You want the truth? (oil related topic)

[seasalt101]

Originally Posted by TriGa22
I miss the good old days when it was like 1.05 now its 3.05
man you can't even drive yet this will tell you how old i am we used to fill up at shell .28 cpg and with 8 gallons or more a free hotwheel the redline good ones the red baron etc...tobin

 

[darthtang aw]

Originally Posted by seasalt101
ok i believe the gods of our environment made us close like 30% of our refineries due to all the toxins, then reduce them over the years to where there at now, am i close?...tobin

Close but not really. They did shut down about half of the refineries but with technological advances and research the refineries we have today produce 70% of the total refined crude we did in the 1970's....We cut our refineriers from over 300 to just over 150 (going off memory). So mathmatically we would only need 25-30 more refineries to get back to where we were at in the 1970's for the refinment process....This has caused the price to go up some...but it isn't the big picture...just a piece of the puzzle.
But you guys are looking in the right direction.

 

[seasalt101]

i know the refineries upped their production capabilities and i know there have been no new ones built and i know we ship our oil out and import ours in from other countries, and i know every year the refineries come up with excuse after excuse to why the price is so high, katrina, standard maintenance, switching from this grade to summer grade etc, now it will be something about greenhouse effect i'm lost need a hint...tobin

 

[darthtang aw]

Since 1970, over 100,000 wells have been closed down....that were pumping between 5-7 barrels of crude a day...do some math.
Some of these the oil companies shut down because of cost to keep them running wasn't effective anymore....due to strict regulations imposed.
Now, I am all for keeping the environment clkean...but when we do this...there is a price to us....the citizen. and now we are seeing that price.
Factor in the number of refineries closed down due to cost to operate them instead of keeping them open and operational due to environmental alws...and you have your answers as to why gas prices keep going up.
Add on top of that the demand for the crude and itr just keeps becoming more valuable...
Now, what do you do about it?
Alternative fuel? maybe.,...but that is still about 30 years out for a vehicle that will run as efficiant and as fast....No one wants their vehicle's max speed to be 55MPH.
Every politician when asked the question about what can be done about rising fuel cost...the answer is always the same no matter which side of the saisle...and people accept it which I don't understand.
The answer from your elected officials "we need to spend more money on research for an alternative fuel source and find one that will work just as well.".
My response....Ok, that is just fine and dandy....but how will that help me in the next ten years? At the rate gas is going up, I will be working to just fill my tank up so I can go to work again.

 

[seasalt101]

i didn't put it all together but i personally have capped low production wells and on the other end i have opened up wells known as fracturing basically you take pressure and sand and resin and blast a bunch of .45 cal. size holes and blast the sand and resin into "veins" to make the flow arteries produce more, relatively cheap avg would be about 400000 per well...tobin

 

[trainfever]

I can remember gas being .35 cents per gallon and with every fill up you got a free drinking glass. They encouraged you to get a whole set. As a kid I can remember everyone having drinking glasses with the "Flying A" logo on them. Anyone remember Flying A gas?

 

[mike22cha]

Well if you could find a solution or a way you'd think would be better then get in contact with your local representatives.
Well there are a lot of jobless people in America since most jobs are heading overseas, so why not start increasing our energy production?

 

[jennythebugg]

Originally Posted by MIKE22cha
Well if you could find a solution or a way you'd think would be better then get in contact with your local representatives.
Well there are a lot of jobless people in America since most jobs are heading overseas, so why not start increasing our energy production?
there are so many jobs in the oilfield, people dont like it because of the long hours...tobin

 

[seasalt101]

Originally Posted by MIKE22cha
Well if you could find a solution or a way you'd think would be better then get in contact with your local representatives.
Well there are a lot of jobless people in America since most jobs are heading overseas, so why not start increasing our energy production?
and the oilfield pays good, benefits in most cases, not mine the problem is long hours, in my field there is usually more down time than work avg. 18 hour day work hours about 5 paid for nappin ain't so bad, i was on 1 job right on the gulf of mexico it took 2 hours to rig it up then we sat for 4 days 100 hour shift 2 hours of actual work we had to leave all the equipment there for two weeks later and finish the job made a killing that pay period, but there are lots of jobs in the oilfield you don't need college and they are always hiring, but our energy production is basically up because of the price of the barrel, if the oil prices drop and they will because more and more people are wanting alterior fuels, when they arrive oilfields will shut again, and just for the record oil does create itself it therefore is renewable, and it does not come from dead big lizards...tobin

 

[watson4]

Originally Posted by Darthtang AW
We have a winner...but now, how did this affect the oil industry and what did we not due to compensate for the changes.
The oil industry has to make 200 some odd different types of gas during the summer as opposed to 4 or 5 during the winter months..This forces the oil companies to not be able to lower prices during the summer..

 

[jovial]

I really dont think oil is the answer, in any way shape or form. Like the incandescent light bulb. It's a prehistoric technology (no pun intended) What ever happend to the 100% electric car concept? Did it fail or did the intrests of the oil companies kill it?
After living in Japan, I dont mind being temporarily restricted to a vehicle that only goes 55 MPH if it will allow us to make long term gains, lead the world again, and free us from our reliance on oil.
The problem is long distance driving since most of the current battery cell technology wont hold a charge for more than a few 100 miles... if that far. With China and India coming online the electric car is the most viable alternative IMO. We may have to take a small step backwards in order to make huge leaps forward.
Watson, good to see you.

 

[seasalt101]

Originally Posted by Jovial
What ever happend to the 100% electric car concept? Did it fail or did the intrests of the oil companies kill it? After living in Japan, I dont mind being temporarily restricted to a vehicle that only goes 55 MPH if it will allow us to make long term gains and free us from our reliance on oil.
The problem is long distance driving since most of the current battery cell technology wont hold a charge for more than a few 100 miles... if that far. With China and India coming online the electric car is the most viable alternative IMO. We may have to take a small step backwards in order to make huge leaps forward.
Watson, good to see you.
i always wondered why they could not hook up an alternator at each wheel on those just a thought...tobin

 

[jovial]

Originally Posted by seasalt101
i always wondered why they could not hook up an alternator at each wheel on those just a thought...tobin
I think its because as the motor powers the vehicle the alternator would place additional drag on the motor which would cause more battery drain, somewhat similar to the perpetual motion concept of free power.
If we use solar, wind and nuclear power in addition to oceanic currents we can generate enough electricty to charge the batteries. We need more efficent battery/motor combinations in order to drive longer distances at faster speeds.
In other words when you pull in for a fuel stop you would simply swap out a battery cell (bank) instead of filling up with gasoline, the problem is for a long trip we would be swapping out a lot of batteries.
I know a guy, (sounds familliar

) who has solar panels on his roof top and a wind driven turbine in his back yard, when the sun isnt out the wind is usually blowing enough for his turbine to produce power. His set up is so efficient he is now free of the grid and actually sells a small ammount of power back. The turbine uses an old brake rotor as a flywheel. It would be possible to use an alternator driven by a wind turbine to charge up batteries at home. I wish gas stations could be set up this way but once again the problem is the distances in which we can go.

 

[seasalt101]

thanks jovial...tobin

 

[stdreb27]

Did anyone see where the chi-coms are ending there Ethanol bio-fuel programs, because of the higher costs of corn to their people and over all lack of testable improvement in polution from cars.

 

[stdreb27]

There is this whole other thing about the price of gas, I know here in texas, we pay over 40 cents on the gallon in taxes. If politicians really cared about the price of gas, maybe they would temporarity decrease the TAX on gas. And maybe if they didn't have to make a ton of summer blends, they wouldn't have economies of scope. It isn't a whole lot of money but it does make a difference. Turkeys

 

[reefreak29]

ok i understand that gas is more money because of pollution control but this has been going on for a while now and the gas price has skyrocketed in the last 2 years so how do u explain that?

 

[jovial]

Greed

 

[stdreb27]

Originally Posted by reefreak29
ok i understand that gas is more money because of pollution control but this has been going on for a while now and the gas price has skyrocketed in the last 2 years so how do u explain that?
supply and demand,
I can't back this up with printed material. But we had an oil guy speak in one of our classes. And of course the first thing some one asked was about gas prices. Did you know that they STILL haven't recovered from Rita and Katrina. I dont' remember the exact numbers. But basically there refining capacity still is only 90% or something like that. And we are consuming 98 or 99%. Their refineries are so old that it is very difficult to repair.

 

[stdreb27]

Originally Posted by reefreak29
ok i understand that gas is more money because of pollution control but this has been going on for a while now and the gas price has skyrocketed in the last 2 years so how do u explain that?
What we are seeing are years of the EPA and activist groups doing there best to hinder our supply of oil. the World usage and supply still had a good gap. So we had a surplus. Now there is no gap, and that is driving up oil prices.
You know what really gets me, it is ok to use corn for fuel. (research has also shown that it isn't any cleaner than not using it) But this is driving up the cost of corn. Corn is a major cornerstone to most people in 3rd world countries diet. So our demand for corn is driving up the price of corn. Making harder for the poor to buy corn.
I just can't believe we would starve real humans to save a few animals.