Petition Congress to Drill Domestically

[WJones]

Found this petition this morning, looks like it might even be gaining some traction. Obviously it wont help anything in the short term, however in the long term it would be nice to get away from forign oil.



American Solutions - Petitions

 

[EKlem]

Oil is sold on the global market. Domestic drilling won't be nearly as helpful as many think. The oil will go to the highest bidder and with countries like China industrializing really fast, there will be a lot more demand. Domestic drilling will not account for a high enough percentage increase in production to make any noticeable benefit.

I usually stay away from these threads but every now and then I feel obliged to chime in. Yes, I disagree with many government policies but trying to use brute force and drill for every drop of oil just won't fix the problem. The problem is that we are using too much of a limited resource, not that we aren't exploiting it in every possible way.

 

[SHobbs]

The entire system needs to change from the well to the pump. There are too many hands in the cookie jar.

 

[GHarman]

The entire system needs to change from the well to the pump. There are too many hands in the cookie jar.

YEP, Get rid of the middlemen and paper speculators and drill here with new refineries built. Just contacted my Congress man, Mark Udall. Tree hugger, Not likely to do anything 'cept repeat the mantra, "We got to drop our dependence on foreign oil". OK, Whats the alternative Honorable Congressman? HUH? Use primary food grains to make fuel? Give me a break!GregH

 

[Dbonzi]

Iran is full of oil, they are now talking of flooding the market with their oil.

Guess who we will be at war with next to keep this from happening and to keep the price right where it is, a steady climb.

Flame suit on

 

[Tractorat]

Dbonzi

I read with interest your comment about Iran getting ready to flood the market with oil. Can you point me at a news article that says that ?



Your humble servant,



TRat

 

[DHayden]

Oil is sold on the global market. Domestic drilling won't be nearly as helpful as many think. The oil will go to the highest bidder and with countries like China industrializing really fast, there will be a lot more demand. Domestic drilling will not account for a high enough percentage increase in production to make any noticeable benefit.



I usually stay away from these threads but every now and then I feel obliged to chime in. Yes, I disagree with many government policies but trying to use brute force and drill for every drop of oil just won't fix the problem. The problem is that we are using too much of a limited resource, not that we aren't exploiting it in every possible way.

Not flaming but your post is contradictory, "consuming too much" would only be a problem if there were a shortage. Supply and demand as we used to know it. The market is a run away train for sure caused by many unsavory factors. "More" drilling will increase supply and to some extent will/should decrease the price. You are probably right that it wont be as much as people think, but not increasing supply is 100% not going to lower the price. Even if drilling would only increase the chance of oil prices dropping by 5% I will take 5% over 0%.

 

[DHayden]

Iran is full of oil, they are now talking of flooding the market with their oil.

Guess who we will be at war with next to keep this from happening and to keep the price right where it is, a steady climb.

Flame suit on

Has the tide turned? First I heard people say we went into Iraq so we could control all that oil and have it for ourselves, that argument went no where except for those "who just have to believe". Now I guess we've jumped to the other side of fighting to keep oil prices high. Interesting theory I will have to wait with amusement to see if this "theory" catches on. this may or may not be your position so dont take offense, it was just an example.

 

[EKlem]

Not flaming but your post is contradictory, "consuming too much" would only be a problem if there were a shortage. Supply and demand as we used to know it. The market is a run away train for sure caused by many unsavory factors. "More" drilling will increase supply and to some extent will/should decrease the price. You are probably right that it wont be as much as people think, but not increasing supply is 100% not going to lower the price. Even if drilling would only increase the chance of oil prices dropping by 5% I will take 5% over 0%.

We are consuming too much, the difference in our views is in the time scale. There is a shortage in the long run. It is a fact that biomass is not breaking down into crude oil nearly as quickly as we are using it. We have a problem and that is that we are using it at a rate which is greater than the rate at which the earth is replenishing it. In the long run, this is the problem, not the price. The price will increase as the oil supply goes down. If we were to drill all of our possible sources right now(ignoring capitol costs), we could drive the price down but that would just mean that we would run out sooner and the price would go up sooner.



What I was trying to get at in my first post is that there just isn't that much oil that can be drilled for in the US. Since oil is a global commodity, you have to divide the US's possible output by the entire world's consumption to get an idea of the difference it would make. The answer is that it won't make a significant price difference at all.



This has played a huge part in the ANWR debate. Of the oil that is actually considered recoverable, if it was only used in the US, it could power the US for less than a year. If the oil was drilled over the course of only 10 years, it was estimated that the total price impact would be less than 3 cents/gallon before the latest set of price increases.



The simple fact of the matter is that the US does not have that much oil that is recoverable. If you are worried about prices, drilling here won't make a big difference. If you are worried about security and kicking our dependance on foreign oil, drilling here won't fix that either. You have to look to the real problem which is our rate of consumption, not our rate of drilling. To fix the problem, we need to cut our consumption by a huge amount either through new technologies or huge increases in efficiencies.

 

[AKaiser]

Ever hear of the Bakken Formation?

There is more oil in the Dakotas, Montana, and Saskatchewan than in the Saudi desert? The primary reason we haven't developed it is it takes methods that reqire over 30USD per barrel to make a profit, something that didn't occur until relatively recently.



As for this bit about Iran dumping a bunch of crude on the market, their oil is on the heavy side, so I doubt it

's going to affect the US market enough to bother the oil business.

 

[Bob Cochran]

In another thread it was indicated that there was plenty of supply and demand was down. More supply was coming on line this year making the supply even higher though not from the US. This being the case(I tend to agree) and it is the hedge funds and oil commodity's traders causing the problem more supply from anyplace including the US will not make a difference.

 

[Silver Bullet Ram]

Iran is full of oil, they are now talking of flooding the market with their oil.

Guess who we will be at war with next to keep this from happening and to keep the price right where it is, a steady climb.

Flame suit on

I had read this too somewhere a few months back. I forget what their reasoning was for it.

 

[GHarman]

We are consuming too much, the difference in our views is in the time scale. There is a shortage in the long run. It is a fact that biomass is not breaking down into crude oil nearly as quickly as we are using it. We have a problem and that is that we are using it at a rate which is greater than the rate at which the earth is replenishing it. In the long run, this is the problem, not the price. The price will increase as the oil supply goes down. If we were to drill all of our possible sources right now(ignoring capitol costs), we could drive the price down but that would just mean that we would run out sooner and the price would go up sooner.



What I was trying to get at in my first post is that there just isn't that much oil that can be drilled for in the US. Since oil is a global commodity, you have to divide the US's possible output by the entire world's consumption to get an idea of the difference it would make. The answer is that it won't make a significant price difference at all.



This has played a huge part in the ANWR debate. Of the oil that is actually considered recoverable, if it was only used in the US, it could power the US for less than a year. If the oil was drilled over the course of only 10 years, it was estimated that the total price impact would be less than 3 cents/gallon before the latest set of price increases.



The simple fact of the matter is that the US does not have that much oil that is recoverable. If you are worried about prices, drilling here won't make a big difference. If you are worried about security and kicking our dependance on foreign oil, drilling here won't fix that either. You have to look to the real problem which is our rate of consumption, not our rate of drilling. To fix the problem, we need to cut our consumption by a huge amount either through new technologies or huge increases in efficiencies.

I have to ask this question! What "Bio Mass is breaking down"? I understand the P. C. version of where oil comes from. After "Millions of years" that "Bio Mass" is long gone! Sorry. I cant accept this as a foundation for a reduction in fuel use. Recovery issues, World wide commodity pricing and the need for new technology providing increases in efficiency, I can agree on. GregH

 

[DHayden]

There are at least 3 HUGE reserves. As I stated, doing nothing will get us 100% nothing. I TOTALLY agree that other forms of new energy are the future and that should be the goal. One thing to remember though is that with demand rising (even if we can control the US demand, we cant do a darn thing about the rest of the world) oil prices are going to multiply exponentially over the next 10 years, drilling these 3 huge reserves and some smaller ones may be the difference between companies in the U. S. surviving and feeding families or not until new energy is brought on line. Just look at the RV industry, the airline industry is failing also and I dont believe government bailout is the option. The airline does effect Hotel, restaurants and many other industries that will put people out of work also.

 

[EBung]

There are at least 3 HUGE reserves. As I stated, doing nothing will get us 100% nothing. I TOTALLY agree that other forms of new energy are the future and that should be the goal. One thing to remember though is that with demand rising (even if we can control the US demand, we cant do a darn thing about the rest of the world) oil prices are going to multiply exponentially over the next 10 years, drilling these 3 huge reserves and some smaller ones may be the difference between companies in the U. S. surviving and feeding families or not until new energy is brought on line. Just look at the RV industry, the airline industry is failing also and I dont believe government bailout is the option. The airline does effect Hotel, restaurants and many other industries that will put people out of work also.

I agree but the whats the #1 oil consuming entity in the U. S. ? IRAQ WAR! Trust me Congress and Bushs string pullers are ALL taking it to the bank and as long as he is in office everyone is barking up the wrong tree. Where do you think all our diesel fuel is going? Onto a freaking ship to IRAQ!

 

[TRLRTRSH]

EBung: "Where do you think all our diesel fuel is going?"

EBung, do a little more research, Both diesel and bio-diesel are being exported to EUROPE where the companies can get more $$$$$ per gallon. NOT my conjecture, not maybes but the truth
Gasoline is being imported FROM Europe (they use more diesel)to help keep the gasoline prices lower than diesel.
Sure the military uses quite a bit in Iraq but on the whole most goes to EUROPE.

 

[Silver Bullet Ram]

And now that they changed it to ULSD that makes it compatible with Europe's formula. My guess was it wasn't changed to help the environment, it was changed so it could be sold to Europe. Why does America hate the diesel so much?

 

[DHayden]

Almost everything in the military runs off of JP-8 from planes to helicopters to humvee's. Something people don't consider, when the military isnt deployed over sea's they are still burning tons of fuel because they are always training to do what they are supposed to do. I know they are using more than they usually do but it my be suprising how little difference it is on the whole.

 

[Alphacowboy]

Almost everything in the military runs off of JP-8 from planes to helicopters to humvee's. Something people don't consider, when the military isnt deployed over sea's they are still burning tons of fuel because they are always training to do what they are supposed to do. I know they are using more than they usually do but it my be suprising how little difference it is on the whole.

Not to mention,( I maybe wrong here though) but are the larger ships, mainly subs and carriers now not only diesel powered, but Nuclear powered? I thought I read somewhere that one or more of the super carriers ran on nuclear power.

 

[MOates]

Not to mention,( I maybe wrong here though) but are the larger ships, mainly subs and carriers now not only diesel powered, but Nuclear powered? I thought I read somewhere that one or more of the super carriers ran on nuclear power.

Subs - all nuke, retired the last diesel boat back in the mid 90's



Carriers - most if not all nuke by now, been slowly retiring the older ones built back in the 50's over the last 10 to 15 years.