ALAS WASHINGTON SPEAKS ON THE OIL CRISIS

[frawin]

At last we hear something positive coming out of Washington, if Congress goes along with this we could see additional oil in 5-10 years or less. Now if they will lower the speed limit, put a horsepower and/or cylinder tax on new vehicles built after 2010 and talk to the people , maybe we can avoid a catastrophe.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush lifted an executive order banning offshore oil drilling on Monday and urged Congress to follow suit.


If President Bush can persuade Congress, more oil rigs like this one off Canada could appear off U.S. shores.

Citing the high prices Americans are paying at the pump, Bush said from the White House Rose Garden that allowing offshore oil drilling is "one of the most important steps we can take" to reduce that burden.

However, the move is largely symbolic as there is also a federal law banning offshore drilling.

"This means that the only thing standing between the American people and these vast oil reserves is action from the U.S. Congress," Bush said.  Watch Bush announce lifting of ban »

Bush has been pushing Congress to repeal the law passed in 1981.

"There is no excuse for delay," the president said in a Rose Garden statement last month. iReport.com: Is drilling the answer?

"In the short run, the American economy will continue to rely largely on oil, and that means we need to increase supply here at home," Bush said, adding that there is no more pressing issue for many Americans than gas prices.

Bush's father, President George H.W. Bush, signed the executive order in 1990 banning offshore drilling.  See where offshore drilling is allowed »

The issue has gained prominence in the presidential race. Sen. John McCain recently announced he supported offshore oil drilling, reversing his previous stance.

Oil production cost
Here's what the price of a barrel of oil needs to be for different sources of petroleum to be profitably extracted:

- Accessible land: $19
- Shallow water: $20-60
- Deep water: $60
- Shale mining: $30-50
- Oil sands: $50-60

Current price per barrel: $145

Sources: U.S. Govt. CERA, Rand, EnCana Sen. Barack Obama wants to keep the ban in place.

Experts say offshore oil drilling would not have an immediate impact on oil prices because oil exploration takes years.

"If we were to drill today, realistically speaking, we should not expect a barrel of oil coming out of this new resource for three years, maybe even five years, so let's not kid ourselves," said Fadel Gheit, oil and gas analyst with Oppenheimer & Co. Equity Capital Markets Division.

But it almost certainly would be profitable.

Candida Scott, an oil industry researcher at Cambridge Research Associates, said oil needs to be priced at $60 a barrel or more to justify deep-shelf drilling. With oil now selling for $145 a barrel, companies are almost assured of profiting from offshore drilling, Scott said.


In his statement last month, Bush also renewed his demand that Congress allow drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, clear the way for more refineries and encourage efforts to recover oil from shale in areas such as the Green River Basin of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming.

The White House estimates that there are 18 billion barrels of oil offshore that have not been exploited because of state bans, 10 billion to 12 billion in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and 800 billion barrels of recoverable oil in the Green River Basin.
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[flo]

This won't help us right now, but you gotta start turning this thing around somewhere sometime.  This crisis didn't happen overnight and it won't get fixed overnight.  I watched them moving in the rig and setting up at prudoe Bay last night.  They even said something to the effect "IF" they find oil.  They are spending a lot of money to find out, anyhow.  Ice Road Truckers is one of the most interesting shows they've had on TV in a long time.  That's MY thoughts on what "reality TV" should be.  Something you can learn from.  Who gives a big rats a-- what "Kiss" or "Hogan" does in their own house, or stupid "made up" FHV's.  Hope Congress goes along with this, but do you reckon they will?  I'm skeptical.  Too much big oil money lining pockets.  AND now I gotta go get $8.28 worth so I can finish mowing the lawn. (I have a 2 gal. container)

[frawin]

At last we hear something positive coming out of Washington, if Congress goes along with this we could see additional oil in 5-10 years or less. Now if they will lower the speed limit, put a horsepower and/or cylinder tax on new vehicles built after 2010 and talk to the people , maybe we can avoid a catastrophe.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush lifted an executive order banning offshore oil drilling on Monday and urged Congress to follow suit.


If President Bush can persuade Congress, more oil rigs like this one off Canada could appear off U.S. shores.

Citing the high prices Americans are paying at the pump, Bush said from the White House Rose Garden that allowing offshore oil drilling is "one of the most important steps we can take" to reduce that burden.

However, the move is largely symbolic as there is also a federal law banning offshore drilling.

"This means that the only thing standing between the American people and these vast oil reserves is action from the U.S. Congress," Bush said.  Watch Bush announce lifting of ban »

Bush has been pushing Congress to repeal the law passed in 1981.

"There is no excuse for delay," the president said in a Rose Garden statement last month. iReport.com: Is drilling the answer?

"In the short run, the American economy will continue to rely largely on oil, and that means we need to increase supply here at home," Bush said, adding that there is no more pressing issue for many Americans than gas prices.

Bush's father, President George H.W. Bush, signed the executive order in 1990 banning offshore drilling.  See where offshore drilling is allowed »

The issue has gained prominence in the presidential race. Sen. John McCain recently announced he supported offshore oil drilling, reversing his previous stance.

Oil production cost
Here's what the price of a barrel of oil needs to be for different sources of petroleum to be profitably extracted:

- Accessible land: $19
- Shallow water: $20-60
- Deep water: $60
- Shale mining: $30-50
- Oil sands: $50-60

Current price per barrel: $145

Sources: U.S. Govt. CERA, Rand, EnCana Sen. Barack Obama wants to keep the ban in place.

Experts say offshore oil drilling would not have an immediate impact on oil prices because oil exploration takes years.

"If we were to drill today, realistically speaking, we should not expect a barrel of oil coming out of this new resource for three years, maybe even five years, so let's not kid ourselves," said Fadel Gheit, oil and gas analyst with Oppenheimer & Co. Equity Capital Markets Division.

But it almost certainly would be profitable.

Candida Scott, an oil industry researcher at Cambridge Research Associates, said oil needs to be priced at $60 a barrel or more to justify deep-shelf drilling. With oil now selling for $145 a barrel, companies are almost assured of profiting from offshore drilling, Scott said.


In his statement last month, Bush also renewed his demand that Congress allow drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, clear the way for more refineries and encourage efforts to recover oil from shale in areas such as the Green River Basin of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming.

The White House estimates that there are 18 billion barrels of oil offshore that have not been exploited because of state bans, 10 billion to 12 billion in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and 800 billion barrels of recoverable oil in the Green River Basin.
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The above numbers look big but, remember we use consume 8 billion barrels of oil a year. That has to change, the big thing is we have to import almost 70 % of what we consume. We have to depend on countries like  Libya, Venzuela, Iran, Iraq, North Yemen and many others that want to destroy the American way of life.



 

[frawin]

This won't help us right now, but you gotta start turning this thing around somewhere sometime.  This crisis didn't happen overnight and it won't get fixed overnight.  I watched them moving in the rig and setting up at prudoe Bay last night.  They even said something to the effect "IF" they find oil.  They are spending a lot of money to find out, anyhow.  Ice Road Truckers is one of the most interesting shows they've had on TV in a long time.  That's MY thoughts on what "reality TV" should be.  Something you can learn from.  Who gives a big rats a-- what "Kiss" or "Hogan" does in their own house, or stupid "made up" FHV's.  Hope Congress goes along with this, but do you reckon they will?  I'm skeptical.  Too much big oil money lining pockets.  AND now I gotta go get $8.28 worth so I can finish mowing the lawn. (I have a 2 gal. container)

Flo, if people think big oil is lining their pockets, who would you have develop ANWR and OCS, there is always the risk of drilling dryholes and those wells in the areas we are talking about take Billions of dollars to drill and if they make wells it takes billions more to build the infrastructure to move the oil ashore or down to the Continental US, and the Billions to lay gas lines to take the gas off and get it to market. Who else has the Knowledge,expertise, and what it takes to do projects like what we are looking at. Who will put out hundreds of Billions of dollars, take the chances and maybe not see a dimes return for 10 + years, noone. The American Oil and Gas Industry has found and mapped neary all of the world's reserves, only to have many of the countries thay made the deals with nationalize and take over the production with no compensation for all they have invested and done. To me, people driving down the road cussing the oil companies is like someone eating a steak and potatoes and cussing the farmers. Big oil is people, jobs , investment and the US oil and Gas industry employs millions of people and I don't begrudge them for their successes.

[indygal]

I just finished reading an opinion piece on another site that states the White House's own Energy Department says offshore drilling and ANWR won't have any real impact until the year 2030 and will lower gas prices at that time by about 6 cents a gallon. So how about investing those billions in something with potentially greater benefit?

Yes, Frank, it's true that oil companies invest huge amounts of money into very risky ventures. I have no issue with oil companies making a profit on their investments, but how much is too much? And why should one industry hold so much power over the world's population? I believe it's because there is a small group of people who have little concern about the planet or their fellow human beings. They stifle any attempt to change the system because the system is working just fine for them, and they have the money to back them up. There are countries with far fewer assets than the oil barons have in one financial quarter. So why was there such as crackdown on the railroad tycoons back in their heyday? Too much control over the free market, too little regulation and lots of pockets being lined. Bell Telephone, Microsoft's antitrust violations...companies get too powerful and start calling the shots, and nothing is done until it becomes a "crisis."

So, here's an idea that might get us some renewable energy sources in less than 30 years. First, release all pending patents into the public domain. Many viable inventions aren't seeing the light of day because they threaten those who make their money "the old-fashioned way" -- gas-burning vehicles, gas- and coal-burning heating systems and power plants, plastics and fertilizers that require petroleum products, etc. There are ways to make fuel from water, algae, crop waste, etc.. but the powers that be are keeping these ideas from being developed in a significant way.

There also should be another look at organic products that have a multitude of uses, such as hemp, which if I'm not mistaken, Henry Ford first used as fuel for the Model T. Our government bans the commercial production of hemp because of its similarity to marijuana, although it does not contain the chemical that causes a "high." Yet hemp can be used for fuel, food, building materials, clothing, cosmetics, and many other everyday products.

There also are ways to produce gas from trash -- imagine how we could finally put landfills to good use! It's done by grinding waste and creating a slurry, heating this at high temperatures to separate oils from the water (which is recycled) and capturing the gaseous vapors to use as the energy source for this process....this is brilliant, if you ask me.

I am one of the few who believe some good will come from this. As often is the case, it takes a major shock to get our attention, but it's also true that adversity often gives birth to invention. That is, if those inventions are ever allowed to see the light of day.

[frawin]

Indygal, I like what you say and agree we need to do more on research of using everything possible for fuel.  In regard to the Oil industry, the American oil industry does not control the price of oil in anyway. We lost any control over the price of oil when we contributed greatly to making China and India  big users of oil. The American OIl Industry controls 10% or less of the world oil and has to pay world market price for what they buy. When people talk about the American oil company profits, they should also look at the Capital outlay each year that it spends, that capital outlay is more than it's net income that seems to disturb so many. The main reason the Major OIl Comany profits look so big is because the industry went thru so much consolidation on the past 30 years. That consolidation was necessary in order for the companies to be capitalized enough to take on and stand the risks of the capital that would be and is required to do Multi-Multi Billion dollar projects. One of the biggest factors in the rising costs of oil is the continued decline in the dollar. The trade imbalance/deficit that we have created  because we have transferred so many jobs to China, India, and other countries has made the dollar value so low against other currencies, that when we pay for the almost 70% of our oil needs that we have to buy from other countries, they want more dollars. It is a vicious losing cycle. We need to bring some of the jobs back to America and put our people back to work and quit sending the work to other countries so the other countries can buy up all of the excess oil. In addition we need to continue to stress conservation, I repeat American has 4.7% of the world population and we consume almost 25% of the worlds oil, we have noone to blame for this mess but ourselves and unfortunately noone is going to get us out of it but us, so let's get started doing the things we need to do; Some additional drilling, massive research in alternate fuels, my favorite is battery power and improved batteries and storage, more mass transit car pooling, use trains more for transportation of people and especially shipping goods across country, additional taxes on new big horsepower engines and tax incentitives on more efficent cars and hybrids, lower the speed limit, talk to the American people, maybe some good old Roosevelt fireside chats, give people more information and encouragement. The worst is yet to come and we need to be better prepared, we could loose 25% to 50% of our current oil supply tomorrow, that oil comes from many who are our enemies and they know we are hooked and what a big oil shortage will do to us. Somedays I feel like not enough people really care or want to know the truth, they would rather complain, blame Washington, Detroit or big oil instead of themselves which is where the blame belongs. I think I need to get off of the subject of oil and talk about my more favorite subjects of guns, birddogs, hunting and my kids and grandkids. My wife says I need to get off of the forum as I am letting it upset me way to much on things I can't do anything about.
HAVE A GOOD DAY

[pam]

Have you seen T. Boone Pickens on tv? He's puttin his money where his mouth is it sounds like. Frank, there is somthin you need to remember when you're talkin about how ungrateful we are when we complain, and that is that those massive profits came out of my ass pocket and yours and everybody elses that buys gas to get to work or the store or whatever. Most of us are conservin as much as we can without goin to ridin horses to town, we are worried and like you said, we can't do anything about it. WE are supporting the CEOs familys in the manner to which they think they should be accustomed and some of us are tryin to figure out how to sqeeze money out of the GAS budget for FOOD! So don't take it so personal when we gripe, you're just a worker bee like the rest of us and we aren't attackin YOU. You have a nice day bud.

[frawin]

Pam, we are all working and trying to conserve as well, but both Frank and I have worked in the oil industry since the 1970's and we understand how much money is spent just to find the find the oil.  There is mapping, obtaining the leases, the drilling, (sometimes getting a dry hole), then getting the infrastructure where it can be moved to the refinery.   There is more to getting the oil drilled and to the refineries, but I will skip some of that. The companies are made up of workers like you and I.  Frank has spent time iin some of the foreign countries and when he was gone for weeks at a time, we couldn't even communicate with him.  Those compounds in the jungles are not Marriott hotel, and the food isn't a Texas Roadhouse menu either.  When he and the guy that went with him, they were so sick and thin when they got back that his wife and I hardly recognized them when they got off the plane at the Tulsa airport.   Yes, the CEO's do make big bucks, but would you want the responsibilities that they have?  I don't think so.

Frank also has a minor in economics, and has been involved with making sure the companies he's worked for got the monies they were due and now markets oil for several companies, i.e. mostly independents now.  I do wish some , who are so negative,  had worked  for a major company whether it be an oil company, an airplane factory or whatever and you might understand more about economics.

mlw

[DanCookson]

Free market!!!

I hope in my shipping business to make as much as I can!! 

It sickens me to hear everyone's lame excuse of, "It won't help prices for 10 years, so it isn't worth doing."  I say "BALDERDASH" (Old term my Great-grandma Workman would say when she wanted to "Cuss"!!!)

That is what people have been saying for 15 years and if we would've started then, we wouldn't be so damn dependent on some third world extremists products!!! 

Time to pull our heads out of the sand or asses and start to realize two things:

1.  Get busy drilling our own resources and get less dependent on other countries.
2.  Get even busier obtaining new sources of renewable energy and learning some conservation.

Otherwise, time to break out some teachers and start learning Arabic

[frawin]

WOW, Dan I wish more young people were as forward looking and thinking as you are. You are wise beyond your years, not to take away from you but my guess is some of the credit goes to your parents, Grandparents, all of them and working and running your own business. Young people with your attitude give me more hope for the future.
Frank