Thursday, April 11, 2019
Op-ed:
Gas Prices Rising...Why?
By: Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor / Right Side Patriots on American Political Radio
President Trump is on a “roll”...his approval rating as
I write this is up to 53% as even some Democrats are finally
accepting the reality of the
good our president has done for both America's economy and for their
personal pocketbooks. And some mainstream Democrats...those who have
not yet totally bought into the socialist agenda of the Democrat hierarchy...have even come to understand the truth as to why a
southern border wall is so desperately needed. But there is one thing
that can negatively affect President Trump's “roll”...even
if it's just in the short term...and that is the fact that as
gasoline prices continue to rise Trump's approval rating could start
to fall.
And while the Democrats ever growing list of presidential hopefuls starts to implode from within, even they could make up some ground if gas prices maintain their current upward spiral. And upward they do go with regular gasoline costing yet another five cents this week alone, to reach a national average of $2.74, translating into being eight cents higher than the corresponding time last year. And to make matters worse, when you add in that the $2.74 price per gallon is in and of itself 28 cents higher than just one month ago, a serious and cannot be be ignored trend is emerging while demand for gasoline is holding steady even as inventories continue to “tighten up,” and it's doing so while the peak summer driving months are fast approaching.
Translation: President Trump needs to do something... anything...to
help reverse this trend or it will not bode well if it continues into
2020.
So what is fueling this current trend...most seem to think it's the never ending demand for both oil and gas what with the world's energy needs ever increasing, which in turn sees coming into play the old adage that when demand increases for something a price hike is sure to follow. However, others seem to think that it's oil and gas speculators who trade oil futures for profit that are causing the prices to rise, while those in the know say there simply are not enough speculators or combined investment dollars to control the world's crude oil market or its pricing neither in the long run or in the short-term. And why...because what most forget is that oil speculators are actually securities traders not securities holders, and while they obviously do greatly profit when crude oil prices increase they still are not the cause of the current gas price increase nor have they ever been the cause in the past.
So why then are gas prices currently increasing when the price per barrel of oil itself has not risen by any significant amount? The final answer lies within the sum of its parts with the first all-important part being that unfortunately our U.S. dollar is simply not worth what it used to be. Remember, whenever the value of the dollar goes up, the price of oil and gasoline goes down but when the dollar declines...as in its value is lower compared to other currencies in the foreign exchange market...the price of oil and gasoline goes up.
And that dollar decline
in value is sadly where we are right now.
And with the oil markets continuing to be priced in dollars coupled with the buying and selling of oil also continuing to be done in dollars...the fact is that with more actual dollars needed for purchasing crude oil that increase in cost is passed on to the consumer at the pump.
So while we are less
dependent than we used to be on the once steady supply of oil from
Venezuela...a supply that helped to keep our gasoline prices
relatively low compared to other countries...the sanctions have to some degree still impacted
U.S. fuel production causing production costs themselves to rise
which in turn are now being reflected at the pump with that
reflection expected to see fuel prices rising even higher as summer's
high peak driving is right around the proverbial corner.
RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS...LIVE!
Friday, April 12th from 7 to 9pm EST on American Political Radio, RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS Craig Andresen and Diane Sori discuss 'Gas Prices Are Rising...Why?'; 'Candice Owens – When the Black Sheep Speaks the Truth'; and important news of the day.
Hope you can tune in at: http://listen.samcloud.com/w/73891/American-Political-Radio#history...or on Tune-In at: https://tunein.com/radio/American-Political-Radio-s273246/
Gas Prices Rising...Why?
By: Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor / Right Side Patriots on American Political Radio
And while the Democrats ever growing list of presidential hopefuls starts to implode from within, even they could make up some ground if gas prices maintain their current upward spiral. And upward they do go with regular gasoline costing yet another five cents this week alone, to reach a national average of $2.74, translating into being eight cents higher than the corresponding time last year. And to make matters worse, when you add in that the $2.74 price per gallon is in and of itself 28 cents higher than just one month ago, a serious and cannot be be ignored trend is emerging while demand for gasoline is holding steady even as inventories continue to “tighten up,” and it's doing so while the peak summer driving months are fast approaching.
So what is fueling this current trend...most seem to think it's the never ending demand for both oil and gas what with the world's energy needs ever increasing, which in turn sees coming into play the old adage that when demand increases for something a price hike is sure to follow. However, others seem to think that it's oil and gas speculators who trade oil futures for profit that are causing the prices to rise, while those in the know say there simply are not enough speculators or combined investment dollars to control the world's crude oil market or its pricing neither in the long run or in the short-term. And why...because what most forget is that oil speculators are actually securities traders not securities holders, and while they obviously do greatly profit when crude oil prices increase they still are not the cause of the current gas price increase nor have they ever been the cause in the past.
So why then are gas prices currently increasing when the price per barrel of oil itself has not risen by any significant amount? The final answer lies within the sum of its parts with the first all-important part being that unfortunately our U.S. dollar is simply not worth what it used to be. Remember, whenever the value of the dollar goes up, the price of oil and gasoline goes down but when the dollar declines...as in its value is lower compared to other currencies in the foreign exchange market...the price of oil and gasoline goes up.
And with the oil markets continuing to be priced in dollars coupled with the buying and selling of oil also continuing to be done in dollars...the fact is that with more actual dollars needed for purchasing crude oil that increase in cost is passed on to the consumer at the pump.
Also
something not to be forgotten is that the valued price of the U.S.
dollar...the world's main global business trading currency and the
world's most stable reserve currency...was but half of what it was in
1990 as the Reagan presidency was coming to an end...now having
fallen a full 14% by the end of 2018. And as I write this article on
Wednesday, April 10th, the dollar has decreased even more, this time
by 0.07% to 96.9389 down from 97.0060 in the previous trading
session. Sad isn't it as during the Reagan years our dollar reached
an all time high of 164.72 in February 1985, then dropping to a
record low of 71.32 in April 2008 as we headed into the Obama/McCain
election cycle.
So,
why exactly is the dollar continuing to decline and why are gas
prices rising? First, while the two are forever tied together something that must not to
be overlooked is that during the Obama years way too much currency was
being printed without any
“treasure”
to back it, thus sending us into an inflationary mode with some ill
effects still lingering to this day no matter Trump's current robust
economy. And second, a large part of the dollar's decline in value is
due to the value of most G10 currencies* rising as the figurative
growth differentials between global economies start to converge...as
in equal out a bit...with the Japanese yen being the biggest gainer
value wise and us being the biggest loser even while the dollar
remains the a fore mentioned world's most stable reserve currency.
Simply,
if the dollar is not strengthened we could see gas prices going even
even higher, especially with it being highly unlikely that we will
anytime soon cut the cord tying us to Arab oil. And while we might
want to be independent of said Arab oil, at this point in time that's
not feasible what with both our current and projected future rates of
gasoline consumption also continuing to rise.
And
then to add into the simmering pot of gasoline prices rising there's
Venezuela, home to some of the biggest petroleum reserves in the
world.
Back
at the end of January, due to Venezuela's ongoing political
instability, President Trump rightfully enacted sanctions on
Petroleos de Venezuela (PdVSA), Venezuela's state-owned oil and
natural gas company and the parent company of U.S. based Citgo oil
company. And with our country being Venezuela's largest and most
important oil customer...accounting for 39% of the OPEC nation's
deliveries last year...and with Venezuela being the fourth-largest
source of foreign oil flowing into our country...the truth is that
imports of Venezuelan crude oil into the U.S. had already slowed down
even before the sanctions were imposed, something most don't know.
And
while many folks continue to think that because of our increased
shale oil production that we have plenty of crude oil to offset any
loss from Venezuela, what they don't realize is that the quality of
crude oil varies widely, and that many U.S. refiners rely on the type
of oil that Venezuela produces. For example, there are two main types
of oil, heavy** and light. So while we have much in the way of light
shale oil, we are in short supply of the heavier grades of crude oil
needed to produce diesel and other what's called “high-margin”
petroleum products. Now add in that a slowdown in
operations by refiners as they scramble to try and secure other
sources of the needed heavier oil grades, would itself lead to higher
prices for gas and diesel fuels...and it has.
And
while an increase in crude oil supply into the U.S. is a must...a
must that could and most likely would see lower gas prices in the
short-term...it's not the much needed long term fix we truly need.
And when you add in the dollar decline coupled with the flow of
Venezuelan oil basically being cut off, there are but two feasible
solutions that remain...one is for OPEC to release more oil at a
lower price per barrel than it is now, and the other is that we must
increase oil production both from U.S. and Canadian shale and heavy
oil drilling as well. And we also need to build some new refineries
to cut down production costs, which in and of itself would help to
lower pump prices a bit, and anyway it's hard to believe that since
the 1980's no new refineries have been built in our country.
But
the bottom line is this...if something is not done to
bring gas prices down ASAP, California's current price of $3.80 per
gallon for regular gasoline will soon seem like chump change compared
to the real possibility of seeing $5.00 per gallon by the end of this
summer. And if that happens and does not reverse itself as we draw
nearer to the 2020 election, President Trump might see whomever
garners the Democrat nomination having a bit of “political ammo”
to fight back with as $5.00 per gallon of gasoline will negate any
gains made by Trump's tax cuts...as in any gains in monies put back into “We the People's” pockets.
“Drill Baby Drill” becomes
even more critical now than it ever was before for both President
Trump's sake as well as our own.
* The G10 currencies are the United
States dollar (USD); the Euro (EUR); the Pound sterling (GBP); the
Japanese yen (JPY); the Australian dollar (AUD); the New Zealand
dollar (NZD); the Canadian dollar (CAD); the Swiss franc (CHF); the
Norwegian krone (NOK); and the Swedish krona (SEK).
** Heavy crude oil has a gravity of
less than 10° and a reservoir viscosity of no more than 10,000
centipoises and have a low solubility and a viscosity lower than, and
density higher than, water. This means that heavy oil spills would
quickly penetrate the full depth of water and accumulate on the
waters bottom instead of floating on top.
Copyright @ 2019 Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor / All Rights Reserved.
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For more political commentary please visit my RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS partner Craig Andresen's blog The National Patriot to read his latest article, Candice Owens – When the Black Sheep Speaks the Truth.
**********************************************************************************************************
For more political commentary please visit my RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS partner Craig Andresen's blog The National Patriot to read his latest article, Candice Owens – When the Black Sheep Speaks the Truth.
******************************************************************************************************************************************I*****************************************************
RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS...LIVE!
Friday, April 12th from 7 to 9pm EST on American Political Radio, RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS Craig Andresen and Diane Sori discuss 'Gas Prices Are Rising...Why?'; 'Candice Owens – When the Black Sheep Speaks the Truth'; and important news of the day.
Hope you can tune in at: http://listen.samcloud.com/w/73891/American-Political-Radio#history...or on Tune-In at: https://tunein.com/radio/American-Political-Radio-s273246/
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange arrested after Ecuador withdraws asylum
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange
was carried out of the Ecuadorian embassy in London in the arms
of British police and arrested Thursday, a dramatic scene that
ended Assange's nearly 7-year stay at the embassy and left the world
watching to see if the anti-secrecy site would retaliate.
Moments before the stunning arrest, Ecuador announced it had withdrawn Assange's asylum for “repeatedly violating international conventions and protocol.”
JULIAN ASSANGE'S ARREST DRAWS FIERCE INTERNATIONAL REACTION
Read entire article and see video here: https://www.foxnews.com/world/ecuador-withdraws-asylum-from-julian-assange-arrested-by-uk-police
When Benjamin Netanyahu was up for re-election in 2015, Obama sent taxpayer money to a left-wing campaign group to help defeat the Israeli Prime Minister.When Netanyahu was re-elected, Obama was incensed. He did not even want to congratulate Netanyahu by phone. When Obama finally did speak to Netanyahu, he promised that the U.S would change its pro-Israel posture at the UN. In December 2016, Obama made good on that promise.
What a difference two and a half years makes. Prime Minister Netanyahu is no longer forced to tolerate the Jew-hating and anti-Israel President Obama. Today, Prime Minister Netanyahu is working with the pro-Jewish and pro-Israel President Trump.
Read entire article here: https://gellerreport.com/2019/04/trump-congratulates-netanyahu.html/
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Developing now, Thursday, April 11, 2019
SPY GAMES: Attorney General William Barr is feeling backlash from both Democrats and the mainstream media for testifying Wednesday that federal authorities spied on the Trump campaign in 2016 ... Despite mounting evidence that the FBI pursued an array of efforts to gather intelligence from within the Trump campaign -- and the fact that the FBI successfully pursued warrants to surveil a former Trump aide in 2016 -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told the Associated Press, "I don't trust Barr, I trust Mueller." House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., told Fox News that Barr's loyalties were compromised. Various members of the media accused Barr of peddling right-wing "conspiracy theories" and being part of a White House cover-up.
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