Iraq and why are we allowing this?

[dumpster56]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/12/19/iraq.main/index.html

If al sadir is a problem why in the world are we letting him have his militia?

If the american army is in Iraq TO WIN as per President Bush then why are we not going after these guys?

 

[Patrick]

Because Al Sadr is in bed with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

 

[dumpster56]

Because Al Sadr is in bed with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

Whata mess, I am beginning to believe we really need to find a way to get off Middle east oil. Then who would care what happens in the gulf.

 

[FinanceDude]

Whata mess, I am beginning to believe we really need to find a way to get off Middle east oil. Then who would care what happens in the gulf.

Maybe we could get the EPA to allow us to build a few new refineries, crank up some of the oil fields in Oklahoma and Texas, and tell the Middle East to pound sand........

 

[brewer12345]

Maybe we could get the EPA to allow us to build a few new refineries, crank up some of the oil fields in Oklahoma and Texas, and tell the Middle East to pound sand........

You don't think $60+ oil is enough to inspire every driller in North America? There simply isn't enough in the ground here.

 

[Jay_Gatsby]

Not exactly.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_46/b3908079.htm

http://www.energybulletin.net/2341.html

 

[brewer12345]

Not exactly.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_46/b3908079.htm

http://www.energybulletin.net/2341.html

Um, you are quoting me articles from 2004? Its a tad different now, although there is still arguably some shortage of refinery capacity. Root cause is that demand is oustripping supply.

 

[Jay_Gatsby]

Um, you are quoting me articles from 2004? Its a tad different now, although there is still arguably some shortage of refinery capacity. Root cause is that demand is outstripping supply.

Yes, I am quoting a couple of articles from 2004, simply because things haven't changed all that much. In fact, refining capacity has decreased even further because of Katrina and Rita hitting the Gulf Coast. The problem isn't the supply of oil, but rather the capability of refining it. That's where the supply/demand law comes into play. The demand for refined petroleum products is outstripping the supply for refined petroleum products. The short-term solution is to increase refining capacity, and expand it to refining the lower-grade(s) of oil. The long-term solution is to find alternative fuels that don't requiring the intervening step of refinement (e.g., solar, wind and hydrogen). I'm a big fan of solar energy, but until we can increase the conversion rate, it's not going to be cheap enough to compete with oil.

 

[brewer12345]

The problem isn't the supply of oil, but rather the capability of refining it. That's where the supply/demand law comes into play.

While I will agree that there is no huge surplus of refining capacity, that's not the real problem. If it were, oil would be a lot cheaper, refined products would be a lot more expensive, and crack spreads would be so fat that refiners would be competing to see who could open a new refinery/expansion the fastest. But that isn't the case.

 

[FinanceDude]

While I will agree that there is no huge surplus of refining capacity, that's not the real problem. If it were, oil would be a lot cheaper, refined products would be a lot more expensive, and crack spreads would be so fat that refiners would be competing to see who could open a new refinery/expansion the fastest. But that isn't the case.

So, the US hasn't built a new refinery since 1970 (thanks EPA), and we keep increasing our buying of foreign oil, and half the oil coming out of the Alaskan pipeline is sold overseas............am I missing something?

The "cheap crude" is not plentiful, the "sour crude" is

 

[Nords]

While I will agree that there is no huge surplus of refining capacity, that's not the real problem. If it were, oil would be a lot cheaper, refined products would be a lot more expensive, and crack spreads would be so fat that refiners would be competing to see who could open a new refinery/expansion the fastest. But that isn't the case.

There's a guy on one of the M* boards who tells a different story. He's been part-time ramping toward ER for a few years but was finally enticed to go back to his refinery as a consultant for exorbitant pay & perks offers.

Apparently the U.S. hasn't built a refinery in several decades and is having a tough time figuring out how to do it how to comply with current environmental requirements. "NIMBY" zoning requirements have made the bribery challenge even more difficult, to the point where several OPEC countries are beginning to think that their futures lie with building their own refineries, not oil wells.

Kinda like generating nuclear power.

 

[samclem]

Whata mess, I am beginning to believe we really need to find a way to get off Middle east oil. Then who would care what happens in the gulf.

It would be great if we could stop importing oil tomorrow, but I don't think we'll be able to stop thinking about the Middle East. Some people believe that this Islamic fundamentalist terrorism we've experienced is simpy a reaction to US policies in the Middle east, and that these policies are driven by oil. QED: Terrorists wouldn't attack us if we didn't need ME oil. I don't think the string of cause-effect is so clear, and that these radicals hate western culture for more fundamental reasons--that it challenges the tenets of their faith and is successfully drawing adherents from throughout the Muslm world. The attacks on the US and thus our interest in the ME would continue with or without oil. Still, not needing the oil would give us much more latitude in handling problems in the ME. And, if oil could be devalued in some way, some potentialy radical regimes would have fewer resources at ther fingertips, which would be a good thing. I'd be far less concerned about the mad mullahs if they had only camels, tents, and miles of sand.

 

[brewer12345]

There's a guy on one of the M* boards who tells a different story. He's been part-time ramping toward ER for a few years but was finally enticed to go back to his refinery as a consultant for exorbitant pay & perks offers.

Apparently the U.S. hasn't built a refinery in several decades and is having a tough time figuring out how to do it how to comply with current environmental requirements. "NIMBY" zoning requirements have made the bribery challenge even more difficult, to the point where several OPEC countries are beginning to think that their futures lie with building their own refineries, not oil wells.

Kinda like generating nuclear power.

Again, if this is true, tell me why crack spreads aren't fat enough for refiners to build new refineries somewhere (like in another country with looser environmental regs).

 

[CCdaCE]

Phew. All this talk about crack spreads!

-CC

 

[Jay_Gatsby]

Phew. All this talk about crack spreads!

-CC

As we get older, our cracks probably do spread. Is that what he means

Larger cracks might mean a larger supply of "natural gas" that doesn't need refining (although storage may be a problem).

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

If the american army is in Iraq TO WIN as per President Bush then why are we not going after these guys?

i'm still not convinced that this was nothing more than a family feud between the huisans and the mcbushes, all at the bloody expense of many beautiful lives. there is no going after, there is no winning. i suspect failure will be the bush/huisan legacy.

 

[Leonidas]

Again, if this is true, tell me why crack spreads aren't fat enough for refiners to build new refineries somewhere (like in another country with looser environmental regs).

Google News search for "New Refinery" produced:

April 06 - India - Chevron pays $300 Bn to buy part of Reliance Petroleum Limited which plans to open a new 580,000 barrels per day crude capacity refinery in 2008

August 06 - Kuwait Petroleum Corp announces that it's new 615,000 barrels per day will produce up to 300,000 tons a month of low-sulphur fuel oil when it comes on line in 2011

December 06 The government of Oman is considering to build a major refinery-cum-petrochemical complex at Al Duqm, where a modern port and ship repair facility are planned.

August 05 India’s state-run Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd will set up a new refinery with a foreign partner on the country’s east coast to process 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil, the company’s Chairman M B Lal said.

November 2006 KERMANSHAH (Iran) – A new refinery with a daily refining capacity of 150,000 barrels will be built in this western city, managing director of Kermanshah Oil Refining Company announced on Tuesday.

December 06 - Vietnam announces it will cut oil exports so that they can be diverted to its new refinery.

December 06 - Iran SHIRAZ, Fars Prov. - Feasibility studies have just started for construction of a new refinery near the old Shiraz Refinery. The new project will have a daily crude refining capacity of 120,000 barrels.

In April 2006, GE Oil & Gas announced it would supply 12 fixed bed reactors for a new refinery project planned by the Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) in Al Zour, Kuwait. When completed in 2010, the new greenfield facility — designed for Kuwait Heavy Crude/Kuwait Export Crude oil processing — will be the largest refinery in the Middle East, with a capacity to process 615,000 barrels per day of Kuwait export crude oil.

August 05 - Last month, state oil and gas company PT Pertamina and China Petroleum and Chemical Corp (Sinopec) agreed to build a refinery in Tuban, East Java (and in the process become an exporting country once again)

November 2006 - CNOOC began building a wholly-owned oil refinery in Huizhou City of Guangdong last December. The 12 million-ton project will go into production in 2008.

November 2005 - Nigeria "Some 18 licenses for new refinery projects have been awarded so far by the Federal Government.."