The irony is, we are being told the polar ice is melting at an unprecedented rate, so why are they worried about needing an icebreaker again? The whole thing is bollocks. On one hand we have Obama telling us we need to end our dependence on foreign oil…
“I will set a clear goal as president: in ten years we will finally end our dependence on oil in the Middle East,” said Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama. ” Source here
….then we have the EPA pulling this crap to prevent domestic oil production with the help of NGO’s.
EPA Shuts Down Drilling in Alaska
by Brian McGraw on globalwarming.org
Shell announced today, for now, it must end a project to drill for oil off the coast of Northern Alaska, because of a decision made by an EPA appeals board to deny permits to acknowledge that Shell will meet air quality requirements. This is not part of ANWR.
Companies that drill for oil must go through extensive permitting processes and invest billions of dollars as payments for leasing the land, exploring for possible oil fields, equipment, etc. This is all done with the understanding that assuming they follow the letter of the law, there is a chance that this investment won’t be flushed down the toilet at the end of the tunnel. It appears that in this case Shell has followed procedure and that emissions will be below any standards required by the EPA:
The EPA’s appeals board ruled that Shell had not taken into consideration emissions from an ice-breaking vessel when calculating overall greenhouse gas emissions from the project. Environmental groups were thrilled by the ruling.
“What the modeling showed was in communities like Kaktovik, Shell’s drilling would increase air pollution levels close to air quality standards,” said Eric Grafe, Earthjustice’s lead attorney on the case. Earthjustice was joined by Center for Biological Diversity and the Alaska Wilderness League in challenging the air permits.
Talk about moving the goalposts. They must have been really desperate to cancel this project given that this was the best straight-faced excuse they could muster. Not only do you have to be below the legally required emission limits but you must also not even be “close” to the limits, as defined by unelected officials, one of whom is a former attorney for the Environmental Defense Fund.
Events like this are a prime example of why many in Congress want to strip authority from the EPA. Shell had reportedly invested over $4 billion in this project. When companies make investment decisions, consideration is given to whether or not bureaucrats can make arbitrary decisions to shut the project down halfway through a multi-year process. There are many other countries with natural resource reserves who do not subject economic activity to such unpredictable insanity, and in the eye of a corporation, after an event like this these locations begin to look more preferable to dealing with the United States.
=================================================================
Events like this are a prime example of why many in Congress want to strip authority from the EPA. Shell had reportedly invested over $4 billion in this project.
Ya think?
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@ur momisugly smokey
while you are playing correlation games to establish causality what did world oil demand do when the economies and banking system crashed in 2008? what did commodity prices do? please learn some economics
Yes Obama and his continued monetary policy of his predecessor can be blamed but not for the reasons you are using. In fact if you had any honesty about this you’d be far more pissed, in fact everybody should be but that is another thread for an econ forum. When your govt conducts financial warfare on you its definitely reason to be pissed.
here’s what oil shale looks like:
http://ostseis.anl.gov/images/photos/oil_shale-600.jpg
It’s a solid, in most places in the US it is buried and buried several thousand feet underground(read way too deep to be mined). It has an energy density not much better than a baked potato. It isn’t crude oil by a long shot. It has crappy characteristics and like the tar sands of alberta it must be processed into a synthetic crude, by the time you are done if you have a net energy gain you are lucky, nobody has been able to pull that off yet with any consistency. Its even worse that the in situ oil sand processes being used. Yes there are some small places where it is close to the surface, just not very many in the US. In europe some places it can be mined and ground up and burned directly, the US doesn’t have those kinds of shale formations though.
Again, flow rate is everything, doesn’t matter how big the reserve is, if it cannot be extracted at a high enough rate it does almost nothing to mitigate the decline rates of our existing crude oil fields. Plus you are also trading leverage downwards as you go along. Economically leverage is everything, these low quality hard to deal with and extract reserves can easily do more damage than you get in return, this is why they are economically infeasible. The US will see coal being turned into liquid fuels long before shale is, its much more feasible and the returns are far greater.
It is important to remember the distinction between “Reserves” and “Resources”. More specifically “Reserves” are accumulations at known locations with expectation that extraction is profitable. They are further divided into Proved, Probable, and Possible depending upon uncertainties in reservoir shape and recovery factors. Resources are now broken up into “Contingent Resources” (know location, but not currently commercial because of cost, contract, regulations) and Prospective Resources (unknown location, undiscovered, but some expectation there are resources to be found.)
Oil Shale is a Contingent Resource. We know where it is, but we don’t know how to make a profit with it.
The Barnett Shale is a Proven Resource, ten years ago, it was Contingent, but we have learned how to make it profitable.
Athabasca was a Contingent Resource, but some of it (170 Billion bbl) is a Proven Reserve as long as the price of crude is expected to be above $60/bbl. [1]
Shell (and others) are attempting to drill for Prospective Resources in the Beaufort and Chukchi Sea. All exploration (prospecting) is for Prospective Resources.
So when you see “Oil Reserves to be exhausted in 13 years.” It might be technically correct because they are only counting the Proved Reserves. Useless and misleading, but technically correct.
From Wiki:
\\ A more sophisticated system of evaluating petroleum accumulations was adopted in 2007 by the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), World Petroleum Council (WPC), American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG), and Society of Petroleum Evaluation Engineers (SPEE). It incorporates the 1997 definitions for reserves, but adds categories for contingent resources and prospective resources.[5] /
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_reserves#Classifications
The concept has been around a long time. Search “McKelvey System” or “McKelvey box”
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athabasca_oil_sands
The hydrocarbon characteristics of the the oil shales of the Green River formation in the Piceance Basin are superior to those of the Athabasca oil sands. The hydrocarbon areal density is about 13X that of the Athabasca deposits.
Source
Canada is currently producing ~ 1 million barrels of oil per day from Athabasca oil sand deposits. They expect to increase that to 2 million barrels per day over the next decade. The Green River oil shale deposits in the Piceance basin could easily outperform Athabasca within a decade and with a much smaller environmental footprint… The only obstacle are environmental activists and the US government.
elbatrop & others —
So sure of yourselves…..
It easy to resolve the uncertainty.
Allow exploration – with private money.
Either they will find oil, get rich, and solve our problems …
Or they won’t, they’ll go broke, and we’ll have to find another way.
Or they’ll establish, yes, it’s there, and here’s what the economics look like.
The left can only hold its positions in the face of ignorance — for that matter
the same is true of the right. But only one party seems willing to look for the
“ground truth” (and not at taxpayer expense).
btw, the end of civilization may be the giving of standing in law to any loudmouth with a website and enough money to bring a frivelous suit. Since all the complainers are co2 emitters, I’ve half a mind in my darker moments to regulate them….
Funding Sources: per Discover the Networks:
Pew Charitable Trust gives (gave) grants to EarthJustice, Center for Biological Diversity and Environmental Defense Fund.
Surdna, and The Compton foundations send grants to Alaska Wilderness League.
Does one know how many individuals – not foundations and uber rich- support these groups? Do they really represent the little guy? Or are they just names under which the “Progressives” hide?
AW: “On one hand we have Obama telling us we need to end our dependence on foreign oil…”
That is only a problem if you actually believe anything Obama says, Anthony. I don’t and so I am never fooled.
DirkH says:
The fun thing is, on this side of the Atlantic, all that we hear is that the evil anti-science congress wants to strip the EPA off its powers because Reps are against clean air. I constantly correct the misperceptions of my German friends. I am sure most of our journalists are bought or naturally unfit for the job.
Dirk, it’s no different here.
elbatrop says:
April 26, 2011 at 9:00 pm
Hasn’t South Africa derived the majority of its fuel from coal liquefaction since the ’50s? Can getting oil from shale be harder than that? Can’t we do the same thing? We’ve got plenty of coal.
SionedL says:
April 27, 2011 at 10:37 am
“Or are they just names under which the “Progressives” hide?”
You nailed it!
The real sad part of the Pew Charitable trust is that the Pews were (are?) the principal owners of Sun oil Company, a major refiner, and all those “dirty” oil profits over the years are now being used/abused by the progressives to kill sensible solutions to todays problems.
Sun oil was also one of the original partners in the original oli sands project in Northern Alberta. (Now called Suncor but not owned by Sun oil Company)
I suspect that “old” man Pew is turning over in his grave seeing how his hard earned dollars are being abused by those who now run the trust.
US crude oil production (including lease condensate) is currently around 5.4 million barrels per day.
However, total US oil production (all petroleum liquids and refinery gains) is currently around 9.1 million barrels per day.
EIA
The US is actually ranked #3 behind Saudi Arabia and Russia in both crude and total oil production.
The US oil industry (including Shell USA, BP USA and other domestic subsidiaries of foreign companies) has managed to do this with one hand essentially tied behind our backs – Areas containing ~60% of US oil and gas potential have never been effectively opened to exploration (including ~80% to 85% of our OCS). Obama’s perimitorium has essentially tied the other hand behind our backs.
Meanwhile the numericly challenged White House castigates the bad, bad oil companies for their obscene profits. Not that the administration understands the term, but after expenses, taxes, etc. Shell’s profit margin is under 7%, while administration “green technology” buddy Jeff Imhelt’s GE’s profit margin is 11% much from wind turbines and other govt mandates benefiting corporations playing to the agenda, and major campaign contributor Google gets 34% margins. But the oil companies, they’re bad, bad people.
OT
GE exploits TARP loophole
WASHINGTON – General Electric, the world’s largest industrial company, has quietly become the biggest beneficiary of one of the government’s key rescue programs for banks.
At the same time, GE has avoided many of the restrictions facing other financial giants getting help from the government.
Jeff Gerth | The Washington Post
Published: June 30, 2009
http://www.tdtnews.com/story/2009/06/30/58963
General Electric Paid No Federal Taxes in 2010
The top tax bracket for U.S. corporations stands at 35 percent, one of the highest rates in the world. So how is it possible that a giant of American business, General Electric, paid nothing in federal taxes last year, even as it made billions in profit?
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/general-electric-paid-federal-taxes-2010/story?id=13224558
According to the Congressional Research Service, hardly a mouthpiece for Big Oil, the U.S. has the largest energy resources of any country, Saudi Arabia and Russia included.
[source]
Another tidbit from Alaska on this topic. You would think that refusal to allow exploration in an area expected to hold over twice as much oil as we have pumped down the Trans Alaska Pipeline System would be a big deal up here. You would be wrong, at least if you worked for the McClatchy fishwrapper here in Anchorage (Anchorage Daily News, the largest newspaper in the state), as it did not carry a single story about the latest permit denial reported elsewhere on Monday. This is intentional. Cheers –
David Middleton says:
April 27, 2011 at 9:26 am
So they’ve increased the undiscovered volumes.
This means they haven’t found anything, but they think there is more to find than they thought there was. Still haven’t found anything though.
Believe the myth if you want, until they actually find find 100+ billion bbls of oil it’s as good as saying they think there 100 unicorns left to find.
Let me declare an interest here. Along with the great providers of occupational pensions, I, a Uk pensioner, have personal money invested in Shell.
My government has for the past couple of years printed money and let inflation rip to 5% whilst at the same time holding interest rates down to .5%.
Thus the retired fixed income portion of the population has been forced to watch it’s savings erode so that the government can diminish the structural and national debt.
Shell currently pay a 6% dividend, which after tax allows me to just about maintain the purchasing power of my savings.
There is an old stock market saying “NEVER SELL SHELL!”.
You’re damned right we want our £4billion back!
Smokey says:
April 27, 2011 at 8:54 am
A lot os “estimates” there. What is the proven reserves for the US then?
It’s 21 billion.
Compared to 267 billion for Saudi, 143 for Iraq, 138 for Iran, 108 for Kuwait and 98 for UAE.
All those estimates mean nothing unless you find it and get it out of the ground.
If the IPCC said they estimated it had warmed by 2 degrees in the last decade you’d laugh and rightly so! Same applies to the estimates you quote.
SteveE,
Get up to speed here. The link in my post @12:34 above confirms that the U.S. has the largest energy resources of any country, Saudi Arabia and Russia included.
But thanx for your opinion.☺
In oil country gov bomb the terrorists to create a stable world and a steady flow of oil under the worst of circumstances, in cold country gov gets in bed with the terrorists and offsets the stability of the world to strangle the flow of steady oil under the best of circumstances.
Only to a terrorist funding organization could that make sense.
We have invested in the unelected functionaries working at the EPA the power to destroy our economy at a whim. The EPA is abusing their power. It makes me ashamed of my country.
If you think I was over the top, maybe you should do some research on the Center for Biological Diversity and just what they have been up to the last 20 years! BTW, you might have some difficulty if you just relay on google.
Belief is irrelevant.
The increased the estimate of undiscovered oil in the Gulf of Mexico from 9 billion barrels in 1987 to the current 45 billion barrels because we discovered a helluva a lot more than 9 billion barrels in the Gulf over the last 20 years. Almost all of the large US fields discovered since 1988 were discovered in the deepwater of the Gulf of Mexico. In 1988, it was unclear whether or not the deepwater plays would prove to be economic. Mars has produced 1 billion barrels of oil and 1.25 TCF of natural gas since coming on line in 1996. It is currently producing over 100,000 barrels of oil per day. Dozens of Mars-class fields have been discovered over the last 20 years… Most of those have only barely come on line over the last 5 years.
The most significant play in the Gulf of Mexico, the Lower Tertiary, wasn’t even a figment of anyone’s imagination in 1988. These are massive discoveries. Several fields are expected to come on line at more than 100,000 bbl/day. This play is still in its infancy.
The largest field in the Gulf of Mexico, Shell’s Mars Field, was discovered in 1989. Prior to this discovery, no one thought that Miocene-aged or older reservoirs existed in deepwater.
Proved reserves represent the audited volume of hydrocarbons that are “proved” in a well-bore that can be economically recovered at the time of the audit. SEC auditing rules are very strict. Auditing rules in Saudi Arabia, Iran and other OPEC companies are, at best, opaque.
The United States converts its proved reserves to production very quickly and very efficiently. We don’t sit on proved reserves… We can’t afford to because we have to make money and if we don’t produce proved reserves, we stand to lose the leases.
If you gross up our reserve growth to account for production, our proved reserves would have been growing by an average of 2 billion barrels per year over the last 20 years… And that’s all from relatively mature areas.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to forecast that there’s another 100 billion barrels remaining to be discovered in the US and on its OCS and it’s not much of a leap of faith to think that the oil industry will find about 6 times that estimate, if it’s allowed to explore. It would actually take willful ignorance to believe that there’s not at least 100 billion barrels of oil remaining to be discovered domestically.
@ur momisugly steve e
OPEC middle east nations all doubled their reserves at the stroke of pen back in the mid 1980’s. Their quotas are based on reserves.
Saudi Arabia has been claiming 260+ GB of oil ever since, it doesn’t change no matter how much they produce.
Shell to forgo 2011 drilling in Alaska Anchorage, Alaska – February 3, 2011 pdf
Borough and Northwest Arctic Borough Community Open Houses
All quiet on the Northern Front
Hosea 8:7
Another reason the Administration no drill policy is suicidial is the fact that shutting down selling new leases deprives the US Treasury of billions of dollars in lease fees and royalities. Note that this was 23 billion dollars in 2008. That does not include the income taxes paid on Oil Company profits.
How much do you think lease fee income has fallen off since we stopped leasing lands and curtailed production in the Gulf?
From API Fact Sheet
“CLAIM: The American people aren’t getting their fair share from oil and gas companies drilling and producing on federal lands in and in federal waters. FACT: The U.S. government’s revenues from federal oil and gas production and leasing is on par with the rest of the world when bonus bids – the upfront fees paid by oil and natural gas companies to purchase leases – are factored in. In 2008, the U.S. collected almost $23 billion in revenues from federal oil and gas production and leases: $13 billion in royalties and $10 billion in bonus bids.”
Nah we would rather give Brazil 2 Billion dollars to drill offshore and pay market price for their oil!!