Saudia Arabia Year 2000 Problem Conference & Exhibition
October 4-6 1999
Saudia Arabia

Posted on http://www.gulfnetec.com/GCE/Eventlist.htm

GULFNET-CE CONSULTING - these folks are scheduling a Conference & Exhibition in October 1999????? Com'on here.....can you smell greenbacks anywhere in this conference plan?

Stuff like this should have been done 3-5 years ago. Now, given the LOCATION of the conference.....we all have little time to worry and some time left to get proper fuel storage in place....

Mr. K
***remembering '70s gas lines and fist fights***

-- Mr. K (I'm@aloss4.words), March 18, 1999

Answers

Remembering shootings in gas lines, gas theft by siphoning, and a sharp increase in the price of everything. Lived uptown on St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans, very good address, $175 for a 7-room furnished apartment, $20/month for electricity in the hottest summer month (and little or no insulation). Couldn't afford it today. Five bucks would get you a full brown bag of groceries. Salaries never caught up with gas-caused inflation and this is partly why most families MUST have two earners today.

My guess is that the Arabs and the rest of OPEC will use Y2K as an excuse to raise prices again. (OPEC members will cut production by 200 million gallons/day on April 1, gas prices already rising.)

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), March 18, 1999.

It must be in GN's archives, but I seem to remember that the first regional banking y2k conference took place in Beirut just a little over a year ago. Yet, these days, it is being bandied about that Islam's banks are doing OK in their y2k schedule. And then there is that little problem of the desalinization plants. Then there is that little problem of shipping. Then there is that little embedded systems problem in the mid-East and European pipeline grid.

Wouldn't want to be living in Japan, Hawaii, Easter Island, Galapagos, Tristan de Cuana (?), or any other of those completely energy dependant, shipping dependant rocks on which people now live.

-- Mitchell Barnes (spanda@inreach.com), March 18, 1999.

Old Git wrote "My guess is that the Arabs and the rest of OPEC will use Y2K as an excuse to raise prices again"

Excuse to raise prices...EXCUSE ME Old Git...

Oil prices a couple of months ago were at prices the lowest in 30 years, and when inflation is taken into account, they were the lowest ever. I hope the oil rises to $40.00 per barrel or more!

I like to see any economy improve and thrive. What utterly pisses me off though, is this mindset that we have a right to the worlds commodities at give-away prices. No, we don't!!

You want bananas at 25cents a pound and bugger the poor guy in the field in Venezuala who makes $2.00 a day picking them!

You want oil at $10.00 per barrel and bugger the poor guy who got laid off in the oil patch in Saudi Arabia or Mexico!

You forget, that often your gain comes at someone elses loss.

Just remember, if there is nothing wrong with you wanting extremely low oil prices, there is equally nothing wrong with them wanting extremely high oil prices.

As the country song says, "Sometimes you're the windshield and sometimes you're the bug".

As far as oil goes, perhaps you've been the windshield for more than your fair share of time.

-- Craig (craig@ccinet.ab.ca), March 18, 1999.

Excuse me Craig, but we don't get what we want. We get whatever OPEC dishes out for us. Yeah, enjoy filling up the tank for less than $20.00...oooops, nope, King RagHead doesn't like that - CUT PRODUCTION and make the LIBERAL BASTARDS PAY MORE. We (common folk) like to see the poor slaving guys get a break, not get laid off, and get paid more for doing the actual work. Very few enjoy the thriving economy. Plenty of us "BUGS" out here.

The people who aren't suffering are very few. Oil moguls are the ones that make the rules. Never mind what we want. That's never a consideration. Where do you live and who do you get to dictate your every whim to? Must be a nice utopia.

Mr. K
***enjoys a nice sunny day....nobody can dictate that but GOD***

-- Mr. K (free@last.com), March 18, 1999.

Mr. K.

I agree with you it's nice to actually be able to afford to drive somewhere...something we most likely wont be able to do this time next year.

My big concern (besides the fact that it's going to cost a whole lot more to go anywhere if both the Saudis and the Venezualans are non- compliant thus impacting, right around 40 percent of our oil supply), is that this will be a great opportunity for said countries' governments to place the blame for their inaction squarely on the West. Now *that* could have some interesting repercussions.

Arlin remembering two embassy bombings last year

-- Arlin H. Adams (ahadams@ix.netcom.com), March 18, 1999.

Mr. K

You have had what you want for quite some time now.........low oil prices. That is NOT what OPEC wanted, just a reality of the law of supply and demand. They overproduced, and prices have been unreasonably low.

Obviously it is necessary to cut production to get prices into a reasonable range again. This is normal business practise. Microsoft do not pump out twice the number of components than the market will reasonably bear because it was cause the prices to drop to unprofitable levels. The same applies to the oil industry.

My point is simple. Low oil prices may be good for you, but not good for them. Yes, the free market will take care of it. If they reduce production to levels that are too low, other countries start producing more because it is then economically feasible for them to do so.

The pendulum swings......my point is quite plain....the pendulum has been in the favourable position for the oil users for a long time now.....and perhaps will swing to a more favourable position for the producers instead for a while.

If this causes you discomfort, that is unfortunate. It is them that have had the discomfort for their disproportionate share of the time during the last few years.

Also, if oil prices got too unreasonable, there would be a push to develop other forms of energy faster.

It all balances out in the end.

-- Craig (craig@ccinet.ab.ca), March 18, 1999.

Craig, Reagan slashed funding in the 1980s to alternative energy research that might have resulted in affordable solar power, for instance. It put us onto a road of oil dependence that resulted in the Gulf War. It will take both a major increase in oil prices as well as a pronounced (y2k-related?) oil shortage to see any real effort at developing alternative energy sources. The free market by itself is not enough to override Washignton's oil lobby.

-- Brooks (brooksbie@hotmail.com), March 18, 1999.

I'm not sure how successful Washington's 'Oil Lobby' has been in some areas. Overall, the industry is hurting badly from low oil prices. Massive layoffs have occured in some states and countries.

I think that Reagan did make a mistake as you said. However, I still think that the long term future of energy lies in solar, wind and perhaps other forms of alternate energy. Oil is non-renewable. Maybe it will be the fuel of choice for another 50 years, but eventually it will fade out as did coal to some degree.

In the meantime, the price of oil will fluctuate, sometimes to our advantage and other times not.

Is it moral for the USA to go to war in the middle east basically to keep the cost of oil down? It seems reasonable. On the other hand, we then don't have a lot of grounds for whining if the Sheiks do what they can to get the price back up do we?

-- Craig (craig@ccinet.ab.ca), March 18, 1999.

Craig, out of my simple prediction that OPEC members would use Y2K as an excuse to raise oil prices and what that means, you have built an amazing and unrecognizable persona and labeled it with my name. What are you, Frankenstein? I could take each bit of your post and rip it to shreds but it would take too long. Instead I'll just take this one bit:

"You forget, that often your gain comes at someone elses loss."

Do I forget, Craig? Do I? You want to hear my Dad coughing from the emphysema he got in the coal mines? If you ever had electricity from a coal-fired plant, you're partly responsible for his coming early death, Craig. Would you like to see the photos of my son picking cotton to make money for college? If you wear anything cotton, you're responsible for his aching back, burnt skin and bloody blisters. Maybe you'd like to see photos of my mother, shortly before she died of liver cancer--we think it was the work in the WWII munitions factory that did it. You ARE a product of one of the countries saved by allied bombing, aren't you? Gosh, I think you're partly responsible for her suffering too. Wanna see photos of me around the time I was sewing Jonathan Logan clothing in a New Jersey sweatshop? Did anybody in your famnily wear JL clothes? Want to see my health records of a body ruined from all the 2nd, 3rd and even 4th jobs I had to work to make a home for my child and myself? I think I could tie you in to some responsibility for my bad health as well, fellah.

All you have done is confirm for everyone that your posts and arguments have little, if any, basis in fact or reality.

By the way, I don't drive, haven't been able to since about 1974. I use public transportation quite a lot. Do you, Craig?

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), March 18, 1999.

Old Git......

My last two responses weren't even to you for heavens sake!!

You seem to be like some others in this group, that unless everything you preach is accepted unconditionally, it's not worth hearing.

Well, tough luck!!

My point was that OPEC don't need an 'excuse' to raise prices. The need to raise prices is long overdue.

Why the hang you're rambling on about your persona is anybodies guess. If you don't like reading others opinions, then go away.

Quite frankly, whether you drive or take the bus or hop on boxcars is irrelevant to this discussion. Do you want a hero medal or what?

-- Craig (craig@ccinet.ab.ca), March 18, 1999.

My point was that OPEC don't need an 'excuse' to raise prices. The need to raise prices is long overdue.

That was my point as well. It doesn't matter what commoners like us "want". However, Y2K is more than likely going to pull the plug on Yassar Clampett. Didn't you hear that a government spokesperson of theirs said "We won't have a problem with Y2K, we don't use the same calendar."

So....the price will go up - like it, want it, or not. And I'm wondering.... what makes these few people so deserving in your eyes? A healthy economy is one thing, jerking us around just because they can (we have allowed ourselves as a collective society to become dependent on oil), is less than stellar.

It is unfortunate that what balances out the workforce on one end tips the scale to where the other side nearly slides off. For instance, it is gravely unfortunate that fuel industry workers are laid off because of low oil prices. Not good for their existance at all. On the other hand, with high oil prices, the trucking industry responsible for delivering the nations foods, supplies, clothing, etc is the victim of high fuel prices, layoffs, stream-lined scheduling when the price is high enough to really pump the fuel industry and its workers (no pun intended really).

All the more need for folks to really consider true reform of living habits. Not just for Y2K, but as an extended way of life. But, I'm probably getting to practical for some people here.

Mr. K

***living large without spending a lot on gas***

-- Mr. K (snickering@oil.kings), March 18, 1999.

Craig said...

"Is it moral for the USA to go to war in the middle east basically to keep the cost of oil down? It seems reasonable."

And I say....

"aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggghhhhhhhh!!!!"

-- humptydumpty (no.6@thevillage.com), March 18, 1999.

Craig, when you begin a post with:

"Old Git wrote "My guess is that the Arabs and the rest of OPEC will use Y2K as an excuse to raise prices again"

Excuse to raise prices...EXCUSE ME Old Git..."

then I take it you are addressing me. Take Vitamin E--it's good for short-term memory loss.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), March 18, 1999.

I have an issue of "Time" magazine that includes an article on Middle East oil exploration and development. A photo of a camel topped with a rider accompanies the article that explains that the world's petroleum supply is dwindling, but "new" Arabian oil resources should be developed in time to avert any shortages.

The article continues to say that the Middle East supply may only last 20 more years, but don't despair...the government and private industry are very close to developing altnernate forms of energy to replace the dependance on petroleum products.

The same issue also discusses the two new Members of Congress. Two unknownyoung men elected for the first time... Richard M. Nixon and John F. Kennedy. The issue is December, 1946.

-- PNG (png@gol.com), March 18, 1999.

What bullshit. Opec has been trying to raise oil prices fo 10 years. Haven't been able to because of supply and demand. Much more supply then demand, and OPEC no longer contols enough oil to make a monopoly. The price of oil is set by the market and it's right where it belongs. IF the supply drops prices will go up. Then all you idiots so eager to see higher prices will whine when inflation rockets up and the poor guy making 2 bucks a day now still makes 2 bucks but can't afford to eat now....

-- wiseGuy (BS@lib.guv), March 22, 1999.