I don't believe it has anything to do with supply or demand. Demand is down, there are 30 billion barrels of Iraqi oil sitting in supertankers in the Persian Gulf that nobody wants. Speculation on the other hand has huge amounts of money in the market that previously were part of the equation. Sure big oil profits, but it's not because of anything they are doing, they are running 'business as usual'. I know if I was getting this kind of windfall without doing anything, I would not want to make any changes.

there are 30 billion barrels of Iraqi oil sitting in supertankers in the Persian Gulf that nobody wants.

I think there's a variation of English here. In some places billion = million. I think he's referring to the Iranian oil stored on tankers from last April.

Peak oil is here folks. Get used to it.

"The current high prices in the market are primarily due to demand-supply fundamentals, not to speculation, according to the report."

"... global average decline of 5.2%— up from 4% last year—are the factors behind these revisions. Over 3.5 mb/d of new production will be needed each year just to hold global production steady."

Oil demand remains concentrated in developing economies, with 90% of the growth spread between Asia, South America and the Middle East over the five years of the forecast. Of this, China and India account for almost half.

An unintended consequence of all the corporate outsourcing, prolific buying of cheap Asian goods, and frantic investment by predator capitalists is sufficient wealth in developing countries to buy cars.

The question in my mind is what does Asians, South Americans, and Middle Easterners want with cars?

Anne, I am not wasting my time. I am addressing myself to the troll, but speaking to the people who may read this and not have the knowledge to see it as nonsense.

The question in my mind is what does Asians, South Americans, and Middle Easterners want with cars?

To drive would be my guess.

@ Bob Bastard

Chinese life is a portrait of the rapidly expanding role of cars in the fast-changing ways in which China’s people socialize, marry, raise families and, possibly, die.

Chinese put 46-year-old farmer, and his wife secretly hoped a car would improve the odds of their sons, then 22 and 24, of finding girlfriends, marrying and producing grandchildren.

Sorry spam filter problem

The question in my mind is what does Asians, South Americans, and Middle Easterners want with cars?

Reference:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/24/business/worldbusiness/24firstcar.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Excerpt:

What emerges is a portrait of the rapidly expanding role of cars in the fast-changing ways in which China’s people socialize, marry, raise families and, possibly, die.
Li Rifu packed a lot of emotional freight into his first car. Mr. Li, a 46-year-old farmer and watch repairman, and his wife secretly hoped a car would improve the odds of their sons, then 22 and 24, of finding girlfriends, marrying and producing grandchildren.

“Without this car, my two sons wouldn’t be able to find wives,” he said, recalling that when he courted his wife in the early 1980s, he needed only a bicycle. He ruined a half-dozen tires carrying her on the back of the bicycle for their outings

His next goal is to buying a bigger, more impressive car than the compact he had to sell.

Reference:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/20/AR2008012002388.html

Excerpt:
Yan Yizhou, a 32-year-old sales manager, got his driver's license six years ago, and traded up last year to a jeep. Sport-utility vehicles are hugely popular, and many Chinese are now spending their vacations on road trips that involve nothing more than countless days of endless driving.
"More and more people will choose jeeps, which are suitable for driving in the countryside," said Yan, who belongs to another of Beijing's hundreds of car clubs. "When your salary reaches a certain standard, you can buy a car and taste the fun of it."
…..populous China, Yan insisted, cars would connect strangers.
"People who live far away from you who are not supposed to appear in your life will be brought into your life. Car clubs are a good place to meet new friends," he said. "And on your way somewhere, you will probably meet some broken-down cars and you will stop to help them."

The whole family chooses the car together. I can read the eagerness in their faces," said Xing Chuang, who has owned the Huizhongtong Automobile Trade Co. for a dozen years. "They pay attention to every detail of the car. After they take it home, they get up several times every night to see if their cars are okay."

The central point of life for the newly affluent of the third world is the car.

God Help Us!

@ Roy

I can hardly believe your arrogance

Au contraire, I am very humble and objective. I call it as I see it.

First, you bash capitalists as "predators" then you amazingly contradict yourself by talking about the new "unintended" affluence of the workers that the capitalists are hiring!

The "predators" capitalists are looking for the cheapest labor rates they can find world wide. In no way are their motives altruistic.

The Chinese are like car crazy teen-agers willing to sink every dime they earn into fossil fuel consumption which is subsidized by the Chinese government.

What inconsistency of thought!

The inconsistency you see is rooted in your invalid assumptions and/or your distorted world view.

Why shouldn't wealth and its concommitant benefits be spread to Asia, South America, and the Middle East? And, by the way, as the wealth of these societies increases, they will be better able, and more interested in, preserving the environment.

As evidence of the lack of environmental concern, the Chinese government subsidizes gas consumption rather then heavily taxing it as enlightened European governments do.

Its a natural progression.

It will be a real environmental concern, when two billon Chinese car owners wander aimlessly over the Asian countryside in a constant pursuit of happy motoring.

Yes, I think that is the natural progression of a future environmental disaster.

What in the world are you talking about? Since when did bounty hunter metal detectors get into the discussion, this is serious talk of Asian oil use and it's effect on fuel supply.