Macondo & the Future

Normally I don't like to predict the future but this is the exception to the rule.

As 2010 comes to a close, the biggest reported story is the oil soaked beaches, up and down the East Coast of the United States and Florida, that didn’t happen. And it won’t as a result of the explosion in April. Yes, I called it an explosion, not a spill. It wasn’t a spill! It never was. 11 people lost their lives in an accident.

I have several thoughts:

1.) This will be one of the most sought after deposits but as the media will report it, they will not continue to repeat it. It will be misrepresented or ignored. Mark my word.

2.) This was not a lease that BP wanted. The oil companies want land leases. Why would they want to travel 50 miles and drop a pipe 1 mile into the water, BEFORE they even break ground? This was one of those leases issued in 2008. Why is that significant? Remember the pump prices in the summer of ’08? It was NOT the “speculators” that raised that price, it was members of Congress on the Democrat side, with help from some “Republican” members, to be sure. The demonization of Bush 43 continued relentless so that they could move a “D” into 1600 in November. The “speculators” were reacting to the attitudes of Congressional members and the clear disregard of the best interest of the constituents. They still are. Check the pump price of diesel. The economy runs on diesel. People run their cars on gasoline. Diesel is cheaper to refine than gasoline. It is running 20-30 cents higher to help keep gasoline from moving higher. The attitudes toward the oil companies has to change.

3.) When you and I were seeing the live shots of the oil gushing from the ground, BP let us see those shots as a PR move. Unfortunately, for them, it backfired with a media already frothing at the mouth with story after story about meow-meows being directly affected – and not directly affected - by the accident.

4.) We have a debt into the trillions of dollars. There is no way to pay that off with taxes. It will occur with inflation. Hang on, it will be a wild ride as the people decide they have had enough with participating in a recession and join me in being an observer.

Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!