What is up with these gas prices?

[Mink]

Let's say we try your #2 suggestion. What if someone drills for oil and finds a dry hole....or several dry holes? That will cost them a pretty penny, no? So, then they hit oil........who pays for the dry holes?

[subdjoe]

Exploration costs are factored in now, Mink. Your argument can be used for any oil field, by the way, not just the ones that TNG mentioned. Cost of doing business that the end users are already paying for. And, with the advances in the art and science of geology, I doubt that many dry holes get drilled anymore.

[The New Guy]

it's extremely hi-tech these days. oil companies can spend hundreds of millions, even a billion dollars to find a new "hole." they are very carefull about where they point their drill bits. many have geologists, seismologists, and every other kind of -ologist on hand to make sure they hit the oil. 99% of the time that they poke a hole they hit it. as much as it costs to explore they really can't afford NOT to hit it the first time.

[Mink]

The reason I chose that suggestion is because it was on the news just this week. A geologist-turned business man in Texas might hit oil less than half of his attempts, spending million while hitting many dry holes in the process. I saw many workers. No seismologist was in that equation.

[harpman1]

A newscast is a product. It sells better if something exciting or frightening is part of the story.

TNG is right on w/how it works finding & collecting oil. The cost of all exploration is the responsibility of the producer. BIG OIL spends BIG BUCKS & risks Billion$ looking for the goo.

It is a dirty, dangerous job w/no guarantee of success. Petroleum exploration, production, & refinement is among the riskiest businesses on earth.

At this point in time they are investing most of the billions in current record profits into alternative energy sources to replace their current product. They intend to sell us the next form of energy as well.

These are people just like you & me. The idea that oil co.s are hell-bent on destroying the planet for short-term riches is a fairytale told by fools & children.

That said, I am amazed how many seemingly normal adults actually believe it. Testimony to the effectiveness of The Romantic Lie; a lie too exciting & fun not to believe.

[saunterelle]

The point is, we need to break our dependence on oil altogether. Perhaps high gas prices are just what we need to move us to really invest in exploring other options. Whining about not drilling enough domestically and building more refineries is just denial, putting a band-aid on the problem. High gas prices have people driving less and selling their SUVs. That's great! But it should have been done because it's the right thing to do, not because of high gas prices.

[iraqvet2003]

Just because we throw money at researchers doesn't mean we'll see any returns the next day.

People are clamoring for relief now! So why aren't we searching for domestic oil stores? Why are we content to depend on foreign oil?

We should be doing what we can to find domestic oil to relieve the gas prices sooner, while simultaneously researching renewable energy that is viable.

Further, Government money goes out to the lowest bidder. Typically, lowest bidder means lowest quality. For something as important as "renewable energy" going to the lowest bidder is a waste of money.

We might want to defer to the Market on this. Viable renewable energy is going to make some people very rich in the future. Allow private investors to support this research and let the government work on getting us the oil we require now.

[jgaffney]

Saunterelle sez...

The point is, we need to break our dependence on oil altogether. Perhaps high gas prices are just what we need to move us to really invest in exploring other options. Whining about not drilling enough domestically and building more refineries is just denial, putting a band-aid on the problem. High gas prices have people driving less and selling their SUVs. That's great! But it should have been done because it's the right thing to do, not because of high gas prices.

Great! This is what we need to hear more of! The progressives, who have been clammoring for years for a reduction in the consumption of gasoline, are actually gleeful with the current turn of events. The talk in the Congress about excess profits taxes is just a smokescreen - Congress won't do anything, while they continue to collect gasoline taxes and secretly revel in the fact that gasoline consumption is finally falling. "I feel your pain" - Right!

But, answer me this, Saunterelle: What is your solution for the mid-term situation, where petroleum is expensive but the new sources of energy have not yet come on line? Please don't confine your answer to gasoline - petroleum influences nearly every factor of your life.

[jgaffney]

Here's some more information from The American Thinker:

So, you hate "big oil" and the soaring gasoline prices they are forcing on you? You've bought into the Democrats and Republicrats rhetoric about greed and "unjustified" profits, and you can't wait for someone to be elected president and get even with those evil corporate robber barons that are profiting at your expense.

Well before you get all excited about tearing down the energy industry, stop and think for a moment about what makes your comfortable life possible. Your heat and most of your electricity are provided through the burning of oil and natural gas. The thousands of plastic items in your home, car and office are all made from crude oil. Much of your clothing is woven of fibers made from petroleum.

Without the hard work and ingenuity of the men and women who work for the energy companies, we would be living in the 17th century - no electricity, running water, cars, trucks, airplanes, ships, factories, waterproof clothing, soda bottles, safety glass, sterile food and medical containers, air conditioners, televisions, microwave ovens, X-Boxes, I-Pods, or any of the millions of other products made using power generated from the burning of fossil fuels.

You would have to grow your own food, or ride your donkey to a nearby market, where there would be no refrigerators or electric lights. You'd have to kill and clean your own meat and cook it over an open fire. You'd have to chop down the trees for your home, and provide your own light by making candles from the fat of animals. Every single thing in your modern life is utterly and completely dependent upon a steady supply of oil. Without it, the entire Western world would collapse completely in a matter of weeks; tens of millions would perish from starvation, exposure, and disease.

Exxon-Mobil, the world's largest energy company, provides jobs directly to nearly 84,000 people and indirectly to tens of thousands of others in industries from merchant shipping to retail shops. Their record profits in 2006 returned more than $111 Billion in equity to their millions of stockholders, which likely include yourself if you receive pension benefits or have a 401k, IRA, or other investment account. Do you still want them to make less money? They and the other oil companies spend hundreds of millions of dollars of their evil profits exploring for new supplies of oil and gas to keep us alive and comfortable; scouting and drilling under difficult and often dangerous conditions on six continents.

Most of the people who revile Big Oil for "obscene profits" have absolutely no idea how pervasive petroleum is in the 21st Century, or what it takes to find the oil, get it out of the ground, and deliver it in the product form we demand.

In the old PeeDee forums, there were several posters who would echo the old trope, "No Blood For Oil." I would challenge those people to live one week without oil. No one took me up on that.

[Mink]

Heck with oil~

www.crooksandliars.com/2008/06/24/how-about-a-car-that-runs-on-water/

One of these days.......and there is a car that runs on air too!

[jgaffney]

Saunterelle, how are you doing on your petroleum-free lifestyle?

[saunterelle]

Here's my answer from another thread: "You're right, we rely heavily on petrol based products in our day to day lives. The solution should not be "where can we find more oil." It should be "since we've hit peak oil, oil is no longer cheap, and it keeps us beholden to the Middle East, lets pour money into new technologies that will break our dependence on oil." This is something we haven't done. The Republican plan (drill, drill, drill) just prolongs our problem."

If we put more money into products like these: www.ecoproducts.com/ we could eventually ween ourselves off petroleum based products altogether. Unfortunately, the oil industry has a stranglehold on the American economy.