Oil $90-110/barrel

[vvv90]

From what I understand is that new refineries need to be built and drilling in ANWR needs to happen.

I haven't been a Bush fan for quite a while now, but I did see him on the TV the other stating the same thing.

It's buracracy (sp?) at it's finest. No president alone has the power to change it but it can be eased by drilling our own damn oil in Alaska. I'm so sick of these damn hippies.

[marlinspike]

I really don't see how drilling would help. There's a pretty inelastic demand for it, so the oil companies are price setters. Competition would keep them from having that power (since while they would still be price setters, but profits would be less astronomical because they'd be trying to undercut each other) but there is little competitive about the sale of gasoline. Also, oil is a global market, so ANWR would be a drop in the well (NB: the US is an oil exporting nation).

If you want the prices to drop, the government has to break the companies up (even the ones that are "separate" companies) and stop allowing it to be traded on the futures market.

[vvv90]

I disagree. Supply and Demand is inevitably what it always comes down to.

[marlinspike]

That only works in a competitive market. Without competition, why would they lower the prices if doing so wouldn't increase sales enough to more than make up for the price drop?

[Moose]

Just thought I would update the thread. Oil now trading at $135 per barrel.

[haas]

Peak Oil: Life After the Oil Crash

[usnis0922]

Originally Posted by haas

Peak Oil: Life After the Oil Crash

History channel said in 100-150 years we will be out of oil. What I think is really funny is they found in 2006 in the Gulf of Mexico possibly one of the largest oil deposits EVER under a gian salt formation yet we still arent seein crap with it.

[haas]

Originally Posted by usnis0922

History channel said in 100-150 years we will be out of oil. What I think is really funny is they found in 2006 in the Gulf of Mexico possibly one of the largest oil deposits EVER under a gian salt formation yet we still arent seein crap with it.

Chevron's recent find in the Gulf of Mexico, nicknamed "Jack 2", is estimated to hold between 3 billiion and 15 billion barrels of oil. Source Let's assume, for the sake of illustration, Chevron's most optimistic estimate of 15 billion barrels is the most accurate estimate. A fifteen billion barrel field puts the global peak (the halfway mark) off by 7.5 billion barrels. This is less than a four month supply at current rates of consumption. At projected rates of oil consumption for the year 2015 it's less than a three month supply.



This does not even account for the fact this "huge find" is almost 6 miles below the ocean and thus much more expensive to develop than traditional oil fields where the oil typically bubbles up to ground level when first discovered.



The truth is the Jack 2 field is really a sign of how desperate Big Oil companies are getting when it come to replacing their rapidly dwindling reserve base. There is no reason to look for oil 270 miles off the coast and 6 miles below the ocean surface unless cheaper and easier to extract sources have already been exhausted. This is the whole point Peak Oil "chicken littles" have been making for nearly 50 years: once the peak is reached oil will still be available but only at a tremendous energetic and financial cost.

[usnis0922]

Originally Posted by haas

Chevron's recent find in the Gulf of Mexico, nicknamed "Jack 2", is estimated to hold between 3 billiion and 15 billion barrels of oil. Source Let's assume, for the sake of illustration, Chevron's most optimistic estimate of 15 billion barrels is the most accurate estimate. A fifteen billion barrel field puts the global peak (the halfway mark) off by 7.5 billion barrels. This is less than a four month supply at current rates of consumption. At projected rates of oil consumption for the year 2015 it's less than a three month supply.



This does not even account for the fact this "huge find" is almost 6 miles below the ocean and thus much more expensive to develop than traditional oil fields where the oil typically bubbles up to ground level when first discovered.



The truth is the Jack 2 field is really a sign of how desperate Big Oil companies are getting when it come to replacing their rapidly dwindling reserve base. There is no reason to look for oil 270 miles off the coast and 6 miles below the ocean surface unless cheaper and easier to extract sources have already been exhausted. This is the whole point Peak Oil "chicken littles" have been making for nearly 50 years: once the peak is reached oil will still be available but only at a tremendous energetic and financial cost.

Well time to lift the drilling bans in the US again i think

[II kings 9:20]

We are the Saudi Arabia of natural gas. We have the world's largest supply. That is one option. Electrics like Chevy's Volt are likely going to be the future. Near term, we will need to explore Alaska. This thread should have been named $180-$220/barrel.