Priorities
By Mitch Berg
Joe Doakes from Como Park emails:
Six months ago, as South Korea exported steel to the US at prices below what union steelworkers could produce it here, Liberals decried “dumping” and imposed import taxes to level the playing field, thereby protecting American jobs and prosperity.
Now that the Saudis are actively trying to kill the North Dakota oil industry by dumping crude oil at below-cost-of-production prices, Liberals are conspicuously silent.
It’s almost as if Liberals WANT to destroy America’s energy industry, to KEEP us dependent on foreign oil, to RAISE gas prices to $5 per gallon.
Joe Doakes
to the left, and economically crippled US is the right US.
December 26th, 2014 at 8:50 am
$5/gal would be low. When you look at the “progressives” goto list of countries America should emulate think Sweden (@$5.80/gal), Norway, Netherland etc.
“The global average is $5.52 per gallon of gas. Norway is the distant outlier for countries with the most expensive price per gallon of gas: $10.76 per gallon, $1.60 more than the next-most-expensive country, the Netherlands, where gas is $9.16 per gallon.”
December 26th, 2014 at 11:56 am
It’s almost as ifLiberals WANT to destroy America’s energy industry, to KEEP us dependent on foreign oil, to RAISE gas prices to $5 per gallon.FTFY.
There have been numerous quotes from Obama administration officials indicating that cheap energy interferes with their plans to foist expensive renewables onto the people. When people see the real cost of renewables they balk at using them, but if they can make the old sources more expensive they might get their way. North Dakota, among other places, stand in their way.
People say we’re running out of oil and only have 20 years of reserves. Just remember, we’ve never had much more than that because people don’t want to spend the money looking for more than that. Looking for reserves is expensive. Locking them up from competitors until you need them is expensive. Getting environmental permission is time consuming and expensive.
December 26th, 2014 at 12:57 pm
Nerdbert, the figures are almost always for “Proven Reserves.” Hindrocket at Power Line did a great column on it a few years ago. Turns out, Proven Reserves is a legal term meaning the oil is there, is accessible with available technology, and can legally be pumped. Ah, but there’s the rub – President Obama won’t give you a pumping permit, so the oil cannot legally be pumped, so the oil cannot be included in the Proven Reserves. Doesn’t mean there’s no oil. Means we won’t let you pump it. We’re not running out of oil, we’re running out of pumping permits, which is a political decision, not an environmental crisis.
December 26th, 2014 at 10:13 pm
It’s instructive to remember that commodity price busts follow commodity price booms as winter follows summer. It’s all just a question of how far and how fast.
December 27th, 2014 at 4:18 pm
You should check the facts Joe.
/Despite the decline in oil prices, the U.S. is expected to boost production by 300,000 barrels per day in 2015, up to a yearly average of about 9.3 million barrels per day, according to the most recent government estimates.
But the number of oil and gas rigs in operation is already beginning to drop. For the week ending in December 19, the rig count dropped to 1,875 active rigs, down from 1,893 a week earlier. The fall off is an indication that exploration companies are beginning to pare back investments. Pulling back on drilling may result in a lower future production, which could hurt the growth prospects of some oil firms./
http://oilprice.com/Energy/Oil-Prices/Drilling-Cutbacks-Mean-Service-Companies-Forced-to-Scrap-Rigs.html
December 30th, 2014 at 12:29 pm
Thanks for proving my point, Emery. As Saudis dump cheap oil on the world market, American oil companies are cutting back on expensive exploration, which has the trickle-down effect of laying off drillers. Glad we agree on the facts.
Now, what about Democrats’ response? Where’s the outcry to protect American jobs from foreign dumping?
December 30th, 2014 at 12:42 pm
By the way, Emery, you remember that I spent part of the early 1980’s in the North Dakota oil fields, right? I have actually stood on the rig floor while the crew was tripping, watched the roughnecks throw chain and the driller run pipe. I’ve driven uncounted miles of scoria in a Kenworth truck with a 5×4 tranny (yes, I can double-clutch). Mitch points out that unlike many Liberal “experts,” he’s actually been a member of a union. I have a similar feeling.
December 31st, 2014 at 6:08 am
Joe Doakes Says:
/“President Obama won’t give you a pumping permit, so the oil cannot legally be pumped, so the oil cannot be included in the Proven Reserves”/
Get your facts (opinion) straight.
December 31st, 2014 at 8:33 am
Not my opinion, Department of Justice Inspector General’s opinion:
http://dailycaller.com/2014/07/01/blm-has-backlog-of-3500-oil-and-gas-drilling-permits-awaiting-approval/
And not my definition of Proven Reserves, it’s federal law, explained by a local lawyer:
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2011/03/028574.php
I stand by my statement. Prove me wrong.
January 1st, 2015 at 8:57 am
You’re a lawyer too, isn’t that what you claim?
It’s a link from the Daily Caller Joe, a conservative version of the Huffington Post. It doesn’t even pass the smell test. Permits are down by choice, not regulation. For a self proclaimed expert (standing near “roughnecks”) in the oil and gas industry you should know better than attempt to pass this type ‘gas’.
/“Already, applications for drilling permits have fallen sharply, down 40 percent to just more than 4,500 in November from October’s levels”../
http://www.cnbc.com/id/102234051#.
January 1st, 2015 at 2:26 pm
Emery, you criticize a link to the Daily Caller, but post a link to CNBC. Irony.
Since you couldn’t be bothered to click the hyperlink embedded in the Daily Caller story to read the Obama Administration Department of Justice Inspector General’s Report from June explaining how bad the permitting situation is, I’m not going to click it for you. Remain willfully uninformed, if it pleases you.
At this point, you’ve been reduced to nit-picking the source of my proof, not refuting the proof, advanced in support of my arguments. By failing to address my arguments, you’ve conceded that I’ve correctly identified the federal law that defines the terms, the technique of the Obama Administration’s malfeasance, and Congressional Democrats’ hypocrisy in passing anti-dumping legislation to protect American steel jobs while allowing a foreign nation to kill American oil jobs.
Thank you. I’m finished with this thread.
January 1st, 2015 at 5:08 pm
Happy 2015 Joe!
Why would Saudi Arabia bother so ‘prove’ reserves that won’t be exploited for decades is the real question. Why would any business spend money on exploration to have more than 8 years of proven reserves if it only takes 6 months to exploit them? They explore more every year to replace the proven reserves being used.
I think people get confused about the whole proven reserves statistic. 20 years of proven reserves for the world doesn’t mean the world runs out in 20 years. We’ve had 15-25 years of proven reserves in the world for the better part of a century. It’s gotten more expensive to exploit, but don’t hold your breath waiting for the world to run out.