Who needs a highway, an airport or a jet when you can't get a gallon of gas

Photo: Joe Marquette, Bloomberg News.

From the Independent (UK):

Yesterday, the International Energy Agency warned that the global demand for oil this year will be considerably greater than originally estimated. It also warned that oil exporters are operating at maximum limits. Global demand for oil is exploding just as supplies appear to be faltering...

The immediate causes of this year's supply problem are local. Hurricane Katrina severely damaged US refining capacity, and militant attacks in Nigeria have disrupted production in Africa. But the surge in demand is the story of our globalised economy. Countries like China and India are growing rapidly, fuelled by fossil fuels. Our own thirst for oil shows no signs of being slaked either. The IEA estimates that the world's total energy requirements will rise by 50 per cent in the next 25 years. The pressures on supply are only beginning.

Reuters reports, in "Oil steady at $69 after IEA ups OPEC demand", that the price of a barrel of oil is nearing $70 (last year, remember that magic $60 price "ceiling"?) And yesterday's Richmond Times-Dispatch, in "Surprise! Gas prices going up" says:

U.S. motorists on average can expect to pay 25 cents more for a gallon of regular gasoline during this summer's driving season than a year ago. Yet the current U.S. average price for gasoline -- $2.68 per gallon -- is already 6 cents higher than the projected summer average....

The tightness in petroleum supplies attributable to a lack of extra refinery capacity in this country and production disruptions in oil-producing countries such as Venezuela, Nigeria and Iraq are other factors pushing prices higher, he said. U.S. refineries, for instance, are expected to run at about 94 percent capacity this year.

The main reason consumers will pay on average a quarter more for gasoline this summer "is the world oil market continues to be very stretched to meet demand," Caruso said.

Global demand for petroleum is expected to grow by 1.6 million barrels per day this year compared with 1.1 million barrels per day last year, Caruso said. Growth in petroleum use will be 400,000 barrels per day more than growth in production, meaning even tighter oil markets ahead, he said. The world consumes about 85 million barrels per day, with the U.S. accounting for a fourth of that.

Spare production capacity in the global markets should remain steady this year and next. But Caruso added this warning: "A lot of things have to go right to keep spare capacity in the 1.5 to 2 million barrels per day range."
"What's in a barrel of oil?" Graphic produced by Dick Gibson, Gibson Consulting.

A Gallon of Gas (song by the Kinks)
I've been waiting for years to buy a brand new cadillac
But now that I've got one I want to send it right back
I can't afford the gas to fill my luxury limousine
But even if I had the dough no one's got no gasoline

I went to my local dealer to see if he could set me straight
He said there's a little gas going but I'd have to wait
But he offered some red hot speed and some really high grade hash
But a gallon of gas can't be purchased anywhere for any amount of cash

I can score you some coke and some grade one grass
But I can't get a gallon of gas
I've got some downers some speed all the drugs that you need
But I can't get a gallon of gas
There's no more left to buy or sell
There's no more oil left in the well
A gallon of gas can't be purchased anywhere
For any amount of cash

I love your body-work, but you're really no use
How can I drive you when I got no juice?
Because it's stuck in neutral and my engine's got no speed
And the highways are deserted
And the air smells unnaturally clean.I

t's got power-assisted overdrive and carpets on the floor,
But it's parked out front just like a dead dinosaur.
And I'll be paying off the bank for 45 years or more.
It should go 100 miles an hour,
But it's never moved away from my door.

Who needs a car and a seven-forty-seven
When you can't buy a gallon of gas
Who needs a highway, an airport or a jet
When you can't get a gallon of gas
There's no more left to buy or sell
There's no more oil left in the well
A gallon of gas can't be purchased anywhere
For any amount of cash
You can't buy a gallon of gas

Index Keywords: energy; sprawl; car-culture