Tuesday, August 08, 2006

50 Dollars of Unleaded and a Conspiracy Theory

My day is off to a wonderful start. I filled up for $2.89 a gallon this morning. Boy, do I feel lucky.

Lucky because I beat the price increase that should hit the gas pumps today that will cause consumers — once again — to mutter expletives out loud and under their breath when they run up another 50 bucks in gas on their MasterCards. This is happening because BP announced yesterday it was shutting down an oilfield because it discovered "unexpectedly severe corrosion" in its pipelines in Alaska. The shutdown represents 8 percent of the nation's domestic oil production and could last for weeks to months, according to reports. Hence, gas prices will soar like Superman.

So, golf facilities will spend even more to fill up their fairway mowers and other gas-powered equipment to maintain their golf courses. And Joe Golfer, meanwhile, will be forced to use part of the money he normally spends on golf for the week at the local Speedway station.

No matter how you look at it, the latest news from the oil world is not good news for the golf industry. (Not to say that there’s ever any good news from the oil world.)

Now, I’m not one for conspiracy theories, but the oil companies are starting to make me wonder.

Your thoughts?

-- Larry Aylward, Editor in Chief

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