Let's talk about Oil prices

Hi Zephir...I get hungry every time I think about oil price..You have to knows that hier in Italy 1 LITER (not a gallon that's ca. 3.8 liter) cost 1.40 euro (that means 2 $!!!) and from this price 70% are TAX..fast unebiliveable..but also in rest of europre the price is not that better it goes up from 1.20 euro...but hier in Italy is on the top.. Nun

I have to be honest, I was not real happy to see that Palin had increased the windfall profit tax on oil companies and then redistributed the revenue. It seemed to me the first time I had heard Obama mention doing this nationaly that it would discourage and be a disincentive for companies to drill here instead of abroad. Canada in particular could benefit, as recent survey's there have found more oil in the Alberta tar sands than previously thought, far more. But I suppose it would be better to see the money go to canada rather than Kuwait or Saudi Arabia or aother nations that tolerate us only because we are one of their largets customers. But better still to see it stay here in the U.S. Not being able to find any information on how the increased tax in Alaska effected production. There seems to be no specific data on it other than the statements by people talked with in the article. But just that little bit does give a glimps in to verification to the theory that economics follows consistant principals. We must remember though that this was done at the state level and did not effect any other companies drilling in the U.S. What would happen if this were suddenly done on the national level? This would be in addition to the taxes imposed by oil producing states on oil companies, in effect, doubling the tax burden on oil companies and doubleing the incentive to drill elsewhere and decrease production nationaly. I also have not yet seen how Gov. Palin feels about implimenting this on a national level. My thoughts are that, given her advocacy for state's rights and soviernty and conservative minimal federal government, she may feel this is something that is up to the state to do if they choose and how they distribute the extra revenue among that state's citizens is up to them. It is noteworthy to point out that many governors, though they may impliment certian things with in their own state, still feel that those very things they impliment in their own state are only state issues and don't feel they belong at the federal level. On the issue of drilling in alaska in general. My thoughts are well known on this here by now I think. It's Alaska's land, Alaska can do what they see fit with it and neither the federal government nor any other state has the right to tell them otherwise.

Oil is one commodity where the demand for the product is not directly corelated to its price so even if the govt charges high taxes the demand remains largely uneffected. This makes it an easy way to generate revenue for the govt. Here in india to there are heavy taxes levied not only by the central govt but also by state govt's. I feel that one of the reasons of discouraging oil companies to take up drilling work and producing oil could be an attempt to save the reserves for the bad times as the reserves around the world are limited and demand is high

I waited for awhile before responding to this one because I didn't want to come off looking like a dufus...lol! What you've said here makes a lot of sense and it really confuses me - Sarah Palin is obviously as conservative as they get yet she's boasted about raising taxes on oil profits in Alaska and giving some of it back to the people and all the Republicans cheered. Not so long ago Obama proposed a similar idea for the rest of the country but he was met with jeers. Obviously, they both can't be right, right? I admit it irritates me to no end to read of these huge profits earned by big oil while the average person can't keep their car filled with gas to do the things they have to do, forget about "pleasure trips". When I read or hear of one of their CEO's getting millions in bonuses it really sets me off. I think the most important thing we have to do, and we have to start immediately because it should have been done decades ago is work to find alternative forms of energy so we can get off oil dependence almost totally. I say "almost" because I'm sure we'll never get to where we won't use any but we must cut it down drastically and we can do it! You and I are in agreement about increasing the number of nuclear power plants and I sincerely hope we never get someone in power who will really try to build 30 new ones! Seeing those cooling towers that look like they're in my front yard gives me the heebie-jeebies. Annie

Interesting information. I think we should drill here and break our ties with foreign oil. We can explore alternative energy sources but if the government controls those resources then its a have and have not situation. I think that every state should have their own rights to oil if its under their feet.

I think the only solution to the oil problem is to rely less on it. If we could enact even part of the Picken's plan, it would be great. While I'm not against off-shore drilling, I don't think it's the answer. The oil companies would own the oil coming out of the ground. The don't have to sell it to the US. We would be bidding against China, India, etc. for our own oil. While the extra income tax paid by the oil companies would be good for our economy, it doesn't free us from oil. In my opinion, we need an "all hands on deck" approach. We need wind, solar, natural gas, nuclear, renewables, etc. More money needs to be set aside for research and development. The impact would be huge. There would be hundreds of thousands of "green collar" jobs available. The initial cost would be astronomical, but the amount of money we would save on oil would offset the cost within our lifetime.

this one is difinitely an issue, especially here in our country, that oil raise its prices as hell, and its really giving the people here a lots of headache, good thing there's this such as bicycle, it was really a great help cause people here tend to use bicycle to save money, and of course as a part of healthy living by using it as an exercise.