Oil prices rise above US$96 a barrel on possible OPEC output cut

The Opec oil ministers are blaming speculators as being the main perpetrators in the current continuing oil price rises, so why in the hell isn't there some way in which these speculators can be brought to account and punished for what they are doing to the world's economies and the people of those countries who have no real way of fighting back?

It's OPEC all the way. They have us and most others over a barrel. We now import over 60% of our daily crude needs. We need to be self sufficient on energy needs.

The Alberta Department of Energy was so proud of the presentation I produced for them, they handed a copy to Vice President Cheney. It was no surprise to him to hear Canadians boast about the over 177 billions of barrels in reserve sitting in the sand in Northern Alberta. Of course, every other Dick, Tom and Harry was joining the “me too” line-up to get anyone’s attention in Washington. As Middle East oil-producers murmur about wanting to reduce oil exports to the US, anyone with a line on oil (hoping it might turn into a pipeline) is drooling in the lobbies of American Government. BUT --- take a drive down the highway between Edmonton and Calgary, the two big cities in Alberta, and you’ll see an even more interesting line-up of oil rigs and the stacks of pipe sitting inactive in the yards.
While Canadians do the lobby thing south the border, various players in the oil industry around the world are doing whatever they can to sell the pipes, rigs, trailers, vehicles and every configuration of pumps and transformers imaginable. Just check the auction lists at Kruse Global.
What is this all saying? Is it a “surplus”, a “correction”--- or did Criss Angel come up with a new trick? We know we can count on OPEC’s Qatar and the US Administration disagreeing on calling it a surplus. They did the same thing last year around the time of the first auction.
We know there are massive oil inventories. And everyone from Iraq to Alaska has a budget surplus thanks to their oil surplus --- I’m sorry --- abundance. Alaska is considering their bounty as a way to offset heating bills. Alaskans certainly need it. Take partially blind Vietnam veteran Ed Littlefield. He was chopping wood this winter in to heat his Alaskan home because he couldn’t afford to refill his fuel tank. Apparently, he was bailed out last year by a donation of fuel from Venezuelan oil company Citgo. The rality of PEAK OIL may be here.
Prices will not go down. Watch the sales of hybrids. Watch tourists travel less. We are about to experience a quantum change in global economics.