Gateway Pundit on gas shortages in China;
The Chinese government has sent thousands of police to petrol stations in the southern city of Guangzhou to prevent social unrest as drivers scramble to fill their tanks, the Hong Kong Economic Times reported on Thursday.
The paper said authorities had sent a large number of public security officers as well as paramilitary police to fuel stations amid fears that the latest fuel shortage could spark social instability.
“Several thousand public security officers and paramilitary police have been stationed at the 547 filling stations across Guangzhou in recent days,” the paper said.
Via Instapundit
Background: “Fueling The Dragon”
Gasoline is $113.2 at Shell in the Vancouver area today. People will only take so much. I predict a trucker’s strike soon. Then what will people do when they go to their local grocery store and see nothing on the shelves.
This is of course all planned out. The large corporations who own the energy sector and the futures market are orchestrating this. And the governments they’re in bed with are supporting them. All this at a time when there is no shortage of oil.
If you don’t think this is true then explain to me why Shell Oil, and others, have closed down so many refineries lately. It couldn’t be to create a shortage could it?
I’m sure that the Chinese will come up with an alternative fuel — perhaps freeze-dried and ground up dissidents, or something. Life is cheaper than gasoline, after all.
Price fixing: normally I would agree with John C., but recently prices in the east end of Toronto and along the 50 KM corridor in which I travel between work and home have been out of whack — some places are at $1.03 or so, others are at $0.96 (and they’re not keeping the price down because their street signs can’t display a dollar value). I really am surprised that so many stations are out of synch on their prices — they are usually totally aligned and all at the same price, or close within a few tenths.
I’m wondering if the dollar-plus price has scared some station owners and they’re not willing to charge that much. Perhaps they fear the resentment the price will generate, and realise that they may lose business that way.
Is there anyone here in the retail gas business who can comment on how flexible stations can be with their pump prices?
Chinese gas thieves
Cars are not the only thing the Chinese are rushing to fill. We can’t forget the bags of natural gas.
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People will have to get used to high gas prices. They aren’t going away. The two most populous nations on earth (India and China) are growing too fast for the supply of oil to keep up.
If you’re pissed now, wait until $2 or $3 a littre gas… Time to sell the Hummer.
Oh, and I find it amazing that conservatives want the government out of the economy until gas goes up. Then you hear them crying for the government to “do something about the evil corporations” as if they’re from MoveOn.Org or something.
Supply and demand ladies and gentlemen, supply and demand… There may be taxes involved but as the price rises, the percentage of tax falls. It’s world prices that are responsible for the price at the pump. Not the government.
If taxes are to be cut, cut income taxes.
This must make David Anderson, M.P. for Victoria, B.C. very happy. A few years ago, when he was in the process of forcing Kyoto plans down our troats, I heard him say that he would not be ‘happy’ until gas prices were $1.40 per litre. BTW the city of Victoria still pumps raw sewage into the Pacific Ocean. This was the Liberano ENVIRONMENT minister under Jean, the Pitiful Thug.
Simple explanation: Chinese oil subsidies lead to shortages.
Lickbuffin. In the BC Lower Mainland it’s normal for prices to fluctuate more than $0.15/litre. Lots of local price wars. I also know that prices vary so as to take advantage of the high sales points each week. Early Monday prices are always highest. Prices on holiday weekends are also always high. In my opinion this is gouging.
In the Lower Mainland today one price I saw was $1.132/litre. This equates to $5.146/gallon. It sounds worse when quote in gallons doesn’t it?
Warwick. I am indeed a free enterpriser and do not support socialism. But I am not on the side of big corporations. Do some research into cartels and price fixing (Enron comes to mind), as well as the few filthy rich families, the large corporations they control, and the governments who support them, and you will see who really rules the world. These same people also own the Liberal Party of Canada.
It is a very complicated and insidious situation. But this whole scenario is orchestrated.
Jema54. Have you taken a walk in Victoria along the shore near the outflow? Sometimes you can really smell it. The sewage debate has been going on for years in Victoria. They have virtually no sewage treatment. More than 120 million litres of raw sewage are discharged every day from outfalls at Macaulay Point and Clover Point. I believe some of it is screened but it isn’t treated. The thought of it makes me sick. It’s simply amazing that this can happen in today’s world. Says a lot about the political decisions being made in BC and, especially, Victoria. Can’t blame any party either. The Social Credit, NDP and Liberals have all had a chance to do something and they’ve all chosen to do nothing.
The reason that Shell and other oil companies shut down their refineries was that it was not economical to run the old ones without major environmental upgrades.
Don’t blame the oil companies. Blame the government which insisted on imposing new environmental rules before the companies had time to build new refineries and blame the consumers who all said thay would not pay higher prices to pay for the necessary upgrades.
Oh, and one more thing. Good old fashioned NIMBY. No one wants to see an oil refinery built “in their back yard.”
Two Cents, blame the consumers? Since when do the oil companies take into account what the consumers wants to pay for gas???
NIMBY, yeah, like Bhopal, Love Canal and Chernobyl. Most people would take up arms if a halfway house was built within 2 blocks of their house but you seem to say they should open their minds to a refinery? How about building the refinery in the oil fields, or as close to them as possible?
China’s economy is growing at a breakneck pace. Pump prices are regulated by Beijing (4 yuan, or about $0.60/litre), and it’s rumored here that gas rationing is being used to regulate the regional economy. Supply problems certainly have something to do with it, too.
It’s been known for some time that China is running out of refinery capacity, requiring increased imports of refined product. Refinery upgrades can’t keep up. Recent typhoons have temporarily disrupted the supply chain, highlighting just how sensitive it is. (I almost ran out of gas leaving Guangzhou in the middle of the last typhoon. Talk about a one-two punch).
Massive demand is coming up against limited supply. And I mean massive. Heavy construction almost everywhere you look, such as highrises, bridges, freeways. I’ve never seen anything like this anywhere. I’m not an expert by any means, but I can’t see how this kind of activity could NOT impact global energy prices.
And why all the new freeways, I pondered. In anticipation of all the new cars to hit the roads, of course. I wouldn’t expect oil prices to come down much from here on.
My boss just adopted a baby from China. When he went there to collect the little moppet he couldn’t believe the place. Air was yellow and you couldn’t see more than a mile.
The construction was apparantly unreal.
Warwick, what conservative has been demanding that government do something about evil corporations? I’ve seen calls for government to stop inflating the purchase price through taxation, and that’s it.
I’m not being snide here. There are far too many jerks who call themselves “conservative” and are just Libranos playing games. The more of them we out, the healthier conservatism will be. So who are you talking about?