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Local
oil companies pared their gasoline prices by a measly P1
per liter the other day. A “rollback” it certainly
wasn’t. And yet, an oil-company executive had the cheek
to remark they wanted to give car owners “relief.”
The
truth is that there was nothing altruistic about shaving
100 centavos from the price of gasoline. The truth is
that the oil companies—both the local distributors and
the international majors—are beginning to experience the
inevitable backlash of their corporate cupidity.
More and
more private-car owners are opting for public
transport—resulting in, among other developments, a
steep rise in the number of commuter-train passengers.
Those who have no choice but to use their vehicles have
become more careful in planning their trips. Motorists
have begun to take fuel-saving tips more seriously.
Result:
There are now fewer cars on the road even during the
usual rush hours, which can only mean that the demand
for exorbitantly priced gasoline and diesel fuel is
decreasing. Meanwhile, those who can afford the switch
are opting for auto liquefied petroleum gas, which is
not only cheaper but also less polluting.
In other
countries, a similar trend has developed. Take the case
of the world’s biggest oil consumer. Wire reports from
the United States showed that gasoline inventories were
up by 900,000 barrels for the week, nearly double the
500,000-barrel boost expected by Platts, the energy
analysis division of McGraw-Hill.
An
industry expert said the rise in supplies hinted that
“demand for gasoline is tapering off.” Meanwhile, an
energy analyst was quoted saying refiners “are probably
getting worried of building up stocks. . . that
consumers may not want to buy.”
Gasoline
inventories are up, which only goes to prove—again—that
production was never a factor in the astronomical rise
in gasoline and diesel prices these past several months.
The world’s petroleum reserves are still huge and the
oil producers continue to pump it out at substantially
the same rate as before. What had changed—in a big
way—was the desire of oil producers, refiners and
speculators to make more money out of the black stuff.
So
pronounced is the decline in fuel use that world crude
prices have dropped from $6 to $9 a barrel earlier this
week despite the threat of yet another Mideast conflict
as tensions escalate over Iran’s nuclear program, a
prospect that is about as apocalyptic as anything can
get.
According to optimistic scenario-builders, oil would
peak then take a nosedive as prices reach unreasonable
heights and trigger massive economic dislocation
worldwide. A cursory review of small economies, such as
ours, and the biggest ones, like the United States,
gives ample proof that skyrocketing oil prices
constitute the biggest economic disaster in recent
memory. However, it might be premature to declare that
the “oil bubble” has finally burst.
What the
retreating oil prices, no matter how slight, do prove is
that consumers are not entirely hopeless. They can
either succumb to the demands of oil producers, refiners
and speculators—or take the sensible option: move away
from petroleum addiction and aim for energy
independence.
The
astronomical rise in oil prices has been characterized
as history’s biggest plunder of treasure, paralleling
the massive looting Europeans undertook from the 16th to
the 18th centuries when they robbed the natives of the
Western Hemisphere of gold, precious stones and other
resources. However, it has also forced a momentous shift
in how consumers understand the strategic implications
of petroleum.
Take the
case, again, of the United States, where even a Texas
oilman T. Boone Pickens has proposed erecting wind farms
all across the Midwest. Wind energy, he proposed, would
supplant the natural gas and oil now used to generate
electricity. In turn, domestic natural gas could be
channeled to power motor vehicles—minimizing America’s
dependence on imported oil, which currently runs to
about 70 percent. This is one proposal that even the
Philippines ought to seriously consider.
The oil
bubble may not yet have burst, but the petroleum era has
certainly begun to end. Hurrah! |
