$7.00 at the pump – coming to a location close to you

ADMIN’S NOTE … Interesting, as I had forecasted several months ago that the year 2009 is gonna be very rough on Americans …

Seems that other’s around the world agree, and paint a very dim future world-wide …

Gazprom, Russia’s gas monopoly, on Tuesday predicted oil prices would reach $250 a barrel in 2009.

The striking prediction came as the International Energy Agency, the developed world’s energy watchdog, warned that record high prices were needed to choke off demand in order to balance the oil market.

It is the IEA’s most candid admission to date that oil supply is struggling to catch up with Asian demand, and follows the sharp rise in prices last week, which saw crude jump more than $16.24 in less than 36 hours to a record $139.12.

Asia and other foreign countries are driving up the demand, sucking the wells dry

Time-Warner wants to charge you an Internet “Meter Fee”

By Peter Svensson – AP Technology Writer – June 3, 2008

NEW YORK (AP) - You’re used to paying extra if you use up your cell phone minutes, but will you be willing to pay extra if your home computer goes over its Internet allowance?

Time Warner Cable Inc. customers — and, later, others — may have to, if the company’s test of metered Internet access is successful.

On Thursday, new Time Warner Cable Internet subscribers in Beaumont, Texas, will have monthly allowances for the amount of data they upload and download.

Those who go over will be charged $1 per gigabyte, a Time Warner Cable executive told the Associated Press.

Metered billing is an attempt to deal fairly with Internet usage, which is very uneven among Time Warner Cable’s subscribers, said Kevin Leddy, Time Warner Cable’s executive vice president of advanced technology.

This will be as popular as a turd in a punchbowl …

GM closing 4 truck and SUV plants in North America

By Associated Press – June 3, 2008 …

WILMINGTON, Del. - General Motors is closing four truck and SUV plants in the U.S., Canada and Mexico as surging fuel prices hasten a dramatic shift to smaller vehicles.

CEO Rick Wagoner said Tuesday before the automaker’s annual meeting in Delaware the plants to be closed are in Oshawa, Ontario; Moraine, Ohio; Janesville, Wis.; and Toluca, Mexico.

He also said the iconic Hummer brand may be discontinued.

Wagoner said the GM board has approved production of a new small Chevrolet car at a plant in Lordstown, Ohio, in mid-2010 and the Chevy Volt electric vehicle in Detroit.

Wagoner said GM’s board approved the production schedule of the Chevrolet Volt

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GM plans to bring on-line around 2010 the “All-Electric” Chevrolet Volt … a technological breakthrough required to make this concept a reality is a large lithium-ion battery.

This type of electric car, which the technical community calls an “EV range-extender,” would require a battery pack that weighs nearly 400 pounds.

Some experts predict that such a battery – or a similar battery – could be production-ready by 2010.

The images below are clickable to see them full-size…

Hurricane season is here – $150 for oil is a reality too

By Associated Press and Kiplinger Business Center – May 30, 2008 …

I just recently predicted oil would get to around $200 per barrel, and it looks like I’m right on target … price of oil expected to rise on news that busy hurricane season in Gulf of Mexico will push cost of barrels to $150

Meteorologists are predicting a busy hurricane season this year, and any direct hit on the Gulf of Mexico’s extensive oil and gas infrastructure could easily send already sky-high oil prices rocketing past $150 a barrel.

But predicting whether, much less where a big storm will strike, is tricky business. Energy markets haven’t priced in a potential catastrophe, and won’t factor in a hurricane until a storm actually forms.

The 2005 hurricane season was one of the most destructive in history

One powerful Hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico would put gasoline at $6.00 a gallon