Gasoline prices peaked at average of $4.11 July 2008. Propane was over $4/gallon. I mistyped 'oil' when I meant propane/lp. Regardless the point is that the President has very little to do with petroleum prices as they are determined globally.
The economic reality is that if investors feel that they are not going to get an ROI, they don’t invest, ....
Not sure if you are talking about stock prices or product prices. They are not the same. Stock prices are speculative, and investor driven. Oil prices are reactive, and producer and consumer driven.
The holding of unused leases absolutely does provide investor confidence for future potential and has an impact upon stock prices. Oil companies have rebuffed the notion that they are deliberately holding back production. Like most things the truth is in the middle. The holding of unused leases is a benefit financially AND a result of market conditions. Companies continue to accumulate leases when they are already holding many more than they presently need. This is not a conspiracy, it is business in an industry of finance and perception. Perhaps my last comment was not nuanced enough.
The problem (again if there actually is one) is not availability of land leases, nor BLM permitting, as is often tossed around, it is a reality that oil has costs to produce and distribute and oil prices are fixed globally.
Another reality, in Texas for example 90% of production (and leases) is on private land, actually most of the best reserves are also on private land. The 10% on Federal land are therefore a smaller factor than many believe.
Oil companies are not going to survive if they are forced to produce more than the market supports, nor will they survive if they are forced to sell only to domestic buyers at a discount. As I said earlier, those measures would require a nationalization (government takeover) of the industry and cost billions in subsidies.
In addition, labor shortages are also a factor according to this article. Why oil companies aren't drilling on those 9,000 land leases - Marketplace