I have the answer to the oil shortage

[CSnyder]

There are a lot of people who can't understand how we ran out of oil here in the USA.

Well, here's the answer: It's simple... nobody bothered to check the oil. Didn't know we

were getting low. And of course the reason for that is geographical. All the oil is in Texas, Oklahoma and Alaska, and all the dipsticks are in Washington, D. C. :-laf :-laf :-laf

 

[Jeff H]

Thats what ya get when you let lawers run the country. Ya get what ya vote for.

 

[DieselMinded]

On a serious note... lol... ...



OPEC was contacted with a real question that was very similar to yours... there reply from what I remember was... .



""OPEC""--The Reason for the price hike in the US is ... ... not as much of a shortage problem but because trasportation cost went up due to the cost of fuel



LOL





Really they said ... ... .



The oylmpics are being prepared for in tokyo ( or something cant remember for sure ) where ever it is ..... its the complete oppisite of the world from where most of the fuel comes from... ... ... the additional fuel is being transported around the world and prices are through the roof... .



FOR REAL thats what they told the TDR member I cant remember the thread



DM

 

[RonaldLarson]

It's called....

supply and demand. China ( those guys you buy all the stuff from) is consumming gross amounts of the world oil supply. Argentina is being controlled by a dictator who enjoys controlling oil stocks, and your own country is not drilling for new supplies in the ANWR. Also, your own country's existing well capacity is under-utilized because of low prices during the last 20 years. No profit equals no oil. No new oil rigs or refineries have been built in this country in a long time.

We get what we deserve, and trust me, I ain't any happier about it than you!

Now, what we gonna do about it?

Ron

 

[Blakers]

How many minutes do you think it would take after the first bit hits the ground in the Alaska NWR for the price of oil to drop one-half?

 

[big jake 1]

drilling won't do anything for us,the crude oil is there, we need newer, more efficient and higher capacity refineries





big jake



THE FORD GUY Oo. Oo. Oo.

 

[DieselMinded]

all we need is a big ol' pipe ran across the ocean than a bit of horizonal Drilling ... then were done



it would pay for its self over time



A leak would be a real bad thing tho'



DM

 

[rbattelle]

drilling won't do anything for us,the crude oil is there, we need newer, more efficient and higher capacity refineries

From a consumer perspective, this is true. From an oil company perspective, this is totally false. Imagine this: you own an oil refinery and demand for your product is so high that you're able to sell almost 100% of the fuel you can make at a good price and make a nice profit. Why in the world would you want to build another refinery, which would mean you're now only selling maybe 60 or 70% of the fuel you can make? Now your equipment isn't running at full capacity, and that costs money. You can't raise prices because demand will drop which will exasperate the problem. Meanwhile you've got this multi-billion dollar facility to pay for that'll take decades to pay off at the current profit levels. Nope, I think you'd be quite happy to stick with that one old-timer you've got running at 100% capacity.



Not to mention it might not even be possible to build a new refinery that meets the environmental requirements.



-Ryan

 

[WBusa]

Just to help avoid a few common mis-perceptions:



ol ron says: “China ( those guys you buy all the stuff from) is consumming gross amounts of the world oil supply. ”



According to the CIA World Factbook: (http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/rankorder/2174rank.html )

Oil consumption by country (barrels per day):

US: 19,650,000 (2001)

China: 4,570,000 (2001)

Note that with about 5 times as many people as the US, China consumed only about one-fifth as much oil as we did. If they’re consuming “gross amounts” of the world oil supply, what are we doing? The problem is that China’s rate of increase of oil consumption is high right now (thanks, WalMart!).



Blakers asks “How many minutes do you think it would take after the first bit hits the ground in the Alaska NWR for the price of oil to drop one-half?”

The Dept. of Energy has estimated that “For the mean resource case (10. 3 billion barrels technically recoverable), ANWR peak production rates [would] range from 1. 0 to 1. 35 million barrels per day. ” (http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/...ic_national_wildlife_refuge/html/anwr101.html “

In other words, ANWR could satisfy, tops, maybe 5% of our oil consumption. The effect on US fuel prices would probably be similarly tiny.

 

[rbattelle]

WBusa makes a good point, but keep in mind that as soon as every Chinese person decides he/she wants an automobile... LOOKOUT!!



Today China's oil consumption is much less than ours. That's going to change BIG very soon.



-Ryan

 

[RonaldLarson]

I stand on my statement

Wbusa, your data is four years old ! Oh, and it's from the CIA. (!!!!!????)

The Chinese are currently the fastest rising consumers of crude. Their demand is outstripping the soft cushion in supply faster than it can be made up. What's wrong with us selling the Chinese the crude they want?

This country has a huge supply of crude right under our feet. The crude supply underground is actually INCREASING. If we simply made it profitable to bring up, we'd have it. We would not need foreign sources, and could put OPEC out to lunch.

New refineries have not been built for two reasons, EPA restrictions, as you mentioned, but long before that, poor profit. Recently, a refinery in the Midwest broke down, and caused the biggest price jump in that area in history. Refinery owners would love to give us all the fuel we can use, and eliminate the serious valleys in the profit chart caused by downtime. They just want to make a decent profit. In 2003, the average refinery profit on unleaded gasoline was $0. 13 a gallon.

Currently, the most efficient way to produce hydrogen for automotve use, is to make it from natural gas. Hydrogen apparently has the best future as an alternate fuel source. Know what the natural gas supply situation is right now? Dismal. Stocks are low and prices are going through the roof.

Face it folks, we have no "right" to low fuel prices, and we still control the demand side of the picture. What we do to level the field is in our personal hands. Drive the most efficient vehicles we can, demand US drilling and refining, and demand alternate fuels that don't require years of research and testing. That could well be soy products from bio-engineered crops (for resistance to disease and for yield), but then some enviro whacko will tie that up in court for years.

We need to grab the bull by the horns and get very involved in the politics that control us. We are supposed to control them. ANWR would be a step toward independence from Opec. What is wrong with that? It takes ten dimes to make a dollar. Drill off Florida and the rest of the Gulf,and geez, we cut our foreign intake by a bunch.

We are the greatest country in the world. Why are we hostage to foreign oil?



Ron

 

[Blakers]

Blakers asks “How many minutes do you think it would take after the first bit hits the ground in the Alaska NWR for the price of oil to drop one-half?”

The Dept. of Energy has estimated that “For the mean resource case (10. 3 billion barrels technically recoverable), ANWR peak production rates [would] range from 1. 0 to 1. 35 million barrels per day. ” (http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/...ic_national_wildlife_refuge/html/anwr101.html “

In other words, ANWR could satisfy, tops, maybe 5% of our oil consumption. The effect on US fuel prices would probably be similarly tiny.

The numbers don't really matter. As soon as the bit hit the ground on the first well, the price would fall on its face. Oil prices have always been based on speculations and one big well can through the whole market into disruption. It's been this way since Oil Creek in the 1860s. Drillers would try to hide their wells behind tall fences to prevent the oil scouts from spying on them. They didn't want the price to fall if the well came in good.



As far as Red China goes, maybe they can render half their people into fat that they can make into fuel. Then they can sell all that leather to us in the form of shoes. And all those organs can be harvested and sold to us too.

 

[WBusa]

Okaaaay... .

 

[Rescue Ram]

As far as Red China goes, maybe they can render half their people into fat that they can make into fuel. Then they can sell all that leather to us in the form of shoes. And all those organs can be harvested and sold to us too.

That one lost me...

 

[jcarey]

Don't forget India...

 

[WBusa]

This country has a huge supply of crude right under our feet. The crude supply underground is actually INCREASING.

US crude oil proven reserves according to the Dept. of Energy:

( http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/...oil_natural_gas_reserves/current/pdf/appd.pdf )

1980: 29. 8 billion barrels

1985: 28. 4

1990: 26. 2

1995: 22. 3

2000: 22. 0



ol ron, the good Lord just ain't makin any more oil. And if we could extract every last drop of this country's reserves (that 22 billion barrels, above) it would feed the U. S. 's 20 million barrel-per-day habit for just three years.



It has taken us 150 years to burn the oil it took God 2 billion years to make. We can ignore the data, at our peril, or we can start building for the future. Since He has gone out of the oil business, maybe we should go into it: BIODIESEL. Sunshine is still free and plentiful, and growing algae is real easy (just look at my pool!).

 

[dodge cummins]

how about we all switch to a 100 percent synthetic oil like mobil 1 (thats what i use)then we won't have to rely on foreign oil. mobil 1 is domestic and it won't run out because its synthetic.

 

[macdaddy]

drilling won't do anything for us,the crude oil is there, we need newer, more efficient and higher capacity refineries





big jake



THE FORD GUY Oo. Oo. Oo.

Couldn't have said it better my self. It would take two 300 mbpd refineries on the west coast alone just to help out the west coast. Keep in mind that a 300 mbpd plant would would cost over $4. 0 billion and over five years to complete. Based on that assessment we are going to have live with high prices for quite some time.



Mac

ConocoPhillips Los Angeles

 

[EEdmondson]

So, it's God's fault!

 

[Coolslice]

I'll admit, I have little knowledge about this but my feelings are that the auto companies already have and have HAD the technology to make alternate fuel vehicles for some time. I think the Govt. and the oil companies are the ones to blame, because its common knowledge that they sleep in the same bed. I can't imagine that it would be a good thing economically if hydrogen powered cars were released tomorrow. I assume the Govt. makes a pretty penny off of fuel/gas taxes and they don't want to see that end. I could be talking out of my ***, but that is what I think.