Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Angus on January 24, 2008, 03:58:10 AM
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Yes, we, the unarmed, were a part pf the "willing" ones :D
http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=148212&title=operation-deserter-storm
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BTW, "we" were quite much more involved in this business. We have no army, but yet people in both Iraq and Afganishtan.
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Sending 1 chick doesn't count!
:)
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Eagerly waiting fot the second episode.
Anyway, our bomsquad was there, etc. Some others as well. But as a combatant she may have been the only one.....(?)
BTW, members of one of our teams were on the crew that unearthed shells with a chemical load. Something in the family of mustard gas AFAIK.
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Originally posted by Angus
BTW, members of one of our teams were on the crew that unearthed shells with a chemical load. Something in the family of mustard gas AFAIK.
what, thats impossible, there are no WMD, bush lied about WMD so he could steal all of the Iraq oil. :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
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This was the 1915 version of WMD :D
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Originally posted by john9001
what, thats impossible, there are no WMD, bush lied about WMD so he could steal all of the Iraq oil. :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
If that were even remotely a true statement, wouldn't our gas prices have GONE DOWN since the conflict instead of DOUBLEING since 9/11.
68ROX
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Originally posted by 68ROX
If that were even remotely a true statement, wouldn't our gas prices have GONE DOWN since the conflict instead of DOUBLEING since 9/11.
68ROX
of course not, after stealing all the Iraq oil the oil companies now want to steal all your money.:rolleyes: :rolleyes:
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Most of your oil comes from....Chavez???
At least not so much of US imported oil from the gulf, AFAIK more from Nigeria and Venezuela.
But I may be wrong...
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Originally posted by Angus
Most of your oil comes from....Chavez???
At least not so much of US imported oil from the gulf, AFAIK more from Nigeria and Venezuela.
But I may be wrong...
Canada.
Most people are surprised to learn that the country from which the United States imports the greatest amount of oil is Canada. In recent years, the United States has imported approximately 200 million barrels of crude oil annually from Canada.
Oil imports into the United States from Saudi Arabia come in at second place with about 160 million barrels of crude oil annually from the Kingdom. The United States imports about the same amount of oil from Mexico as it does from Saudi Arabia on an annual basis. Other countries from which the United States imports oil are: Venezuela, Nigeria, Iraq, the United Kingdom, Norway, Angola, Algeria and Colombia.
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USA oil
The USA imports about 55% of its oil needs.
Sources of U.S. Oil Imports (millions of barrels per day, 2001): Canada: 1.79 - Saudi Arabia: 1.66 - Venezuela: 1.54 - Mexico: 1.42 - Nigeria: .86 - Iraq: .78 - Norway: .33 - Angola: .32 - United Kingdom: .31 - Total: 11.62. (Source: Energy Information Administration).
Sources of U.S. Oil Imports (%, 2002): Saudi Arabia: 16.9% - Mexico: 15.1% - Canada: 15.0% - Venezuela: 14.4% - Iraq: 11.4% - Nigeria: 5.9.%.
only about 30% of the USA's oil imports came from Arab countries in 2002. Since USA oil imports are about 55% of USA oil consumption, only about 15% of USA's oil consumption is provided by Arab countries.
About 40% of oil in the USA is used to produce gasoline.
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Venezuela provides 14% of the 55% that is imported, so roughly 7% of US consumed oil is from Venezuela.
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Originally posted by Angus
Yes, we, the unarmed, were a part pf the "willing" ones :D
http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=148212&title=operation-deserter-storm
:rofl That was great.
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Oil is a global product distributed by global, multinational oil companies. It is a commodity like other commodities, traded on the market. That is how price is set. Where you get your specific oil from often depends on geography and shipping costs, though there are many additional tweaks to the system. For example, the sour crude you get from Venezuela or Nigeria requires refineries set up to process the extra sulfur.
But, that doesn't mean that Middle Eastern oil isn't critical to the US economy. There is X amount of production, X amount of reserves and X amount of demand. Curtailing supply, either artificially or naturally leads to higher prices at the exchanges. Dumping excessive supply or a drop in demand has the opposite effect.
Currently, demand is up internationally and we are still actually seeing a demand driven strain vs. an artificial production driven strain. Though that may be transitioning now as production has been cranking up. US production is actually pretty high, but...
Where reserves are concerned, the US as a whole has less than any number of individual Middle Eastern oil fields. So, we are draining our reserves dry at a record pace. And, the Middle Eastern countries, which are economic one-trick-ponies have a legitimate concern over maximizing their profits, but balancing extending their reserves and not allowing prices to climb so high that long term behavioral changes develop among customers that would reduce demand.
Of course, should we hit a major recession then demand will crank down and the speculators will sell short and oil will be back to $50 per bbl.
BTW, the CEO of a Northeaster-based regional oil company sent me an interesting chart that shows a direct correlation to our most recent, dramatic increases in the price of a bbl of oil and the drop in the value of the dollar. Almost spike per spike, and valley per valley. He estimates that the devalued dollar accounts for $25 per $100 bbl, and noted that other countries do not see nearly the same economic impact from this increase.
Charon
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Well, while it is indeed a complicated environment, I fail to see the urgency of USA having the oil from the middle east as a "must" or "urgent" right now.
If there is a need, it is in the future. And that being energy, that would not necessarily be IN the USA.
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Why don't we just uncap all those wels in Texas and Colorado? I forget the number but i seem to remember that there was an impressive amount in those two places.
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Why don't we just uncap all those wels in Texas and Colorado? I forget the number but i seem to remember that there was an impressive amount in those two places.
Nope. Nothing about our oil reserves is impressive. Now coal, that's another story. And at $50/bbl and up crude prices approaches like Coal to Liquid become more viable.
Charon
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I fail to see the urgency of USA having the oil from the middle east as a "must" or "urgent" right now.
You have to get your head around how commodities work with world markets. There is no US oil, or Europe oil, or Japan oil -- etc. There is demand, from global to sub regional, and then there is supply. Geography plays a role, but not necessarily a central role. And the price of oil in the US or Japan depend much more on the total amount of supply released into the world market than upon who is or isn't releasing that supply.
That is why, up until 2000 OPEC was only marginally successful at influencing higher oil prices. They would agree to restrict production to a point they felt would provide the maximum profits while not having them too high to where demand would slip. However, invariably a member company (or more than one), not unusually Venezuela, would sneak extra crude into the market to make more money, prices would drop and the agreement would begin to fall apart. They have had more success at resolve lately, but, this is still likely/generally a "naturally" demand driven market for now.
Charon
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So yet, only 30% of the U.S. oil comes from the Arab countries. A lot of anti-US folks think that it's mostly from there, so it's good to have that point.
Any idea where the future fields will be? I'm hearing that Dubai for example will run dry in just 10 years.
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Quite a bit in Alaska I hear...quite a bit off FLA too, (which Congress forbids us to tap) which Cuba is happily drilling with China's help:rolleyes:
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Quite a bit in Alaska I hear...quite a bit off FLA too, (which Congress forbids us to tap) which Cuba is happily drilling with China's help
Any links to the size of these neglected reserves? How do they compare to those of real oil producing nations? ANWR certainly isn't any kind of domestic reserves savior -- it's a blip.
Charon
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I've heard new territories in Canadian waters mentioned. Yet mostly unuseable because of ice, but opening up.
BTW, what about Russian areas as well as former parts of the USSR?
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Originally posted by Charon
Any links to the size of these neglected reserves? How do they compare to those of real oil producing nations? ANWR certainly isn't any kind of domestic reserves savior -- it's a blip.
Charon
It's all speculative, as I can tell---moot point, as they won't even allow test drilling. But FWIW Geologists say it could supply oil to the United States at a rate of 1 million barrels a day for 30 years. Environmentalists, however, say oil development in ANWR would upset the ecological balance of America’s last major wilderness.
link (http://www.petroleumnews.com/pntruncate/874063786.shtml)
The Gulf:
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) agrees. Two years ago, after reviewing available data on the subterranean structures in the region, the agency estimated Cuba can lay claim to 4.6 billion barrels of oil and 9.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas
One day soon — possibly before the end of this year — an oil rig will maneuver into position in waters less than 100 miles from the coast of Florida. A drill will plunge into the inky sea and begin chewing its way into the ocean floor, hunting for oil.
But the drilling rig won't belong to an American company, and any petroleum it discovers won't do a thing to curb the USA's addiction to foreign oil. Instead, any new sub-sea gusher will belong to Cuba.
link (http://www.usatoday.com/money/world/2007-02-22-cuba-usat_x.htm)
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Geologists say it could supply oil to the United States at a rate of 1 million barrels a day for 30 years. Environmentalists, however, say oil development in ANWR would upset the ecological balance of America’s last major wilderness.
We currently consume 20.7 million barrels per day and ANWR represents about 5 percent of current demand (though when it comes on line in 10 years that may only be 2-3 percent). And, it will only last for 30 years. A common thought is that ANWR will simply replace under performing US wells that are more expensive to operate leading to more profit margin but really not much more actual oil in the marketplace. Personally, preserving what wildlife we have left for a bit longer is more valuable than this limited non solution -- at lest for now. YMMV. You can always tap it if needed when there really is no cheap, easy oil left in the world.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) agrees. Two years ago, after reviewing available data on the subterranean structures in the region, the agency estimated Cuba can lay claim to 4.6 billion barrels of oil and 9.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas
These reserves are also of the same size as ANWR. Now add them up and you see 10 percent of total US demand (today). Not bad. But, again, that's not how the oil market works.
Oil is a global commodity. We will likely directly use this oil, but prices are set by the total amount of oil released in the market. If these fields were fully developed and fully paid out to top end expectations, it just adds 1-2 million bbls to a global oil demand of about 84 million bbls. Some impact... yes. Noticable impact in real life terms at the pump? Probably not much.
There are some deep water reserves in the Gulf that may be worthwhile, but that is more of a technological issue today than a political issue. Still, not enough to solve the problem that we consume about 20 percent of the worlds oil while only being able to meet less than half of our needs domestically. Oil Sands and CTL are far more interesting.
Charon.
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Eventually, 1 year, 10 years, 100 years, 1000 years, whatever, we have to find an alternative to oil energy.
Might as well start now. One obvious place for the US is nuclear. With France at about 70% and Japan at 34% of their electrical energy successfully using it in the US should be no big thing.
Solve all our problems? Not by a long shot. But you have to start somewhere.
After that, the biofuels and sunlight. They'll take longer but the sooner the better.
The sooner we relegate oil to a much smaller role, the sooner the economy will steady up and the sooner the Middle East will fade from the world stage.
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Originally posted by Toad
Eventually, 1 year, 10 years, 100 years, 1000 years, whatever, we have to find an alternative to oil energy.
Might as well start now. One obvious place for the US is nuclear. With France at about 70% and Japan at 34% of their electrical energy successfully using it in the US should be no big thing.
Solve all our problems? Not by a long shot. But you have to start somewhere.
After that, the biofuels and sunlight. They'll take longer but the sooner the better.
The sooner we relegate oil to a much smaller role, the sooner the economy will steady up and the sooner the Middle East will fade from the world stage.
Even better solution is eco-friendly hydro. My entire school runs on 100% hydro generated power from an eco-friendly dam, meaning the damn does not affect the fish and what have you living in that river. Get the whole country doing this and we are golden.
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Not every place in the US is blessed with strong flowing river.
Use hydro where you can but it isn't enough by a long shot. There will have to be nuclear as well for electricity, maybe some coal if we can get it to burn fairly clean.
Some sort of renewable bio fuel is going to be necessary for personal transportation, IMO.
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Originally posted by Toad
Eventually, 1 year, 10 years, 100 years, 1000 years, whatever, we have to find an alternative to oil energy.
Might as well start now. One obvious place for the US is nuclear. With France at about 70% and Japan at 34% of their electrical energy successfully using it in the US should be no big thing.
Solve all our problems? Not by a long shot. But you have to start somewhere.
After that, the biofuels and sunlight. They'll take longer but the sooner the better.
The sooner we relegate oil to a much smaller role, the sooner the economy will steady up and the sooner the Middle East will fade from the world stage.
Hydro power is limited, and many of those rivers will not produce forever, since the dam areas get filled with segment.
The sea might give some energy though, although those plants are yet on a crude stage.
And nuclear energy? I wonder just how much material is available for it?
Anyway, the fight is not only about finding energy, but also saving it. You'd be baffled if you knew how much power is used in the production of aluminum cans, that mostly come to waste!
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Hilarious :)