Friday, February 25, 2011

Zandar's Thought Of The Day

Wondering what $100 plus per barrel oil means to you?  Here's your chart of the day from Zero Hedge.

http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/von%20havenstein/Oil%20Primer.jpg


Bottom line, on average every $10 rise in the price of oil costs Americans $185 per year, per car.

The price of oil has jumped $15 a barrel since the unrest in Libya started late last week. For the average two-car family, that's about $50 in disposable income per month that will vanish starting now. If oil goes back up to the record nominal price of $135 a barrel where it was in July 2008, that $50 a month becomes $163 a month in additional gas expenses for a two car family (which would quickly make it a one-car family again.)

This is just the gasoline impact. This chart doesn't even begin to factor in the additional cost of items trucked into stores and food grown with petroleum-based pesticides. The total additional cost to the average family would be even higher.

If we saw $150 a barrel oil and $5 a gallon gas, you would see a massive social change in the country. If truckers went on strike to protest $5+ per gallon diesel, all bets would be off where you live.

A $10 to $15 per barrel spike in oil is not a good thing for our economy. Any higher than $100 and we're looking at a trip back into Recessionville. At $150 that becomes Depression City.

Food for thought.

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