FuelClub Discount

Senator Barack Obama altered his position on Monday to call for tapping the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve to lower gasoline prices as he outlined an energy plan that contrasts with Senator John McCain’s greater emphasis on expanded offshore drilling and coal and nuclear technology.

In a speech here and in a new advertisement, Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee, also sought to portray his Republican rival, McCain, as “in the pocket” of oil giants that are profiting from gasoline priced at more than $4 a gallon. And in his speech, Obama called for a windfall profits tax on oil companies to finance rebates for Americans.

At the heart of Obama’s proposals is a focus on fostering alternative energy development by investing $150 billion in emerging technologies and renewable fuels. Seeking to put a million fuel-efficient hybrid plug-in automobiles on the road, he said that he would offer a $7,000 tax credit to buyers, the overall cost of which he did not specify. In addition, Obama said his goal was to have 10 percent of the country’s energy needs met by renewable resources by the end of his first term, more than double the current figure.

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Crude oil prices in recent times threatened to breach the $150 per barrel mark, and later fell to $123 levels, clocking an appreciation of almost 30% in the year. In fact, higher oil prices have been sending shivers down the stock markets worldwide, as if the recent global financial crisis was not enough to unnerve them.

Back home, Indian stocks are down by around 30% in the current year. Inflation has already reached double digits at 11.98% and is showing no signs of respite, adding fuel to the fire.

I would start with an interesting conversation I heard recently. I happened to be at an oil trader’s dealing room. I asked the chief dealer, “What’s happening to oil? It is down 20% from its peak. Will you buy now?” He answered: “Oil’s down due to speculative unwinding of long positions and a growth scare in developed countries, which might result in lower demand for the scarce commodity.”
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It was interesting to hear US President George Bush, a failed businessman who destroyed the economy his country and took the world hostage to an illegal war that should have never happened.

President Bush urged Congress today to permit drilling for oil off America’s coasts — on the outer continental shelf — to combat rising oil and gas prices. This is the biggest set up in the history of the world.

When Bush took over Whitehouse in 2001, gasoline price hovered between $1 and $2. Today it is between $4 and $5. This is how Bush and his adminiostration helped the oil price rise:
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Facing the toughest political climate in a generation, the oil industry is using a barrage of advertisements to deflect anger over $4 a gallon gasoline prices.

Exxon Mobil has been particularly aggressive, running televised spots during the NBA Finals and network morning talk shows, and buying large print ads in the U.S. and Europe. Chief executive Rex Tillerson appears in one of the ads, which began running earlier this month, discussing the company’s goal of caring for the environment as it provides energy to the world. Ads from other oil companies hit on similar themes: investment in alternative fuels and technology required to produce oil these days.

Exxon’s ads are part of a growing effort by the industry to counter a political backlash against rising oil prices and global-warming worries. Oil companies have traditionally been the bogeyman for consumers during times of rising prices, with ad campaigns often employed to soften the industry’s image.
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Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama sought to tap into Americans’ anxiety over high gasoline prices by pledging to seek a windfall profits tax on U.S. oil companies if elected.
“I’ll make oil companies like Exxon pay a tax on their windfall profits, and we’ll use the money to help families pay for their skyrocketing energy costs and other bills,” the Illinois senator said on Monday according to Reuters.

On Tuesday, the big oil companies with the help of Senate Republicans showed the nation who’s boss. The Senate slapped aside an energy package that would have imposed a 25% tax on unreasonable profits on the five largest oil companies who squeezed a staggering $36 billion profit out of consumers pockets this first quarter, it would have given government the leeway to address oil market speculation, opened the way for antitrust actions against the OPEC oil cartel (the forever oil lobby and administration stymied NOPEC legislation) and made energy price gouging a federal crime.

In doing so, Congress has once again shown how out of touch it is with the feelings and desires of its constituents for forceful action. And once again this administration, together with the oil lobby, has been the cheerleader for the vested and powerful interests of the oil industry.
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Oil prices cooled Tuesday as the market digested the latest demand and supply forecasts from the International Energy Agency (IEA), traders said.

They said that prices remained volatile nonetheless following a record run-up in oil prices last week.

Soaring oil prices have triggered mass strikes by truckers in Spain and Portugal and caused protests in India amid rising unrest about high fuel costs.
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