If you believe the Energy Information Administration, U.S. gas prices will peak at $4.15 per gallon in August.
Whew. That's a suprise for most Americans, 86 percent of whom believe that prices will top $5 by the end of the year. We can be confident that the EIA -- the agency that does the country's official projection of oil prices -- knows what they're talking about. Yessiree.
If you detect a note of sarcasm in my post maybe that's because the EIA has a hilarious record of forecasting world oil prices. And even when it comes to domestic gasoline prices, it's as if their forecasts are completely impervious to reality. To wit:
- In February, the EIA forecast that prices would peak at $3.40 in the spring.
- In March, they forecast that prices would peak at $3.50 in the spring.
- In April, they forecast that gas prices would peak at $3.60 in the spring.
- By early May, prices were at $3.57 and climbing, so the new official projection said that prices would peak this month, in June, at $3.73.
- By late May -- just weeks after the new forecast -- the average price was already at $3.94. And yesterday's national average gasoline price was $4.04. So now they're saying that prices will peak in August, at $4.15.
In fairness, maybe the EIA will get it right one of these days. Maybe gas prices will peak and start descending back to earth.
On the other hand, it's been reported that global oil production actually fell in 2007, despite record high prices. Less supply will, of course, tend to exert an upward pressure on prices. And it's getting a little hard to take the EIA seriously when they keep making the same mistake again and again and again and again ...
If anyone wants to bet with me on August gas prices, I'll be taking the "over."
Oil: enough energy to melt glaciers!
Comments
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zach Posted 3:29 am
15 Jun 2008
$4.05 is a joke where I live. Where in the country is it lower?
Glad I've cut my gas bill in half!, I'm going to have to keep cutting usage at this rate to stay in the black.. .. .. zipcar/flexcar, here I come!
zach
pennywise-poundfoolish.typepad.com
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bigTom Posted 8:41 am
15 Jun 2008
Clearly if we are too try to find someone to blame for the present oil price crunch, it should be EIA, IEA, and CERA. These entities had been deemed credible, and no one who thought otherwise was considered to be a serious thinker. So many of the bad investment decisions made during the past decade, have taken their price predictions as reasonable.
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Delay And Deny Posted 1:25 pm
15 Jun 2008
Please...someone slap me in the forehead with a wet towel and tell me this can't be true:
http://gizmodo.com/5016343/genepax-unveils-a-car-that-run ...
Running a car on water has been the holy grail for car manufacturers for some time now, but it appears that a Japanese company named Genepax may have pulled ahead of the competition with a prototype vehicle that runs entirely on water and air. Their new "Water Energy System (WES)," generates power by supplying water and air to the fuel and air electrodes using a proprietary technology called the Membrane Electrode Assembly (MEA). The secret behind MEA is a special material that is capable of breaking down water into hydrogen and oxygen through a chemical reaction.
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CountersTrike Posted 2:53 pm
15 Jun 2008
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Delay And Deny Posted 3:39 pm
15 Jun 2008
PS --
PS -- do you have an extra chromosome or something?
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amazingdrx Posted 4:14 pm
15 Jun 2008
Maybe the radioactive batteries could power electriolysis and the hydrogen could power your gas guzzler? Hehey.
http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog
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Delay And Deny Posted 4:52 pm
15 Jun 2008
You mean the sort that have been used in long distance satellites since the early 1960s, and which researchers announced they had found a way to make them 40% efficient? If that is what you meant, but had not the capacity to explain...then yes...that is something "I am working on".
power electriolysis and the hydrogen
I added the article asking people to refute it if they could. That was the gist of my small jibe before the blockquote. But no, you Gristwits take everything at face value...and when pressed, cannot respond to a simple query.
Gristwits...sort of like the old Second City TV skit Halfwits...
http://sctvguide.ca/programs/halfwits.htm
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amazingdrx Posted 12:36 am
16 Jun 2008
Where plenty of other people are hanging out who haven't heard about the whole water powered car scam yet.
Just a suggestion.
http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog
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