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$7-a-gallon gas? #151684
06/18/2010 01:13 PM
06/18/2010 01:13 PM
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$7-a-gallon gas?

By BEN LIEBERMAN


Posted: 12:02 AM, June 18, 2010

President Obama has a solution to the Gulf oil spill: $7-a-gallon gas.

That's a Harvard University study's estimate of the per-gallon price of the president's global-warming agenda. And Obama made clear this week that this agenda is a part of his plan for addressing the Gulf mess.

So what does global-warming legislation have to do with the oil spill?

Good question, because such measures wouldn't do a thing to clean up the oil or fix the problems that led to the leak.

The answer can be found in Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel's now-famous words, "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste -- and what I mean by that is it's an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before."

That sure was true of global-warming policy, and especially the cap-and-trade bill. Many observers thought the measure, introduced last year in the House by Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Edward Markey (D-Mass.), was dead: The American people didn't seem to think that the so-called global-warming crisis justified a price-hiking, job-killing, economy-crushing redesign of our energy supply amid a fragile recovery. Passing another major piece of legislation, one every bit as unpopular as ObamaCare, appeared unlikely in an election year.

So Obama and congressional proponents of cap-and-trade spent several months rebranding it -- downplaying the global-warming rationale and claiming that it was really a jobs bill (the so-called green jobs were supposed to spring from the new clean-energy economy) and an energy-independence bill (that will somehow stick it to OPEC).

Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) even reportedly declined to introduce their new cap-and-trade proposal in the Senate on Earth Day, because they wanted to de-emphasize the global-warming message. Instead, Kerry called the American Power Act "a plan that creates jobs and sets us on a course toward energy independence and economic resurgence."

But the new marketing strategy wasn't working. Few believe the green-jobs hype -- with good reason. In Spain, for example, green jobs have been an expensive bust, with each position created requiring, on average, $774,000 in government subsidies. And the logic of getting us off oil imports via a unilateral measure that punishes American coal, oil and natural gas never made any sense at all.

Now the president is repackaging cap-and-trade -- again -- as a long-term solution to the oil spill. But it's the same old agenda, a huge energy tax that will raise the cost of gasoline and electricity high enough so that we're forced to use less.

The logic linking cap-and-trade to the spill in the Gulf should frighten anyone who owns a car or truck. Such measures force up the price at the pump -- Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs thinks it "may require gas prices greater than $7 a gallon by 2020" to meet Obama's stated goal of reducing emissions 14 percent from the transportation sector.

Of course, doing so would reduce gasoline use and also raise market share for hugely expensive alternative fuels and vehicles that could never compete otherwise. Less gasoline demand means less need for drilling and thus a slightly reduced chance of a repeat of the Deepwater Horizon spill -- but only slightly. Oil will still be a vital part of America's energy mix.

Oil-spill risks should be addressed directly -- such as finding out why the leak occurred and requiring new preventive measures or preparing an improved cleanup plan for the next incident. Cap-and-trade is no fix and would cause trillions of dollars in collateral economic damage along the way.

Emanuel was wrong. The administration shouldn't view each crisis -- including the oil spill -- as an opportunity to be exploited, but as a problem to be addressed. And America can't afford $7-a-gallon gas.

Ben Lieberman is senior analyst of energy and environmental policy in The Heritage Founda tion's Roe Institute.


"The time for war has not yet come, but it will come and that soon, and when it does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." Gen. T.J. Jackson, March 1861
Re: $7-a-gallon gas? #151685
06/23/2010 04:45 AM
06/23/2010 04:45 AM
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Does The Gulf Of Mexico Oil Spill Mean That The U.S. Is Headed For Gas Lines, Higher Food Prices And A Broken Economy?


The Economic Collapse
June 23, 2010

As the Gulf of Mexico oil spill crisis enters a third month, the economic impact of this environmental nightmare is starting to become clearer. The truth is that the “oil volcano” spewing massive amounts of oil into the Gulf has absolutely decimated the seafood, tourism and real estate industries along the Gulf coast. Not only that, but energy industry insiders are now warning that the chilling effect that this crisis will have on offshore drilling could precipitate a new 1970s-style energy crisis. Considering the fact that the U.S. economy was already on incredibly shaky ground even before the oil leak, the last thing we needed was a disaster of this magnitude. But it has happened, and the reality is that the long-term effects of this crisis are potentially going to reverberate for decades.

The American people certainly have a negative view on the impact that this oil spill will have on the economy. According to a new poll, about eight out of every 10 Americans expect the oil spill to damage the U.S. economy and drive up the cost of gas and food.

But is a new 1970s-style energy crisis really a possibility?

Could we actually soon be headed for blackouts and gas lines?

Well, former Shell executive John Hofmeister believes that is exactly what we are headed for….

“Within a decade I predict the energy abyss looks like brownouts, blackouts and gas lines.”

In fact, Hofmeister claims that some of his fellow energy industry insiders expect things to be even worse than he is projecting in the years ahead.

Why?

Hofmeister says that the problem is the U.S. government….

Does The Gulf Of Mexico Oil Spill Mean That The U.S. Is Headed For Gas Lines, Higher Food Prices And A Broken Economy? 140410banner4

“Our federal government, when it comes to energy and the environment, is dysfunctional, it’s broken, and it’s unfixable in its current form.”

Without a doubt, the oil spill will have a chilling effect on offshore drilling. But does that mean that we are going to be facing a shortage of oil in the future?

Well, that is what the advocates of peak oil would have us believe.

But the truth is that there are actually a TON of untapped reserves throughout the United States that could provide everything that we need for decades and more.

Nobody is really supposed to talk about it, but the reality is that there are massive deposits of oil in Alaska, the Colorado Rockies and in the Bakken formation in Montana and the Dakotas that are larger than anything found in Saudi Arabia.

So we will only have an “energy crisis” if that is what oil industry insiders and the U.S. government want.

You see, the oil industry likes to keep the supply of oil down because it means much larger profits for them, and these days the folks in Washington D.C. like anything that causes the U.S. public to use less oil, so higher energy prices are just fine with them.

In fact, rather than focusing on getting the crisis in the Gulf solved, Barack Obama has been exploiting this oil spill to really push his economy-killing climate bill. It seems like Barack Obama would do just about anything to foist his “cap and trade” carbon tax scheme on the American people.

Energy issues aside, the impact that this oil spill is having on other areas of the Gulf coast economy is very significant.

For example, the Gulf oil spill is absolutely playing havoc with real estate prices in the region.

Real estate agent Linda Henderson recently put it this way….

“I can tell you that things have pretty much dropped to dead.”

After all, who is going to pay top dollar for beachfront property down there at this point?

Nobody.

Not only that, but obviously the oil spill is devastating the seafood industry in the Gulf as well.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that the average wholesale price for Gulf brown shrimp has jumped by more than half since the crisis began.

In addition, oyster prices are up 33% since the beginning of the oil spill, and as oil continues to spew into the Gulf of Mexico the price increases are only going to become more dramatic.

In fact, many are wondering if the seafood industry in the Gulf will ever recover from all of this.

The truth is that fishermen in Cordova, Alaska are still struggling 21 years after the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill devastated the fishing industry in that area.

Some local shrimpers in Louisiana are already predicting that it will be seven years before they can set to sea again, but even that actually may prove to be too optimistic.

Some scientists are warning that the massive quantities of methane that are being spewed into the Gulf of Mexico from the ”oil volcano” could create “dead zones” where oxygen is so depleted that literally nothing lives.

So if the oil continues to flow for several more months could very large portions of the Gulf of Mexico become dead zones?

That is a legitimate question at this point.

In addition, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is completely destroying tourism along the Gulf coast.

The truth is that nobody wants to visit places where the beaches are coated with oil and where breathing the air makes your kids want to gag.

Public Service Commissioner Benjamin Stevens recently described what this is going to mean for beaches in his area….

“You get hit by a hurricane and you can rebuild. But when that stuff washes up on the white sands of Pensacola Beach, you can’t just go and get more white sand.”

Hotel Owner Dodie Vegas was even more blunt in describing what this crisis means for her business….

“It’s just going to kill us. It’s going to destroy us.”

But not everyone has been ruined economically by this oil spill.

In fact, it turns out that BP CEO Tony Hayward cashed in about a third of his BP stock one month before the well on the Deepwater Horizon exploded.

Not only that, it has been revealed that Goldman Sachs sold 58% of its shares in BP between January and March of this year.

Isn’t it amazing how the elite always seem to have such perfect timing?

Even if Tony Hayward resigns as a result of this crisis, he is going to get a 10.8 million pound ($16 million) golden parachute.

No, the true losers in all of this are going to be those living along the Gulf of Mexico who have had their lives, their businesses and the beautiful environment around them destroyed.

We are literally watching an entire region of America slowly die, and Barack Obama still refuses to accept any of the international assistance that is being offered.

If what is happening in the Gulf of Mexico is not enough to get the American people angry, then what will? This crisis has been so badly mismanaged that it is absolutely mind blowing. Let’s just hope that someone can find a way to stop the oil soon.


"The time for war has not yet come, but it will come and that soon, and when it does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." Gen. T.J. Jackson, March 1861
Re: $7-a-gallon gas? #151686
06/23/2010 04:51 AM
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Judge halts Obama's oil-drilling ban


By Stephen Dinan

2:23 p.m., Tuesday, June 22, 2010


A federal judge in New Orleans halted President Obama's deepwater drilling moratorium on Tuesday, saying the government never justified the ban and appeared to mislead the public in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Judge Martin L.C. Feldman issued an injunction, saying that the moratorium will hurt drilling-rig operators and suppliers and that the government has not proved an outright ban is needed, rather than a more limited moratorium.

He also said the Interior Department also misstated the opinion of the experts it consulted. Those experts from the National Academy of Engineering have said they don't support the blanket ban.

"Much to the government's discomfort and this Court's uneasiness, the summary also states that 'the recommendations contained in this report have been peer-reviewed by seven experts identified by the National Academy of Engineering.' As the plaintiffs, and the experts themselves, pointedly observe, this statement was misleading," Judge Feldman said in his 22-page ruling.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said the administration will appeal the decision, and said Mr. Obama believes the government must figure out what went wrong with the Deepwater Horizon rig before deepwater drilling goes forward. Still, the ruling is another setback as Mr. Obama seeks to show he's in control of the 2-month-old spill.

Democrats and Republicans from the Gulf states have called on the president to end the blanket moratorium, saying it is hurting the region.

Oil company executives told Congress last week they would have to move their rigs to other countries because they lose up to $1 million a day per idle rig, and said there are opportunities elsewhere.

© Copyright 2010 The Washington Times, LLC.


"The time for war has not yet come, but it will come and that soon, and when it does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." Gen. T.J. Jackson, March 1861
Re: $7-a-gallon gas? #151687
07/02/2010 12:47 PM
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Obama shuts down 33% of the country’s oil refining capacity


Whereas Obama is trying to crush Arizona by suing it into the ground to prevent it from defending itself from illegal immigration, and it is preventing any clean up efforts in Louisiana after 71 days, it has just been learned from one of our contacts in Texas that Obama by way of the EPA has just shut down today 33% of the country’s refining capacity.

While Obama was unsuccessful at putting a moratorium on oil drilling, he was able to accomplish the same thing by putting a stranglehold on oil refining which accomplishes the same thing. With 1/3rd of the country’s oil refining gone what do you think this will do to the economy? this was the inherent threat that Obama had presented for months. either give him Cap and Trade or we will shut everything down through the EPA.

What do you think this will do to the economy of Texas?

Let's recap what has happened in the last 90 days:

• Obama is going after Arizona and trying to cut off all border security aide while suing the state.

• He is making no attempt to stop the oil leak in Louisiana. This is now affecting the economies of Louisiana, Texas, Georgia and Florida.

• He is going after Texas and with this double whammy of shutting down the refineries and the oil spill the state that was doing the best in the country is now being taken down.

So far Obama has completely trashed five states and is in the process of destroying their economies. What chance do you think there is of a recovery?

Hope and change!

Totalitarianism is here!


“EPA overturns 16-year-old Texas permit program

Associated Press

HOUSTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday officially overturned a 16-year-old Texas air permitting program it says violates the Clean Air Act, leaving some of the country's largest refineries in a state of limbo.The move comes after years of backdoor bickering, negotiations and public arguments between the EPA and Texas. The argument recently escalated from a battle over environmental issues into a heated political dispute over states' rights.

He has been using it to drive home his contention that President Barack Obama's administration is overreaching, saying in a statement Wednesday that "Texas will continue to fight this federal takeover of a successful state program."The EPA's decision, announced in a statement, will force some 125 refineries and petrochemical plants to invest millions of dollars to get new permits. Many of the plants may also have to invest in updates to comply with federal regulations.” More…


EPA Rejects Texas Flexible Air-Quality Permit Authority

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday rejected air-quality permits for refiners and other industrial plants issued by Texas, saying they didn't meet federal environmental standards.

The federal agency proposed striking down the so-called flexible air permits issued by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, or TCEQ, last September, saying they violate the Clean Air Act. Under the act, all states have to develop a state implementation plan to meet federal requirements to protect public health. The move won't require oil refiners, chemical and plastics makers, and others to shut their plants immediately, but will force companies to meet stricter regulations in order to earn new, more detailed permits.

"EPA has determined that this program does not meet several national Clean Air Act requirements that help to assure the protection of health and the environment," the agency said in a press release Wednesday. "Those plans must include an air permitting program to set pollution levels for industrial facilities."
__________________


"The time for war has not yet come, but it will come and that soon, and when it does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." Gen. T.J. Jackson, March 1861
Re: $7-a-gallon gas? #151688
07/03/2010 08:15 PM
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No Way!

Back in 2007, when vehicle fuel hit $4 a gallon, I knew Diesel truckers who literally pulled over to the side of the road and walked away from their trucks.

They went back to work when the price got closer to $3.

Obama knows this.

POTUS' puppet-masters know this.

BP has Prince Barry in their proverbial "Back Pocket."


I would gladly lay aside the use of arms and settle matters by negotiation, but unless the whole will, the matter ends, and I take up my battle rifle, and thank God that He has put it within my grasp.

Audit Fort Knox!
Re: $7-a-gallon gas? #151689
07/03/2010 11:24 PM
07/03/2010 11:24 PM
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It hit $5 per gallon around here in Oregon, I started commuting by bike then the big layoffs started to hit.

Pretty much everyone raised shipping costs at that point and never lowered them much when the fuel prices came back down.

I instituted the personal rule that if I am not making money with it, I don't drive the truck. I break the rule once in a while since I really enjoy driving the truck, but the old thing about driving a truck because it makes you feel good to be the big guy on the road has to go when the fuel prices go up. The bummer is when paying the extra insurance on the econo-car eats up your gas savings. I put less than 5K miles per year on my truck and it is not like the insurance company is cutting me any slack over it.


Life liberty, and the pursuit of those who threaten them.

Trump: not the president America needs, but the president America deserves.
Re: $7-a-gallon gas? #151690
07/04/2010 06:04 AM
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"How To Raise Taxes Without the Consent of The American People!"

Folks, we all know that the current socialist driven administration is purposely taxing,(if not outright taking control of), every aspect of America,(especially anything that Americans may be Addicted To), such as tabacco(also one of the first taxes to be raised 40 percent as soon as obomba took office), fuels/power, food, air, housing, businesses/employment, etc, in order to grow a socialist and totalitarian government.

But let's just take gas and oil for a moment...
One of the fastest ways to raise taxes upon the American People without much contest is to take advantage of a crisis such as the gulf oil spill and even to make it far worse than it should have been.
Government must hire and or pay for thousands of employees to clean up this "Disaster" or whole state's economies will be nearly wiped out. These emergency government paid employees are paid through what normally have been tax monies.
But since all the other bailouts in this country, our government has had to either borrow the money on the international markets or deflate the US dollar further by simply printing more unbacked currency. (Both options seriously deflate the US Dollar and drive Americans further into government's debt!) Government benefits by raising the price of fuels because there is an 18 percent federal tax on gasoline and diesil fuel. Many states add an aditional tax of anywhere from 6 tp 18 percent on top of the federal tax.

Raise the price of gasoline/fuel and you most certainly raise the taxes Exponentially that the Citizens must pay. You could sell all your vehicles and never ride any gas/fuel driven transportation and you will still pay this very high tax increase because almost everything that is sold or made or grown in this country is done so with the movement through gas/fuel driven/powered vehicles.

Raise the taxes on gasoline and other fossil fuels and you will raise the taxes on absolutely everything bought and sold in this country! We The People will effectively be taxed right out of our very lives and our government will be the only benefactor of our losses and their huge proffits!

...

It is my firm opinion that obomba has only one intention with every action that his administration makes... to Bankrupt The American People and drive We The People Into Slavery of the Government!! These are his only proposals and this has certainly been his only track record to date!

I would be very interested to hear someone actually prove me wrong.

.

Michael


"Argue for your limitations, and in the end, when all is said and done, they're your's!"

"Sheeple & Shepherds, pick one! You can't be both no matter how you dress."

The higher ya go... the higher ya can get! Mountain Men Rock!
Re: $7-a-gallon gas? #151691
07/05/2010 12:51 AM
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C.M.Wolf,
I could'nt agree with you more. Your comments are spot on. Whats currently happening to and in our country is so simple to see and understand that you'd think a blind man could see it. Yesterday at work. I was standing just off from two of my coworkers and two customers. Then it came. I'm proud of my country for voting for obumba and Oh how great he is, and what a great job he's doing. My eyes and ears started to bleed!!! When are we going to restore our constitution? This cannot continue much longer. Our founding fathers would be rolling in their graves if they could see what we've turned into. Sorry I cant prove you wrong. Wish I could.


Fight the fight, Endure to win!
Re: $7-a-gallon gas? #151692
02/26/2011 02:41 PM
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OPEC reduces oil exports as demand declines

Friday, February 25, 2011

Sherry Su

Bloomberg News


LONDON: The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will ship less crude this month because of declining demand for winter fuels and as refineries halt for maintenance, according to tanker-tracker Oil Movements.

Loadings will slip to 23.88 million barrels a day in the four weeks to March 12, down 1.3 percent from 24.19 million a day in the equivalent period to Feb. 12, the tanker-tracker said Thursday. Data exclude Angola and Ecuador.

“We are moving into a quarter of lower consumption” and refinery maintenance, Roy Mason, the founder of Oil Movements, said by phone from Halifax, England. Falling loadings at this time of year are “quite normal,” he said.

Oil climbed to the highest in 30 months in London as Libya’s violent uprising reduced supplies from Africa’s third- biggest producer.

Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article....#ixzz1F6g8Guk4


5 Dollar Gas? Get Ready To Pay An Arm And A Leg For Gasoline

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/a...g-for-gasoline

One of the quickest ways to bring down the U.S. economy would be to dramatically increase the price of oil. Oil is the lifeblood of our economic system. Without it, our entire economy would come to a grinding halt. Almost every type of economic activity in this country depends on oil, and even a small rise in the price of oil can have a dramatic impact on economic growth. That is why so many economists are incredibly alarmed about what is happening in the Middle East right now. The revolution in Libya caused the price of WTI crude to soar more than 7 dollars on Tuesday alone. It closed at $93.57 on Tuesday and Brent crude actually hit $108.57 a barrel before settling back to $105.78 at the end of the day. Some analysts are warning that we could even see 5 dollar gas in the United States by the end of the year if rioting spreads to other oil producing nations such as Saudi Arabia. With the Middle East in such a state of chaos right now it is hard to know exactly what is going to happen, but almost everyone agrees that if oil prices continue to rise at a rapid pace over the next several months it is going to have a devastating impact on economic growth all over the globe.

Right now the eyes of the world are on Libya. Libya is the 17th largest oil producer on the globe and it has the biggest proven oil reserves on the continent of Africa.
Libya only produces 2 percent of the oil in the world, but with global supplies so tight at the moment even a minor production disruption can have a dramatic impact on the price of oil.


"The time for war has not yet come, but it will come and that soon, and when it does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." Gen. T.J. Jackson, March 1861
Re: $7-a-gallon gas? #151693
04/20/2011 11:18 AM
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$6 Gas? Could Happen if Dollar Keeps Getting Weaker

CNBC.com | April 20, 2011 | 01:46 PM EDT
http://m.cnbc.com/id/42683030

A dollar plumbing three-year lows is hitting Americans squarely in the gas tank, and one economist thinks it could drive prices as high as $6 a gallon or more by summertime under the right conditions.

With the greenback coming under increased pressure from Federal Reserve policies and investor appetite for more risk, there seems little direction but up for commodity prices, in particular energy and metals.

Weakness in the US currency feeds upward pressure on commodities, which are priced in dollars and thus come at a discount on the foreign markets.

One result has been a surge higher in gasoline prices to nearly $4 a gallon before the summer driving season even starts, a trend that economists say will be aggravated as demand increases and the summer storm season threatens to disrupt oil supplies.

"All we have to have is a couple badly placed hurricanes which could constrain some of the refinery output capacity in some key locations," says Richard Hastings, strategist at Global Hunter Securities in Charlotte, N.C. "If you get weakness in the dollar concurrent with the strong driving season concurrent with the impact of one or two hurricanes in the wrong place, prices could go up in a quasi-exponential manner."

Using a model that combines "subtle rates of change" with movements in the dollar index [ .DXY 74.36 -0.67 (-0.89%) ] and commodity prices, Hastings figures the low dollar is responsible for about one-third, or $1.31, of the total gas-at-the-pump cost. Regular unleaded Wednesday was $3.84 a gallon nationwide, according to AAA.

While there's far from unanimity about the dollar's future course, the proportionate contribution that currency weakness makes to oil prices is clear.

The dollar as measured against a basket of foreign currencies has dropped 6 percent this year, while regular unleaded gasoline is up about 28 percent.

Gas prices also have been boosted from turmoil in the Middle East which in turn has triggered a wave of speculation that traders estimate has added about $15 or so to the cost of a barrel of crude [ CLCV1 111.45 +3.17 (+2.93%) ], which is now teetering above the $110 mark.

Hastings sees gasoline having "no problem" getting to $6.50 a gallon over the summer after increased demand and storm disruptions come into play.

Others, though, say gasoline prices haven't needed any help so far from other events—the moves by the Fed to keep interest rates in negative real terms are enough to boost energy by themselves.

Michael Pento, senior economist at Euro Pacific Capital in New York, says there is an almost perfect negative correlation between the falling dollar and oil prices—minus-0.9 to be exact.

"When you have negative correlations that strong, it's not hard to understand that the reason why we're having this price spike in commodities is primarily because of the weaker currency and not because of shortages of oil or international tensions or global growth," Pento says.

The assertion from Hastings that the weak dollar is responsible for one-third of the total cost for a gallon of gas "sounds very low," Pento says, adding that a barrel of oil should be closer to the $65 to $70 range if priced properly.

"That's exactly where it would be if we weren't crumbling our currency," he says.

Should events follow their current course, sharply higher gas prices will burden consumers further as they also cope with the rise in food costs this year.

Hastings projects the dollar index to test 72 at some point—another 3 percent drop—while Peter Cardillo, chief economist at Avalon Partners in New York, sees the dollar dropping to the 73.50 level.

"The global economy is quite strong, and the weak dollar is basically fueling even higher energy prices. That's not transitory," Cardillo says. "Gas prices in the Northeast are over $4 a gallon. How could anyone say that's not a burden?"


"The time for war has not yet come, but it will come and that soon, and when it does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." Gen. T.J. Jackson, March 1861
Re: $7-a-gallon gas? #151694
12/28/2011 12:13 PM
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Oil price falls after US warns Iran over threat to close Gulf supply route

US navy says Iranian threat to block the strait of Hormuz will not be tolerated, pushing Brent crude price down to $107 a barrel


Heather Stewart
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 28 December 2011


Oil prices fell on Wednesday after the US navy said Iran's threat to block the strait of Hormuz, an important supply route for crude exports from the Gulf, would not be tolerated.

After Iran warned it could respond to threatened sanctions from the US by closing the strait, a spokesman for the fifth fleet, the arm of the US navy based in Bahrain, issued a statement saying: "Anyone who threatens to disrupt freedom of navigation in an international strait is clearly outside the community of nations; any disruption will not be tolerated."

The cost of a barrel of Brent crude fell by $2.20 a barrel to $107.07 in London trading, after rising for six successive days. In New York, US crude fell $1.99 to $99.35 by lunchtime.

Thorbjřrn Bak Jensen, oil analyst with Global Risk Management, said: "The threat by Iran to close the strait of Hormuz supported the oil market yesterday, but the effect is fading today as it will probably be empty threats, as they cannot stop the flow for a longer period due to the amount of US hardware in the area."

Iran's top naval commander, admiral Habibollah Sayyari, repeated the threat on Wednesday, telling state television that closing off the strait to tankers would be "easier than drinking a glass of water", adding that "Iran has comprehensive control over the strategic waterway."

Iran's warning was first issued on Tuesday, as the US prepared to tighten economic sanctions on the renegade state, amid growing evidence that it is preparing a nuclear weapons programme. The US Congress has passed a bill penalising any company that does business with the Iranian central bank, which handles oil transactions from the Gulf state.

The EU is considering targeting Iran's oil industry after last month's attack on the UK embassy in Tehran, which was widely perceived as having tacit government support.

Tehran knows that a sudden rise in oil prices would come at a dangerous time for the west, with the sovereign debt crisis in the eurozone threatening to drag the rest of the world into a double-dip recession.

Saudi Arabia has sought to play down fears of a supply shortage if Iran sought to restrict shipments through the strait, the route taken by many oil tankers bringing crude oil from Gulf states to western markets, including the US. If oil tankers were forced to take a more circuitous route, it could push up costs significantly.

An official from the Saudi Arabian oil ministry said the world's largest oil producer stood ready to ramp up supplies if Iran carries out its threat.

Relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran have soured significantly in recent months, though a recent meeting of the oil producer's cartel, Opec, in which the two are leading members, ended in an agreement to maintain output at current levels. Iran is the world's fourth-largest oil producer, pumping 4m barrels a day, and oil exports make up 80% of government revenues.


"The time for war has not yet come, but it will come and that soon, and when it does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." Gen. T.J. Jackson, March 1861
Re: $7-a-gallon gas? #151695
02/20/2012 04:12 AM
02/20/2012 04:12 AM
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 19,714
A 059 Btn 16 FF MSC
ConSigCor Offline OP
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ConSigCor  Offline OP
Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 19,714
A 059 Btn 16 FF MSC
The Price Of Gas Is Outrageous – And It Is Going To Go Even Higher


The Economic Collapse
Monday, February 20, 2012

Does it cost you hundreds of dollars just to get to work each month? If it does, you are certainly not alone. There are millions of other Americans in the exact same boat. In recent years, the price of gas in the United States has gotten so outrageous that it has played a major factor in where millions of American families have decided to live and in what kind of vehicles they have decided to purchase. Many Americans that have very long commutes to work end up spending thousands of dollars on gas a year. So when the price of gas starts going up to record levels, people like that really start to feel it. But the price of gas doesn’t just affect those that drive a lot. The truth is that the price of gas impacts each and every one of us. Almost everything that we buy has to be transported, and when the price of gasoline goes up the cost of shipping goods also rises. The U.S. economy has been structured around cheap oil. It was assumed that we would always be able to transport massive quantities of goods over vast distances very inexpensively. Once that paradigm totally breaks down, we are going to be in a huge amount of trouble. For the moment, the big concern is the stress that higher gas prices are going to put on the budgets of ordinary American families. Unfortunately, almost everyone agrees that in the short-term the price of gas is going to go even higher.

When you are on a really tight budget and you are already spending several hundred dollars on gas each month, you certainly do not want to hear that gas prices are going to increase even more.

A lot of Americans are moving or are getting different vehicles just because of these outrageous gas prices. The following comes from a recent Mercury News article….

Katherine Zak, of South San Jose, is searching for an apartment near her new job at Facebook in Palo Alto, partly to cut down the cost of driving. Jeff Benson, of Raymond in the Sierra foothills, typically drives 60,000 to 70,000 miles a year and has traded in his 19 mpg Ford Taurus for a Fusion that gets 33 mpg. And David Thomas says his commute from San Jose to San Francisco is getting so expensive that he and his fiancee are hunting for a house near a BART station in the San Mateo-San Bruno area to shorten his commute and lower his $400-a-month gas bill.

The price of gas is going even higher even though energy consumption is sharply declining in the United States. Just check out the charts in this articleby Charles Hugh Smith. Americans are using less gasoline and less energy and yet the price of gas continues to go up.

That is not a good sign.

Certainly any decrease that we are seeing in the U.S. is being more than offset by rising demand in places such as China and India. As emerging economies all over the globe continue to develop this is going to continue to put pressure on gas prices.

So just how bad are gas prices in the U.S. right now?

Just consider the following facts….

-The average price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States is now $3.53.

-The average price of a gallon of gasoline is already higher than $3.70 in Connecticut, Washington D.C. and New York.

-In California, the average price of a gallon of gasoline is $3.96 and there are quite a few cities where it is now above 4 dollars.

-In mid-January 2009, the average price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States was just $1.85.

-The average price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States has risen 25 cents since the beginning of 2012.

-Never before in U.S. history has the price of gasoline been this high so early in the year.

-The Oil Price Information Service is projecting that the price of gas could reach an average of $4.25 a gallon by the end of April.

-The price of oil just keeps going up. The price for West Texas Intermediate is about 19 percent higher than it was one year ago.

-The price of gasoline is also reaching record highs in many areas of Europe as well. For example, the price of diesel fuel in the UK recently set a brand new record.

-In 2011, U.S. households spent a whopping 8.4% of their incomes on gasoline. That percentage has approximately doubled over the past ten years.

But the price of gas is not the only thing making driving much more expensive these days.

All over the country, our politicians have been putting up toll booths. Most of the time these toll booths are going up on roads that have already been paid for.

After paying an outrageous amount for gas and after paying the outrageous tolls on many of these toll roads, many Americans wonder if it is even worth it to get up in the morning and go to work.

Unfortunately, a couple of new bills in Congress right now would reportedly allow even more highways to be made into toll roads.

It is almost as if they want to force us all to stop driving our cars.

America used to be the land of the open road, but that era is rapidly coming to an end.

Another thing that could put upward pressure on the price of gas is the situation in the Middle East.

Iran has already stopped selling oil to companies in the UK and France, and there is the potential that war could erupt in the Middle East at any time.

If war does erupt, or if commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz was interrupted for even a brief time, that would send the global price of oil through the roof.

Approximately 20 percent of all oil sold in the world passes through the Strait of Hormuz. If the flow of oil was halted, that would change the global economy almost overnight.

So is there any good news?

Well, there is one thing that would likely bring down the price of gas substantially.

A global recession.

Remember what happened back in 2008.

Just like we are seeing right now, the price of gas really spiked early in that year.

Eventually, the price of oil hit an all-time record of $147 a barrel in mid-2008.

But then the financial crisis struck and the price of oil fell like a rock as you can see from the chart below….

The Price Of Gas Is Outrageous – And It Is Going To Go Even Higher Price Of Gas 440x264

So could that happen again?

Certainly.

There are a ton of other parallels between 2008 and 2012.

In both years, we saw global shipping start to slow down dramatically.

In both years, the U.S. was getting ready to hold a presidential election.

In both years, many economists were warning that a great financial crisis was about to strike.

Back in 2008, the epicenter of the financial crisis was on Wall Street.

This time, the epicenter of the financial crisis will probably be in Europe.

Keep your eye on Europe. A disorderly default by Greece (and potentially even an exit from the eurozone) is looking increasingly likely.

But the problems in Europe are not going to end with Greece. The entire eurozone is going to be greatly shaken by the time this thing is over.

So yes, if we see another major global recession that will be great news for the price of gas, but it will be really bad news for the millions of people that lose their jobs and their homes.

Unfortunately, we live at a time when the world is becoming extremely unstable. The great era of peace and prosperity that we have been enjoying is coming to an end. The global financial system is going to experience a tremendous amount of chaos in the years ahead and that is something we will all need to prepare for.

For now, the price of gas is a major concern for millions upon millions of American families.

Someday, however, we will wish desperately that we could go back to these days.


"The time for war has not yet come, but it will come and that soon, and when it does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." Gen. T.J. Jackson, March 1861
Re: $7-a-gallon gas? #151696
02/20/2012 05:58 AM
02/20/2012 05:58 AM
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 1,763
43/18
McMedic Offline
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McMedic  Offline
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Posts: 1,763
43/18
Quote
Originally posted by ConSigCor:
Someday, however, we will wish desperately that we could go back to these days.
That's the scary part, the fact that these are "the good old days." I try to never say that things can't get any worse, because they can. And will...

And not just for gas, but for food, medical supplies, guns, ammo, and liberty itself.

Let's not be so distracted by impending doom that we fail to prepare for it now while we can.

Re: $7-a-gallon gas? #151697
02/20/2012 06:15 AM
02/20/2012 06:15 AM
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 6,705
Western States
Breacher Offline
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Breacher  Offline
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Western States
I remember Portland Oregon in 2008 when gas broke over $5 per gallon. The freeways just emptied out. You could get anywhere in no time. When gas got down closer to $325 later on, but the economy not otherwise officially any better, "everyone" seemed to have a reason to be out driving...


Life liberty, and the pursuit of those who threaten them.

Trump: not the president America needs, but the president America deserves.
Re: $7-a-gallon gas? #151698
02/20/2012 06:54 AM
02/20/2012 06:54 AM
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 55
in the tree line
8
82ndalways Offline
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82ndalways  Offline
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Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 55
in the tree line
I just went to the Dr in Ellsworth Maine regular gas was $3.79,Outrageous


Any government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take everything you have
Re: $7-a-gallon gas? #151699
02/20/2012 07:24 AM
02/20/2012 07:24 AM
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 90
New York
I
ironshaolin Offline
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ironshaolin  Offline
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 90
New York
Here in NY, 3.79 isn't all that bad. Depending on the gas station, I was able to get it today for 3.79, but I passed other places where it was 3.85-3.90.


"Knowing is not enough, one must do. Willing is not enough, one must apply"- Bruce Lee
Re: $7-a-gallon gas? #151700
02/20/2012 08:07 AM
02/20/2012 08:07 AM
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 6,705
Western States
Breacher Offline
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Breacher  Offline
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Western States
I can get it at $335 from the BP/CITGO/ARCO but my older 4X4 barely runs on the stuff, so it is pretty much a "crack whore for super unleaded with additives", which means the $379 stuff at a name brand place like Shell/Chevron/Union76

My more modern fuel injected work van does not seem to notice the difference between pisswater fuel and super unleaded, so it regularly fills up at the cheap places.

I am noticing that running super unleaded in stuff definitely gives me better fuel economy, just not sure if it counts enough to make up for the higher cost. I am thinking now though for fuel storage, it has to be high octane stuff just because it has the additives which allow it to store a little longer, or add to the cost again by purchasing fuel additive for that purpose. I am thinking maybe performance boat or aviation fuel would give the best performance per cargo volume weight for storage for use in a bugout vehicle though. I mean, that's the theory on why they use high octane stuff in aircraft.

Then I am told the cheap stuff does not store well in the wet climate here. I notice my power equipment hardly runs on anything but the modern super unleaded, and runs a little better when juiced with some racing fuel as an octane boost.


Life liberty, and the pursuit of those who threaten them.

Trump: not the president America needs, but the president America deserves.
Re: $7-a-gallon gas? #151701
02/20/2012 09:05 AM
02/20/2012 09:05 AM
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 3,323
Tyler County, TX
T
Texas Resistance Offline
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Texas Resistance  Offline
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T
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 3,323
Tyler County, TX
Always buy gasoline without alcohol in it if you can find it. The alcohol draws water right out of the air reducing the BTU's of the gas and thus reducing the mpg. Just having alcohol in the gas reduces the BTU's too.


www.TexasMilitia.Info Seek out and join a lawful Militia or form one in your area. If you wish to remain Free you will have to fight for it...because the traitors will give us no choice in the matter--William Cooper
Re: $7-a-gallon gas? #151702
02/23/2012 04:08 PM
02/23/2012 04:08 PM
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 23,873
Tulsa
airforce Online content
Administrator
airforce  Online Content
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 23,873
Tulsa
Anybody remember when $3/gallon gas was a bad thing? Here is DNC chairman Debbie Wasserman Schultz blaming it on Bush, in an earlier year.

Depending on which Democrat you ask today, high gas prices are either a good thing, or they're still Bush's fault. And if you ask Bill O'Reilly, you find out how ignorant he is about economics.

Sigh.

Onward and upward,
airforce

Re: $7-a-gallon gas? #151703
02/24/2012 02:16 AM
02/24/2012 02:16 AM
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 19,714
A 059 Btn 16 FF MSC
ConSigCor Offline OP
Senior Member
ConSigCor  Offline OP
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Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 19,714
A 059 Btn 16 FF MSC
Brent crude hit $124.50 per barrel yesterday.


"The time for war has not yet come, but it will come and that soon, and when it does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." Gen. T.J. Jackson, March 1861
Re: $7-a-gallon gas? #151704
02/24/2012 06:04 AM
02/24/2012 06:04 AM
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 65
Monroe, NY
T
ThePatriot Offline
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ThePatriot  Offline
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Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 65
Monroe, NY
Gas was 1.87 gallon when Obama took office. He has stopped any new oil drilling off the coasts, stopped the keystone pipeline project and refused to allow new refineries to open (some have actually recently been shut down) He has spent billions of dollars on inefficient and unproven technologies to power America. We are sitting on enough oil to fuel America for the next 100 years right here within our borders. Why are we not using this resource?

For those who say - what happens after 100 years? Keep in mind the modern internal combustion engine is just over 100 years old. In another 100 years, one can only imagine the technology available


NYPatriot
Re: $7-a-gallon gas? #151705
02/24/2012 06:47 AM
02/24/2012 06:47 AM
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 165
Port Huron,Michigan
B
Bill Alexander Offline
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Bill Alexander  Offline
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Port Huron,Michigan
Oh! But Wait..Oblamer says we have tons of Alge and this will fix the problem!!!


Semper Fi
Re: $7-a-gallon gas? #151706
02/24/2012 11:21 AM
02/24/2012 11:21 AM
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,229
61Bttn; 42FF West. Wash.
L
Lord Eoin Offline
NCO Contributor
Lord Eoin  Offline
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L
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,229
61Bttn; 42FF West. Wash.
We can use all the Manuere (BS) to make methane gas and run stationary engines...The waste product is good fertilizer.
And hotair from DC could be a cuase of global warming...LOL


" Don't Tread On Me "
Re: $7-a-gallon gas? #151707
02/24/2012 12:37 PM
02/24/2012 12:37 PM
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 23,873
Tulsa
airforce Online content
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airforce  Online Content
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Tulsa
The five biggest whoppers in Obama\'s energy speech. Short, and worth a read.

Onward and upward,
airforce

Re: $7-a-gallon gas? #151708
02/24/2012 02:10 PM
02/24/2012 02:10 PM
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 55
in the tree line
8
82ndalways Offline
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82ndalways  Offline
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Joined: Dec 2011
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in the tree line
Quote
Originally posted by airforce:
The five biggest whoppers in Obama\'s energy speech. Short, and worth a read.

Onward and upward,
airforce
All those surpised please pull your head out of your ass and put down the Kool Aid.


Any government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take everything you have
Re: $7-a-gallon gas? #151709
02/24/2012 07:39 PM
02/24/2012 07:39 PM

A
Anonymous
Unregistered
Anonymous
Unregistered
A


Current Intelligence Report:

1)Run up in the price of oil is the
indicator for the opening phase
of the "NEXT" war...

2)A "FALSE FLAG" Attack,for the
provocation to invade Syria,will occur
just prior to the start air operation(s)
over Syria...

3)Israeli government agreed to hold off
on an airstrike against the Iranian
Nuclear Power Plant at Bushehr.Until
after U.S. troops and assets could be
redeployed.An attack could come no
earlier then 3/8/2012...

4)A 'FALSE FLAG" attack on American soil
or an nuclear detenation will put the
entire county on "lock down"(Martial LW)

NOTE;

Iran has pledged to attack any country
that invades or attacks Syria...

Egypt has pledged to aid Syria as well.

Russia and China have pledged to support
Iran against what they call,
"Western Aggression"...


RECOMMENDATION(S):

1)Limit travel to within 20 of your home
or bug-out spot.

2)Transfer any remaining wealth into
physical gold and silver.

3)Finish final preparation(s).
Store up fuel,it will be worth more
week by week now,day by day soon.Keep
enough fuel to travel 300 miles minimum
in addition to the fuel in your primary
vehicles fuel tank.Top off frequently!


4)Be ready to muster at a moment notice.
If communications breakdown and/or a
"LOCKDOWN" is UNLAWFULLY ordered,Muster!

Re: $7-a-gallon gas? #151710
06/23/2012 01:39 AM
06/23/2012 01:39 AM
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 503
27th FF, 1st Batt.
M
Mannlicher Offline
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Mannlicher  Offline
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M
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 503
27th FF, 1st Batt.
Oil is back down to around $80 a barrel. Gas locally at the lowest price in many months. $3.19 a gallon.
Looks like no war this week. laugh


Nemo me impune lacesset
Re: $7-a-gallon gas? #151711
06/23/2012 05:01 AM
06/23/2012 05:01 AM
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 3,469
Philistine Occupied CA
I
Imagrunt Offline
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Imagrunt  Offline
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I
Joined: Feb 2002
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Philistine Occupied CA
Quote
Originally posted by Mannlicher:
Oil is back down to around $80 a barrel. Gas locally at the lowest price in many months. $3.19 a gallon.
Looks like no war this week. laugh
One year ago, I was paying $4.50 per gallon for Diesel; which at the time cost more than premiun gas.
Yesterday, I paid $3.79 per gallon, which cost the same as low grade gas.

Must be an election year...


I would gladly lay aside the use of arms and settle matters by negotiation, but unless the whole will, the matter ends, and I take up my battle rifle, and thank God that He has put it within my grasp.

Audit Fort Knox!
Re: $7-a-gallon gas? #151712
03/21/2016 09:02 AM
03/21/2016 09:02 AM
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 608
behind enemy lines
N
noname762 Offline
Member
noname762  Offline
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Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 608
behind enemy lines
Quote
Originally posted by Breacher:
It hit $5 per gallon around here in Oregon, I started commuting by bike then the big layoffs started to hit.

Pretty much everyone raised shipping costs at that point and never lowered them much when the fuel prices came back down.

I instituted the personal rule that[b] if I am not making money with it, I don't drive the truck. I break the rule once in a while since I really enjoy driving the truck, but the old thing about driving a truck because it makes you feel good to be the big guy on the road has to go when the fuel prices go up. The bummer is when paying the extra insurance on the econo-car eats up your gas savings. I put less than 5K miles per year on my truck and it is not like the insurance company is cutting me any slack over it.
[/b]
Since I officially retired and am now drawing SS I drive my truck under 4,000 miles in 14 months. Gas had been dropping here lately. It was down to around $1.80 2 months ago but the last 2 weeks it has crept up to basically about 2 bucks a gallon. I don't drive a diesel so rarely look at those prices. I went from 3-4 oil changes a year and 18K miles to 1 oil change per 14 months.


Grass fed Beef..it's what's fer supper July 4th.

.
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