Do you think world oil production has peaked?

[wtxbadger]

deltecs

Sure is good to meet an expert on the oil bidness. Having grown up in the west texas oilfields and working in various positions from accounting to getting the stuff out of the ground, I would never claim expertise beyond what I have done and seen.

I have survived several buyouts when the company I worked for was merged with a successor company, and have been fortunate enough to find a job I could do for the new company for the past 25 years that has provided a more rounded experience on the industry than some but by no means all other people.

I am not sure where you are heading with the propaganda spiel, but being familiar with oil and gas production as you have five generations of oil behind you I am would imagine you would know how tightly regulated the energy sector is and it the regs continue to be more stringent with state and federal laws.

I would like to point out a fact, not speculation, but fact. Pricing on crude oil, gasoline, diesel, fuel oil, and natural gas have been the most closely examined products and the companies that produce them by the federal and state governments than any other companies and their products in the US. With all of the investigations and a media that is by no means a friend of the energy sector I would think some sort of wrong doing or nationwide conspiracy or price fixing would have been discovered by this point.

Most of my family has served in the military when duty called from when our country was founded to our current war in the middle east, but that does not make me an expert on the different branches of the service or how they operate.



jamesrus,

I am glad to meet someone else that has worked in the patch. What area of the business did you or do you work in? My wife's first new car she bought would get 53 mpg on the highway. That was however before the EPA rules were tightened up even more and the gains made in mpg are offset by even more stringent regs on tailpipe emissions.

Are wells drilled and temporarily abandoned(capped)? You bet. I have seen quite a few wells drilled that were not commercially viable at the time they were drilled, but abandoned for a while until pricing actually made sense to re-enter them and produce them. Economics for oil and gas production is no different than any other product. If you can't afford to make it or produce it on a profit, then you simply don't do it or go out of business trying. Hmmmm, might explain why there have been so many buyouts and mergers where companies got themselves into trouble trying to operate at a loss and discovered too late they could not survive long doing that.

As to price fixing. Look at your local wholesaler first and the retail outlets you buy your gas or diesel from. Then look at the amount of state and federal taxes per gallon.

Then ask this question. Do we need all of the different grades of gasoline mandated depending on where you live. I believe you may find some of your answers on pricing differences tie directly to that as well.

My point in all of this is that until you look at the problem as a whole, you will not see the whole picture and convict an entire industry and the people that work for it unjustly.




wtxbadger

[JonD.]

Heres my take on the oil situation. I don't think there is a shortage of oil. That's what the Govt. and the media want you to believe. (I believe there will be a major oil discovery in the nation of Israel in the near future, but this is a whole other discussion.) The problem with our high gas prices isn't the shortage of oil or the lack of refineries as they tell you, but because our money is becoming worthless. Let's think about this for minute. We are somewhere around 15 trillion dollars in debt. Thats a million--billion, and a billion is a million--million. If they divided this debt up and required every citizen of the US to pay it off, everyone would have to pay around $40,000 each. It will be YEARS before this debt is ever paid if it is paid. Now, it is estimated that we have over 15 times the amount of money in print, than we have in our gold reserve. Common sense tells you that the more you print, the less its worth. So as according to the trade agreement, all world oil must be sold in US dollars. When this agreemnet was made our money had the highest value in the world. Now, if we look at our debt, and look at the amount of money we have in print, we see that it is rapidly losing value and other world currencies are gaining fast. That's where the crisis is coming from. It is taking more and more of our dollars to match the value of the currency of the worlds top oil producers-- which is Euros. They are fighting hard to change the trade agreemnet that requires oil to be sold in US dollars, so that oil can be sold in euros. And if this happens we will be forced to go to the euro or economic collapse--which we are on the verge of anyway.

[zombiewolf]

Heres my take on the oil situation. I don't think there is a shortage of oil. That's what the Govt. and the media want you to believe. (I believe there will be a major oil discovery in the nation of Israel in the near future, but this is a whole other discussion.) The problem with our high gas prices isn't the shortage of oil or the lack of refineries as they tell you, but because our money is becoming worthless. Let's think about this for minute. We are somewhere around 15 trillion dollars in debt. Thats a million--billion, and a billion is a million--million. If they divided this debt up and required every citizen of the US to pay it off, everyone would have to pay around $40,000 each. It will be YEARS before this debt is ever paid if it is paid. Now, it is estimated that we have over 15 times the amount of money in print, than we have in our gold reserve. Common sense tells you that the more you print, the less its worth. So as according to the trade agreement, all world oil must be sold in US dollars. When this agreemnet was made our money had the highest value in the world. Now, if we look at our debt, and look at the amount of money we have in print, we see that it is rapidly losing value and other world currencies are gaining fast. That's where the crisis is coming from. It is taking more and more of our dollars to match the value of the currency of the worlds top oil producers-- which is Euros. They are fighting hard to change the trade agreemnet that requires oil to be sold in US dollars, so that oil can be sold in euros. And if this happens we will be forced to go to the euro or economic collapse--which we are on the verge of anyway.

BINGO!


Thank you, Brother Jon.

[Sourdough]

The information I talk about on the North Slope is info I got from the grunts that did the exploration work.  They are telling me that British Petroleum and Exxon Mobil are keeping it under wraps till they can force the State to give them a tax break, before they will drill.

The oil companies started capping the wells when the State raised their taxes last year.  Last year British Petroleum Alaska posted record profits. 

As for the Natural Gas?  We know they have been sitting on it for thirty years.  Every year they give a new plan to bring it to market, but the plan is never implemented.  So last year the state pulled the lease they have sat on for thirty years.  You should hear them scream, (Conoco Phillips in particular).  They took the state to court, saying the state could not pull their leases.  Court said in the terms of the lease contract, "The oil company is required to submit and implement a plan to bring the gas to market, within a reasonable time.  Thirty years is not a reasonable time".  The oil companies lost and the leases are scheduled for issuance.  The appeal was also upheld.  Now Conoco Phillips is running constant ads on TV about how they are good neighbors, and how they have Alaska's best interest at heart.  Yea Right!  We don't believe them for one instance.

As for the price of Gasoline.  Gas that is refined here in North Pole and shipped to Anchorage is sold 10 cents cheaper than it is sold here in North Pole.  When we ask the refinery about this all we hear is "What the market will bear". 

[torpedoman]

hey oil is being used in cal and electricity is being used there too, put production facilities there and welcome them to the real world.

[deltecs]

wtxbadger

I think with 6 generations of family in the steel and oil industry, I did not get my experience, knowledge or opinions through osmosis.  What I will tell you is that I moved to Alaska to get away from that type of stereotype and live my life on my own merits.  Since I did when I was a young man, my personal experience as a lineman, instructor, Union Business Manager encompassing the entire State of Alaska in all fields of electrical work, Chairman of the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce Energy Committee for South central Alaska, commercial fishing, owner of a successful electrical engineering firm that specialized in targeting cost analysis and corporate waste, recognized labor relations and energy expert by Alaska Dept of Labor and Natural Resources, an arbiter with the American Arbitration Association, Council of Industrial Relations, and now retired, I think can qualify me to express my opinion regarding oil industry practices with some merit.  I owe no allegiance to the oil industry for my pension, livelihood, or occupation.  I have expressed my observations from inside knowledge, public court documents, and personal experience in dealing with oil executives and their lack of ethics.  When someone attempts to belittle my experience and facts without proper research is insulting, especially based on only one biased relationship.  I have over 40 years dealing with the oil industry and energy in Alaska at many levels.  I have posted my opinion, which just happens to be shared by every living governor the State of Alaska has ever had with the exception of one, and one of those was Interior Secretary of US government.  These FACTS can clearly be read in an amicus brief filed with the SCOTUS under merit briefs in regard to Baker v Exxon.
When management of a corporation in specific and by industry in general, knowingly keeps a relapsed alcoholic in command of a super tanker without regard to the consequences of that captain's actions, personally cost me 1.5 million dollars in 90 days, an additional 25% percent loss to attorneys to recapture compensatory losses, spend 3.5 billion dollars in cleanup costs and advertising what a good company it is and charged the consumer for this, and then appeal this to every court in the land because the facts justified the damages assessed with a verdict did not like for almost 19 years, and tell me that this is not thievery merely indicates an emotional personal judgment without any basis in logic or fact.   

[wtxbadger]

deltecs,

I find your various positions and experiences admirable and your service to your state admirable. That does not mean that you are qualified or have the right to condemn an industry as a whole and all of the people that work in it.

On qualifications, I was an independent electrical contractor and then transitioned to the oil industry when the oil bust happened in the early eighties( Arab Embargo Lifted ). I have worked in the oil business since and had the opportunity to work in many different areas from drilling to production and accounting. Having worked for and with different independent oil companies, the majority of the people I have been associated with are decent hard working people trying to make a living.

Exxon is only one company, and your vitriol towards one company does not justify a global condemnation of the all of the companies in the business of producing oil and gas.

All citizens of this country have the right to express their opinion, and I will stand up for that no matter what. That being said, when I think they are wrong I will also speak my mind.

Quite simply I believe you are biased.

In my opinion you have implied that due to the fact that I work in the Oil & Gas Industry that means that I have no choice but to defend it no matter what. I give an honest days work for an honest wage. I do not ride for the brand and never have. That has provided me with the opportunity to work for more than one employer.

Belittle your experience service? No. Your bias on the other hand. Yes.

I must ask that you pardon my delayed response to your post. I was a little busy trying to make sure you are not having to bear the burden of costlier gas and diesel by producing more of it. While limited in my impact on global prices, I hope it saves you a dime or two in the long haul

On another note, the only way we will survive the continued shortages of the energy products we all depend on for now, is to invest in alternative energy solutions to better strengthen our country and its defense.

Never saw that coming did you? Just color me as another dumb redneck that aint got a clue if you like.

Been there and done it before and will again I am sure.



wtxbadger

[deltecs]

My background in and around the oil industry is substantial.  My bias toward Exxon has only increased my distrust of the oil industry.  And as fas a saving me some money on gasoline, you might want to consider the cost of your lights and electrical energy by my labor in construction and maintenance of electric supply lines.  I too, was an independent electrical contractor and electrical engineering business owner before I retired.  The bias I hold against oil companies is aptly outlined in the Alaska State brief submitted to SCOTUS of the broken promises from oil companies in general, and Exxon specifically, with regard to the social compact with this states residents.  I've been an outspoken proponent of alternative renewable energy sources for years before it became a politically correct term.  In this I agree with you wholeheartedly.  I also agree that most of the people working in the oil industry are honest hard working reliable people.   My criticism is with regard to mid and upper level management. 

[JonD.]

Here is an e-mail I got the other day that lists which oil companies get their oil from the Middle East--- Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia takes our money and uses it to destroy us. Just an "FYI"


"Every time you fill up the car, you can avoid putting more money into the
coffers of Saudi Arabia.  Just buy from gas companies that don't import
their oil from the Saudis.


These companies import Middle Eastern oil:

Shell........................... 205,742,000 barrels

Chevron/Texaco......... 144,332,000 barrels

Exxon /Mobil............... 130,082,000 barrels

Marathon/Speedway... 117,740,000 barrels

Amoco........................ ....62,231,000 barrels

Citgo gas is from South America, from a Dictator who hates Americans. If you
do the math at $30/barrel, these imports amount to over $18 BILLION! (oil is
now $90 - $100 a barrel

Here are some large companies that do not import Middle Eastern oil:

Sunoco..................0 barrels

Conoco..................0 barrels

Sinclair.................0 barrels

BP/Phillips............0 barrels

Hess.......................0 barrels

ARC0....................0 barrels"