... and she didn't have to fill the tank. Falls Church News-Press' Tom Whipple predicts spiraling prices for diesel and heating oil (distillates), followed by actual shortages here in the United States. Gas prices aren't as bad as they could be. Many Europeans (and some Americans) have been buying diesel autos to get better mileage, leaving European and Asian refiners with a surplus of gasoline but not diesel. The US is importing less distillates, exporting more (especially for the earthquake and cyclone relief efforts), our stockpiles have been shrinking and prices have been rising. Next fall, how much will we have to fill semi and heating oil tanks?

Rex Tillerson sat stolidly as Matt Lauer peppered him with purposefully naive questions about why Big Oil was profiting so much while drivers were suffering, etc. He responded with the usual points that on a percentage basis they were only in the middle of the pack, that they had heavy exploration costs, etc. What I found most notable was that Tillerson admitted that the current oil prices were demand-driven, citing the rise of a petrol-thirsty middle class in China and India. Unlike prominent Saudi oil minister al Naimi, and a host of other industry experts, he didn't claim that speculation was driving the price of oil.

Tillerson also broadly suggested that allowing the oil majors to explore more areas would bring more oil to the pumps - no doubt a reference to ANWR and exploring the US coastline.

Wash Po invokes Monty Python humor to describe Hillary's moribund hopes:

This Is an Ex-Candidate

Customer: "Look, matey, I know a dead parrot when I see one, and I'm looking at one right now."

Pet-shop owner: "No, no he's not dead, he's -- he's resting! Remarkable bird, the Norwegian blue, isn't it, aye? Beautiful plumage!"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/13/AR2008051302862.html?hpid=topnews