Tropical Storm Gustav, which some experts say will be the worst Gulf of Mexico hurricane since Katrina, is projected to hit the Louisiana Gulf Coast early next week. After the Katrina fiasco, you can count on three things: 1. Residents of New Orleans will evacuate when they're told to; 2. FEMA will be on full alert; and 3. Gasoline prices will go up. Bloomberg reports Royal Dutch Shell Plc, BP Plc and ConocoPhillips are already cutting production and evacuating workers from their off-shore platforms along the Louisiana coast. If Gustav follows the predicted path (there's a 70-75 percent likelihood it will), it could halt production of 1.2m barrels of crude per day. Crude oil for October delivery has already gone up 1.5 percent; overall, oil has gained 3.3 percent since Gustav formed on August 25. The price of natural gas for September delivery also went up, with a 4.9 gain so far. Even if Gustav changes course, it could still affect prices because 42 percent of U.S. refining capacity is located along the Louisiana and Texas Gulf Coasts. Hold onto your wallets, folks. It's going to be a bumpy ride.
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#4 Bush won’t be on a mental vacation ignoring what happened and show up 1 week later to view the damage.
#5 Cheney won’t show up this time to be call a F*cker like he really is.
#6 The Saints will win the Superbowl with round two of motivation.
You know (as much as I was against it), this actually makes a case (albeit small) for drilling off the Atlantic coast i.e., not to have all of “your oil in one barrel” so to speak.
Look to someone in the McCain camp to bring this to the forefront.
Vigilance is proper, but declaring a state of emergency when the storm is in Hatti seems a bit extreme. There are so many factors that could drive the storm to other places besides New Orleans. Nobody wants another Katrina, but I bet we’ll see a lot of edginess on the part of Gulf Coast residents for years to come. My prediction is that it won’t be as bad as the media is touting.
As of this writing the storm is a tropical storm and not a hurricane. The NWS is referring to it for the meantime as Tropical Storm Gustav rather than Hurricane Gustav.
The gouging began yesterday here in Mississippi. When I left for work yesterday morning, gas was around $3.35. When I came home in the afternoon, it had jumped to $3.56. Broomstick, no KY.
N85523:
As of this writing the storm is a tropical storm and not a hurricane. The NWS is referring to it for the meantime as Tropical Storm Gustav rather than Hurricane Gustav.
Noted and corrected.
These are the same weather people who can’t reliably predict the weather 48 hours in a advance, the chances of this happening are small with their track record.
Let see it could turn left and hit the Yucatan, stall over Cuba, follow the Gulf stream brush Florida and head for the Carolina’s.
cgd>
That is dirt cheap. Almost no regular gas in Chicago under $4.
Yes, it’s cheaper, as are many things. Gas tends to be so because we’re nearer refineries and don’t have as much transport costs. But then our per capita incomes here are pretty low, so I guess it works out.
As for New Orleans…could’t happen to a better city.
A good storm will clean up the puke on the streets since the last one.
Don’t know if you visited this hell-hole as much as I did, but it is the city with the most useless, lazy and corrupt people I have ever met.
Scenes from the last storm looked like rats deserting a sinking ship.
A city under sea level and sinking from its own weight…what a concept.
We need to rebuild this place…again!
See Lewis Black for my feelings on weather prediction.
Here in Oil Central Houston, the morning news related how Shell was already giving precautionary evacs to its Gulf platform crews, and Chevron was considering that step.
The next story was about how oil was over $119 a barrel in morning trading. Those thorough Fox news people then ran some stats about how the Gulf comprises 27% of U.S. oil production, and Gustav could interrupt up to 80% of that 27%.
All of this just gives license to gas stations to begin jacking up prices. I didn’t see the no KY gauging cdg got in MS, but my local place went from $3.53 to $3.58 for 93 octane overnight.
I will expect to see it change daily while this storm motors along.
shaker:
You know (as much as I was against it), this actually makes a case (albeit small) for drilling off the Atlantic coast i.e., not to have all of “your oil in one barrel” so to speak.
You mean where tropical storm Hanna is headed right now? :)
But Nancy Pelosi said drilling for oil in the offshore areas of the USA would not lower prices. Of course Nancy was interviewed the other day and said she wanted to replace fossil fuels with natural gas. With leadership like that who needs enemies.
Besides New Olreans biggest problem was that they are all Democrats, and helpless without government help.
Nice to see Gustav projected to hit Katrinaville just in time for the Republican National Convention. Perhaps that will remind voters just what is at stake.
I’d rather vote for a guy who kinda sorta knew Bill Ayers than a guy who still knows and is still proud of GW Bush.
MTeator :
“You mean where tropical storm Hanna is headed right now? :)”
Holy crap… you’re right; looks like this might be the nasty hurricane season that last year’s wasn’t.
Hope not, the people of Florida have had it bad enough already from Fay…
Funny thing…..I was never not able to buy gas before, during, or after Katrina. I imagine it will be the same.
Also, weather forecasters have been saying it is going to rain “tomorrow” for the past two weeks where I live…..not a drop!
AH, prices going up already – just wait till drilling happens and a hurricane comes rolling in (the Atlantic being a prime candidate for hurricanes). The gas price will go up two to three times what it goes up now when threatening weather looks to be in the vicinity.
Looks like the speculators are changing their minds …. oil currently down $2.65 to $115.50/bbl. This storm has not picked up the strength that was predicted … not even a hurricane yet (although it was a couple of days ago). Of course, if it does meander into the Gulf, then things can change quickly. No matter what, gas and oil prices are going to bounce around until the path is better defined. Right now, it is predicted to hit somewhere between Corpus Christi, TX and San Destin, FL. That’s a pretty broad band.
In any event, I’m more concerned about the potential for damage to one of the major refinery complexes on-shore than offshore damage to the rigs. If a refinery gets taken out, that will have a greater impact since it usually takes more time to get one of those complexes back online than it does a drill/pumping rig.
Exxon oil executive to his trophy wife: Honey, go pick out that blue Bentley you’ve been talking about–a hurricane is entering the Gulf!! And while you’re at the dealership, I’ll go see about that 2-carat rock you wanted.
Tell me that’s NOT what’s going on.
Yes, I feel the unbridled GREED within the OIL COMPANIES is 99% of the oil pricing problem. Just plain GREED. They ARE the ones who sell it and they ARE the ones who set their own OBSCENE PROFIT LEVELS. Hell, who are we supposed to blame, Hershey’s Chocolate? Yeah, there’s your villain. Makes about as much sense to me as saying the oil bastards are NOT to blame.
Perhaps an even more significant (long term) newsy bit on today’s wires:
“China and Iraq have signed a $3 billion deal revising an earlier agreement for China’s biggest oil company to help develop the Ahdab oil field, an official at the Iraq’s Oil Ministry said Thursday.”
“China and Iraq have signed a $3 billion deal revising an earlier agreement for China’s biggest oil company to help develop the Ahdab oil field, an official at the Iraq’s Oil Ministry said Thursday.”
We got 4,100+ of our soldiers killed, used up our military equipment, and spent $1 trillion to steal Iraq’s oil and then China gets the oil.
Way to go Cheny.
folkdancer:
Not Cheny [sic].
The moron who picked him.
At the risk of sounding unpopular…
Are the greedy steel companies the reason that steel prices have multiplied several times in the last year? Are copper companies the reason that copper is so much more expensive than it was only a year ago? Everything is more expensive than it was. Oil companies are some of the greatest single contributors to wealth in the nation. They provide thousands of jobs and are economic boons to the areas they operate in. Most importantly, they supply a steady stream of a product that is in astronomical demand on a global scale. They make the most profits because they earned the most profits. If I work hard and supply a product a few people want, I’ll make some profit and there’s nothing wrong with that. If I work very hard and supply a product lots of people want, I’ll make lots of profits, and that’s what energy companies do.
I’m not trying to promote oil execs as heroes. I don’t know any of them. The point is that petroleum companies fuel the globe successfully. Ever increasing demand and a finite supply is the reason energy is expensive, not because execs wives’ want a new car. Oil companies are constantly striving for energy solutions. Government regulations and excessive intervention can create great problems.
N85523,
As steel prices have gone up with demand and supply issues their profit has not gone up like the oil companies. This is why you see outrage from the consumer – if demand were striping supply as they claim it is why are they still able to continually set record profits each quarter?
AFAIK steel profits are not growing at the rate that oil profits are. Steel doesn’t go up in price from moment to moment based on weather either.
Don’t worry. Nancy Pelosi says that drilling for oil doesn’t change the price. Those are drilled wells they are shutting down so the price will not be affected.
Only a liberal would believe that.
Hmmn, the eve of the Labor Day WE, A butterfly farts in the Gulf. Gas prices go up. Quel surprise.
“Tell me that’s NOT what’s going on.”
Do you really think Exxon controls the price of oil with their 3% of global extraction? Even while OPEC accounts for >40% of the market? Contrary to popular belief, America is not the center of the universe.
boy, the level of discourse around here really shoots up when politics is introduced
The early predictions are based on the people of NO wanting to be the first ones in line with their hand out.
What a gig, 50 or 100b of taxpayer money blown on crack and whores and here comes the next and bigger check.
So…all of the TRILLIONS of miles that we DIDN’t drive this summer isn’t going to come into play? All of the crude we DIDN’t use…and yet…oil goes up.
All the compaints about oil going up and there is no will to drill for the huge available oil? ANWAR is a northern wasteland and offshore drilling is proven safe with the modern technology. Yet the enviros hold the country hostage with the help of the Democrats.
The government is making the real windfall profits and they also make a lot more off vehicle sales than the companies can dream of. People really need to wake up.
“Obama thinks government is not getting a “reasonable share” of oil companies’ profits, which in 2007 were, as a percentage of revenue (8.3 percent), below those of U.S. manufacturing generally (8.9 percent). Exxon Mobil pays almost as much in corporate taxes to various governments as the bottom 50 percent of American earners pay in income taxes. Exxon Mobil does make $1,400 a second in profits — hear the sharp intakes of breath from liberals with pursed lips — but pays $4,000 a second in taxes and $15,000 a second in operating costs.”
http://jewishworldreview.com/cols/will082808.php3