To the author of this I say, "Bravo!" :applause:
"Peak Oil" or Lots More Oil?
[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]In May 2006 I wrote, "I know about the "Peak Oil" theory that says we either have or are about the reach the point of diminishing returns regarding the world’s oil supply, but these recent discoveries suggest there is still plenty of oil to be found." In that commentary I documented nearly a dozen new fields of oil and natural gas discovered since 1995.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]So I wasn’t surprised when, on September 5, Chevron Corporation announced it had discovered new, huge reserves of oil some five miles below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico. The initial estimates were that these reserves "could boost U.S. oil reserves by 50 percent." [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]Good news for Americans and good news as well for other oil companies such as BP, Anadarko Petroleum, and Exxon Mobil that have their own projects in progress. Indeed, two days later, Exxon Mobil announced that its Sakhalin-1 project offshore Russia had begun to export crude oil, the eighth startup within the past year.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]Suffice it to say that the new Gulf of Mexico discovery rivals that of Alaska’s giant Prudhoe Bay oil field in 1968. President Bush may think we’re "addicted" to oil and, along with other politicians, call for oil "independency", but the fact is we, like every other modern nation require oil for transportation, plastics, heating homes, and the countless other uses to which we put petroleum. [/FONT]
- rest at www.anxietycenter.com/warning/main.htm#topstory
"Peak Oil" or Lots More Oil?
Discussion in 'Political Debate & Discussion' started by KenH, Sep 20, 2006.
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Doesn't matter. The price of gas will rise after the election.
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Anyway, the article is talking about the long term, not the next six months. -
If the economy of your nation is totally dependant on an unending supply of cheap petroleum for transportation, plastics, fertilizer, heating, and countless other uses just to avoid economic collapse, I'd call that 'addicted'.
The world does not have to run out of petroleum for severe instabilities and systems failures to occur. All that is necessary is for world production capacity to reach its absolute limit - a point at which no increased production is possible, and the long arc of depletion commences. That's the global oil peak: the end of absolute increased production and beginning of absolute declining production.
You can either, right now, start preparing to live in an expensive energy future, or you can buy another SUV and invest in a house that requires continuous HVAC and commuting 60 miles/day to work.
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By the way, do you consider human beings "addicted" to food, water, and oxygen? :smilewinkgrin: -
There will be an event that effects the price of gasoline after the election and it called the "vote".
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If you check the past few years, one will see that the price of gasoline has started rising about March and starting falling about Labor Day(later in 2005 because of the two hurricanes). The prices of oil and gasoline on the NYMEX determine what we pay at the pump.
Anyone who thinks that the price of gasoline is going to start rising on November 8 because the election is over is "stuck on stupid" or at least "stuck on ignorance", IMHO.
Now if the Congress goes back to the policies of the 1970s that created shortages of gasoline they can mess things up.
As long as the free market is allowed to work there will be no gasoline shortages. -
> I believe that "peak oil", if we ever reach it, is a long, long way off.
The data shows otherwise, but you are certainly entitled to believe whatever you want and shout "Bravo!" if it makes you feel better.
> By the way, do you consider human beings "addicted" to food, water, and oxygen?
No. Those are required for human subsistence. Petroleum is not. Only an addict would say it is.
I encourage you to stop listening to agenda-driven political commentators go look at the petroleum production, reserve, and consumption data industry professionals use.
You really do your brothers a disservice when you promote the grasshopper view that we should not prepare for the future. -
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It is YOUR responsibility to prepare for the future by getting ready to live in a future where energy is expensive. If like me you have children, your responsiblity is even greater.
The United States is a socialist country. It prefers that you be totally dependant on the government for your retirement, food, and personal safety. Dependance equals slavery. Slaves are easier to extract sustinence from than free men.
Socialism has murdered millions of people and caused untold suffering for billions more. I encourage you not to be one of them.
Letting the govenment and corporations convince you that the amount of petroleum in the world is infinite and unending sets you up for hard times when decreasing supply and increasing demand cause prices to rise. -
Tommy, I would encourage you to read some honest data - such as a book entitled The Age of Oil - The Mythology, History, and Future of the World's Most Controversial Resource, by Leonardo Maugeri. Reading it would help you to get the facts straight. -
Leonardo Maugeri makes the point I am trying to make. Petroleum WILL become expensive.
You may have faith that science and technology will allow us to squeeze petroluem out of turnips, but I do not. I believe the vast majority of researchers, not some Forbes magazine shill like Maugeri who says expensive petroleum will save us.
I'm not willing to stake the future of my children on "they'll figure something out". -
The free market will handle the situation just like it always has. Whenever a cheaper, more fuel efficient, and equal to or greater than power generating fuel can supplant gasoline as our chief transportation fuel then it will.
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Unfortunately, no such fuel exists, or is currently in development. There simply is no substitute for the energy dense cheapness of petroleum.