Hi Guys,

"The better job of extraction, the sooner it's gone."

"Were close to peaking, when we use tar sands."

"We've exceeded sustainable supply."

"China & India join the party, when the glass is half empty, & must compete with us."

"Cheapest liquid gasoline"

"Promote 'Democracy' in the middle east insures oil supply."

"10,000 nukes (kick the oil habit) U-235 gone in 10 - 20 years.

See: A Crude Awakening

Quoting cmaeditor:

Quote:
There is a good amount of oil in the US that is not located offshore or in ANWAR, but it's not being drilled at all by any of the oil companies. Most domestic exploration and development in the US dropped to extremely low levels when the price of oil was so cheap that it wasn't cost effective to drill in the US and we instead imported the oil from other countries where their cost of labor for producing the oil was less. Now that oil has risen in price, the oil companies want new leases rather than work on the undeveloped ones they have been sitting on for 10 years or more.

Quite correct, at least insofar as the cost of recovering goes.  I have a former friend used to work for a domestic oil company until he retired about 10 years ago.  His retirement pension was based on money generated by their oil production.  When oil was cheap (below $80 a barrel) his check was a fixed amount.  When the price went above that, he started getting more money.  Why?  Because a lot ofl the wells owned by the oil company cost too much to operate below that amount.  Above it, they started making a profit.

Point is, there are millions of barrels of oil sitting in capped wells because cost to extract is higher than it can be sold for if foreign oil sells below a certain amount.  Those wells were found and drilled decades ago, so most people outside the industry aren't even aware they exist. 

There are two things to consider in this argument over oil.  First, there are billions of barrels of oil within reach in our territorial space, something on the order of 80 BILLION + according to some experts. Those billions are sitting under the northern Great Plains near the Montana-Canada border, in the eastern Gulf just off Florida, in the areas between 10 and 50 miles offshore on our east and west coasts, and in huge deposits of shale under Colorado.  We can't get at it because of the environmentalists and their misguided beliefs.  But even if we could, there is no refinery capacity available in this country because we haven't built a new refinery since 1978. 

Secondly, the left wing anti-drilling crowd is not interested in anything except regaining and maintaining their political power base.  If they were really worried about gas prices, the economy, national security, etc., they would be lining up with the conservatives to pass out permits to build new refineries, new nuclear power plants, drilling permits for offshore, and anything else that would benefit the US taxpayer and the economy.  They don't care if the economy is having a trainwreck or that we are rapidly becoming a 2nd rate world power because our security is compromised by our dependence on foreign sources of energy.

There are people in this world that want nothing more than to see the US fall, and those here in this country who don't much care if it does fall as long as they get to rule over the ashes and ruins.  Of course, it will take a decade of two to finish us off completely, but I can imagine how the citizens of Rome must have felt as their civilization fell apart around them.

Quoting Rico:

Quote:
s this sarcastic?????????? What kind of reaction does sarcasm, often get??????

Take Care
Rico

Rico,

You, who post hundreds of "funnies,"  now have the chutzpa to criticize someone else for using sarcasm?

Quoting kdh1949:

Quote:
I'm all for finding alternatives -- and would use them if they currently existed.

....and were affordable! 

Solar energy is available today, but it is cost prohibitive for the average homeowner otherwise builders would be installing it.

Hydrogen fuel cell cars are available (at least prototypes) today, but, until the cost comes way down, don't expect too many to show up on the roads.

Electric cars are available and in limited use today, but until the cost comes down and the technology improves to provide a longer range (more than 100 miles) they will remain impractical for many people.

Ethanol is available today, but has added significantly to food prices worldwide (not exactly a good trade-off for reduction of gasoline use).

The same can be said about any number of other "alternatives".  Most simply are not ready for prime time yet.  Hopefully over the next decade or two they will be.

The point is, as you point out, there are lots of great ideas out there, most of which are years away from being mass produced and affordable and therefore years away from having much of any impact on our current demands for oil.

In the meantime we must stem the tide of $700 billion of our wealth being transferred annually to foreign countries, many of whom are hell-bent on our destruction.

Hi Guys,

Quote:
KDH wrote:
now have the chutzpa to criticize someone else for using sarcasm?

I'm confused here? I have not intentionally tried to be sarcastic, to anyone!!!!!!!!!!! What criticism are you talking about!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Take Care
Rico

KDH & Hal have you watched THIS????????? Very informative!

Hello Whispering,

I saw that last night on 60 minutes, very good. Bob Lutz has bet the farm on the Chevy Volt.

If you have not seen 'A Crude  Awakening' (see 'THIS' above post) I urge you to dos so. Very insightful!

Take Care
Rico