Oil prices

[RCglider]

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=15542

When I first read that article 3 1/2 years ago, it intrigued me. I forwarded it to a friend of mine, a retired physicist in Texas. To my surprise, he knew exactly what this technology is, as he was on one of two research teams (one in Texas, one in Canada) in 1973 as he recalls working on this project as the chief chemist.

What is done is two or more insulated conducting rods are placed deep into these abandoned wells at different locations. A high voltage/current is applied creating a hydrogen gas that forces the oil up through the ground.

He was taken off the project shortly thereafter, and didn't know what happened to it. The funny part is, he said this was actually invented by some old timer silent movie actor, but I don't recall the name.

Don't let anyone fool you. There's more oil in this world than we'll ever need. It's a supply issue, nothing more.

WHat would happen though if you suck all the oil from the ground beneath where people live? COuld it possibly happen where entire countries fall into the Earth like when towns pump to much water out of underground caves and houses fall in?

[cavalierlwt]

Some the work going in biodiesel looks pretty interesting. I live for the day that some form of alt fuel comes into play and at least reduces our oil dependance. I read somewhere (I don't know that it is true or not) that if we increased our MPG efficiency in America by 9 MPG then we could eliminate the need to import Middle Eastern oil, which would be a blessing for us and the rest of the world.

Originally posted by cavalierlwt
Some the work going in biodiesel looks pretty interesting. I live for the day that some form of alt fuel comes into play and at least reduces our oil dependance. I read somewhere (I don't know that it is true or not) that if we increased our MPG efficiency in America by 9 MPG then we could eliminate the need to import Middle Eastern oil, which would be a blessing for us and the rest of the world.

I read a long article on all this oil thing a couple of years ago and the reason that we have high prices is we put our oil on the open market and buy it back at world prices. We only need about 20% from elsewhere and blend that price in with our own production and that would reduce the cost a great deal. The thought in Washington is we need to "In tune with the world oil pricing". Just BS as is this whole oil thing.

[SavageParrot]

Isn't this why you invaded Iraq? for cheaper oil, all the terrorists are in saudi arabia...

[Sidekick Floppy]

Just out of curiosity, what is the price per litre for gasoline in the US?

[Weasel Meat]

Originally posted by Sidekick Floppy
Just out of curiosity, what is the price per litre for gasoline in the US?

Currently $1.87 for regular where I am, but I refuse to buy a full tank at this price. I only buy about $5 at a time at this price and when the price drops back down I get a full tank.

Gas can be $1.65 on the first half of the week and a few days later it will jump $.20 then a few days later it goes back down. its better to fill up wednesday night whether you need gas or not because thursday morning the price jumps.

[RCglider]

Originally posted by Sidekick Floppy
Just out of curiosity, what is the price per litre for gasoline in the US?

In Michigan it would be about $.47/litre U.S.

[BladeRunner]

Sidekick, i think Weasel's prices are in gallons not litres.
Weasel's prices are about the same for me here in the mid
East Coast (Virginia).

Soon beer will be cheaper than gasoline, i'm not sure if
thats a good thing are not i run on beer and coffee
but my truck doesn't.

[RCglider]

Originally posted by SavageParrot
Isn't this why you invaded Iraq? for cheaper oil, all the terrorists are in saudi arabia...

If we "invaded" for oil, we would have just taken over Kuwait. I wouldn't have objected, and wouldn't if Iraq was for the same reason.

It is estimated that only 10% of the Muslim world are radical Islamists.....what's that, only 10,000,000 terrorist kooks dedicated to exterminate infidels??? They are not all in Saudi Arabia.....they are everywhere.

[SavageParrot]

Where i am in the uk it is about $1.00 per litre, or about £0.76 pence in our british pounds. Makes filling up the tank something you need to take out a loan for. A full tank costs me about $45 dollars or about two thirds of my daily wage...arse if you ask me.

[SavageParrot]

Originally posted by RCglider
If we "invaded" for oil, we would have just taken over Kuwait. I wouldn't have objected, and wouldn't if Iraq was for the same reason.

It is estimated that only 10% of the Muslim world are radical Islamists.....what's that, only 10,000,000 terrorist kooks dedicated to exterminate infidels??? They are not all in Saudi Arabia.....they are everywhere.

Put it anyway you like but the majority of the september 11th bombers were from saudi and none, that I know of, were form Iraq. Iraq was a secular authority which had time and time again angered the extremist muslims, and was therefore unlikely to have sponsored their terrorist activities.

10 percent sounds like an extremely high estimate (where do you find these figures?!), in any case I didn't say all saudi's were terrorist just that all the terrorist were in saudi arabia, which was intended as a joke but is true in so far as as saudi arabia is a hotbed for radical islamics, and has yet to recieve significant recognition as such.

[RCglider]

Originally posted by CozMoDan
I read a long article on all this oil thing a couple of years ago and the reason that we have high prices is we put our oil on the open market and buy it back at world prices. We only need about 20% from elsewhere and blend that price in with our own production and that would reduce the cost a great deal. The thought in Washington is we need to "In tune with the world oil pricing". Just BS as is this whole oil thing.

I don't know where you read that, but it's way off base.

We currently rely on well over 50% of crude oil from imports, probably close to 60%.

Oil is like any other commodity. It is market driven unless the supply is artificially low, which is what we're seeing now, plus the financial markets are in turmoil. Mostly though, we are at the mercy of OPEC.

All this talk about conservation as the key to hold down prices is nothing but bunk. If we all drove little pieces of crap 60 mpg cars and supposedly consumed less oil, OPEC would just turn the valve tighter. Oil supplies aren't down or prices high because we aren't forced to drive something we don't want.

The fact is, we need to rely less on foreign oil and find ways to produce it for less in larger quantities. The article I posted is but one example. I recall reading a Popular Science article in about 1978-79 where coal-to-gasoline could have been produced for about $.90/gallon as I recall. At the time, gas was about $.65/gallon, so it wasn't cost effective. However, the U.S. has huge coal reserves, but if people would remember, President Bill Clinton signed an executive order "protecting" what he called prestine wildnerness. People have short memories. It just so happens this pristine wildnerness (actually a desert wasteland) has the largest cleanest coal deposits ever discovered. And do people recall the REAL reason he did it???

Now, as far as improving current fuel mileage and using alternative fuels, an interesting technology is available, but still not ready for mass production. Go to http://www.smartplugs.com . It's real, and no bull. I've been tracking this since 1995, and have spoken to Mark Cherry the president on several occasions. In fact, he will be making me a custom system for one of my vehicles this summer if everything works out as planned. I have the technical SAE documents and test results from about 8 years ago, but some of it is no longer available due to contractual restrictions. Here are some of the test results in the reports I received:

1. 30-50% increase in fuel mileage
2. 95% reduction in emissions
3. can run on 5 different fuels in a conventional gasoline engine.
4. no maintenance
5. no need for complex iginition system or spark plugs.

Don't even bring up hydrogen cells. It's not feasible in the near future and impractical for many applications.

[(SEETHER)]

Dallas, Texas ---> about $1.60 a gallon.

RC, I think you're just plain wrong. You say the supply is "articficially low". I disagree (in part). The supply is low but it's going to run out whether it's "high" or "low". Oil is a non-renewable resource, I don't care what anyone thinks, this is true. We're going to run out, and unless ways of exploring/mining oil change soon, we'll run out in about 50 years at current growth rates. If populations grow faster, we'll run out of oil in less than 50 years.

All our problems stem from relying on oil. I have no doubt in my mind, that if we spend as much money on researching new fuel technology as we do on oil, we'd be ahead of the game.

In any case, I don't care how much oil we have left. I don't think anybody disagrees that it will run out at some point. Therefore we should be looking to a new source of fuel. Looking at current oil prices and trying to find ways to lower them is just plain ignorant. It's a short term solution to a long-term problem. To ignore it, or deny it is ignorance at it's highest.