After reading Mr. Bishop’s letter I could not think of anything else but the dismal lack of understanding in our country on how the economy really works. First of all, Mr. Bush’s rich buddies may exist but they do not control the price of anything. The law of supply and demand dictates the price.

Also, Brazil is not totally free of oil. As a matter of fact, here is something Mr. Bishop needs to read before he keeps complaining.

Brazil doesn’t need to import heavy crudes because Brazil already exports from 250,000 to 300,000 barrels a days of heavy crude at a loss from the Campos Basin so they can import light products and oils. Brazil’s oil company is Petrobras.

World oil production today is barely able to keep pace with world demand. The North Sea is exhausting its recoverable reserves. Mexican output may have passed its peak. Political disruptions are reducing exports from Nigeria and Iraq as other OPEC countries pump at near capacity while demand surges in China, India and the United States. New producing regions in Russia and Central Asia are exposed to political risks.

“Extreme uncertainty has been a constant theme for the past few years,” the International Energy Agency (IEA) reported recently.

Amid this uncertainty, the decline and disorganization of Venezuela’s oil industry may be as important to the world economy as Venezuela was a half-century ago, when global output was expanding fast and Venezuela was the world’s leading oil exporter.

In today’s tight oil market, with world production and consumption hovering around 85 MBD, a further loss in Venezuela of 1 million barrels per day would generate more price spikes and increased anxiety.

Venezuelan crude oil supply fell 8,100 bpd in March in comparison to February, from 2.6 million barrels per day to 2.59 , said the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in its monthly report on the world oil markets.

Venezuela, whose production has been on a slow yet steady fall since last year, was not the only OPEC member that recorded a production decrease last month. As a whole, all OPEC countries saw oil output down 191,000 barrels per day, from 29.8 Mbpd in February to 29.61 Mbpd in March. By the way, CITGO is Venezuela’s oil company

The United States is the third largest producer of oil in the world. Our domestic oil industry has been hog-tied by the environmentalists and the EPA.

Right now we have refineries that have shut down so that they can reformulate their refining blends. Why? Because precious environmental activists have demanded somewhere around 55 special blends for various areas of the country to answer specific environmental concerns. So, if your station runs short, you might what to thank your local tree-hugging, global-warming alarmist.

Next we have the shortage of refining capacity, not a single refinery has been built in our country in the last 38 years even as our fuel consumption increases. Ethanol is now in short supply and high in price because there is just not enough.

We have a big amount of oil in Alaska (ANWR) and in the Gulf. It is estimated the Gulf alone has as much oil as Saudi Arabia, More than enough to take care of our needs until the new substitute for oil is developed.

But Florida senators think that their state is too good to allow drilling off shore and the environmentalists are trying to block ANWR. In the Green River formation which comprises parts of Wyoming, Utah and Colorado we have a huge deposit of oil shale estimated to hold 1.5 to 1.8 TRILLION barrels which would yield 800 BILLION barrels of oil, more than three times the Saudi reserves.

If we had to depend on this location alone we would have enough of our needs for 100 years. If we would use it to take the place of our imported oil we would have enough for 400 years. Here is another case of the environmentalism standing in the way.

Meanwhile the politicians try to place the blame on the oil companies and do nothing to get our country into self-sufficiency while continuing to be dependent on countries that are not our friends. If they wanted to lower the price at the pump they could defer the taxes on gasoline and diesel but they just will not do it, they just want to blame the evil oil companies.

In closing, here is something that will get your attention: In Holland the price of gasoline is $5.67 per gallon. Do you hear them complain? Check England, France, Germany and see what they are paying.

We could be paying a lot less but the will is not there.

Gerard Jansen
Peachtree City, Ga.

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