this desert kingdom that is a longtime prime U.S. ally and home to the world’s largest oil reserves. But Saudi officials stuck to their position that they will only pump more oil into the system when asked to by buyers, something they say is not happening now, the president’s national security adviser told reporters. — Associated Press, May 16, 2008
Well, on the positive side, there’s finally a list where it’s just as well that the U.S. isn’t Number One: we are #108 on the list of highest retail price per gallon for gasoline
Mission accomplished, eh George?
May 21st, 2008 at 6:56 pm
Congratulations on your continuing cheap gasoline. Chimpy’s helped us out ever so much too. It’s now over AU$1.60 a litre here - US$5.75 a gallon…
May 21st, 2008 at 8:32 pm
Even that’s pretty cheap if you look at that list I linked to. In the UK they’re paying about $8.50/gallon.
May 21st, 2008 at 9:04 pm
Soooo…. if Mr. Bush said he would “bring down gasoline prices through sheer force of personality” and gasoline has more than doubled in price since, what are we to make of his personality?
May 22nd, 2008 at 5:33 am
[Brian] Exactly; doesn’t stop everyone from predicting the end of the world here though. We are much more like the USA than Europe in our car habits and housing patterns.
(re europe) I know, I’ve driven in UK and Sweden before - and that was when our dollar was worth less than 2/3 of what it is now (the pain, the pain!). Predictions are that we’ll hit over US$6.50/gallon in about two months.
Me, I live near a railway line and two trams. We pay a hefty premium for it, but hardly use the car.
[Tony] heh heh.
May 22nd, 2008 at 8:00 am
The conventional wisdom says that we will probably plateau at $5/gal soon.
May 22nd, 2008 at 4:32 pm
I came within pennies of crossing the US$40 fill-up threshold this week for my gas-sipping Toyota Corolla. Thankfully my driving habits are such that I typically only fill up once every 10 days or so, but I can’t fathom how those of you who need to drive more often and for further distances are handling it.
May 23rd, 2008 at 6:54 am
With a 42 gallon gas tank (the same size as a barrel of oil - imagine!) my Suburban requires a home equity loan to fill up every two weeks. The good news is it’s paid for next month. The bad news is the gas will cost just as much, but household finances dictate that we will have to keep driving it for a while (though I will try to use my motorcycle more, which gets triple or more miles per gallon even though seating capacity is, um, less).