OPEC endorses cutting output

All I know is that when I start shopping for my first car later this year (if I can find a job that is) I won't be looking at many small SUVs anymore. I had my sights set on a Jeep Liberty but with the recent increases in gas have decided that I am much better off with either a hybrid or a high mpg car. Should end up saving me a nice little chunk of change that I can put towards all those student loans.
 
Natoma said:
I think now would be a politically advantageous time for someone in the Congress to reintroduce increasing the CAFE mpg standards and finally closing the SUV "light truck" loophole. With average national gas prices predicted to hit $3 this summer, and now this production cut by OPEC, I see no better time to begin weaning ourselves off of oil in a meaningful manner.
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But if we stop driving SUVs, then the terrorists have already won! :devilish:
 
Make sure you do do the math before making that decision. The savings between a 20 mpg and a 30 mpg car isn't a lot.

With 15000 miles a year, and $3 a gallon, a 30 mpg car will cost ~$1500 a year in gas. A 20 mpg car will cost ~$2200.

You'd likely save more money by cutting out smoking (if you smoke), or eating out less.
 
Natoma said:
http://money.cnn.com/2004/03/31/news/international/opec.reut/index.htm?cnn=yes

I think now would be a politically advantageous time for someone in the Congress to reintroduce increasing the CAFE mpg standards and finally closing the SUV "light truck" loophole. With average national gas prices predicted to hit $3 this summer, and now this production cut by OPEC, I see no better time to begin weaning ourselves off of oil in a meaningful manner.
Click to expand...
How about this natoma, Ill support higher CAFE, if you support building more/better refineries. Its a twofold problem. Having more oil in the system wont help alot as it cant be refined fast enough.

Give and take.
later,
epic
 
RussSchultz said:
Make sure you do do the math before making that decision. The savings between a 20 mpg and a 30 mpg car isn't a lot.

With 15000 miles a year, and $3 a gallon, a 30 mpg car will cost ~$1500 a year in gas. A 20 mpg car will cost ~$2200.

You'd likely save more money by cutting out smoking (if you smoke), or eating out less.
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Well I don't smoke and I never eat out so no room to save money there. :) Still though that is a decent chunk of change that I can put towards student loan bills. The faster I pay those suckers off the better.
 
RussSchultz said:
Make sure you do do the math before making that decision. The savings between a 20 mpg and a 30 mpg car isn't a lot.

With 15000 miles a year, and $3 a gallon, a 30 mpg car will cost ~$1500 a year in gas. A 20 mpg car will cost ~$2200.

You'd likely save more money by cutting out smoking (if you smoke), or eating out less.
Click to expand...

Most current gen hybrids are in the 40-60mpg range Russ. 30mpg is what you'd get out of a regular Honda Accord or Civic, something along those lines. Cars aren't allowed to be 20mpg according to CAFE. Only SUVs, which qualify as "light trucks."

The cost savings are rather substantial in reality. Honda is releasing a hybrid SUV later this year I believe, at 45mpg last I checked. That's more than double the mileage one generally gets out of a standard SUV, or if you're into the hummers, about 5x as much. :)
 
epicstruggle said:
Natoma said:
http://money.cnn.com/2004/03/31/news/international/opec.reut/index.htm?cnn=yes

I think now would be a politically advantageous time for someone in the Congress to reintroduce increasing the CAFE mpg standards and finally closing the SUV "light truck" loophole. With average national gas prices predicted to hit $3 this summer, and now this production cut by OPEC, I see no better time to begin weaning ourselves off of oil in a meaningful manner.
Click to expand...

How about this natoma, Ill support higher CAFE, if you support building more/better refineries. Its a twofold problem. Having more oil in the system wont help alot as it cant be refined fast enough.

Give and take.
later,
epic
Click to expand...

Unfortunately the oil refinery companies have no financial incentive to do so, as an up-to-date refinery can cost ~$3 Billion just to get it started, let alone recover that cost and profit from it. No, they're more content to let prices stay where they are so they can reap the benefits in their bottom line.
 
Natoma said:
epicstruggle said:
Natoma said:
http://money.cnn.com/2004/03/31/news/international/opec.reut/index.htm?cnn=yes

I think now would be a politically advantageous time for someone in the Congress to reintroduce increasing the CAFE mpg standards and finally closing the SUV "light truck" loophole. With average national gas prices predicted to hit $3 this summer, and now this production cut by OPEC, I see no better time to begin weaning ourselves off of oil in a meaningful manner.
Click to expand...

How about this natoma, Ill support higher CAFE, if you support building more/better refineries. Its a twofold problem. Having more oil in the system wont help alot as it cant be refined fast enough.

Give and take.
later,
epic
Click to expand...

Unfortunately the oil refinery companies have no financial incentive to do so, as an up-to-date refinery can cost ~$3 Billion just to get it started, let alone recover that cost and profit from it. No, they're more content to let prices stay where they are so they can reap the benefits in their bottom line.
Click to expand...
Great article on the refinery issue. The problem is quite complex.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/national/8299750.htm
later,
epic
 
Natoma said:
Cars aren't allowed to be 20mpg according to CAFE. Only SUVs, which qualify as "light trucks."
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Plenty of cars get 20mpg. Most 4 door mid size sedans get ~20 in the city, ~30 on the highway. Compact sedans get 30-ish in the city to 35-ish on the highway. Add AWD and the numbers go down. Wagons and the numbers go down.

(p.s. read up on CAFE and what it mandates. it mandates the sales weighted average gas mileage, not any particular model's gas mileage.)
 
anyone have a good site(s) that break down how much oil we use, where it comes from, what we use it on, and the like?

later,
epic
 
I can barely afford gas as it is. My grandparents blessed me with an '89 Lincoln Towncar. It gets 18-22mpg, which is amazing when you look at the car.
 
Let's suppose hybrid vehicles get a conservative 30% better mileage. Anyone here with a good grasp of macroeconomics have any idea what effect the eventual reduction in vehicle fuel demands by 30% might have on gas prices? (Assuming, perhaps unrealistically, that hybrids get phased in very quickly.)

If I would save 700 bucks a year assuming gas prices were stable, then things could round up a bit if gas prices overall fell.
 
Natoma said:
Unfortunately the oil refinery companies have no financial incentive to do so, as an up-to-date refinery can cost ~$3 Billion just to get it started,...
Click to expand...

And why do you think that today, there's less financial incentive compared to say, 50 years ago?
 
My Civic definately doesn't get 30mpg. It might get that if you drive it like a pussy, but I drive aggresively, and constant acceleration eats more gas.

I'd buy a Hybrid if they used the elecric motors for *superior performance* in addition to mileage. Otherwise, my next car is going to be a 350Z, G35, or S2000.
 
DemoCoder said:
My Civic definately doesn't get 30mpg. It might get that if you drive it like a pussy, but I drive aggresively, and constant acceleration eats more gas.
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You raise an interesting point WRT milage DC. If I drive my wife’s Cabrio or my Minivan I seem to get the same milage. I tend to be much harder on the throttle with my wife’s car to make up for its lack of power which negates any benefits of have a smaller engine to begin with. I would wager that this is very common.
 
heh heh :) you U.S. guys are so funny. (I have been laughing pretty much to your small whine about gasoline prices...) :)

$3 / gallon? oh dear... bad bad bad Oil companies! tsk, tsk tsk! :rolleyes:

here in finland gasoline costs 1.05 Eur / LITER (today's price on nearest station.)

(but also, the car that I usually use, needs only around 5.0 Liters per 100 km in highway, in mixed you can easily get under 5.6 l / 100km ;) and no it is NOT a hybrid. )

umm... what are you complaining about? why don't you get your gas price on the range we europeans have it and then start whining if they get it even higher? after all, there's still world's lowest gasoline prices in the US.
 
ninelven said:
The problem is that oil is the lifeblood of our economy (both interstate and international trade), and while for many individuals it may not have an immeadiate impact, the damage done to the U.S. on a national scale will be quite significant. Eventually, this reality will catch up to the 85% of our population who isn't extremely wealthy by affecting virtually every aspect of thier lives. The question is at what point does our own oil become economically viable.
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the thing is that we only get about 30% of our oil from opec. So we _could_ weane ourselves off if we start making cars with higher mpgs.

later,
epic
 
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