Dems and the Oil Reserves

fofumfee · May 18, 2004

People have to eat, they don't have to fight wars over oil fields.

What do I expect?

I expect wars to be profit driven in this country.

Show me a war that was not profitable to the private sector that funds the war machine, or generates profits as a result of the "rebuilding" efforts.

Terrorism is a smokescreen for the war machine, which includes windfall profits from GW's oil buddies.

This administration was supposed to be the experts in oil...yep, experts in generating profits for oil producers, including their good buddies the Saudis.

Quote from spect8or:

Yeah, how about a "windfall profits law" to stop all those restaurants and cafes making a killing from lunch hour.

Seriously, what did you expect? The oil companies to say, "oh shit, there's a war on, we dare not make any profits now!"?

bungrider · May 18, 2004

ahh, the days when presidents had spines...

ShoeshineBoy · May 18, 2004

Quote from fofumfee:

Bush began unnecessarily buying oil AT THE MARKET to fill the reserves. He didn't negotiate price, he just spent our money at the market, helping to drive the prices up even before the war.

I saw the article make this assertion. Why couldn't this be for national security purposes though? Personally, I like the idea of having some additional reserve after seeing how wacked out the middle east is. What I'm asking is: don't you think it could be strategic?

When we went into Irag, middle east war seemed much more likely. Israil began attacking Hamas. Syria now may have had the WMD. Bin Laden sits waiting to indirectly gain power in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. What if there was a major war, i.e. with Israel involved and supplies were significantly disrupted? Won't we be thankful we have those reserves even if we pay a nickel more at the pump now?

ShoeshineBoy · May 18, 2004

Quote from spect8or:

Good grief Shoeboy, don't you know that all that 9.11 hullaballoo was just a ruse and the real reason was to secure a pipeline route through Afghanistan?

I've read about that, but don't remember the details. I'll ask the obvious: then why hasn't that been started? All Bush would have to say is: "we're starting this pipeline to help the nation of Afghanistan..."

fofumfee · May 18, 2004

The middle east has been whacked out for decades.

We suffered in this country 30 years ago due to the oil embargo.

Exactly what have we done to prevent that happening again?

Follow the money trail, don't be naive.

It is sinful in my opinion to send young men to die while oil men get rich as a consequence of this madness.

Quote from ShoeshineBoy:

I saw the article make this assertion. Why couldn't this be for national security purposes though? Personally, I like the idea of having some additional reserve after seeing how wacked out the middle east is. What I'm asking is: don't you think it could be strategic?

When we went into Irag, middle east war seemed much more likely. Israil began attacking Hamas. Syria now may have had the WMD. Bin Laden sits waiting to indirectly gain power in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. What if there was a major war, i.e. with Israel involved and supplies were significantly disrupted? Won't we be thankful we have those reserves even if we pay a nickel more at the pump now?

ShoeshineBoy · May 18, 2004

Quote from fofumfee:

It is sinful in my opinion to send young men to die while oil men get rich as a consequence of this madness.

I agree that a log of the Haliburton-esque stuff is highly questionable. But, on the flip side, you can't expect them to rebuild for free can you? There has to be a balance in my mind.

waggie945 · May 18, 2004

Isn't it refreshing to know that another $75 Billion is being "budgeted" by Paul Wolfowitz starting October 1st for the War in Iraq? I can't wait to visit our new Embassy that will be built over there . . . I hear that the price tag of that Embassy alone will be $1 Billion!

And yes, it's true that the Bush Administration was buying crude "at the market" this year in order to fill the SPR while pump costs skyrocket because they want to get the 660 million barrels of reserve inventory up to 700 million barrels by next year.

Purchase large amounts of crude when the price is skyrocketing.
Makes complete sense, right?

AAAintheBeltway · May 18, 2004

It is very simple to prove or disprove the statement that Bush raised the price of oil to help his oil buddies. How would he go about doing this? Either restrict supply or artificially boost demand. We know it was the Democrats, not bush, who have done everything possible to stop domestic drilling. We also know the demand issue has been driven largely by China. I frankly do not know how the national reserve factors in, but is it prudent to stop buying oil for it at a time of maximum tension? One factor that contributes to increased gasoline prices in the summer is the requirement for different blends in different areas of the country. There are a number of different blends in California alone, I believe. Makes it hard to allocate production and contributes to spot shortages.

I do think it is fair to criticize Bush for not leaning harder on Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to increase production, even though the vast majority of our oil comes from Venezuela with its nutcase Castro ally presidente and Mexico. Maybe we could take over those two countries as well. I also think it was ridiculous for us not to pull Iraq out of OPEC. Basically Bush has accepted the status quo regarding OPEC and shown as little leadership in confronting it as hi spredecessors of both parties.

waggie945 · May 18, 2004

There is obviously an issue between high demand for gasoline and the fact that refining capacity has shrunk.

But what certainly makes no sense at all is purchasing oil "at the market" for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve during this huge bull move in oil products.

Besides, how much more oil do you need to have in your reserves when you already have 660 million barrels?

bungrider · May 18, 2004

Quote from waggie945:

There is obviously an issue between high demand for gasoline and the fact that refining capacity has shrunk.

But what certainly makes no sense at all is purchasing oil "at the market" for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve during this huge bull move in oil products.

Besides, how much more oil do you need to have in your reserves when you already have 660 million barrels?

who do you think actually does the trades???

i think that even 700mil is like nothing; this country imports 20mil per day (i think). but i think the point is for military/police to have fuel in case of emergency.

an attack on an oilfield (like a dirty nuke) would be a major catastrophe for the US economy. i sure do miss when iraq's oilfields were safer.