How could this raising oil price be contained ?

What would be the US strategy in the present scenario? Will US depend more on the Middle East to fulfill its energy needs or going to have a better relationship with Russia? What would be the importance of OPEC countries in the present scenario and how's it going to affect the future political alignments in the world?How could this raising oil price be contained ?
There are a number of factors that can lower the price of oil without having to rely on foreign suppliers.





1. There is the speculator argument. Investors are looking for items that offer a high rate of return and are seeing future contracts in oil as a good investment. They are increasing the demand for these contracts which is increasing the price of oil. Regulate them and prices should fall.





2. Drive less, pretty self explanatory. It would help if governments would put a focus on mass transportation, but given our city landscapes are wide spread this is very costly. One side note, look for real estate values to start increasing near cities. People living in NYC are laughing at everyone paying $4.50 per gallon.





3. Drill for more oil, by increasing the supply of oil the price will fall. I'm not saying this is the best option. A 5-10 year proposal for a short-term fix. We actually import most of our oil from Canada and Mexico. Less then 50% of oil imports are from OPEC. Plus we actually produce about 30% of our oil.





4. Develop new technologies. I know everyone is saying this but it will reduce oil dependence.How could this raising oil price be contained ?
Demand has to decrease/Supply increase.





We need to drill in the Gulf of Mexico, where even Japan is drilling about 16 miles off our coast, along with most of the other countries in the world.





We need to expand drilling in ANWAR - and start building refineries - since there hasn't been a refinery started in this country in the last 30 years due to environmental regulations imposed - there's something like 800 permits necessary to build a refinery and that's BS - the other countries haven't let the tree huggers impede their progress like we have - there needs to be more balance in our domestic policy toward technology and growth instead of being hindered to the point of stoppage over these environmental issues.





There's something like 70 different blends of diesel fuel required depending on population density in an area across the country - gas stations in moderate to higher density has to have the spring loaded ';gaskets'; on gas pumps to keep the amount of fuel vapors to a minimum when people are filling up - why not standardize the fuel filling equipment between pumps and cars to eliminate all vapors - have a locking connection between the two - it could be done -





We need to expand wind and solar energy - stop the likes of the 2 faced Kennedy's that claim to back those things and then fight against them.
every great nation must fall. the world itself is changing and how the next generation views the world. face it none of this will matter in the long run. really what needs to happen is America getting on the band wagon truly and getting rid of these monstrous cares like the Humer (hello I don't care how much money you have your driving a gas guzzler d*%26amp;^ A%^) really we should try and totally rid ourselves of this oil addiction. corn is not the answer as many think. that will just skyrocket the amount of corn and many people will die of starvation in 3rd world countries. how about instead implementing all these alternative sources together %26amp; giving government stimulus for those who do it. and perhaps, just perhaps we can rid ourselves of the environmental doomsday that we are currently sitting at the door of. governments wont matter when the environment takes over. if you really think the us government will help you when theres big trouble you are truly confused. they will be helping ';important'; people which unfortunate rules out most of the population.
The answer is simply one of Supply and Demand. Increase supply and prices will drop. Drill here. Drill now. Pay less. We need to get the government out of the way of the oil companies and let them explore and drill and refine more crude oil. It may take a few years, but in the long run, prices will drop. The government is the biggest reason why gas prices are so high.