Oil prices - What's the breaking point for you?

[pundit]

At what point do you need to rethink your car/living expenses?

Apart from gas at the pump, increased oil prices will feed into transportation, food production and manufacturing costs across the board.

As we are now close to 'peak oil' (if not we're there already), oil prices are going to skyrocket over the next few years.

Currently at $120.00 per barrel, anaylists predict $200.00 per barrel by the end of 2009 and $300.00 per barrel by the end of 2010 and climbing.

As for the biofuel alternative; the increased production of biofuels is now seriously impacting on global food prices particularly in poor countries.

Coupled with the mortgage crisis, record debt and looming rescession what are your plans for long term economic survival?

Are you hoping it will all sort itself out and that oil will soon drop back under $100.00 per barrel (wishful thinking) or are you actively planning a strategy?

Who's looking at their E34 and wondering at what point they won't be able to afford to fill the tank.

So will you then leave it in the garage hoping that things will improve, or sell it before you can't give it away?

We are living in interesting times!

[repenttokyo]

my strategy: with my move to the states, my fuel costs will go down 30 percent, so there's no real crisis for me at this time.

[BigKriss]

give her some LPG

[Qube]

It's still worth it... at home in Toronto, it's $1.19 a litre. In Montreal, I didn't even try to fill up at $1.34!

[BMWDriver]

It's beginning to worry me a bit. Indeed, everything's bound to go up in prices. My number one priority is food. The car can sit on the tar because I use public transit for work. But, I don't use it that much, so it's no real cause for stress.

Speculation seems to be the problem; I read in an article that buyers with strong currency begin to find petroleum more attractive because the American dollar keeps going down, so they are buying a lot and driving prices up.

A few are making a buck on our back without much regard for humanity's sake, or so one might think.

[pundit]

... Speculation seems to be the problem; I read in an article that buyers with strong currency begin to find petroleum more attractive because the American dollar keeps going down, so they are buying a lot and driving prices up.

A few are making a buck on our back without much regard for humanity's sake, or so one might think.

Speculation is a big part of it without a doubt.

I think there will be a point where there will be an outcry over speculative trading of oil, (well there is now really) but will that really change the situation with Bush & Co?

You only have to look at the all the Republican Party 'oil men' to see that is unlikely to happen on their watch.

George is now putting the Alaskan wilderness back on the agenda.

There is still plenty of oil in the ground but it is getting harder to get it out and production costs are going up and up.

It's like gold a few years back; many gold mines had become unprofitable, now that the gold price has gone up in the past couple of years many mines have reopened.

[pgrindstaff]

I'll keep buying till it just isn't feasable anymore but I would really like to see what would happen if the speculators took a month off. I have a feeling we'd get some relief real quick. This is just wishful thinking though, they make too much money by driving the price of oil up.

[525i winter driver]

i don't drive much... summers i bicycle, and work's not far anyway. i think the whole world needs to use cars way way less and that we don't even take good enough care of the ones we have and we use them recklessly. i think gas prices should be higher, prohibitive transportation costs (instead of taxes) ought to force us to shop locally and seasonally, and that we should use hXmp for biofuel instead of food. (yes, we can) an inconvenience for most of us is already spelling disaster for billions of poor people.

anyway, gas is nothing compared to how much i spend on parts!

[Paul in NZ]

its all relative,because alternative forms of transport will increase the same(proportionally) eg trains buses trams ,whatever they all use oil in some form or another...so the cost of getting to work and the cost of getting supplied is going to skyrocket,bio fuel is not the answer we can hardly grow enough food now.....for the moment i will keep using the 535 and drive it as econonomically as possible.Push bike and motorbikes are the next step for me but i will prolly keep the 5.Only a very small modern car is going to use appreciable less petrol or diesel.We need fusion.......

[repenttokyo]

if hybrids aren't the answer then what is the answer?