Rising oil puts pressure on rural life
The rise in oil price affects those in rural areas most but on the positive side it’s good for the environment and it might curb the obesity problem ?
Obviously those of us who live in the countryside over 20 miles from any major conurbation will be hit hardest by the recent hike in oil prices. We rely on our cars to get to workplaces, schools, the shops and for our general daily existence. The lack of public transport facilities mean that there is no other option for us but to dig deep and pay the pump price, now in excess of £1 a litre. Now that the £1 barrier has been breached prices will creep further upwards as the oil supply is squeezed yet further.
The good news is that we can now inadvertently do our bit for the environment by keeping our travelling to the minimum and thinking twice about shorter journeys – can we go by bike? Or can we walk? Perhaps this is the answer to the obesity problem too as we all take more enforced exercise. All transport costs are going to be affected by this oil shortage eventually and it won’t just be the squeals from the shires that tell us all the good times are over. Oil is a major heating fuel for many so it’s going to be an expensive winter keeping warm.
The price for a barrel of oil is about to surpass the $100 mark and this coupled with the weakness of the dollar means everyone is feeling the pinch. The oil supply is being squeezed leading to higher prices with less production in the US, and keenly controlled supply and prices via the Organisation of Petroleum Countries – OPEC. Many investors are holding oil stocks rather than dollars as a hedge against that currency too. A bad sign for the greenback and evidenced by the slide against the euro and sterling.
Demand for oil in the tiger economies of China and India mean that the oil price will remain high and rise higher still whilst those countries keep booming. The Chinese are looking to Iran and Iraq for their future oil supplies as the amount produced within China for the domestic market is expected to run out in 14 years time. However now that the US and EU are suffering from the credit crunch there will be a cooling in demand for imports and this may in turn slow down the global economy. I found this great article about the credit crunch which explains how it happened - have a look at this link:
http://english.martinvarsavsky.net/general/the-credit-crunch-explained.html
Understanding how we got to this point is all well and good but how are we going to get by - got any suggestions for how to cope let me know?