One Job & Two Houses

I'm pretty sure that most Americans are muttering to themselves, "Screw North African democracy; I want my $2.75 gasoline back."

Not a single U.S. consumer was likely aware how much oil Libya produces, at least not before last Tuesday.

Libya sits atop ~40 billion barrels, the largest reserve in Africa, which to most American consumers seems like a lot. "Dude, I only use, like, one tank a week." But this grand nation of ours burns a billion barrels every 50 days to keep our WalMart shelves stocked with imported plastic consumables from China. Every fifty days.

Go back to 2005. Remember that year? Back when we were living large, when our housal units were rising 20% every year, when that guy who stocked those WalMart shelves could live quite comfortably with his one job while flipping two houses he bought on margin. Since then, this nation has consumed the equivalent of all the oil underneath Libya. Just this one nation -- not considering the other 6.5 billion people in the world.

And since then we've gone from one job and two houses to two jobs and no house, if you were one of the lucky ones who still had a job stocking shelves. Between 2005 and today we've consumed all the oil underneath the country with the most oil in Africa.

Yep, Libya produces just 2% of world production, but as oil is priced on the margin like kilowatts are at the California ISO, small supply disruptions can have wild effects on prices. The $100 a barrel is for that last barrel bought -- it's not as if all barrels are priced at that point. I'd bet that 75% of all oil is bought and sold through bilateral contracts, while the remainder is purchased at spot or near-spot. $100 represents fear that two percent might be curtailed.

Of course as a monologist who decries our suburban layouts, our extreme energy dependence, our hallucinated non-productive economy, and our failures to think and act sustainably, $3.70 gas brings a tear to my eye. I'd probably find more joy in $7.30 gas, but hey, I'll take what I can get. This isn't anywhere near enough to get people to change their habits and actions but at least I get to chuckle a little. It'll be reported that "nobody could see this coming." Uh-huh. Just like nobody could see the housal unit crash. We'll just take it that a little instability in the Middle East, er, North Africa, was what's causing this...not our total dependence on foreign energy.

If it weren't for the extra nickel it costs for gas, we'd still be wondering where Libya was on the map...