Oil op-ed from the WSJ

I agree with what this guy is saying, I would love to see the US pursuit more domestic production and refinement. We have the oil reserves, but hardly any refineries to make use of it. That being said, fossil fuels are not the answer in the long run and investment in greener technology is for sure a smart move, but putting all our eggs in the green basket is not a smart move right now since the technology is either not there or too expensive to implement.

oh this thread is going to be a helluva shitstorm..

i skimmed through it and agree with a lot of what the guy says.. obama wont take responsibility for anything bad thats happened, and will blame it on the bush administration till he dies. but when the stock market goes up he takes all the credit for it.

if he would allow for more oil drilling and quit siding with PETA and the Sierra Club, it would definitely help americas self proficiency.

a very very very large resevior was discovered in North Dakota recently, which is as big if not bigger than the middle easts reseviors.(i think).

america hasnt been a new oil rig/refinery in like 20 to 30 years.

I figured as much on the shit storm... but so far the "sensible" part of the talk has prevailed. Would love some viewpoints in opposition to this too that are well thought out.

but but but...peak oil?

yeap. aaaaaand my karma's already gone down for what i said..

I want to address some of the above comments without quoting a few different replies so here we go. I started working in the oil industry almost 2 years ago and this allowed me to see how this business actually operates. Yes it is a business and everyone involved is trying to make the most money possible. I dont want these comments to be taken as hate but there are some misconceptions of the industry.

Barf. The problem isnt in production and refinement. We have the capacity to refine (granted our refineries are unsafe, enviornmentally unfirendly, and very outdated but thats another story) almost all of the oil we need. We also sit on enough oil to be completely self reliant but it wont last forever. It all comes down to money. Company's sell the oil they pull from the ground where they are going to get the most profit and in some cases thats halfway around the globe. There is nothing that requires oil pumped out of US soil to be sold in the US. In fact some companys export up to 40% of the oil produced in the US because it is selling higher in other countries. I completely agree with you about the green investment. Eventually the world will run out of oil and we need other resources. We do need help with technology and new resource development but sadly no major company is going to pursue it because it is not profitable.

ryano There is a huuuuge reservoir that was discovered in North Dakota but still smaller than most reservoirs in the middle east. Also the type of oil there is situated in a way that makes it expensive to get out of the ground. For the new refineries, again this is a business, refineries are the only segment of the industry that operate each day without making a profit. Because they don't make money, no company wants to front the millions that it takes to build a safe, enviornmentally friendly, etc etc refinery.

Again, Im not trying to hate on anyone I commented on. Working in this industry has given me a new insight to how shitty this whole industry is. EVERYTHING comes down to money and all companys are going to do what is most profitable for themselves and this is hardly ever in the interest of helping out people or countries.