Several oil and gas experts have been testifying in front of the US Senate recently as part of the debate on drilling for oil in Alaska. These experts claim that world-wide oil production will peak in 2010, and then drop quickly as wells start to go low and producers start to pace output to sustain high profits over the long term. Oil requirements from industrialization in China and India will put greater demands upon supply. The experts estimate gas in the US will see $4/gallon in 2010 and $8/gallon is possible after 2015.

Whatever DC can do to make the Magnum achieve a lower CD and be more fuel efficient sure seems like job #1. Mercedes I-6 direct injection diesel engine would seem the largest improvement. 6-speed auto? Lower sloped grill and hood like Charger? Fiberglass hood? A 500 lb weight savings seems possible.

 

quote These experts claim that world-wide oil production will peak in 2010, and then drop quickly as wells start to go low unquote
That's simply not accurate - OPEC can pump for quite a few years longer, Russia is still underdeveloped. More importantly a LOT of presently shut down wells will come back on-line and alternative methods will start up. It is believed shale oil is of greater supply than Saudi oil - just not economic. Supply will be there but price will definitely go up - so "experts" were half right unless they were ONLY talkng about todays conventional wells. Bet they conveniently left that part out! So how long? Depends, Qatar is sitting on an absolutely VAST natural gas field - we just need LNG tankers and ports and gas powered cars to ease the oil shortage - and LNG tankers are in the works. STILL why do you think I bought a Magnum with MDS versus a Ram Conversion without?

 

As high as gas prices are today, we are still paying way less than the average world prices. Also, if gas prices kept up with inflation, we would have been paying this much for gas three years ago. This like anything else we pay for, is something we just need to get used to, and if we want to save money, we need to change our driving habits and consider ways of driving less. It sucks I know, but those are the facts. [sm=boosign.gif]

 

And in 2004 Exxon's net corporate income was 25.3 billion and all business segements reporting record earnings. Return on capital was 24%...
It makes one wonder, huh... Things don't just happen in the business world. Rather like the recent energy crisis in California....20% actual, 80% contrived. While gas prices in the US shot up, prices in Europe (most of it's tax) changed very little. I've actually seen a few stations with lower prices than a few years ago. Heating oil in 2001 was 33.00 per 100 liters...it's now 39.90 per 100. That's really not a big gain.
No, where there's money to be made the corporate vultures will circle...
As a point of interest, my 2000 Saab 2.0 liter 4 cylinder turbo was getting 17 mpg over the course home a few years ago. I'm getting 16.2 in my Magnum. Not bad considering I'm averaging about 28 mph (stop and go...traffic jams...etc)

 

How much you want to bet syntheics or some sort of alternaive fuel will be developed -- or just plain taken out of the vault, dusted off and marketed -- to slake our thirst?

The savings just from using long-interval synthetic oil versus dino juice has got to be more than a little.

If this is indeed the end of the V8 era at least we're all going out with a hell of a bang. Besides, nobody who bought one of these cars was looking for fuel economy as anything other than an ancillary consideration.

 

Thank You for Cylinder Deactivation!

Oh, yea... No way will that stop me from driving!

Really, by the time the gas prices jump like that, don't you expect to make more money, to offset the rising costs. I bet Bread and Milk will be more in 2010 and 2015 too, but I won't stop eating and drinking.

Make more money and have fun in the process.

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If you're posting in a magnum forum and complaining about gas prices... You chose the wrong car... I hear there's a great deal on a Prius... Here's a chart of historic gas prices, including correction for inflation.