Prophets of Doom......

[thehillshavestis]

and kielan me too, DRILL MOFOS! ahah

[Tuck&Poke]

yes the USA has the largest reserve in the world , however we are also number one in consumption. looking up the strategic reserves stats online shows :

"As of August 31, 2009, the current inventory was 724 million barrels (115,100,000 m3). This equates to 34 days of oil at current daily US consumption levels of 21 million barrels a day."

so as long as we can develop an oil replacement within 34 days of tapping our only reserve , then youd be correct.

Theres no way that the largest oil reserve in the world will only last 34 days, something isnt right with those numbers. Are you sure they're not talking about the number of barrels of oil that have been drilled out of the ground already?

All I have to say is drill baby drill when it comes to oil. Most issues I go to the democrats side, but on oil drilling, its DRILL BABY DRILL!

Kielan for president!

^ we have a ton of oil off-shore, I totally agree with that. The problem is, the general American public has been so brain washed into thinking off-shore drilling is 'evil', that foreign oil is what is generally seen as the more responsable thing to do.

That being said, oil is still deminishing and we as a nation have passed our 'peak oil' time period. As in, we will never produce more oil annualy than we did 40yrs ago, when it reached 10million barrells a day. Eventually, that well will be empty and currently there are no substitutes.

I agree with you 100%, environmental lobbyists are probably to blame for that one. Just like our ban on Nuclear powerplants, which is some of the most efficient, clean, and safe energy known to date.

I'm not saying lets stop looking for a solution, we need to ween off oil, but lets be smart about it. Hybrids are not the answer, just like catalytic converters weren't the answer in the 70's. Those things are just temporary solutions, and bad ones at that. I don't think hydrogen power will be the answer either, at least not with current refinement methods. It currently takes more energy to extract hydrogen that the power it makes. I do think that its a good idea for the government to give incentives to companies that develop these technologies.

[OG patina]

for all the 'drill baby drill' sarah palin types, just so you know the oil drilled here doesnt necessarily stay here in the USA.. it doesnt belong to the USA. it belongs to the companys who paid for the contracts to drill and then it goes on the world market and gets sold to the highest bidder.

[OG patina]

Theres no way that the largest oil reserve in the world will only last 34 days, something isnt right with those numbers. Are you sure they're not talking about the number of barrels of oil that have been drilled out of the ground already?

link to my source

[Tuck&Poke]

link to my source

Thats not the reserve im talking about, im talking about the underground oilfields in the US and just offshore

[OG patina]

Thats not the reserve im talking about, im talking about the underground oilfields in the US and just offshore

well regarding the oil that is still in the ground as i mentioned in my previous post it gets sold on the world market like any other commodity does.

[Kielan]

for all the 'drill baby drill' sarah palin types, just so you know the oil drilled here doesnt necessarily stay here in the USA.. it doesnt belong to the USA. it belongs to the companys who paid for the contracts to drill and then it goes on the world market and gets sold to the highest bidder.

Yes I realize that the oil doesn't belong to the US and it would go on the world market, thats not the argument I'm making. It would greatly benefit the US economy, because these oil companies would have to pay for permits to drill on US soil, along with tariffs, taxes, etc to get it on to the world market, which also means that it would be smarter fiscally to sell that oil in the US for the companies who drilled that oil. Yes a lot of it will still make it to foreign markets, but it would also greatly reduce the cost to us as Americans to get the oil, which would in turn mean lower gas prices. So we would win in multiple ways in this case.

Oh and since the US is the consumes the most oil in the world, you bet your ass we would be the highest bidder. Just saying.

Oh and never compare me to Sarah Palin. Kthnx.

[OG patina]

It would greatly benefit the US economy, because these oil companies would have to pay for permits to drill on US soil, along with tariffs, taxes, etc to get it on to the world market, which also means that it would be smarter fiscally to sell that oil in the US for the companies who drilled that oil.

im having a tough time wrapping my mind around this logic of yours. thats like saying any goods produced in california by companies paying california tariffs and taxes etc would be fiscally smarter and better off to sell said goods only in california. how? should ford only sell their cars in the US since they produce the cars (for the most part) and pay taxes here ?

when US oil companys sell oil back to the US they dont get their tarrifs and taxes and whatever else refunded to them. they just make whatever oil is going for per barrell that day.. besides that all these companys are headquartered over seas to avoid paying as many US taxes as possible anyway.

[Kielan]

I didn't say ONLY sell to the US, I feel you misunderstood my post. It is undeniable that it is cheaper to sell a good in country than overseas. There is no denying that fact. When oil companies sell overseas they have to pay tariffs, taxes, more shipping, etc, on top of the country's import taxes and such. Going through the US would significantly cut down on those costs, this is a proven fact. Look at the price of gas in countries in the Middle East and you see what I am talking about.

The US uses the MOST OIL IN THE WORLD, we have been the highest bidder for oil for a long time now, and companies know and understand that. Lets not forget that high gas prices are also a product of local, state, and federal taxes. Hell in my county 87 octane goes for about 3.40 right now, go one county over (maybe 20 min away) and you are paying 3.10, you go to NJ and its 2.90, all because taxes vary the actual price of gas is much lower than what we think it is because the consumer has to pay SO much more on top of it as the government tries to make more money, THAT won't change if the oil comes from here or not. So yes, it will definitely benefit the US economy as well.

And no, not "all of these companies" are overseas...

[Tuck&Poke]

Thats not how it works though, the oil goes to sale on a market where speculators basically bet on its price, and whoever wins gets the oil for said price. So in reality you're not paying for oil at its real market value, your paying whatever the speculators guess the price is going to be. Its an incredibly fucked system.

[Kielan]

I thought it was all highly moderated by OPEC, so that 1 company doesn't decide to go awol and jack up or crazily drop prices, which would destroy the market?

[Oxer]

If you take all the oil from under there, then wouldnt that make the outer layer of the earths crust destablize under the US?

I mean, if you take something out, you have to put something back in, but you cant put anything in there easily without first completely emptying it...