The ACNielsen/ Age poll says 54 per cent of us think petrol prices are rising because of overseas forces beyond the Government's control. But 75 per cent of us think the Government has not done enough about it.There is actually little correlation between crude oil prices and petrol prices over the last couple of years, other than both have gone UP. The market jumps prices at any sign of a crisis, regardless of any actual data to back up threats to oil supply. As much as economists wish the market was rational, it really isn't. Which is another rant altogether.
(The Age, The World's Running Out of Petrol.)
It is quite possible that oil reserves of OPEC nations have been overstated for 20 years, the oil companies know this, and that's why they are taking the opportunity to make as much profit as possible. Each OPEC nation is allowed to take out oil in proportion to their total held reserves, so about 20 years ago everyone's reserves were recalculated, meaning that countries could take more oil out in any given year.
What shits me most about the whole thing is that the government is going to spend ridiculous amounts of money on propping up a broken system with LPG conversion subsidies* rather than say, invest in efficient modes of public transport, which is really a much more logical apporach, albeit longer term (which is why the government won't do it, because 3 years is not long enough for real accountability and that is very definitely another rant). And then, if your public transport is electric, you can hook up some nuclear reactors or you know, something that doesn't work, like wind farms or yogic flyers, and get rid of the ecological disaster that is coal.
* At least LPG is cleaner than petrol. And Australia has shitloads of it.
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