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.
