This is one of the reasons the envirowackos are fighting so hard against oilsands development.

There is no “environmental disaster”.

I have to assume that you have never seen the natural state of that area. THERE’S an environmental disaster. Trees grow crooked, there is very little ground cover, little viable soil, the lakes and ponds have a film of oil. It reeks of oil. You can even smell it when you fly over Athabasca in a Dash-8 (prop plane, typically at 24,000 feet). That is the NATURAL state. There is little farming in the area as a combination of it being too far north and soaked in oil.

We go in, extract what is useful, and leave an area with topsoil and a clean environment. Just because some envirowackos get some pictures of the dirtiest operations and try to convince everyone that the whole area is like that does not in any way make it so.

This year big news was made when some ducks drowned in an open tailings pond. Big deal. More ducks were shot by hunters the same day in the same area. I wonder how many ducks were killed the same day at the wind farm a few miles south of me… but I know that will NEVER be reported.

The tar sands are worth billions of barrels, not millions. A significant portion of that is extractable using CURRENT technology, developed at a cost of tens of billions of dollars, and the rest is likely extractable using future developments.

Which begs the question; Why were they so high to start with?

I mean, we’re producing more ethanol than ever, right? But corn prices have fallen back to, basically, the cost of production.

So, why were corn prices so high? You might want to take a look at This.

You can pay it at the supermarket; or you can pay it on April 15; but, You WILL pay the cost of production.

You might be right. I doubt it, though. We’ll see.

I have no idea the “particulars” of that outfit; but, their argument is compelling.

Kim, did you object, strongly, to the subsidies for deep-water drilling in the energy bill of 2007? And, Kim, corn is about $3.50/bu, now:

http://ncga.ncgapremium.com/index.aspx?mid=28566

That’s about $0.06/lb. Do you really think six cent/pound corn is raising your food prices? Do you understand that $3.50/bu is, basically, a year’s work, and large investment to “Break Even?” Ah, well, I guess we’ll just agree to disagree on this one. G’nite. :)

ESPECIALLY when you back your absurd hope with a FAR FAR LEFT NUTJOB ENVIROWHACKO publication.

Sorry, Kum, but you just exposed yourself for what you are. Or confirmed it, whichever.

http://www.environmentaldefence.ca/reports/pdf/TarSands_TheReport.pdf

Don, I’ll betcha a dollar to a donut these will be shut down within 10 years. In fact, I think I read where all of the new projects have been put “on hold.”

And, didn’t I read that Canada’s oil exports to the U.S. are slipping?

Don, you’ve obviously worked a long time in oil. You know that it’s not the “reserves;” it’s the “Flow Rate.” And, OUR Flow Rate is slowing. Has been since 73′. We’re down to about 25% of our consumption. Our 3rd largest source, Mexico, will probably drop out of the Oil Exporting game in 2011. Cantarell, their largest field, fell 30% Year, on year. Venezuela, our 2nd(?) largest source is exporting less to us Every Year. Nigeria, it’s falling, also. So is Kuwait.

It’s not “Reserves;” it’s “Flow Rate.”

Prudhoe Bay is slipping away. The GOM is falling. The North Sea is “Plunging.” The U.K. and Indonesia are now “importing.” China’s imports are up every year. So with India. Russia has rolled over, and it’s exporting less every month. By the way they did EOR on Texas, and the North Sea. They did “Tertiary” on Texas and the North Sea. And Cantarell. Didn’t matter. When it’s over; it’s over.

Now, it all hinges on Ghawar. The field is Seventy Years Old. Shale? There’s shale all over the world. It’s the oil of the future. Has been, forever. Shell keeps saying they’ve got it ALL figured out. Ready to go. They never go. Meantime, they had to write down their reserves by 50%.

Don, I Don’t hate oil. I Love oil. But, only a fool would bet his future on Venezuela finally figuring out the tar sands. Or, Shell doing Shale. The “Wall Street” guys might believe in all that; but, they thought it was a peachy-keen idea to give oversized loans to people with no jobs, and bad credit.

I think we need to take out a little “insurance.” And, I’m not talking “credit default swaps” from Joe’s bar and grill, and hedge fund. I’m talkin a little biofuel infrastructure. Just to be on the Safe Side, ya know?

Wow, You might want to let the oil companies know that they need not make the payments for the leases listed below:

“A year ago, 40 companies vied for 282 tracts in the annual western Gulf lease sale. More than 3,000 tracts were offered. The highest bid, $37.6 million, was made by StatoilHydro USA, a subsidiary of a Norwegian oil company.”

Also there will be royality payments in case you are unfamiliar with oil economics.

The Texas Railroad comission power over oil ended in 1970. What are you talking about?

“The East Texas oil field’s discovery sparked a boom in production that sent prices plummeting. After a lengthy battle, the Railroad Commission won the right to limit the production of oil to keep the price of oil from falling too low. Because of this regulation, the commission was important to the national and international energy supply until the 1970s.”

Similarly the oil depletion allowance ended in 1974.

So I guess there are currently no subsidies or special tax breaks for the oil companies?

Re peak oil The predictions that peak oil is around the corner have been made many times for over 50 years, yet new technology and production methods have continuously proven the claims wrong time after time. Brazil just made huge offshore oil finds. You might want to read the following which indicates we have at least a 40 year supply of oil not to mention shale and coal which can be liquified to provide motor fuel.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/09/the_myth_of_no_oil.html

Some of the info from this article follows:
“Although Congress has not authorized a thorough inventory of offshore resources for over 30 years, the American Petroleum Institute estimates recoverable U.S. oil resources at about 86 billion barrels offshore and 32 billion barrels onshore.[7] This estimate doesn’t take into consideration technological advancements, unconventional sources and recent discoveries. ”

“Meanwhile, it is estimated that oil production from tar sands in Canada and South America would add an additional 600 billion barrels to the world’s supply.[5] Canada, which does not segregate conventional oil from tar sands, is currently the largest U.S. oil supplier with about half of Canadian crude derived from oil sands. This oil is forecast to reach 3 million barrels per day in 2015. The Economist[6] recently noted that there exist “174 billion barrels of proven reserves in the oil sands of Alberta” alone.”