and then, we will see in the future that the oil companies post beyond record profits while the average person can barely afford to put gas in the car. We have to go to work, and for now, gasing up the car is the only way. Some of us live too far from from the job. Well, just fill up less and stay home more. Its sad to have us taken
advantage of by news stories surging up the prices, and world events.

Why have we paid billions and billions for a war, and our prices of oil has risen?  Take IRAQ's oil!!!!  We support the country anyways, this should be their way to pay us back.  At least if we are going to play Bush's war, at least we can have cheap oil!    

we need a third party   vote

First of all there is no reason why oil needs to be $100 a barrel. I dont care what Bush says he doesnt care how much it costs because he makes millions. There is no reason the oil needs to be this high. OPEC basically blames it on someone for the high oil prices but when it comes down to it the problem is OPEC not allowing more oil to come in and they are the ones cutting back production so that pushes the price of oil up. When we went to war with IRAQ a few years back it actually pushed the price of a gallon of gas back downwards and now that the war is over we are paying more for it. Bush either needs to do something about it or get out of office and let someone else take care of it because obviously something needs to happen before its too late and then oil prices will get out of control because no one is doing anything. To me personally no one is doing a thing about it and until someone does something about it the price will continue to go up. The price for oil right now should be settling around $50 or 60 dollars a barrel not $100. People we need to do something now.

Has anyone heard anything during any of the presidential debates on how they plan to fix the problems of our country? or is it just about pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, and everywhere else?  This needs to be a topic.

"Why? Good enconomies in China & India that use oil & gas; tensions in oil producing nations like Nigeria & Iran; a report from OPEC saying it won't be able to meet the world's oil needs by 2024."

Hello People, This is why oil prices are near 100 bucks. It has NOTHING to do with Bush. Nobody in the goverment of the USA. Can control prices of oil. Crude oil is a internationaly used resource that sets the price. Price controls  was tried the the 70's to slow inflation, didn't work free markets are the best. Don't  you think energy companies are going to spend spend profits. To open up new sources of energy. Other than oil and gas? Look at the whole picture other than a narrow view, you might be surprised

I bought a car that gets 30 mpg. Had new better windows installed. I did what I can do on my own instead of thinking the goverment needs to help me

i think that this whole dollar per barrel system is completely flawed. Investors SPECULATE, which drives prices up or down. smaller oil companies that trade on the free market are the first to know if there is a true shortage. they dont have contracts like the bigger oil companies. there was an article on this on c-span or msnbc a couple of weeks ago about this. lets face it were getting hosed. There is no shortage, if you want to pull up to the gas pumps with a fleet of Hummers and fill all of them up you can. The only thing stopping you is your bank account. how come the media doesnt put as much coverage on this as compared to oversees troubles?  Also remember the higher the price per gallon the more taxes the feds and states get. good reason why no real push for change. We ALL need to united for change. the Civil War and our Independance wasnt fought by the minority, but the majority who wanted change!!!!!  

I installed a wood boiler that heats the whole house via the existing hot water heating system.  I burn about 1,700 gallons of fuel each winter if I heat with Fuel oil. That is about $6,000 at current pricing.  I can heat with wood for about $1,000 per year if I  buy wood and have it delivered. or I can cut it and split it myself for the cost of the gas for the chainsaw and chain sharpening.  It doesn't take long to pay for itself at these prices. My neighbor is installing a pellet stove in his (smaller) house he expects to burn 3-4 tons of pellets. that is still under $1,000 to heat for the year instead  of about $4,500 for fuel oil.

Most ecomonists who follow the oil markets agree that speculation affects the price of oil as much as the cost of production.  Worries about wars, governmental interference, civil unrest all feed the factors that affect commodities - of which oil is one.  Refiners and distributors are as dependent upon the suppliers as you and I, and simply add their costs to the process of going from crude to gasoline and fuel oil.  Of course, if they make a percentage on what they sell, they increase their profits as well.

As emerging economies like those of China and India expand and mature, their demand for petroluem products will begin to match and even exceed ours.  We will have to compete with them for the available products at an increasing price.  Since we depend on oil supplies for far more than just heating oil and gasoline, we need to look seriously at other ways to move and keep warm.  I'm all for encouraging alternative energy production at whatever scale.  I'm not sure that Barry's wood fired boiler is the ultimate solution, since trees are also limited, but there are a host of technologies that can contribute.

We must first stop thinking that "bigger is better" is the only approach.  There are a fair number of abandoned hydropower facilities that could be refurbished and brought on line - hydropower is about as non-polluting as they come.  The new wind farms are efficient and, despite the visibility of the tall towers, minimal on their environmental effects.  Better insulation for our homes has already shown a positive effect.

All of  this is going to cost money, but given the dramatic increase in crude prices, the impact is a lot less than it might have been.  Sadly, had we continued the R&D and implementation iback in the 80's, we might already have solved mnay of the problems we're facing now.  Ain't hindsight great?

I seen the movie Mad Max on the History channel not to long ago for some reason it made me think someone was giving us a hint if we don't do something now just like in the movie we may get chased down and run off the road by some gang of gas hording thugs that will take a gallon of gas and your life to get it. funny  you say it will never happen then think again  do something now and we wont have to live like this.  

I have been careful how I consume energy in my home all my life.  (It’s not energy conservation it’s cash conservation.)  It doesn’t seem to have made any difference to the prices I pay for the energy I do use.  If a few billion more people were careful with their use there would be a difference in the price and how long the oil supply will last.  
Until we have an opportunity to choose an alternate form of energy we will be stuck with the costs related to oil.  There are new energy products out there waiting for the money required to fully develop them and bring them to market.  Let’s tax excess profits from oil and use that money to fund new development.

people are being robbed right now for gas, gas money ,just trying to survive while the oil companies and politicians are billionares; hey facefurny, instead of giving people government propaganda online, why dont you challenge the republicans and there lock on oil companies ; forget all that propaganda you read; help people get back on track with there lives; speak for the people not the oil companies and politicians. its time we take a stand againast the gas gouging oil companies.