Energy expert: U.S. gasoline use may have peaked

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.pressconnects.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080625/NEWS01/806250354

Energy expert: U.S. gasoline use may have peaked

By Brian Tumulty • Washington Bureau • June 25, 2008

WASHINGTON -- Gasoline use in the United States appears to have peaked last year, and the worldwide increase in demand for oil is slowing, Pulitzer Prize winning author and energy expert Daniel Yergin told a Senate-House panel Wednesday.
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Worldwide demand for oil will grow by about 900,000 barrels a day this year, down from its recent rate of 1 million barrels a day, Yergin testified.

Although Yergin did not predict whether the recent peak price of $139 a barrel for oil would be broken, he said the current run-up in prices has created a "break point"' that is slowing demand.

"Pressure on markets, the impact on consumers and on the economy, the shifts at hand, tell us that a break point is at hand," said Yergin, chairman of Cambridge Energy Research Associates. "Markets cannot go up forever. We're already seeing a response."

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[elocs]

1. "May" is a big word.

Any word on when gasoline use in China and India "may" peak? Imagine their disappointment when they learn that the world's pie is not big enough for them to have the same sized slice for their billions as we have for our 300 million.

[Andy823]

2. Well at over $4 a gallon

It was bound to happen.

People just can't afford the drive like they used to, and so demand is down. That does not stop speculators from jacking the price up though. This is a last ditch effort by Bush's "base" those who have more than most, to make a big killing on the commodities market with oil and food. Their "greed" is running rampant, and they will stop at nothing to get more money. Congress can stop this if they want to, and any member of congress running for election this year should be pushing bills to regulate the markets on oil and food, and get rid of the "Enron loophole" that allows such greed to run rampant. If Reed an Pelosi will bring such bills to the floor instead of trying to play politics, we could get some relief in as soon as 30 to 60 days according to some experts that testified in congress on Monday.

It really pisses me off that our leaders in congress are not doing their job. This should have been addressed a couple of years ago, last year at the latest, instead of waiting till gas hit over $4 a gallon. If I lived in California or Nevada, you can bet that these two would "NEVER" get my vote again, and I would do everything I could to find another democrat to run against them!

[Dover]

3. Perhaps oil companies were testing the waters for that break point.

Wanting to gauge just how high they could safely go.