The truth about ANWR..

[mcwoodduck]

It will all be gone in a few years...

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/world-oil-supplies-are-set-to-run-out-faster-than-expected-warn-scientists-453068.html

Yes it is a gas guzzler but as long as I can afford the gas I will drive what I want and like to drive,

And therein lies the problem.  We only care about ourself.

I think it is more about choice.  With enough oil in the country for a few hunderd years, at the constant growth we have, technology will catch up.  Again our problem is the government and the lack of refineries to keep up with the demand of our economy.  Alternitive technoligies such as Natural gas will make fuel available for the economy to grow.
And finally, you mean to tell me you don't use fuel for your self.  What do you go hunting in?  Boat? very inefficient use of fuel.
Pick up?  Your full sized pick up os the same as my bronco.  I also have a car I use for work.  It too is a big as I can afford.  last trip I was getting 26 miles to the gallon.  Would have gotten better except for the LA traffic.  I spend a lot of time on the road, have seen some bad accidents, and I want some steel around me wiht room to collapse to me not through me and if the cost of that is a few more gallons of fuel.  I think lives are worth it.  If you want ot drive a BMW Mini, I am not saying you can't.  You have every right to drive what you want and feel comfortable in.

[DDZ]

Thanks Mike for putting that into perspective.

Sorry Swampman, Daniel Howden is an environmental wacko, who believes in man made global warming. He would like nothing better then to see the US citizens riding around in horse and buggy, instead of gas powered cars. I'm sure the scientists that he has quoted in his article are from the global warming crowd. So if you believe in man made global warming I guess you would be inclined to believe in the lie, that we are running out of oil.

[akhddeluxe05]

yes and with a little research you too can know who swampman is saying we will run out of oil. google Independent Print Limited. "left leaning and owned by a former KGB officer.

[Hooker]

North American heavy crude can be used to make gasoline .
It's a little bit more expensive to transport heavy crude and it requires preheating get it to flow  as some of it will not flow at ambient temperatures.
It is transported and used every day so it is not a unattainable goal.
Yes it also requires more of it to produce the same amount of gasoline as light sweet crude, but it's not unreasonable.
Refineries that produce gasoline don't like it because of the flow problems and the left over solids but it is plenty usable.
One of the biggest hold back is the government regulations on sulfur content. As for the light crude there is still large amounts to be had in the U.S.
The answer is in more drilling and building more refineries here not in driving a Prius or some other type of eco fairy mobile.

Pat

[Swampman]

Keep making excuses.  We are nearly out of oil.

I don't believe in global warming or care about the environment.  Just tire of kissing the Arab's feet because folks won't do the right thing.  I hope gas hits $10.00 a gallon and soon.  An additional  $5.00 a gallon tax would fix the national debt pronto.

[streak]

Keep making excuses.  We are nearly out of oil.

I don't believe in global warming or care about the environment.  Just tire of kissing the Arab's feet because folks won't do the right thing.  I hope gas hits $10.00 a gallon and soon.  An additional  $5.00 a gallon tax would fix the national debt pronto.

Remember what happened when gas reached $4.00/gal?

[mcwoodduck]

Keep making excuses.  We are nearly out of oil.

I don't believe in global warming or care about the environment.  Just tire of kissing the Arab's feet because folks won't do the right thing.  I hope gas hits $10.00 a gallon and soon.  An additional  $5.00 a gallon tax would fix the national debt pronto.

You are delusional.
At $10 a gallon or $15 with the added tax- our economy will come to a grinding hault.
Nothing will ship, Food prices will triple.
It may be what is needed to get rid of the Dems but in no way will it fill the federal treasury with tax money. Untill gas is back under $2 a gallon with new refineries and drilling operations under way.

[Swampman]

And we will no longer be the Arabs servants.  We'll stop wasting energy.

[Hooker]

Let me get this straight, you want fuel prices to become so high as to be out of reach for most Americans.
So that folks will quit using as much of our energy. Energy that is made from oil that you say we are out of.
You say we are out of oil but you want us to tell the folks who do have oil to kiss off.
 

[Land_Owner]

It is sad that SNOPES.COM is found, in this instance (maybe all - I don't know), to be biased, Left Leaning, and Environmental Wacko Friendly.

Big Oil, Big Industry, Chemical Giants, et al, have historically shown their greed, incompetence and indifference toward the environment, adjacent neighborhoods, and People (examples include Love Canal, New York; Bhopal, India; Summitville mine, Colorado, etc.).  That is not to say that some of the indifference was not fostered in an era of unknown hazards.  However, when discovered, like cockroaches they ran for the shadows and tried to hide from their responsibilities, deflect Public scrutiny, and not be held liable.  It is difficult to consider such businesses as "friendly" in the wake of such disasters.

Granted, NOTHING in life is free from risk.  Managing the risk is the Politics.  It takes real grit to drill for oil, refine oil into gasoline, concentrate and store the beneficial chemicals and deal with the unfavorable leftovers to the benefit of man. 

Environmental whack-jobs want risk-free technology, a frictionless world of renewable energy, and someone to pay for all of it besides themselves, which is never-ever going to happen. 

There will ALWAYS be risk.  High pressure, explosive gases, chemical contaminants, and men without conscience.

[ironglow]

  True; the profits made by "big oil" are chiefly from the huge volume.  Just think a bit; with the huge volume..8% is BIG money and the people who guide those corporations are charged with making a profit for their share holders.  Yes, "big oi" makes many billions, but they have millions of stockholders to share it with. Any market fluctuation of only a few percentage points could cost the shareholders BIG money....and somebody may lose their job.  Who here, that still has a job, would like to lose it ?
     This is not to say I back the polluters and law breakers, thay should be brought to pay for their lawlessness, they're on their own...shareholders didn't tell them to break the law..
   
  Some folks seem to think that the oil co profits all go to some "fat cat" sitting in Vegas, on top of a vault full of cash !  Have any of you looked recently, at your 401K or IRA ? Many of us are those "fat cats"...perhaps not as fat as some others..but still benefitting from a well run corporation.  Some of my 401K was in Exxon, last I checked..
   If you are so convinced that the shareholders of Exxon, Mobil or BP are getting "filthy rich", don't hesitate..jump onto that gravy train !  Put every penny you have into oil companies..borrow what you can and invest even more !  ...A word of warning though, your "big oil" stocks may not make up the interest you must pay on the borrowed money. It may or may not pay the interest...welcome to the reality of stock buying !
  The old word of advice.."if you can't beat'em..join 'em"...  Fact is, I don't think those who curse "big oil" believe the profits are that great either !

[streak]

As I  work in the oil& gas industry, I have called on major oil company represenatives for many years. So with this type of networking I am exposed to a lot of information concerning this industry.One thing of interest is that just before the Valdez incident, there were several companies that were setting up exploratory groups to look into exploration possibilities of ANWR. One of the companies had already taken the data that was available at that time from ANWR and they concluded that probably ANWR contained potential reserves that would equal
the North Slope or possibly surpass it.
I have had the chance to go to Prudhoe Bay on a archery caribou hunt and we were probably only about 60 miles from ANWR. Believe you me talk about a essential desolate place this is one!
It just seems to me that drilling ANWR is a no brainer and should have been done 30 years ago!! It sure could have reduced our dependence on a lot of the foreign oil.

[bigMikeA]

Oil Companies make a bunch of money because they produce and sell a bunch of product. Their profit is around 8-10%, which is low compared to other fortune 500 companies. If oil companies made 15-20% like some drug, tobacco, and beverage companies do, gas would be a lot higher than 3.50 a gallon. Again its not the oil companies fault, there is no oil, or gas costs $4 a gallon.

BINGO!!  DDZ...  bless your heart! 

Everybody is always talking about the OBSCENE profits made by the oil companies because oil company profits are always reported by the MSM and oil company bashers in numbers of dollars as opposed to % of overhead or whatever!

The oil companies spend mega quadzillion $$ on production, exploration, R&D, transportation, liability lawyers  , etc, etc, etc.   Numbers of dollars so high the average anti corporation radical can't even comprehend. 

So MSM reports that Acme Big Oil made $100 mil profit last year and everybody goes apes**t. $100 mil profit!!  That's obscene!  But they only made 8 - 10 % on their investment;  NOBODY will report that.

Something I have always wondered;  if the big oil profits are so outlandish and OBSCENE, why is not everybody lined up to buy oil company stock???

I will repeat that for the logically challenged: if the big oil profits are so outlandish and OBSCENE, why is not everybody lined up to buy oil company stock???

Will bet you Red Wings to Birkenstocks that Starbucks, Microsoft, Apple Computer, Pategonia, etc, etc,  and most all darling corps. of the leftist elite made higher % profits than "Big oil".

 

[Swampman]

Here's a very good read about our oil addiction.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/03/12/martin.energy.costs/index.html?hpt=T2

[streak]

Well i would be very suspect of reading a CNN Opinion!

This author better do some more research before he makes bold statements that the U.S. could not produce enough oil to supply itself.

[Dixie Dude]

This is what I have been saying all along. We have 175, million vehicles in this country and changing them to something else will take a minimum of 20 years. 

1) Natural gas can be used in fleet vehicles right now thus cutting 40% of our imported oil. 

2) Diesel gets higher mileage thus more vehicles need to run diesel.  Germany runs 85% of their vehicles on diesel and have cut their imports in about half.

3) Synthetic diesel from coal or algae is easier to produce than gasoline from these sources.

4) Going to ethynol from corn only drives food prices up.

5) Drilling and producing our own in Alaska, out west, and offshore will help also.

6) Hybrids may work in the long run, but costs must come down, and recharging faster. 

Face it, America doesn't like trains, or public transportation.  They like their cars.  So, All of the above must be done, as well as building more nuclear power plants. 

[ironglow]

  If the pinch is as tough as the libs say, why don't they simply rule out larger, more fuel consuming vehicles, except where business demands a larger engine. I have a car with a 1500 cc engine which transports 4 people very comfortably (5 when needed) and easily handles any highway need..1800 cc should transport 7 easily, given decent engineering.
     Fact is though, the liberal/greenies are lying again..they must know by now, that they have bought into a farce.  If they haven't just recently caught on to that fact, then they were part of the big lie all along.
   We could perhaps pay a bit more heed to them if they "put their lives where their mouthes are".  If Al Gore et al, would drop the gas guzzler limos, private jets and live in a small. 2 bedroom, highly efficent ranch...they may be a tiny bit credible...
  Otherwise, it's plain BS...and we ALL know it ! Some will face the facts..and some continue to bury their heads in the sand.
    By now they have so much sand in their eyes....that they can no longer see the truth !

   Click on this link to see Al Gore's new California mansion;  http://adisgruntledrepublican.blogspot.com/2010/05/al-gores-new-california-mansion.html

   See below his Nashville mansion...all this for 2 people...or rather 1 person since Tipper is dumping him..

[ironglow]

...And while we're at it, let's take a look at Sen John "greenie" Kerry's many cozy little bungaloes..just for he and Teresa to snuggle in, you understand...

  http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_kerry_homes.htm

    Liberals are great at peeing on your head...and all the while.. claiming that it's raining !

[Sourdough]

Swampman you have been listening to the Environmentalist wackos too long.  You are repeating what they say, "Not worth messing with.  Not enough oil to make a differance".  WRONG There is more oil in ANWR than under Prudoe Bay.

27 Billion Barrels of oil just off the Northern Coast of Alaska in the latest discovery.  We won't use that up for a long time.  ANWR has far more oil than the oil companies are letting on.  I have talked to the engineers and geologist that have done the exploration work in ANWR. They all say there is far more thanthe oil companies admit (to prevent compatition).  The environmentalist say it will be ten years before we can get oil out of ANWR, WRONG, we can have ANWR oil flowing in the pipeline in three years once permission is given.l

[Swampman]

I haven't been listening to anyone.  We don't have enough oil to even make it worth drilling for.  There is no useful oil.

[Sourdough]

What part of 27 billion barrels do you not understand.  That will last a very long time, and that is just in one field.  ANWR is reported to have 25 billion barrels of oil.  That's as much as Prudhoe Bay had.  Prudhoe Bay was worth building the pipeline over.  We have lots of heavy oil all over the state as well, no one has ever taken a hard look at that, or made estimates as to it's quanity, since it is not as desirable as the light sweet oil they have been getting out of Prudhoe Bay.  Estimates are that we actually have more oil than Saudi Arabia. 

 

[carbineman]

Sourdough, You live in Alaska, and have the pulse of what is going on there. I am all for drilling for more oil and I'm glad you weighed in on this and brought some facts to the forum. Thanks........carbineman

[Swampman]

I'm all for drilling for oil....but there is not enough to last long enough to do anything.

[mcwoodduck]

It is sad that SNOPES.COM is found, in this instance (maybe all - I don't know), to be biased, Left Leaning, and Environmental Wacko Friendly.

Big Oil, Big Industry, Chemical Giants, et al, have historically shown their greed, incompetence and indifference toward the environment, adjacent neighborhoods, and People (examples include Love Canal, New York; Bhopal, India; Summitville mine, Colorado, etc.).  That is not to say that some of the indifference was not fostered in an era of unknown hazards.  However, when discovered, like cockroaches they ran for the shadows and tried to hide from their responsibilities, deflect Public scrutiny, and not be held liable.  It is difficult to consider such businesses as "friendly" in the wake of such disasters.

Granted, NOTHING in life is free from risk.  Managing the risk is the Politics.  It takes real grit to drill for oil, refine oil into gasoline, concentrate and store the beneficial chemicals and deal with the unfavorable leftovers to the benefit of man. 

Environmental whack-jobs want risk-free technology, a frictionless world of renewable energy, and someone to pay for all of it besides themselves, which is never-ever going to happen. 

There will ALWAYS be risk.  High pressure, explosive gases, chemical contaminants, and men without conscience.

From what I understand, Love Cannal was the builders that knowingly built on a toxic site. 

[mcwoodduck]

I'm all for drilling for oil....but there is not enough to last long enough to do anything.

Three things;
1) there is more oil out there then you think,
2) technology is constantly making it possible to gather oil that was before thought impossible.
3)If the US drills we have stricter standards than any where else in the world.  the drilling will be clean and any seapage will be cleaned up quickly.  Unlike the demand economies of the third or communist world that pollute and do not care about the enviroment.
But the problem is not in the drilling and mining of oil, it is in the cracking and refining of that oil in to usable products like gas, diesel, avation fuels, heating fuels, and other petrochemicals.
No Matter what you want it to be the reality is our economy runs on oil to move the raw materials, goods, food, and services around.  Higher fuel costs = higher prices across the board.  higher prices = less work, less consumed, less demanded.  Less Production, less work less demanded = Fewer jobs!
Higher prices also widen the gap between rich and poor.
I think the best thing for this country is the Department of Energy to live up to it's original mandate and allow drilling and refining of domestic fuels.  Use scrubbers to clean the air from coal power plants, build more natural gas steam turine power plants and build a couple Neuclear power plants to augment the power grid to handle the alternative energy vehicles. (Electric)
Wind and solar are nice but my Ice cream will melt at night when the sun is not shinning on the solar pannels and the heating of the earth has stopped and the wind dies down.
Cheap fuel prices will lower lower costs, will employ more people, and get the economy going.
We need to have a smarter president that can see lowering taxes and lowering energy costs will create jobs.

[Dixie Dude]

Martin is a liberal from CNN.  He probabaly lives in NYC and uses buses, subways, and taxis.  Rural and suburb Americans do not have low cost mass transit and must use their cars.  Cars today get at least 1/3 more mileage than they did in 1973, so gas consumption per vehicle has gone down and mileage up.  We only had 100,000,00 cars on the road in 1973, today we have 175,000,000 cars.  It isn't because of gas guzzlers alone, but almost twice as many vehicles.  Talking about running out.  Did you know there is a 30,000 year, I repeat 30,000 year supply of natural gas trapped in hydrates in the Bermuda triangle.  We would have to mine it with robotic submarines, but it is doable, but expensive.  When they do bubble up they sink ships and make airplane engines explode when they suck in the gas.  They bubble up when there is an underwater landslide.  This sometimes happens because of underwater currents over time.  So, we can run the cars off natural gas when the time comes.  If gasoline does get to $4 or $5 a gallon and stays there, it is then more economical to make it from algae oil.  So gas will not get to $10 except via inflation. 

[ironglow]

Swampy says;

" I am all for drilling for oil...but there is not enough to last long enough to do anything".





   Swampy;
   You simply must stop reading (and believing) everything those eco-freaks write !  They have been proven liars by their "warmingate" scandal.  The leading eco-freaks betray themselves by continuing private jets, numerous mansions, limousines, Maseratis and wasteful living in many ways.  Why listen to ANYTHING they have to say ?
 
  There are vast supplies of oil right here in North America;
  http://dailycaller.com/2011/03/10/new-report-says-u-s-has-largest-fossil-fuel-reserves-in-world/

    ...But we must keep in mind, B Hussein Obama said during his campaign that it would be a good thing if gasoline costs us $5 or $10 per gallon..

     ...But then perhaps BHO doesn't mind $ 260,000,000,000 of our money going over to the Muslim brotherhood each year:
  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110210/ap_on_re_us/us_shale_oil       Read the last two sentences of the article..

   Talk about Jobs..oil field, pipe and drilling equipment, trucks, truck drivers, restaurants, real estate. service industries ...and hundreds of thousands of other peripheral jobs......  And we wouldn't have to buy the jobs with "stimulus" money.

[Hooker]

I'm all for drilling for oil....but there is not enough to last long enough to do anything.

Wow I guess we can't argue with that. 
I guess I better tell the guys who sign my paycheck to quit making all them holes in the ground and tell the companies we work for to quit pumping all that black stuff out of them holes.
And you need to loosen the strap on your helmet and quit eating those crayons I don't think they are the non-toxic type.

Pat

[Swampman]

They drill wells to get a few barrels of low grade oil a year.  It makes them money but it's nowhere near enough to quench America's addicition.  The old "we have plenty of oil" myth is just something folks who aren't willing to help America get off her knees quote to make themselves feel better about wasting energy and our children's future.

[Hooker]

Mean while the company I work for is building new state of the art Flex rigs. They are such fools don't they know there is not enough oil left to pay for these new rigs. It's bad enough that every rig this company owns is out there turning to the right making useless holes in the earth, now were going waste money on multi-million rigs. Maybe they will figure it out when there is no fuel left to run those big diesel engines and all those kellys quit turning.
So what kind of critter do you think I should get to pull my wagon? A big draft horse or one of them economy models like burro or made a goat yeah a goat don't want to waste no energy.

Pat