{"id":2356,"date":"2018-01-02T11:31:35","date_gmt":"2018-01-02T16:31:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.musingsbymichael.com\/blog\/?p=2356"},"modified":"2018-01-02T11:32:42","modified_gmt":"2018-01-02T16:32:42","slug":"oil-is-still-going-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.musingsbymichael.com\/blog\/2018\/01\/02\/oil-is-still-going-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Oil is still going up!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"How<\/a><\/p>\n

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The price of a barrel of oil is still going up despite the fact that here in the United States more oil is being pulled out of the ground allowing for more oil independence than we have seen since the 1960s.<\/span><\/p>\n

Per CNBC<\/a>, \u201cOil prices appear poised to level off after a nearly six-month rally pushed futures to 2\u00bd-year highs at the close of 2017, analysts say. But several geopolitical hot spots could keep the run-up in the energy complex alive. The oil market owes much of its gains to OPEC and Russia’s deal to limit output this year. International benchmark Brent crude<\/a> ended the fourth quarter nearly 18 percent higher, near $67 a barrel, while U.S. crude<\/a> surged nearly 17 percent to more than $60.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Prices got a boost as tensions flared in the Middle East, Venezuela<\/a> and parts of Africa, and analysts say continued turmoil could be the key to further gains.<\/i>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

So between OPEC and the tensions that are flaring up all over the globe we here in the United States are seeing our gas prices rise when typically they are much lower than in the Summer. Of course the price for heating oil always goes up this time of year. Taking a look at a government site (NYSERDA)<\/a> run by the state of New York you can see that as we go into the heating season the price of heating oil goes up until the end of the season. This is typical behavior, but gasoline should be down from its summertime high this time of year and yet it is going up because of outside of the country influences.<\/span><\/p>\n

President Trump’s energy policies do have something to do with the price of a barrel of oil and here is what the Whitehouse web site<\/a> says, \u201cAmericans have long been told that our country is running out of energy, but we now know that is wrong. America\u2019s energy revolution has produced affordable, reliable energy for consumers along with stable, high-paying jobs for small businesses\u2014all while dropping carbon emissions to their lowest level in 25 years. American energy policy must balance environmental protection with economic growth in order to encourage innovation, discovery, and prosperity.<\/i>\u201d So the President thinks that we control our own energy future and yet with all the discord happening overseas we do not.<\/span><\/p>\n

We somehow have to break OPEC and Russia’s control over oil production while at the same time realizing the fact that we must move from an oil based economy to more sustainable resources and be less dependent on oil to heat our homes and run our vehicles. Does this mean that we should go nuclear or solar or wind power? Most likely it should be a combination of them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now I said the very non-politically correct word nuclear. Well you better be aware that there are better ways to generate electricity using more modern versions of nuclear power plants, I talked about this before in my blog Safe Nuclear Power<\/a> and I will not go into it here go read it for yourself.<\/span><\/p>\n

For those who think that we can utilize the energy from the Sun exclusively, well good luck with that. We have too many people who are again buying big homes and giant SUVs that eat energy. Somehow we as a people have to get into our heads that the day of gluttonous use of energy is over. We must learn to do more with less energy so we can be truly energy independent!<\/span><\/p>\n

That is my opinion- Jumpin Jersey Mike<\/span><\/p>\n