A number that spells the end of V8s

[409T]

If you read this http://www.snopes.com/politics/gasoline/bakken.asp all the way to the bottom, it says that in April of 2008 the U.S Geological Survey re-estimated the original Bakken prediction of 503 billion barrels of oil and decided it was instead 3 to 4.3 billion barrels. 4 billion barrels is about what the U.S. imports in 14 months. As of last month, the Bakken region was yielding about a half million barrels per day, so it IS being worked.

With the price of oil being as high as it is there is a lot of new activity in California, both in drilling new wells and reopening old ones. This last year, in the Santa Maria valley I have seen maybe 20 new pumping units installed, and I know of permits being filed for many more. There are drawbacks, however. Not all oil is usable for fuel. Heavy crude is common and common to Santa Maria. To get it out of the ground, you must first pump light crude or steam down into the reserve cavity to loosen the heavy crude up, and then try to pump it out. This plus permits, leases and many other items make it not economically feasible to go after the stuff until the price of oil reaches about $70 per barrel, not $16, and it us generally used for products like asphalt not gasoline. I suppose that is OK if you have a 2-stroke that runs on tar. Light crude will be considerably cheaper to extract, can be refined into fuel, but it isn't everywhere.

 

[Rick]

If you read this http://www.snopes.com/politics/gasoline/bakken.asp all the way to the bottom, it says that in April of 2008 the U.S Geological Survey re-estimated the original Bakken prediction of 503 billion barrels of oil and decided it was instead 3 to 4.3 billion barrels. 4 billion barrels is about what the U.S. imports in 14 months. As of last month, the Bakken region was yielding about a half million barrels per day, so it IS being worked.

With the price of oil being as high as it is there is a lot of new activity in California, both in drilling new wells and reopening old ones. This last year, in the Santa Maria valley I have seen maybe 20 new pumping units installed, and I know of permits being filed for many more. There are drawbacks, however. Not all oil is usable for fuel. Heavy crude is common and common to Santa Maria. To get it out of the ground, you must first pump light crude or steam down into the reserve cavity to loosen the heavy crude up, and then try to pump it out. This plus permits, leases and many other items make it not economically feasible to go after the stuff until the price of oil reaches about $70 per barrel, not $16, and it us generally used for products like asphalt not gasoline. I suppose that is OK if you have a 2-stroke that runs on tar. Light crude will be considerably cheaper to extract, can be refined into fuel, but it isn't everywhere.

Sorry my bad i didnt read it all the way down.OOOOOPS

 

[GT63]

There's some good info here:

US Energy administration, Gas and Diesel

 

[railroad]

Went on vacation to Alaska a few years back and got a mini education. We were told that all the oil that comes down the pipe line is shipped to foriegn countries, Asia. We were also told Alaska has the cleanest burning coal in the U.S., all of it goes to Korea. Did the tax payer fund the pipeline? What do we get from its use. I know the Alaskan residents get a check, which is fine, but did their taxes alone pay for the pipeline. I know a guy that has a few oil wells, the kind you see from the highways. He said the government tells him how much oil he can pump and sell in a given time, which was very limited???
I get the feeling I left the hen house unguarded too long.

 

[one finger john]

Sorry my bad i didnt read it all the way down.OOOOOPS

I suppose I should retract my "thank you" to Rick for what he wrote.











Hmmmm ...... Nope, he still tried, that's what counts.

John

 

[Allen]

Filled up in Morro Bay, California yesterday. $4.62 a gallon. Part of the problem in California, not enough refineries. This thing isn't going to end. Gerry, you're probably not going to need a second tank.

 

[butch27]

Railroad: Ah yes; the famous Jimmy Carter pipeline. We got screwed on that one.

 

[Mike]

Actually, more recent Bakken information than 2008 indicates there is a LOT of oil shale that keeps the earlier estimates up where they were. Unfortunately, the shale is at a depth which makes it too prohibitive in terms of recovery cost. However, the light, sweet crude estimates were been raised to the 11 billion barrel range in 2010. And recovery cost estimates suggest the oil companies can still go after Bakken oil with prices in the $30/barrel range. As of right now, it is at $105.21/barrel. I see gold is creeping back up, as well. It is currently at $1436.10. And people are watching the Dow and S&P 500? I believe gold is now the indicator to keep watching.

I think the thing most people are missing is that our focus needs to be on alternative fuels, not on trying to conserve our own oil reserves. Sure, the idea of not being able to purchase high-octane gasoline doesn't sound very exciting, but that's all part of this thing we call "progress". Dinosaur-fueled, internal combustion engines are going to fall by the wayside, like it or not. We cannot continue to build more and more cars, using more and more gasoline forever. This planet has finite reserves, full stop. We can continue charging toward the day they pump the last drop of oil out of ol' Mother Earth and then sit around and gripe about it, or we can start being a lot more intentional about developing methods of transportation that use alternative fuels.

People start thinking electric-powered vehicles, when the issue of oil is brought up. But we need to remember that there is a power-generating plant, somewhere, that is likely using large amounts of non-renewable resources to produce the electricity used to recharge a battery-powered vehicle. And if that plant isn't burning up coal or oil, then the odds are it is creating nuclear waste that our children's children's children will still be dealing with, long after we're gone.

I don't suggest that all other technologies be put on a back burner, but when we can continue to come up with incredible breakthroughs in the medical industry and the computer industry, I get the impression we can come up with a clean and ultra-efficient method to burn coal. And there is no disputing that we certainly have a lot more power-creating potential in our coal reserves than we do in our oil reserves.

In the last couple decades, about all we've been intentional about is sending American manufacturing outwith our borders, so that we can continue to deal with ever-increasing numbers of unemployed. Remember when this country was known as an industrial giant? I suppose I better stop, before I start pointing fingers where they should be pointed and inappropriate images start appearing in my posts again. But I will say this - trying to get manufacturing companies to move back to the U.S. is going to be akin to putting toothpaste back in the tube. And there is not one, single culture, throughout all of recorded history, that has managed to survive when using fiat currency. When will Americans wake up to these undeniable facts?