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Location: Moose Jaw, in between the Moose's butt and nose.
5,152 posts, read 8,529,163 times
Reputation: 2038
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dolphinswink
While I'm not a big fan of Pelosi personally, I am in the minority who is opposed to offshore drilling.
We would see no immediate relief at the pump if we drill the hell out of our coast and up in Alaska.
Please spare me the argument that it won't damage the environment nor will it endanger any marine life.
Instead of just furthering our dependence on oil, I say that the government needs to get off it's lying butt and finally expose to the American people, all the secrets they've kept about alternative energy, free energy, etc and get it out there.
They don't b/c they want to continue making money off of oil, protecting corporate interests and continue to have their main reason for going to war.
We have the capability for wind and solar power.
Continuing to beat the hell out of our planet for more oil isn't going to resolve the problem
As always, just my personal opinion however unpopular or in the minority it may be
Well said, for anyone who thinks that all this drilling anyway will helps us by the time it is done, well, do you really think that Exxon et al, will sell the oil only to the US anyway? If it's sold on the world markets, that certainly does not help energy independence.
The oil companies produce products from crude oil. It costs them money to lease the tracts, do the surveys, and, if there is oil to be had, to do the drilling etc. and finally production. It is not as expensive as it used to be, because of advancement in technology, but it is not cheap either.
They don't understand the massive costs involved in exploration, development and extraction.
It's getting more costly and more difficult to find oil and get it out.
Heavy oil requires the use of steam, which requires water, and if there is not, then it has to be brought in, and that is an additional cost and expense.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nononsenseguy
It is important to realize that the oil companies do not set the price of oil.
It's supply and demand.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nononsenseguy
T. Boon Pickens in his ad mentions the billions of dollars "we" spend to buy oil from foreign sources. Well, who is spending that money? The ad leads you to believe it is our government (a.k.a., you the taxpayer) that is spending it. It is not. It is the oil companies.
And they buy the oil because American consumers want it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nononsenseguy
The price of oil is high because the world demand is high, and the supply is being tightly controlled (in other words, it is being held in short supply — a false shortage).
That isn't entirely true. Four countries have recently moved from net exporters to net importers because of declining production (the UK, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia).
There are 2 more countries that will become net importers over the next 2 years, and 9 more than will become net importers before 2015 (including Iran).
Declining production and increased demand creates a lower supply and higher prices.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nononsenseguy
This is why, if we, the United States, will allow the U.S. oil companies to advance our drilling programs and begin to produce from our own resources either from offshore or elsewhere, thus adding to the world supply, the price you pay for gasoline will come down.
Not necessarily.
The yield of gasoline from heavy oils is not sufficient to meet the demands of US consumers.
For every light oil refinery producing gasoline, it requires 3 heavy oil refineries of equal capacity. That means three times the cost.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nononsenseguy
Another factor is our limited refining capacity. We have not built a new refinery in this country for something like 30 years, because the leftists in this country have stopped it. We simply must expand our refining capacity.
Wrong.
The ignorance of people on this forum is not at all surprising.
A gallon of motor fuel currently consists of 85% gasoline and 15% ethanol.
In about 18 months, the E85 Ethanol Fuel Standard kicks in, and from that point on, most motor fuel will be 85% Ethanol and 15% gasoline.
Congress has recently mandated an increase in ethanol production to 750 Billion gallons per year by 2012 (for which 100+ new ethanol plants are currently in the site selection/environmental impact phase of development).
That means the US will literally be swimming in gasoline with an 85% surplus for the next few years and many refineries will be cutting back production and laying off employees.
It will cause a sharp reduction in oil use in the US, from 25% of the world's oil to about 15% of the world's oil.
No investor of sound mind would put up money to invest in a new refinery to produce gasoline that isn't needed.
The reduction in oil use will eventually cause oil prices to drop to about $80/barrel in the short term, before it starts creeping back up due to demand from other countries.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nononsenseguy
Finally, the price of gasoline is affected by limited production due to production of other formulations of fuels, some of which are mandated by law. If only one formulation need be produced, the price would fall.
That's a state issue. Kentucky has a lower gasoline tax than Ohio, but the price of gasoline in Kentucky is higher because of state laws that require special formulations of gasoline for "clean air."
Quote:
Originally Posted by nononsenseguy
All these things are factors in what we pay for gasoline and heating oil.
Heating oil is mostly produced from heavy oils, which are cheaper than light and intermediate grade oils.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nononsenseguy
Something had better be done, because I could not afford the heating oil for my home last winter, and we were cold. We are facing another winter with the same (worse) situation.
Build a nuclear power plant and switch to electric heat, or build a fire place, or buy an old Ben Franklin stove.
That doesn't make it okay to drill the hell out of it.
At the risk of sounding like an environmental fanatic, I'm sick of things like our marine mammals getting the short end of the stick in the interest of further profiting from oil.
What right do we have to continue pounding our greed into the earth at the detriment of our wildlife, our marine mammals, our ecosystems because we can't break our dependence on oil?
Give us an example of what you mean, please. What "detriment of our wildlife, our ecosystems". Which marine mammals are "getting the short end of the stick", and how. Explain.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dolphinswink
God forbid we are to ever live in a manner where we can coexist in complete harmony and with mutual respect with our planet.
"Our planet" is called the Earth. Why can't we use the name of the planet?
While I'm not a big fan of Pelosi personally, I am in the minority who is opposed to offshore drilling.
We would see no immediate relief at the pump if we drill the hell out of our coast and up in Alaska.
That's right. It might take a few months, but it would happen. We know it wouldn't take the ten plus years the Democrats have been trying to make us believe it would (according to industry experts).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dolphinswink
Please spare me the argument that it won't damage the environment nor will it endanger any marine life.
Okay, but it won't. And it hasn't yet.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dolphinswink
Instead of just furthering our dependence on oil, I say that the government needs to get off it's lying butt and finally expose to the American people, all the secrets they've kept about alternative energy, free energy, etc and get it out there.
What secrets? Free energy? There is no such thing. Where are you getting this from? Some left wing blog? The Spotlight?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dolphinswink
They don't b/c they want to continue making money off of oil, protecting corporate interests and continue to have their main reason for going to war.
Who is "they"? The government? Sorry, but oil was not the reason we went to war. We haven't stolen one drop of oil yet. The government doesn't make money off oil, except for the taxes. Sorry, but you just pigeon holed yourself as one of those "it's all about oil" nut cases. I guess you just forgot about 9-11-2001, right?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dolphinswink
We have the capability for wind and solar power.
Yes, but neither of these can produce enough electricity. And what about gasoline, and other fuels? We will never not have a need for oil.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dolphinswink
Continuing to beat the hell out of our planet [the Earth] for more oil isn't going to resolve the problem.
Yes, it will, because there is plenty of it. There is no shortage of oil, and industry scientists now believe that the Earth is constantly producing oil, which to me makes a lot more sense than the silly "dinosaur" theory.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dolphinswink
As always, just my personal opinion however unpopular or in the minority it may be
Well said, for anyone who thinks that all this drilling anyway will helps us by the time it is done, well, do you really think that Exxon et al, will sell the oil only to the US anyway? If it's sold on the world markets, that certainly does not help energy independence.
Yes, it does. Because it still increases the world supply. It does not matter where the oil ultimately winds up. But it makes sense that, if it is produced here, it will stay here, meaning less will be imported. Why export it, and then import the same amount from a foreign source?
I know all of this.
It's all fine and good but we don't NEED oil to drive our cars.
Most of Brazil's vehicle fleet is powered by ethanol. Sure they don't have as many cars and they are not as huge a country as we are but I truly believe there is hope from powering our vehicles from ethanol, electricty, etc.
How will an electric car not meet your needs? I'm just curious.
I'm sure you can find someone who will do a conversion on your truck or SUV.
Have you noticed that food prices have risen sharply recently? Particularly anything associated with corn (chickens, corn fed beef, pork, etc). Even tortillas and tortilla chips. That's because we are using food for fuel (ethanol). How stupid is that?
The conversation was about the earlier posters assertion that the United States had vast oil reserves. It's not true. Our reserves are about 20 Billion barrels or about 3 years production at our current rate of consumption or about a decade at our current production rate.
Then why is it (and it has been) reported that we have more oil than all of the Middle East combined? The company I buy my propane from told me that he read this in some of the trade journals that he receives. This in addition to what I have been hearing reported.
Somebody is right, and somebody is wrong. Right now, I think I would trust what I hear coming from the industry itself. What are your credentials?
Then why is it (and it has been) reported that we have more oil than all of the Middle East combined? The company I buy my propane from told me that he read this in some of the trade journals that he receives. This in addition to what I have been hearing reported.
Somebody is right, and somebody is wrong. Right now, I think I would trust what I hear coming from the industry itself. What are your credentials?
LOL your propane delivery driver says he read somewhere that we have more oil than the Middle East. I'm so glad you get your information from tradesmen who show up at your door. Me? I go to the professional journals of the industry, but what the heck, why believe the professionals when the grocery sacker at Safeway disagrees.
Have you noticed that food prices have risen sharply recently? Particularly anything associated with corn (chickens, corn fed beef, pork, etc). Even tortillas and tortilla chips. That's because we are using food for fuel (ethanol). How stupid is that?
Excellent points. Many on the "anti" gas (oil) side fail to recognize the point you made about increasing food prices because of ethanol -
LOL your propane delivery driver says he read somewhere that we have more oil than the Middle East. I'm so glad you get your information from tradesmen who show up at your door. Me? I go to the professional journals of the industry, but what the heck, why believe the professionals when the grocery sacker at Safeway disagrees.
The only countries that produce more oil than we do are Saudi Arabia and Russia.
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