Oil Industry puts out a plan for lower prices.

Well you knew this was coming, the industry most hated in America is proposing a plan to lower costs of their product. So right off the bat I'm suspect of anything in this plan simply because frankly, what business owner wants to make their product less costly in turn limiting their profit? That said, lets assume the gas/oil companies really do wish to refine, pardon the pun, how they manage their industry.

Oil Bid

Their proposal included three major factors: keeping tax cuts in place, increasing permitting to drill for oil and changes in stringent EPA regulations on refining fuel. All in all, no big shock. Americans, well educated ones that is, have known for a long time that America has untapped oil reserves and that the EPA is essentially a medieval group of regulators that make decisions for the government without any true government oversight. Actually, I digress, it isn't entirely the EPA, it is a composition of EPA regulators and private (supposedly) environmental groups.

The immediate response from Obama officials and the EPA covered the usual tactic, "this will do nothing right now to produce more energy". This is a similar tone we've received for the last 40 years ever since Iran decided to get on the map. The point, we need to start the plan now to see results later. And in defense of the oil plan, this would have an immediate impact on gas prices. Obamas team of greatness refuses to realize the speculation is the issue with the dramatic swings in prices day-to-day; however not year to year. The fact is when Bush left office gasoline cost you $1.79 at the pump, it is now averaging 3.86 - in less than 4 years. That is a problem. The oil plan would show speculators that there is a serious US plan for handling energy, something that has lacked for decades. This would have an impact on trading, guaranteed.

How we could limit oil speculation today

This is incredibly simple, it is one phone call - one phone call from the President to Mary Shapiro (Chair of the SEC). One call creating a regulation that forces all energy commodity traders to take delivery of their purchase it if exceeds 10,000 barrels of oil. This regulation would enforce that all traders/speculators could still profit off the market, but would be required to personally have hands-on their purchase prior to selling it. You know what this stops? Day trading speculators that purchase 100,000 barrels of oil to sell it short on profit. This is what drives up the cost, well, this as well as the poor US dollar value and non-energy planning US government. Now, does middle-east conflict play a role, sure, but not nearly as large as the US government paints it to be. Consider this, currently there is more oil on the market than demand for it, so why the costs? Speculators, pure and simple.

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