Drilling for Oil off our coast

[crazy]

Read what the US energy Secretary says about the oil prices.  It seems that supply is more of a factor than stock market speculation.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080621/ap_on_re_mi_ea/saudi_oil_summit

JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia - The U.S. energy secretary said Saturday that insufficient oil production, not financial speculation, was driving soaring crude prices.

 
Secretary Samuel Bodman\'s comments on the eve of an energy summit in the Saudi port city of Jiddah set the stage for a showdown between the U.S. and conference host Saudi Arabia, which has largely blamed speculation in the oil markets for record prices.

The U.S. and many other Western nations have put increasing pressure on Saudi Arabia, the world\'s top oil exporter, to increase production. Saudi officials have been hesitant to do so, arguing that soaring prices have not been caused by a shortage of supply.

Bodman disputed that assertion Saturday, saying oil production has not kept pace with growing demand, especially from developing countries like China and India.

"Market fundamentals show us that production has not kept pace with growing demand for oil, resulting in increasing prices and increasingly volatile prices," Bodman told reporters. "There is no evidence that we can find that speculators are driving futures prices" for oil.

He said commodities markets have experienced a huge influx of money from financial investors in recent years, but they have been following the market upward rather than driving the increase in the price of oil.

Saudi Arabia called the unusual meeting in Jiddah between oil producing and consuming nations as a way to show that it was not deaf to international cries that high oil prices have caused social and economic turmoil.

The Gulf nation has also become increasingly concerned that record oil prices could hinder growth in the U.S. and other major industrialized economies, potentially leading to a decline in oil demand and a sharp drop-off in prices.

While Saudi Arabia has been reluctant to drastically increase production, it has announced several small increases recently that it says were made to satisfy increased customer demand. The country has consistently said that it will produce enough oil to ensure the market is supplied.

The kingdom increased oil production by 300,000 barrels a day in May, and a Saudi official confirmed Saturday that the country would add another 200,000 barrels a day in July. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.

Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi also confirmed the increase ahead of the conference. But neither announcement has done much to stem the run-up in the price of oil, which closed near $135 on Friday.

Saudi assistant oil minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, told a news conference Saturday that the delegates were "congregating to achieve results" and try to draw "a collective way forward for how to attend to this situation."

"This situation as we see it today as it exists needs everybody\'s attention simply because it no longer is a luxury to talk about it or ... to keep bouncing back and forth blame," he added.

The prince said that Saudi Arabia has been working with several international organizations to put together a background paper to focus Sunday\'s discussions and reiterated that the kingdom was ready to meet demand from its customers and foster stable prices.

He said it would be "wrong" to judge the success of the meeting by oil prices the day after it ends.

Many countries around the world have experienced social unrest by populations angry that rising fuel prices have driven significant increases in the cost of food and other basic goods.

Bodman said that every 1 percent increase in the demand for oil requires a 20 percent rise in price to balance the market. Demand in China, India and the Middle East has been soaring in recent years as the countries consume more energy to fuel economic growth.

Rising demand in the developing world has coincided with historically low levels of spare oil production capacity, which fell below two million barrels per day among OPEC countries in May for the first time since the third quarter of 2006, according to the International Energy Agency.

Bodman made clear that the responsibility for reducing oil prices did not simply fall on the shoulders of producing nations, saying consuming countries must increase energy efficiency and invest in the development of alternative fuels. But he saved his strongest words for oil producers like Saudi Arabia, who he said must step up long-term investment in production and spare capacity.

"The incentive (for investing) is simply reasonable prices so that we\'re not faced with having to drop everything and race to Jiddah for a meeting that was called on a week\'s notice," said Bodman.

Saudi Arabia is completing a $50 billion plan to increase capacity to 12.5 million barrels a day but has signaled it would not go beyond that.

CNBC said Saturday that Saudi Arabia\'s current capacity is 11.3 million barrels per day, quoting al-Naimi\'s adviser, Ibrahim al-Muhanna. Previous estimates by the International Energy Agency put current Saudi capacity at about 10.7 million barrels per day. The kingdom currently produces about 9.5 million barrels per day.

___

Associated Press Writer Donna Abu Nasr contributed to this report.

[K0DXC]

Why? We drilled endlessly in the early 1900\'s, the oil boom of America. Our future already looks harsh because of our dependence on black gold.

The problem with drilling off coast is that it won\'t lower gas prices. It\'s not the availability of gas that is driving prices up, it is Wallstreet. People have been buying lots of petroleum bonds, and speculators keep saying it will go higher because of our thirst for it, thus driving the value of it up.

Most people think that our energy industry is like currency. The more in production or circulation, the cheaper. It doesn\'t work that way, the more in production the more we use. The more we use, the more expensive it becomes.

If we drill of coast, that won\'t budge the gas prices one bit. Saudi Arabia recently agreed to up its output of crude oil, you\'ll notice gas either stayed the same or went higher. Why? Because investors knew that more would be consumed at that point, creating a larger and larger market for petroleum, making it more valuable.

Plus there are many environmental and personal risks to drilling off shore, drilling for oil as it is isn\'t safe, now doing that over water makes it riskier. Plus in the Gulf to boot! Imagine what happens if a big hurricane comes through, those platforms could easily be heavily damaged, OR destroyed by the power of storms. It\'s like playing in the freeway.  

People think by decreasing our dependence on foreign oil, we will be better off. Their solution is drill at home. What we aren\'t realizing is the consequences of this. Oil is a fossil fuel, nonrenewable resource right? An oil field in Texas started forming at the beginning of time, and will be exhausted  in a about decade if our oil consumption continues to climb. The earth simply can not keep producing fossil fuels, the time it takes to form a deposit that will pay for itself is way into the future.

By not investing in a form of energy that we can use as many times as we want, THAT is what will be putting the hurt on the future. Yeah, it\'s not cheap now. But with time and as the renewable resource industry grows, it will become cheaper and more prominent. While if we waited till we absolutely needed to use renewable energy, the prices of production and the higher demands would be impossible to meet if we don\'t exploit and further research how to improve efficiency in this gold mine of clean energy.  

The environment also plays a big role. We can\'t trash the place up, you see what happens to contaminated streams after DDT poisoning from the early 1900s, the pesticides we use are nasty. Just think of how damaging petroleum is, with a higher sulfur content it is bad news for any living creature. We think we can contain it, but we can\'t. When drilling for oil, gases are released immediately after you hit the well. When coal mining, toxins escape the mines and enter streams and aquifers.  

Whether we like it or not, we need to prepare ourselves for the future of our children and grandchildren.  We can\'t achieve that by exhausting our main fuel sources, and leaving them a screwed up environment to boot.

Here\'s why we need to drill...

You mentioned getting oil from Saudi Arabia, why do that? Do you want to fund their terrorists?! If we drill from America WE will be the ones receiving the money from customers, not Osama Bin Laden.

I never said we should drill for oil off shore, I suggest we drill in Alaska and states out west where there are many un-tapped resources.

You say oil is a fossil fuel, we all knew that. Of course it will be gone some day, most of us learned that in 1st grade. There are tons of scientists and graduate students working on a new/better solution to our needs. In the mean time, WE NEED OIL!

You say that oil will become cheaper as the "renewable resource industry grows"..... I doubt it. We have "corn oil" now and all gas has done is rise in price. The more options people have to choose from, the less people that will choose oil. Therefore companies will need to raise their prices to stay in business. The OPPOSITE of what you suggested!

We will not be trashing the Earth by drilling for oil. Littering will cause more problems then drilling. I had a discussion with an elmer a few weeks ago and he said that there would be few problems if any (because of drilling for oil).

You talk about oil being a fossil fuel (non renewable)..... then you say that we can\'t use all the oil up or else our children\'s future will be harsh.... Wake up and smell the bacon Duncan, oil will be gone someday. It IS a fossil fuel. As for the environment, it\'s already screwed up. How do you think Al Gore made billions off of Global Warming.


Don\'t fund the terrorists by supporting simply importing oil from Saudi Arabia and other third world countries. Support America!

[crazy]

Offshore drilling is the way to go.  Katrina proved it is safe, and the affect to our land is extremely minimal.   I will fill up in about an hour, for about $80.   Way too much.  

:sucks:

But we have been dealt the hand, and must live with it.

[KU0DM]

When Katrina came through the gulf, and there was no (or little damage), that proved that drilling was safer now than ever, and that convinced me to support it.   If not, Cuba will get better at slant drilling and take it from us anyway.  Might as well use it ourselves first.  IMO.

That\'s partially true...there WAS damage to the platforms, then again in the big picture Katrina wasn\'t that big of a hurricane, only very deadly due to the region it affected, so that was a bad example on my part.

The Cubans won\'t mess around with slant drilling, that\'s only a false incentive provided to drill. "Get the oil first, before the Commies do!", same idea with the embargo we have on trade and travel to Cuba. The other thing is Cuba doesn\'t have their act together, many are JUST getting internet there, they have their own problems they are sorting out first. They haven\'t been as prominent on the world scene lately because of just that, the switching of power and Raul SO FAR seems intent in getting his nation back on track in terms of domestic policies and living standards.

[KU0DM]

Here\'s why we need to drill...

You mentioned getting oil from Saudi Arabia, why do that? Do you want to fund their terrorists?! If we drill from America WE will be the ones receiving the money from customers, not Osama Bin Laden.

I never said we should drill for oil off shore, I suggest we drill in Alaska and states out west where there are many un-tapped resources.

You say oil is a fossil fuel, we all knew that. Of course it will be gone some day, most of us learned that in 1st grade. There are tons of scientists and graduate students working on a new/better solution to our needs. In the mean time, WE NEED OIL!

You say that oil will become cheaper as the "renewable resource industry grows"..... I doubt it. We have "corn oil" now and all gas has done is rise in price. The more options people have to choose from, the less people that will choose oil. Therefore companies will need to raise their prices to stay in business. The OPPOSITE of what you suggested!

We will not be trashing the Earth by drilling for oil. Littering will cause more problems then drilling. I had a discussion with an elmer a few weeks ago and he said that there would be few problems if any (because of drilling for oil).

You talk about oil being a fossil fuel (non renewable)..... then you say that we can\'t use all the oil up or else our children\'s future will be harsh.... Wake up and smell the bacon Duncan, oil will be gone someday. It IS a fossil fuel. As for the environment, it\'s already screwed up. How do you think Al Gore made billions off of Global Warming.


Don\'t fund the terrorists by supporting simply importing oil from Saudi Arabia and other third world countries. Support America!

So what do you call asking Saudi Arabia to increase drilling? Is that not ALREADY "funding terrorism"? Cal, with your logic, we\'ve been funding terrorism all along, especially under the "house that Reagan built".  

You say that oil will become cheaper as the "renewable resource industry grows"..... I doubt it. We have "corn oil" now and all gas has done is rise in price. The more options people have to choose from, the less people that will choose oil. Therefore companies will need to raise their prices to stay in business. The OPPOSITE of what you suggested!

Why is gas so expensive? Speculators know we will be consuming record amounts. If the usefulness of oil goes down, people won\'t be rushing to buy oil commodities, and speculators won\'t be saying it\'s going to be more and more expensive every day. The main income for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is oil. We take away the appeal to buy oil from them, move away from oil, they have to reduce prices to compete with our FREE energy from the sun and wind. Drilling off our shores won\'t do that, why? Because as we grow, that won\'t provide enough. We will stilly be relying on the middle east for oil because all our energy infrastructure will be based around.

We will not be trashing the Earth by drilling for oil. Littering will cause more problems then drilling. I had a discussion with an elmer a few weeks ago and he said that there would be few problems if any (because of drilling for oil).

Then you are not very familiar with the process of drilling, refining, and storing oil.

A) Drilling for oil, when you dig deep into the earth, where oil is, there is also ground water there. That water no matter where you are, has an extremely high sodium content, and a high PH level. As you bring the oil to the top, the water comes with it, and escapes. Instead of being confined to little "caverns" where oil is, it is then released into the environment, because companies do little to nothing to control that run off. So the water kills of plants, and enters aquifers which many plants get underground moisture from, and it also enters our wells. Next time I\'m at my grandparents farm, I\'ll take some pictures of the area surrounding a oil well, there is NO vegetation within 100 yards of there, and studies my Emporia State University show that PH levels in underground water within 500 yards of there are extremely high.  

B) Refining, when you refine oil you are separating any of that water that is left, and again it enters the atmosphere. The other part of refining, includes reducing the sulfur levels in the oil, that release toxic gases which we can\'t control. Any runoff from the water also contains high levels of sulfur.  

C) Storing, crude or refined is often stored in batteries, not energy batteries but big tanks. Those are often A) Not sealed properly or B) Corrode quickly again releasing all of that.

Not to mention how you have to tear up surrounding landscape to get in and out, and the damage to wildlife. The environmental damage done by oil is tremendous, and it is even worse than coal.

You talk about oil being a fossil fuel (non renewable)..... then you say that we can\'t use all the oil up or else our children\'s future will be harsh.... Wake up and smell the bacon Duncan, oil will be gone someday. It IS a fossil fuel. As for the environment, it\'s already screwed up. How do you think Al Gore made billions off of Global Warming.

That is what I said Cal, oil is a fossil fuel and won\'t always be around. However you distorted it a bit, I said oil is a fossil fuel which we WILL use up. That is inevitable, whether we should use it up, or not is regardless, it\'s not going to last. However we can make it last longer, which will help in the long run while we wean ourselves off of a bad habit. You can\'t just go cold turkey with energy policies.

So because it\'s already screwed up, do you think it\'s justifiable to make it even worse? Or should we try and improve it?

You are losing a baseball game, should you just give up or try and make a comeback, and at least make it a close game?

Don\'t fund the terrorists by supporting simply importing oil from Saudi Arabia and other third world countries. Support America!

Too late for that, the Republicans in Washington keep pushing for more oil from there. Drilling in America is not the same as supporting America on several levels. A) It DOES tear up the environment, if it didn\'t then there wouldn\'t be restrictions on it.
B) Using more oil doesn\'t support America, we wouldn\'t see a price drop for at least a decade, and even then due to growth, we would still need more and it would be a marginal drop
and C) Using up our non-renewable sources before we have developed enough technology for total switch or mass change of energy would mean ball game, we lose.

[K0DXC]

Duncan,

Your reply was off topic to my original post by miles.... anyways; I will reply to your post sometime this weekend, I have to go to the tennis courts with a friend now, then my grandparents should be arriving from Illinois.

You want to \'play ball\' you say? You\'re going to get wasted if you\'re speaking of baseball.

[KU0DM]

Duncan,

Your reply was off topic to my original post by miles.... anyways; I will reply to your post sometime this weekend, I have to go to the tennis courts with a friend now, then my grandparents should be arriving from Illinois.

You want to \'play ball\' you say? You\'re going to get wasted if you\'re speaking of baseball.

Explain how my rebuttals were off topic. I used scientific information and first hand accounts to answer to remarks you made. I quoted what you said before I answered, and the answer addressed your remarks.
I answered remarks about Saudi Arabia, oil prices, environmental impacts, and Saudi Arabia again.

Ok, have fun! Got back from the pool with some friends, hope the weather is as good up there in MN, as it is down here in KS!

Calvin, "Play ball" is a figure of speech. I didn\'t say I wanted to play ball, I said it would be "ball game, we lose" which simply means "IT\'S OVER" in regards to using all our renewable sources.
Glad you have such kind words. :icon_rolleyes:

[crazy]

That\'s partially true...there WAS damage to the platforms, then again in the big picture Katrina wasn\'t that big of a hurricane, only very deadly due to the region it affected, so that was a bad example on my part.

The Cubans won\'t mess around with slant drilling, that\'s only a false incentive provided to drill. "Get the oil first, before the Commies do!", same idea with the embargo we have on trade and travel to Cuba. The other thing is Cuba doesn\'t have their act together, many are JUST getting internet there, they have their own problems they are sorting out first. They haven\'t been as prominent on the world scene lately because of just that, the switching of power and Raul SO FAR seems intent in getting his nation back on track in terms of domestic policies and living standards.

The cuban PEOPLE are not the ones we should worry about.   It is the GOV\'T who will take the resources, with their help from EURASIA.   And slant drilling is for real, and they WILL do it.  Probably already are as we speak.  Remember, the Castros aren\'t paupers, just the common people are.

[KU0DM]

The cuban PEOPLE are not the ones we should worry about.   It is the GOV\'T who will take the resources, with their help from EURASIA.   And slant drilling is for real, and they WILL do it.  Probably already are as we speak.  Remember, the Castros aren\'t paupers, just the common people are.

Cuba isn\'t a threat to us in anyway. That\'s only a Republican scare tactic.

A) We don\'t NEED that oil in our Gulf anyway, it would only increase our dependence of a fuel that we won\'t always have

B) They wouldn\'t slant drill, they have bigger fish to fry, and are such a poor country I\'m sure they Gov\'t could care less if some of their people were in the dark.

C) If B is not the case, we would know if they are slant drilling. Our intelligence may not be the best, but their heads aren\'t stuck in the sand. We have ways to monitor our borders, and offshore activity. Anyway, it\'s not our Government\'s problem. OPEC doesn\'t control the Gulf, private companies have bought rights to drill in the Gulf. It is THEIR responsibility to make sure slant drilling, or illegal drilling is taking place in their reserves.

Drilling rights in the Gulf

[crazy]

Cuba isn\'t a threat to us in anyway. That\'s only a Republican scare tactic.

[/URL]

Seems when Kennedy was Prez, there was a real threat.  We can\'t say that it wont\' happen again, though I am sure we would catch it in time.

[KU0DM]

Seems when Kennedy was Prez, there was a real threat.  We can\'t say that it wont\' happen again, though I am sure we would catch it in time.

That was then this is now.

What about the Russians? Germans? They were a threat. North? South? British? French and Indians?

How about we keep a close eye on all of them and not trust em\' because they were once a threat.

[crazy]

Those who don\'t learn from the past are bound to repeat it.   Where does Cuba get most of their monetary support from?  Why do they get it?  Location, location, location.