Has big oil copted on to whats going on or do they even care

[control1]

Everyone is scrambling for alternative energy I will be honest it was the price that sent me fleeing not the environmental impact.I think oil is going to get cheaper and cheaper no one wants to deal with it every time you do you get hosed. The only reason the price came down was nobody was buying it at $4.50 a gallon maybe $2.50 people will buy maybe not, but I do think big oil lost a least 150,000 homes to pellet stoves this year and god kows how much to natural gas. Now big oil is losing its market and if gm comes out with the volt its days are numbered.Remember 1973 lining up for gas now we see the price dropping 5 cents a day why because we refused to pay that much , Maine you may have been spared, as long as people keep converting this will put more oil on the market. But be prepared big oil does this constantly the producers want more the refiners want more all at the expense of you and I, when will they ever learn

 

[Ductape]

Big oil will learn ONLY when there are enough viable alternatives that oil is hardly needed. Unfortunately, we (our government) let them get so absurdly rich, that they are now able to buy any of the new technologies and they will do it to us all over again in some other form. We need to clean out Washington and elect NEW representatives during this election, and every following election until we end up with people there actually representing us.

 

[MCPO]

Everyone is scrambling for alternative energy I will be honest it was the price that sent me fleeing not the environmental impact.I think oil is going to get cheaper and cheaper no one wants to deal with it every time you do you get hosed. The only reason the price came down was nobody was buying it at $4.50 a gallon maybe $2.50 people will buy maybe not, but I do think big oil lost a least 150,000 homes to pellet stoves this year and god kows how much to natural gas. Now big oil is losing its market and if gm comes out with the volt its days are numbered.Remember 1973 lining up for gas now we see the price dropping 5 cents a day why because we refused to pay that much , Maine you may have been spared, as long as people keep converting this will put more oil on the market. But be prepared big oil does this constantly the producers want more the refiners want more all at the expense of you and I, when will they ever learn

Presently oil is probably cheaper than burning pellets , unless you are getting pellets for $3 a bag or less. I`ll not hesitate to run the oil furnace.

 

[Bushbuck]

Right now it is demand that is driving the cost down. It is not just new pellet users, its a combination of things. Recreational vehicle sales are way down. Big boats, ATV's, SUV's, etc. Many people who already own them are leaving them parked. Kayak sales are up and motorboat sales are down. Construction is down. Excavators, pavers, bulldozers are parked. Retail is off and shipping has been reduced. People with second homes are shutting them down or selling them. Less people are traveling both by car and plane. Airlines have reduced or condensed there amount of flights they take. There are many reasons that fuel usage is off. This is actually a good thing for prices, but looking back to many Americans have a short memory. As prices come down people will stop complaining, forget about the prices and buy that Hummer they always wanted. Prices will always go up. Lets not forget to stay on a path of energy independence. I think more important than just a lower price in energy is a consistent price so that all business can adjust and level out.

 

[hoverfly]

But those who bought pellet stoves as they collect dust will be waitng for prices to rise again.

 

[firewarrior820]

i will continue to use my pellet stove, i like the way it heats
solar in this part of the country isn't feasible,for me

 

[roadrat]

Oil will have to go below $1.25 a gallon before I would park my pellet stove, My house has never been this toasty warm 75deg down stairs, 68deg upstairs in the bedrooms, Had to shut the thing off this morning.
As for big oil you just know that if enough people switch to alternative forms of energy they will run to there friends in the goobermint who will bail them out with a few hundred billion in tax payer $$$.

I'm with 'ductape' vote the bums out!


bill

 

[nanama72]

Until alternative energy sources are more developed (and there is a bigger political will to do so), I think oil will still have the upper hand in the market. As the mililitary-industrial complex continues to grow, they have a huge market, never mind the lethargy with which the american auto industry has developed alternative fuel cars. If everyone got a hybrid it would significantly reduce oil usage but oil would still be necessary. If everyone got an electric car, we'd overwhelm the national grid. Apparently there's enough wind in the plain states to supply electricity for the entire country. Equally, large solar plants out in the southwest could supply electricity nationwide. I agree we need to elect people who actually represent us but right now our country is not committed to independence from oil. I wish that oil prices would go through the roof so that there would be real pressure on people's finances to go green. Pocketbook pressure is what Americans really care about.

As for being a newbie with a pellet stove, my house also is much warmer and we don't have to heat all the rooms we don't want to heat with the pellet stove. It's actually warm compared with last winter when we kept the house at 62. It would have been nice if we could have spent half the money and had our heating supply for the winter if we hadn't been screwed by pelletsdirect.com, but if we were to heat our house up to 72 with our oil, we'd still be spending more than we are spending on pellets this year at these prices, never mind the satisfaction of not buying more oil.

 

[Redox]

It's heresy to say that I'm disappointed to see oil prices drop, but I am! We will need sustained higher prices to push people into change. Right now, gasoline is averaging about $2.50 a gallon around here, but consumption is still down. GOOD! As soon as the recovery begins (hopefully sooner rather than later) we will see things pick back up. Hopefully, people will be smart enough not to invest in that Hummer or Escalade!

This all probably belongs in the Ashcan, anyway!

Chris