How much are you willing to pay for oil?

Timothy Noah writes about Saudi Arabia:

No public criticism is permitted of the country’s monarchical rule, there is no penal code, and women are not permitted to drive. A continuing system of male guardianship prevents women from traveling overseas, undergoing certain kinds of surgery, and appearing in a government office without first receiving the consent of a male family member. Male guardians have complete freedom to rape or otherwise physically abuse their female charges; domestic violence is not illegal. Religious freedom is virtually nonexistent.

Do you think more freedom would be good in Saudi Arabia? Are you willing to pay for it at the pump? How much? $4 a gallon? $5? $6? $10?

6 thoughts on “How much are you willing to pay for oil?”

  2. For the record:

    “The top five sources of US crude oil imports for December [2010] were Canada (2,064 thousand barrels per day), Mexico (1,223 thousand barrels per day), Saudi Arabia (1,076 thousand barrels per day), Nigeria (1,024 thousand barrels per day), and Venezuela (825 thousand barrels per day).”

    Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration

    That’s 72% of the total imports.

  3. Would that tactic work by refusing to buy their oil until they change their culture and laws, thus we’d pay more at the pumps because our supply would be reduced by approximately one-tenth (or whatever the actual figure is)?

    Are you suggesting we might be able end this injustice by paying more for oil under those circumstances? (I am dubious it would make a real difference.)

    Or, are you asking if we would at least be willing to try that approach? (If I honestly thought it would change the minds and hearts of the men in Saudi Arabia, and liberate the women, yes, I would be willing to pay more.)

    1. I wasn’t thinking of a tactic. I was wondering whether Americans would accept the inevitable increase in the worldwide price of oil that would be a result of social upheaval in the Arabian oil fields, the source of 20% of known reserves.

      Or would we rather keep on driving and who cares about the repressed people of that kingdom.

  4. Just out of curiosity, do you know who in the world pays the most per gallon for oil? I believe that we pay amongst the lower rates in the world but I am wondering what the range is.

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