We're Running Out of Oil! BP Finds A Mere 3 blln Barrels 250 Miles from Houston

[Misthos]

Quote from splinter7:

We will either always, or have never had, been able to meet demand with oil production.

Its just that the price changes.

At some price we demand almost infinite barrels, at some price we demand no barrels.

the only thing that is relevant is if we will run out, but again price changes, people demand lower quantities at the higher price until they demand none.

The best arguement I have seen regards how much oil does it take to get a bbl. When it costs more to get that is gets, the oil industry will die. Then we can develop tech to improve the exchange we might get some more later.

Oil trivia, why is the abbreviation for oil "bbl"?

You are correct. But think it through. What will be impacted by high prices? Suburbia, vinyl siding, asphalt roofing, farming/food... etc... It could be catastrophic. And I personally don't believe the transition to alternative energy will be seamless either.

Chris Martenson also brings up a good example. Think of it this way: You buy a gallon of gas. You drive as far as that gallon takes you - let's say 25 miles.

Now, you are out of gas. Push that car back to your driveway - all 25 miles that you previously drove. Difficult huh? If you can't do it - pay someone to do it. What will it cost you? Any takers? Thought so.

Get the picture? Oil is basically the cheap equivalent of slave labor. No emperor in the history of the world had the power we have using fossil fuels - dishwashing machines, 747s, fire engines, ambulances, farming equipment, etc... And it's DIRT CHEAP. This plentiful supply of cheap oil propelled the explosion of world population this past decade. It also propelled fractional reserve lending and Fiat Money - and the markets as well. Without such cheap energy, the wealth of the world we see today would be much less.

I used to think Peak Oilers were crackpots and thought that we have so many alternative technologies. Then I studied the issues and all alternative technologies. My conclusion?

We lack political will, the Oil Companies are too strong, and no one wants to give up that annual vacation to Hawaii just yet.

In sum: We're screwed. I fear Peak Oil more than I feel the current financial crisis.

 

[Landis82]

Quote from tmarket:

Not true, and not close to being true. It is true only if you specify lower 48 AND exclude off shore oil, and limit the location to Montana. Here are some numbers :

"In 2006, Elm Coulee was producing about 53,000 barrels per day"

"During 2004, top oil producing areas included the Gulf of Mexico (1.5 million bbl/d), Texas onshore (1.1 million bbl/d), Alaskas North Slope (886,000 bbl/d), California (656,000 bbl/d), Louisiana onshore (228,000 bbl/d), New Mexico (176,000 bbl/d), Oklahoma (171,000 bbl/d), and Wyoming (141,000 bbl/d)."

You have to excuse our resident ET Blowhard . . . Eric "EMR" Global. I believe he was a rather "small" prop trader at Schoenfeld in Chicago just a few years ago, and now he claims to be in the oil business.

Obviously, he has NO IDEA what he is talking about, as you so well point out. Elm Coulee may be the "highest producing onshore field found in the lower 48 states in the past 58 years" but it certainly is not the largest producing field in the United States. As of 2007, it was ONE OF THE TWENTY largest oil fields in the U.S. - - - Big difference, but one that the resident ET clown is unable to comprehend, let alone distinguish.

 

[splinter7]

Come on folks, oil trivia,

Why bbl?

 

[Landis82]

Quote from Misthos:

This could truly be a great find, however, have you seen the recent production rates of Cantarell? Do you know what Cantarell is?

Here:

Cantarell, The Second Largest Oil Field in the World Is Dying
http://www.energybulletin.net/node/1651

from the article:

"And even the heavy oil field they mention won't replace the loss of Cantarell by the end of the decade. And one must remember that all oil fields which are producing today, are in the process of declining.
The implications of this upcoming decline are tremendous to the world. This field produces half of what Ghawar does and it won't be doing that much longer. The effect on the energy supply will be felt and there is no way for that not to happen. On Aug. 3, 2004, the OPEC president stated that OPEC has no more spare capacity. They are pumping all out and can't satisfy the demand for oil. If fields like Cantarell begin declining, the problem of supplying the world with oil will only get worse."
____________________________

Yep.

And the Mexican government and legislature has been sucking PEMEX "dry" like a two-bit whore on a street corner for years.

The Government "finances" 45% of the national budget in Mexico via PEMEX. PEMEX pays out over 60% of its revenues in royalties and taxes. They are in a TON of debt, including $24 billion in off-balance sheet debt because the Mexican government treats it like a whore. Their revenues do not go back into exploration and production. Their fields are old and antiquated and lack new technology.

Unfortunately, at current production rates their biggest fields will run dry in about 8 years . . . The only thing that lessened the pain of the declining production was the big ramp in crude prices last Summer.

 

[Misthos]

Quote from splinter7:

Come on folks, oil trivia,

Why bbl?

In the beginning of the oil industry, containers for oil varied a lot in size and shape. Standard Oil was the first to manufacture a standard barrel 42 gallons for transporting petrol. It was colored blue.

Hence.... bbl


(yeah I googled it)

 

[Landis82]

Chevron's Richmond, California refinery processes roughly 250,000 barrels of crude oil per day, which produces 5 million gallons of gasoline per day. It opened back in 1902 and is the oldest refinery in the nation, is 2900 acres in size and employs over 1300 people. Supertankers come in to the San Francisco Bay every 3-5 days to offload their crude oil at the refinery.

(1/2 a barrel of crude oil can be refined into gasoline. The other half becomes diesel fuel, jet fuel, and lubricants).

The refinery includes two 750,000 barrel storage tanks, the largest in the United States, to receive marine cargoes.

 

[splinter7]

spot on, blue barrels from Rockafellar.

2nd, why was it so important for the barrel to be blue?

 

[Landis82]

Quote from splinter7:

spot on, blue barrels from Rockafellar.

2nd, why was it so important for the barrel to be blue?

Not necessarily.
I believe that the "bbl" nomenclature goes back as early as the late 1700's - - - well before Standard Oil was founded.

The extra "b" could have been added so as to eliminate any confusion with "bl" which was the symbol for the bale. Or, it could have been added simply to denote the plural.

 

[bozwood]

Quote from Misthos:

You are correct. But think it through. What will be impacted by high prices? Suburbia, vinyl siding, asphalt roofing, farming/food... etc... It could be catastrophic. And I personally don't believe the transition to alternative energy will be seamless either.

Chris Martenson also brings up a good example. Think of it this way: You buy a gallon of gas. You drive as far as that gallon takes you - let's say 25 miles.

Now, you are out of gas. Push that car back to your driveway - all 25 miles that you previously drove. Difficult huh? If you can't do it - pay someone to do it. What will it cost you? Any takers? Thought so.

Get the picture? Oil is basically the cheap equivalent of slave labor. No emperor in the history of the world had the power we have using fossil fuels - dishwashing machines, 747s, fire engines, ambulances, farming equipment, etc... And it's DIRT CHEAP. This plentiful supply of cheap oil propelled the explosion of world population this past decade. It also propelled fractional reserve lending and Fiat Money - and the markets as well. Without such cheap energy, the wealth of the world we see today would be much less.

I used to think Peak Oilers were crackpots and thought that we have so many alternative technologies. Then I studied the issues and all alternative technologies. My conclusion?

We lack political will, the Oil Companies are too strong, and no one wants to give up that annual vacation to Hawaii just yet.

In sum: We're screwed. I fear Peak Oil more than I feel the current financial crisis.

very good points. with that said, and with what you know about this subject, how are you investing and/or trading with regard to peak oil?

 

[SNBthetrue]

I.C.E has to die... the faster the better !