oil

Mark J. Perry of AEI tweeted:

For the first time in 20 years, the US produced more than 7 million barrels of oil per day for 3 weeks in a row.

“The tectonic plates are shifting” is a much over-used expression. But when it comes to the international energy industry, the expression is apt.

The AAA has joined the side of the crackpots resisting the burning of food in internal combustion engines:

We heard throughout the campaign of President Obama’s “all of the above” energy policy. That was then. This is now. About 48 hours after he was assured of reelection, the president’s Interior Department issued a plan to close to oil shale development 1.6 million acres of federal land in the West to oil.

At last night’s debate, President Obama said gas prices were under two dollars per gallon when he took office because the “economy was on the verge of collapse.” And that if Mitt Romney were elected he “could bring down gas prices, because with his policies we might be back in the same mess.”

Seems like everybody has now seen it, either when it happened (that would be in "real time") or on replay. Even players who benefitted from the call agree that the Packers got hosed. The remedy?

Federal Reserve Board chairman Ben Bernanke now has two reasons to disappoint those who are hoping he will use his speech next week at the conclave of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to launch the good ship QE3.

Media bias consists of more than partial quotes, deliberate misreporting, and economy with the truth. Doubt that, and read the New York Times last week, reporting—on page one—“U.S. Reliance on Saudi Oil Goes Back Up: Security Concerns Rise With Gulf Imports.” If you think this has anything to do with the president’s decision to veto the Keystone Pipeline, think again, or look for a more balance report.

The price of gasoline is rising and may reach $4 a gallon, which is considered critical in the minds of consumers and political consultants worrying about how to seduce them. In an economy that is otherwise stalled in the weakest recovery since World War II – real wages in decline, job growth anemic to non-existent, etc. – an increase in the price of unavoidable purchases is a hard thing for consumers/voters to take.

Slow growth here and in China—as well as a recession in Europe—is reducing demand for oil. Inventories in the U.S. are at a 22-year high.

Warren Buffett expressed support for the Keystone Pipeline on Fox News last night. "I'm not an expert, but it certainly seems like it makes sense to me,” said Buffett. He added: "There are an awful lot of pipelines running in the United States and net, they've certainly been a huge plus for the country."

The New York Times reports: