You ain't seen nothing yet -- €3 a litre is on the way

quad_red

:eek:

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/thomas-molloy-you-aint-seen-nothing-yet-euro3-a-litre-is-on-the-way-2571343.html

You ain't seen nothing yet -- €3 a litre is on the way

AS China's and India's massive new middle classes swell by tens of millions every year, more people are buying more things across the world -- leading to sharp price increases in everything from oil and gold to wheat and onions.

While many economists warn of a commodities bubble caused by speculators, there is little doubt that the factories in the emerging economies -- as well as the expanding US and European economies -- are devouring vast amounts of raw materials.

Wealthy consumers only notice commodity inflation when the cost of oil rises but the world's poorer nations have been suffering political unrest for sometime because surging food prices cause unrest in urban areas of poor countries.

In India, there were riots in January after the price of onions soared, while Indonesia saw protests as chilli prices increased fivefold last year.

Record wheat prices triggered unrest in many parts of North Africa this year, which helped to destabilise governments in Egypt and Tunisia. It is the knock-on effects from those protests that have pushed Libya over the edge and led to a new surge in oil prices.

Here in the West, the price of a loaf of bread or a pint of milk tends to be little affected by rising raw materials because most of the cost goes into the packaging, advertising and transport of goods.

Surging oil prices change this equation in countries such as Ireland, where apples are routinely shipped from New Zealand and most products grown here are helped along by fertiliser, which is made from oil.

As oil prices rise, that trip from New Zealand becomes more expensive, as does the plastic packaging. Even pigs and other farm animals are often fed with by-products from the oil industry, which means that the cost of both growing food products and transporting them can rise quickly.

While the current spike in crude prices has an obvious trigger -- the unrest in Libya and fears that it will spread to Saudi Arabia -- the big picture is that Chinese and Indian demand for the world's dwindling supply of oil and other finite resources will continue to push up oil and other commodities.

We may soon look back on present prices with nostalgia as we fill up with petrol at €3 or €4 a litre.

- Thomas Molloy

If Thomas had defined what soon is "We may soon look back on present prices with nostalgia as we fill up with petrol at €3 or €4 a litre" I'd be less inclined to view that article as drivel.

andyseadog

LOL

listermint

It may also snow on December 25th this year, but we are just not sure as it is quite far off. But it does get cold. Who knows. Tune in to find out what happens...

Wats_in_a_name

Any BS counts as news these days.

W.Shakes-Beer

Sounds like scaremongering to be honest.

baldbear

why didn't he just say €5 or €10 a litre on the way. He's pulling figures out of the air.

bazz26

Typical tabloid journalism.
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Now, I'm off to buy some big drum barrels so I can buy large amounts of diesel pending the end of western society as we know it.

Matt Simis

If you stockpiled it now at 1.50 a litre, imagine the profits to be made reselling it in 12mths.. !

Max Power1

unsubstantiated scarmongering.

Of course we will hit those prices as oil declines. Should not be for ages yet imo

coylemj

Typical Indo page filler - wild speculation and nothing more.

gbee

This is seriously fantastic news. Economists send out codes of what to expect, the last time this shout was heard was for reaching €2 a litre, the price collapsed the following month to below €1.

FANTASTIC.

It's like when that HK stock trader coined the phrase Celtic Tiger, I knew the end was in sight.

I hope they say it's going to €4 a litre next week. The good time are here again ... yipeee!!!!!

Jimmy Garlic

€3 a litre = end of what's left of the Irish economy and a stepping stone to third world status. Currently the government takes 70% of the price of a litre in tax, if they don't do something about that robbery then whatever happens to the remnants of the Irish economy as a result of high fuel prices will be on their heads.

yop

And the end of the world was last November.

Scaremongering and nothing else.

droidus

I think the trend is obvious.

robtri

listermint wrote: »

It may also snow on December 25th this year, but we are just not sure as it is quite far off. But it does get cold. Who knows. Tune in to find out what happens...

and we are not sure in which year on the 25th it will snow either....

dumb article

Big Nasty

paddydriver

Matt Simis wrote: »

If you stockpiled it now at 1.50 a litre, imagine the profits to be made reselling it in 12mths.. !

That idea might go up in smoke if you don't properly think it through;)

RoverJames

RoverJames wrote: »

If Thomas had defined what soon is "We may soon look back on present prices with nostalgia as we fill up with petrol at €3 or €4 a litre" I'd be less inclined to view that article as drivel.

Typical Irish response right there.

Someone suggusts what may happen in the future using a perfectly valid basis, and it is totally dismissed.

Mmm, that reminds me of something else...

Alanstrainor

salonfire wrote: »

Typical Irish response right there.

Someone suggusts what may happen in the future using a perfectly valid basis, and it is totally dismissed.

Mmm, that reminds me of something else...

The argument may be "valid" but it doesn't make it a good one. It's a load of rubbish. He's right; some day in the future petrol prices will increase to 3euro a litre, but they'll also increase to 10euro a litre too...eventually. All he's doing is stating the obvious and trying to back it up with facts that everyone has known about for a long time.

Shane732

Shane732

salonfire wrote: »

Typical Irish response right there.

Someone suggusts what may happen in the future using a perfectly valid basis, and it is totally dismissed.

Mmm, that reminds me of something else...

What a load of crap

€2 a litre maybe but €3 for a litre of petrol ? :eek:

Lazy journalism.

Dartz

€3 a litre of petrol.

Government'll love it. €2-odd in tax.

unkel

Dartz wrote: »

€3 a litre of petrol.

Government'll love it. €2.50-odd in tax.

FYP

Bandara

Matt Simis wrote: »

If you stockpiled it now at 1.50 a litre, imagine the profits to be made reselling it in 12mths.. !

Oh Lordy, be still my beating heart....

Max_Damage

There is too many people on the planet too.

While it may be a terrible thing to say, but a plague or something is needed to cull the population by at least 2 billion.

bazz26

Max_Damage wrote: »

There is too many people on the planet too.

While it may be a terrible thing to say, but a plague or something is needed to cull the population by at least 2 billion.

Well next year is 2012 so we are due something big according to the Myans.

-Chris-

Hammertime wrote: »

Oh Lordy, be still my beating heart....

You should get ahead of the curve and start charging €3 per litre now. You'd be in all the newspapers and everything. Imagine the publicity!!


:D

amacachi

-Chris- wrote: »

You should get ahead of the curve and start charging €3 per litre now. You'd be in all the newspapers and everything. Imagine the publicity!!


:D

Aye, like that knob who paid for the first ever $100 barrels of oil when it was trading a couple of dolars below it.

padma

that article seems like it was printed just to make us accept 1:50 per litre.

blastman

Max_Damage wrote: »

There is too many people on the planet too.

While it may be a terrible thing to say, but a plague or something is needed to cull the population by at least 2 billion.

I was wondering when you would show up, Reverend, since the Indo didn't have the decency to quote you directly...