NWBear, you have to understand logistics. We export the Alaskan oil to Japan and import from other countries at a shorter distance, like Venesuala or the Middle East. Oil tankers CAN NOT get through the Panama Canal because of their shear size. So they go to Japan. We need a pipeline from California to Texas to carry the crude from Alaska, BUT the libs in California will not allow a terminal to be built nor the pipeline across their state. What Japan pays is the world price, so it is a trade off. We still net IMPORT 60% of our oil. I work for a natural gas company, even we have a hard time getting pipelines ran, with all the new regulations. Drilling has been shut down in the Gulf, we can't import from Canada, we can't drill on government lands out west (The Feds own about half of the west, and 90% of Nevada). We have a 200 year supply of shale oil out west and we can't touch it.
Another reason is inflation is starting to move in. Check your grocery bills from a year ago and compare with today. Ours went up 25%. The government uses inflation to pay back debt with inflated dollars. China has slowly been selling off their t-bills because they are getting less valuable. Japan might do so too, because they are in recession. Hyper inflation might kick in within 3-5 years. Prepare and prep now. Like Ronald Reagan said, government isn't the solution, government is the problem.
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Again DD has it "spot on"..
Alaskan native villages just a few miles from the pipeline were paying $8 per gallon just a couple years ago...I can't imagine where it's at now! Why is it so costly right beside the millions of gallons flowing right past within a couple miles ?
Logistics, that's why..the crude won't help, it has to bne refined and brought back..very costly for a village which often doesn't even have a road leading to it !
Grab a globe and check the map.. Which is shorter from Valdez to Osaka, Japan or from Valdez to Houston, rounding the treacherous horn ? That is why accepting the Keystone would lower pump prices..especially if the 'green weenies' had not blocked the building of additional refineries.
Then consider, "Big oil" makes from 2 to 10 cents per gallon. Depending upon where you live, between state and federal taxes, up to 70-80 cents are collected. The "blue" states such as NY, Hawaii and California are the highest taxers, but I have not heard of the feds or any of the blue states foregoing any of these windfall taxes !!
Obama and those governors could easily say "thanks, but no thanks".. and provide us a bit of relief !
...Maybe they will do that along about October !
