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2008 Essays - August "PETROMORPHOSIS" PART II: "THEY DIDN'T LEAVE THE STONE AGE BECAUSE THEY RAN OUT OF STONES"
"Big Wheels, Then and Now" * In 2008, crude oil and retail gas prices have hit all-time highs. This year's essay series, "Petromorphosis," will take a look at issues concerning gas prices and the future of petroleum and other energy sources, with a focus on fuels. The issues and the industry both are extremely complex - far beyond what can be covered in depth in a forum such as this one. What will be presented is a brief summary of basic ideas and topics, ones which hopefully will help illustrate and explain the current situation as it relates to your lives now and in the near future. Part I of the series is now in the Essay Archives. The essay is interactive in the sense that links are embedded within the text. The article can be read as is, or one can click on a link to read more about the subject at hand, then return to the essay. (Please note: The links are included for information purposes only. No guarantees are made as to the accuracy of the materials presented on the sites, although every effort has been made to search out reliable and respected sources of information.) Footnotes and a bibliography also will be included at the end for anyone wishing to learn more about the subject. A glossary link for energy-related terms is provided as a reference for use as needed. Click here to reach the glossary. * * * *
". . . Today we are so dependent on oil, and oil is so embedded in our daily doings, that we hardly stop to comprehend its pervasive significance. It is oil that makes possible where
we live, how we live, how we commute to work, how we travel - even where we conduct our courtships. It is the lifeblood of suburban communities. Oil (and natural gas) are the essential components in the fertilizer on which world agriculture
depends; oil makes it possible to transport food to the totally non-self-sufficient megacities of the world. Oil also provides the plastics and chemicals that are the bricks and mortar of contemporary civilization, a civilization that would
collapse if the world's oil wells suddenly went dry. The quote paints a vivid picture of the important role oil has played in the development of modern societies and hints at the difficulties involved in ending what has come to be referred to as the country's - and the world's - "addiction" to oil. For most of the 20th century, at least in the U.S., the growth of the oil industry has come hand-in-hand with the rise of the automobile industry. Today, "it is the dependence of the transportation system on liquid fuel that makes oil so important to the U.S. economy." (n2) According to figures from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) of the U.S. Department of Energy, in 2007 roughly 68% of all petroluem in the U.S. (or nearly 14 million barrels per day) was used in the transportation sector, followed by 25% in industry. The remaining seven percent was used primarily for residential and commercial heating and in electric power generation. (n3) The following numbers provide a snapshot of how some of those 14 million barrels of oil a day are used:
As was outlined in the first part of this year's essay series, the U.S. currently imports 60% of the oil used to meet the country's needs, and that number also represents 25% of all global oil imports. This dependence on oil, especially foreign oil, has serious ramifications for the country in a world in which demand for petroleum is increasing, supplies have the potential to become constrained, and known reserves are becoming increasingly concentrated under the control of national governments and national (state-owned) enterprises, many of those with interests hostile to those of the United States. MIT professor and former CIA Director John M. Deutch, in Congressional testimony last year, outlined four elements of the international oil trade that have troubling national security implications for the U.S. These include:
It is the general consensus of many U.S. energy experts that complete energy independence for this country, at least in the near future, is not feasible. (n11) One Senator called making energy independence a goal something "akin to putting all your resources in[to] the hopes of finding an elusive cure for a disease at the expense of taking important steps to treat and alleviate the symptoms in the interim." (n12) Recently, and partially in response to the rapid rise in gasoline prices this year, a variety of short-term and mid-range solutions have been proposed to both ease the price pinch and decrease the country's dependence on foreign oil. These include: tapping into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, allowing exploration/drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), and allowing exploration/drilling in various Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) areas off U.S. coasts. These will be discussed briefly below. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is ths world's largest stockpile of government-owned emergency crude oil. It was authorized in 1975 by the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) in response to the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973. Today the SPR has the capability to hold 727 million barrels of oil, and the Energy Policy Act of 2005 directs the Secretary of Energy to fill the SPR to its authorized one billion barrel capacity. Little of the oil held in the SPR is held in above-ground tanks. "Virtually all of the inventory is stored in deep underground salt caverns . . . created by using water to dissolve massive cavities in salt domes that are prevalent along the Gulf of Mexico coast. The top of a typical storage cavern may be 2000 feet underground and extend another 2000 feet to its bottom. . . [There are] 62 of these caverns in four locations in Louisiana and Texas." (n13) In the case of an emergency oil disruption, the SPR "can supply oil to commercial buyers at a rate of more than 4.1 million barrels a day for 90 days. During this time, the Reserve would be the equivalent of the fifth-largest oil producing country in the world. . . At one million barrels a day, the SPR could supply a steady flow of crude oil to the market for approximately a year-and-a-half." (n14) The SPR gives the President an option for dealing with an emergency disruption to U.S. oil supplies that might threaten the U.S. economy, and it allows the country to meet the emergency storage obligations under IEA programs. To date there have been only two partial drawdowns from the SPR: the Desert Storm drawdown during the Persian Gulf War, and in 2005 after the damage to Gulf Coast oil facilities after Hurricane Katrina. (n15) Further information on the SPR can be found at www.spr.doe.gov and www.fe.doe.gov/programs/reserves/index.html. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge was first created as the 8.9 million acre Arctic National Wildlife Range in 1960. "In 1980, the Alaskan National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) created 16 National Wildlife Refuges in Alaska. ANWR was enlarged to 19 million acres including the 8.9 million acre wilderness area. Section 1002 of ANILCA deferred a decision on the management of oil and gas exploration and development of 1.5 million acres of potentially productive lands in the coastal plain of ANWR (which is why it is called the "1002 Area.") (n16). A map detailing the ANWR, the ANWR Coastal Plain, and an area proposed for exploration is included below.
Source: Alaska Department of Natural Resources According to information found on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for ANWR, the most unique feature of the refuge is that "large-scale ecological and evolutionary processes continue [t]here, free of human control or manipulation." (n17) The 1002 area, however, has been a subject of controversy since ANILCA was passed in 1980. At that time, "most of the Refuge coastal plain was not designated wilderness. Instead, it was decided that only Congress could decide whether to allow oil exploration and drilling in the area," and all oil-related activity . . . is prohibited "until authorized as an act of Congress." (n18) In general, the area is of particular interest since the geological features in the coastal plain are similar to those of the nearby producing fields of Prudhoe Bay. Some estimates place the figure for technically recoverable oil in the area from 3 - 5 billion barrels (n19), and others estimate the total of potentially recoverable resources in the overall Arctic Alaska region to be nearly 29 billion barrels of conventional oil and 221 billion cubic feet of natural gas. (n20) (Please note: A "Google" search on ANWR will undoubtedly pull up the site www.anwr.org. Though the site contains a variety of information, including a flash movie of ANWR, it is not the official government site and has a definite pro-drilling bent. It is presented by an organization called Arctic Power. The official government site for ANWR is part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and can be found at http://arctic.fws.gov.) Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) The federal portion of the Outer Continental Shelf covers some 1.76 billion acres off coastal areas in parts of the Atlantic, the Pacific, the eastern Gulf of Mexico, the central Gulf of Mexico and Alaska's North Aleutian Basin. Since 1982, over 9.6 billion barrels of oil and more than 100 trillion cubic feet of natural gas (n21) have been extracted from open OCS areas. Though in January of 2007 presidential moratoria on exploration were lifted for the entire North Aleutian Basin and a small portion of the eastern Gulf of Mexico, (n22) about 20% of undiscovered OCS resources have not been available for leasing due to congressional or presidential moratoria or withdrawal. (n23) It is estimated that more than 17 billion barrels of oil and more than 76 trillion cubic feet of natural gas exist as undiscovered but technically recoverable resources in the OCS areas. However, offshore drilling is vigorously opposed by a number of organizations, especially environmental groups like the Sierra Club (www.sierraclub.org). * * * If the overall goal for both policy and action is to wean the U.S. of its "addiction" to oil, however, then none of the previously-mentioned actions begin to accomplish that goal. Measures that promote a more efficient use of gasoline and cars that do so are certainly a step in the right direction. However, readily-available alternatives to both petroleum-based products and gasoline-powered vehicles are still relatively few and far between. Some of these alternatives will be discussed in the following section. ALTERNATIVES TO PETROLEUM/GASOLINE "The United States - and the world - cannot afford to leave the Age of Oil before realistic alternatives are fully in place. It is important to remember that man left the Stone Age not because he ran out of stones. And, when we someday leave the Age of Oil, it will not be because we will have run out of oil. Rather, oil will be replaced by alternatives that are more reliable, more versatile and more cost-competitive than oil." (n24) The term "alternative fuel" was defined in Title III, Section 301, Part 2 of the Energy Act of 1992 as "methanol; denatured ethanol and other alcohols; mixtures containing 85% or more . . . by volume of methanol, denatured ethanol or other alcohols with gasoline or other fuels; natural gas; liquified petroleum gas; hydrogen; coal-derived liquid fuels, fuels (other than alcohol) derived from biological materials, electricity (including electricity from solar energy); and any other fuel the Secretary determines, by rule, is substantially not petroluem and would yield substantial energy and security benefits, and substantial environmental benefits." The Department of Energy says of these fuels that their use "is critical to reducing dependence on foreign oil and improving air quality." (n25) The Energy Deparment's "Alternative Fuels and Advanced Vehicles" website (www.eere.energy.gov/afdc) offers extensive information about all alternative fuels and vehicles, plus searchable databases for locating alternative fuel vehicles, alternative fuel refueling stations and calculating costs for hybrid electric vehicles. According to information on that site, the four types of vehicles considered to be alternative fuel vehicles as defined by the 1992 Act are electric vehicles (fueled by electricity), flex fuel vehicles (can be fueled by ethanol), natural gas vehicles (fueled by natural gas) and propane vehicles (fueled by propane). Diesel vehicles with the capability of being fueled by biodiesel are included as alternative fuel blend capable vehicles, and hybrid electric, plug-in hybrid electric and fuel cell vehicles (fueled with hydrogen) are listed as "advanced vehicles." (n26). California leads the nation in refueling sites for compressed natural gas (189), liquified natural gas (29) and hydrogen-powered vehicles (23), and the state is second to Texas the the number of facilities for liquid petroleum gas, or propane (206). The state also leads the nation in the number of electric refueling sites/charging stations (370). (n27) The total number of refueling sites in the U.S. for all types of alternative fuels is 5,648 (many of which are private or test facilities), (n28), still a small number when compared to the nearly 170,000 conventional gasoline fueling stations nationwide. Since liquified natural gas, compressed natural gas and liquified petroleum gas are generally in greater use as fleet fuels than as consumer alternatives, they will not be discussed in greater depth at this time. Information on hydrogen, fuel cells and automobile fuel economy in general can be found in the July 2005 and the August 2005 essays, both available in the Essay Archives section of the site. The remaining information included below will focus on the two most readily available consumer alternatives at this time, hybrids and biofuels (including ethanol and biodiesel). Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs) Hybrid electric vehicles, more commonly called hybrids, combine an internal combustion engine with a battery and electric motor, and they do not need to be plugged in to be charged. The electric motor and engine work either alone or in tandem at various parts of the drive cycle to improve fuel economy and lower emissions. In 2007, between a dozen and two dozen models of hybrid vehicles were available from manufacturers including Ford, GM, Honda, Lexus, Nissan and Toyota. Most hybrids are priced at a premium as compared to their non-hybrid equivalents, and whether or not an owner can recoup these costs over the life of the vehicle may depend on both the price of gasoline and the driving habits of the owner. The next generation of hybrids, plug-in hybrids, are expected to bring further improvements in reduced emissions and fuel consumption. Plug-in hybrids will have "larger batteries and the ability to charge those batteries when parked using an ordinary electric outlet. Unlike today's hybrids, plug-in hybrids are able to drive for extended periods on battery power, thus moving some of the energy consumption from the gas tank to the electric grid . . . and moving some of the emissions from the tail pipe to the power plant (where, in theory, they are more easily controlled) . . . Some proponents of plug-in hybrids claim that consumers will be able to charge their batteries overnight at a gasoline-equivalent cost of $1 per gallon." (n29) Ultimately, the commercial success of plug-in hybrids "will depend on the development of appropriate battery technology." (n30). None are available at this time. Biofuels Two forms of biofuels currently in use are bioethanol (ethanol) and biodiesel. The most widely-used biofuel is ethanol, a renewable fuel produced by fermenting and distilling sugars from biological products. (n31) Ethanol "accounts for more than 90% of total biofuel usage . . . [and] can be produced from many feedstocks including cereal crops, corn (maize), sugar cane, sugar beets, potatoes, sorghum and cassava . . . The world's largest producers of bioethanol are Brazil (sugar-cane ethanol) and the United States (corn ethanol)." (n32) Biodiesel is a liquid fuel "produced from renewable sources such as new and used vegetable oils and animal fats and is a cleaner-burning replacement for petroleum-based diesel fuel." (n33) The world's largest biodiesel producer is "Germany, which accounts for 50% of global production." (n34) Both ethanol and biodiesel can be combined in small amounts with regular petroleum and diesel products for use with little, if any, engine modification. Ethanol is currently used in percentages from 5 - 10 percent in U.S. gasoline as an oxygenate and substitute for MTBE (which has been found to be a contaminant of drinking water). In addition, emissions reductions in the range of 15% to 60% (n35) are possible through the use of biofuels depending on the "process and feedstock, to energy embedded in fertilizers and local conditions." (n36) Though ethanol has its advantages, there are also several disadvantages associated with its production, especially in the U.S. Unlike the ethanol in Brazil, ethanol in the U.S. is produced primarily from corn, an important part of the U.S. food supply. Supplies of corn and other such feedstocks are "constrained by arable land availability [and] competition with food production for land use could drive possible increases in both ethanol and food prices." (n37) Given this particular problem, research underway "is focused on developing feedstocks [for ethanol production] that are not otherwise used for food. Known as cellulosic ethanol, ethanol produced using both digestion and fermentation can use more parts of a plant [such as leaves and husks] and can expand the variety of economically viable feedstock" (n38) which can be used in ethanol production. Also, "ethanol is lower in energy per gallon than gasoline, so consumer expectations about how far they can drive on a gallon of fuel need to be managed accordingly." (n39) Two differing perspectives on ethanol use, especially the "food vs. fuel" debate, are available at www.ethanolrfa.org, and by searching on the word "ethanol" at www.worldwatch.org. Flex Fuel Vehicles and E85
Clean Air Fuel Pump (left) containing 85% ethanol fuel. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Department of Energy. A brief review of GM, Ford and Chrysler websites showed that for U.S. automobile manufacturers, at least, the number of flex fuel vehicles available is far greater than the number of hybrid models available. For example, at www.gmaltfuel.com, about thirty different models of nine different cars are listed as flex fuel vehicles. On the Chrysler website (www.chrysler.com/flexfuel), the company says of their flex fuel vehicle operation that "because alcohol fuels are corrosive, FFV engines and fuel systems are specially designed to accept gasoline/alcohol combinations. The fuel mixture is detected by sensors in the system that in turn signal the engine control unit to adjust the fuel injection rate and spark timing for optimal performance, fuel economy and emissions." (n42) However, further down the same page it is noted that flex fuel vehicles are not available in eight states, including California. After a quick call to a local dealership to enquire why the vehicles were not available in this state, the answer received was that while there are no restrictions on offering the cars, there are no publicly available E85 fueling stations in California so the vehicles are not available. U.S. automobile manufacturers have "pledged to the President to make half of their products flex fuel-capable by 2012, . . . [though] this commitment is contingent [on] the availability of the physical presence of E85 infrastructure." (n43) The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 In December of last year, Congress passed The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (H.R. 6, Public Law 110-140). The stated purpose of the Act is "to move the United States toward greater energy independence and security, to increase the production of clean renewable fuels, to protect consumers, to increase the efficiency of products, buildings and vehicles, to promote research on and deploy greenhouse gas capture and storage options, . . . to improve the energy performance of the Federal Government, and for other purposes." Measures mandated in the Act include:
* * * There is no question that petroleum and oil-based products will continue to play a major role in the U.S. economy well into the forseeable future. However, given measures being put into place now, future generations may be better able to decide if and when the "Age of Oil" will continue down the same path as the "Stone Age." FOOTNOTES - The following are the footnotes indicated in the text in parentheses with the letter "n" and a number. If you click the asterisk at the end of the footnote, it will take you back to the paragraph where you left off. n1 - Yergin, Daniel, The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power. New York: Touchstone, 1991/92, pp. 14-15. (*) n2 - Deutch, John and Schlesinger, James R, Chairs, National Security Consequences of U.S. Oil Dependency. New York: Council on Foreign Relations, 2006, p. 13. (*) n3 - "Table 1.13: Consumption of Petroleum by End-Use Sector, 1973-2007," in Boundy, Robert G., Davis, Stacy C., and Diegel, Susan, W., Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Center for Transportation Analysis, Energy and Transportation Sciences Division, Transportation Energy Data Book, 27th Edition (ORNL-6981). Washington D.C.: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, 2008, p. 1-17. (*) n4 - Ibid., "Table 3.4: Vehicles Per Thousand People in Other Countries, 1996 and 2006," and "Table 3.5: Vehicles Per Thousand People in the United States, 1990 - 2006," p. 3-8. (*) n5 - Ibid., "Table 3.1: Car Registrations for Selected Countries, 1950 - 2006," p. 3-2. (*) n6 - Ibid., "Table 8.4: Household Vehicle Ownership, 1960 - 2000 Census," p. 8-6. (*) n7 - Ibid., "Table 8.14: Means of Transportation to Work, 1980, 1990 and 2000 Census," p. 8-18. (*) n8 - Ibid., "Table 9.3: Summary Statistics for General Aviation, 1970 - 2006," p. 9-4. (*) n9 - Ibid., "Table 10.1: Gasoline Prices for Selected Countries, 1990 - 2006," p. 10-2. (*) n10 - Statement of John M. Deutch in Foreign Policy and National Security Implications of Oil Dependence, Hearing before the Committee on Foreign Affairs, U.S. House of Representatives, 110th Congress, 1st Session, Serial No. 110-33, March 22, 2007. Washington D.C.: U.S. GPO, 2007, p. 18. (*) n11 - Ibid., plus Deutch and Schlesinger, National Security Consequences of U.S. Oil Dependency, p. 4, and general testimony in Energy Independence, Hearing before the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, U.S. Senate, 109th Congress, 2nd Session, Senate Hearing 109-412, March 7, 2006. Washington D.C.: U.S. GPO, 2006. (*) n12 - Opening Statement of Senator Pete Domenici in Energy Independence, Hearing before the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, U.S. Senate, 109th Congress, 2nd Session, Senate Hearing 109-412, March 7, 2006. Washington D.C.: U.S. GPO, p. 1. (*) n13 - Opening Statement of Robert S. Kripowicz in The Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Hearing before the Joint Economic Committee, 106th Congress, 2nd Session, Senate Hearing 106-679, September 27, 2000. Washington D.C.: U.S. GPO, 2000, p. 11. (*) n15 - U.S. Department of Energy, Strategic Petroleum Reserve website. Information available at http://www.fe.doe.gov/programs/reserves/spr/index.html, viewed 8/08. (*) n16 - U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration, "Potential Oil Production from the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Updated Assessment," Report #SR/O&G/2002-02, p. 1. Available at www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/analysis_publications/arctic_national_wildlife_refuge/html/preface.html, viewed 8/08. (*) n17 - Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Q&A, viewed 8/08 at arctic.fws.gov/faqs.htm. (*) n19 - National Petroleum Council, U.S. Department of Energy, Hard Truths: Facing the Hard Truths About Energy. Washington D.C.: National Petroleum Council, July 2007, p. 167. (*) n20 - U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), "Circum-Arctic Resource Appraisal: Estimate of Undiscovered Oil and Gas North of the Arctic Circle," USGS Fact Sheet 2008-3049, p. 4. Fact sheet and updates available at http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2008/3049, viewed 8/08. (*) n21 - Statement of C. Stephen Allred in Oil and Gas Reserves on the Outer Continental Shelf, Hearing before the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, U.S. Senate, 110th Congress, 1st Session, Senate Hearing 110-10, January 25, 2007. Washington D.C.: U.S. GPO, 2007, p. 4. (*) n22 - National Petroleum Council, Hard Truths, p. 168. (*) n23 - Allred in Oil and Gas Reserves on the Outer Continental Shelf, p. 5. (*) n24 - Written Statement of the American Petroleum Institute in Energy Independence, Hearing before the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, U.S. Senate, 109th Congress, 2nd Session, Senate Hearing 109-412. Washington, D.C.: U.S. GPO, 2006, p. 65. (*) n25 - Quote from U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Alternative Fuels and Advanced Vehicles Data Center website, viewed 8/08 at eere.energy.gov/afdc/fuels. (*) n26 - Classifications found at eere.energy.gov/afdc, viewed 8/08. (*) n27 - "Table 6.4: Number of Alternative Refuel Sites by State and Fuel Type, 2008" in Boundy/Davis/Diegel-Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Transportation Energy Data Book, 27th Edition, p. 6-6. (*) n29 - Ending Our Addiction to Oil: Are Advanced Vehicles and Fuels the Answer?, Field Hearing before the Subcommittee on Energy, Committee on Science, U.S. House of Representatives, 109th Congress, 2nd Session, Serial No. 109-52. Washington D.C.: U.S. GPO, 2006, p. 7. (*) n30 - Axsen, John, Burke, Andrew, and Kurani, Ken, Batteries for Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs): Goals and State of Technology circa 2008, UCD-ITS-RR-08-14. Davis, California: Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California Davis, May 2008, p. 2. Document also available at pubs.its.ucdavis.edu/publication_detail.php?id=1169. (*) n31 - Ending Our Addictio to Oil: Are Advanced Vehicles and Fuels the Answer?, p. 6. (*) n32 - International Energy Agency (IEA), IEA Energy Technology Essentials: Biofuel Production, ETE 02. Paris: OECD/IEA, January 2007, p. 1. Also available at iea.org/Textbase/techno/essentials.htm. (*) n33 - U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Alternative Fuels and Advanced Vehicles Data Center, Biodiesel Basics: What is Biodiesel?, viewed 8/08 via biodiesel links at eere.energy.gov/afdc/biodiesel. (*) n34 - IEA, IEA Energy Technology Essentials: Biofuel Production," p. 2. (*) n38 - Ending Our Addiction to Oil: Are Advanced Vehicles and Fuels the Answer?, p. 6. (*) n40 - Statement of Alexander Karsner in Renewable Fuels Infrastructure, Hearing before the Subcommittee on Energy, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, U.S. Senate, 110th Congress, 1st Session, Senate Hearing 110-169, July 31, 2007. Washington D.C.: U.S. GPO, 2007, p. 13. (*) n41 - "Table 6.4: Number of Alternative Refuel Sites by State and Fuel Type, 2008" in Boundy/Davis/Diegel-Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Transportation Energy Data Book, 27th Edition, p. 6-6. (*) n42 - Chrysler Company website. Viewed 8/08 at www.chrysler.com/flexfuel. (*) n43 - Karsner in Renewable Fuels Infrastructure, p. 13. (*)
The combined bibliography for Part I (June/July) and Part II (August) of the 2008 "Petromorphosis" series is available on a separate page. Click here to go to that page, or use the Part I/Part II bibliography link in the column on the left. To return to the top of the page, click here. To return to the essay archives, click here.
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Although retail prices of gasoline have dropped by more than 50 cents since the start of the summer,
the prices still linger stubbornly around $4 per gallon in most Southern California areas. However, prices of light sweet crude on the NYMEX have dropped below $120 per barrel, and if the slide continues retail prices of gasoline may soon drop below the $4 mark. Still, such a drop
may be short-lived, and the prospect of $5 per gallon (or higher) gasoline still looms on the horizon. Anyone who hopes for a swift and/or easy solution to the "pay'n" at the pump might want to consider the following passage from Daniel Yergin's epic history of the oil industry,
The Prize.
E85
