Comments on World Leader Rejects Appeasement

That Saudi's *can't* increase oil production. They hit their peak years ago.

Good. The prince should cut production by 1%.

So our president is traveling around begging for oil. Not pretty.

Bush and many others are oiloholics. Saudi Arabia has the US by the balls and it not about to let go.
All the more reason to pursue alternatives to oil. Arabian dependency on oil money would dry up and they would be of no use anymore.

Screw Saudi Arabia then. We have a pending arms deal with them. Hold up the deal indefinitely until they comply with our request. We don't need to play nice either.

We need to start immediately drilling at 500% faster in Alaska and North Dakota for our own domestic oil. There is enough oil in those 2 states to end our dependence on any foreign oil.

We just have eco rabid fools who aren't going to be alive long enough to worry about any environmental impacts that will happen 250 years from now. I'm not going to be alive long enough nor will the next 4 generations of my family.

But frankly I'm sick and tired of being pawns for the Middle East and having to pay their ransom for gas.

Every state in the union should be required to build a minimum of one new refinery (plus an additional one for every 2 million extra residents they have) immediately.

The blame for high priced gas also lies with so called environmentalists( really socialists) that demanded all the various blends and these same people that have made it so difficult to build new refineries that we haven't built one in 30 years even though our demand in this country and the rest of the world is much greater. But you see related to this is that Big Oil doesn't want to build those refineries. Big oil doesn't want to spend billions on a new facility because they are making record profits now, and alternative energies may be coming. The oil barons love the slow-downs in refinery capacity, especially when they occur at the start of the summer driving season. Let the profit party begin.

It is beyond frightening that both Democratic and Republican administrations have not insisted more oil refineries be built. We, as a country, are totally dependent on gas and oil, and the economy will collapse if America doesn't have enough of these commodities. But the government has good reason not to impede oil prices: Taxes. The more you pay at the pump, the more money rolls into DC.

But, again, no refineries have been built in 31 years, while demand has increased about 31%, one percent a year.

Appeals for Americans to conserve energy are swell, but they won't work. We are an immediate gratification society. We want what we want, and if it's a Hummer, blank you if you don't like it.

The only way a catastrophe can be headed off is for Congress to get serious with the oil companies and demand they upgrade and expand refining capacity, and play fair on prices. If Congress does not do that, major pain is coming for America.

Besides terrorism, the energy squeeze is the story of our times. Remember, you read it here.

Wow. Dude, I think your hits are getting too big. Maybe go on the wagon for a while.

Conservation IS expanded capacity. Alternate energy sources ARE expanded capacity.

And almost all of our oil comes from places other than Saudi Arabia.

maybe we could just use less oil? Or come up with a new source of energy? Maybe?

Using estimates of oil reserves within ANWR of between 4.3 and 11.8 billion barrels, you're looking at supplies lasting between 12 and 32 years- and this is assuming it only accounts for 5% of US consumption.

So really, Alaska could never alleviate dependence on foreign oil... more like delay the inevitable.

@8 et al...

My hits are getting a little to harsh..

I'm trying to find the North Dakota oil link... maybe someone else can find it faster... it is the biggest oil field discovered in 30 years.

Combined with ANWAR and the Alberta oil fields, we would be totally free of any dependence on the Middle East, which would drastically reduce any political leverage they have...

Now if I can find that links somewhere...

Here they are:

http://www.nextenergynews.com/news1/next-energy-news2.13s.html

http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/2752

I still can't find the other one that discusses the Bakken fields in depth..

the Alberta oil fields are the single worst ecological disaster in the history of mankind. They are erasing all of Canada's conservation and global warming emissions gains and then some. More than some.

So are all you environmentalist wackos now willing to let us drill for more oil in our own country, and build nuclear power plants? Or should we keep kissing Saudi ass?

@9: we're not dependent on the Middle East. We're dependent on Canada, Venezuela, and Africa. If everybody in the US who drove an SUV switched to a 30 MPG car, we could achieve energy independence.

@10,

Your own link says that we can only get 4.3 billion barrels out of Bakken. U.S. consumption is about 9.2 million barrels a day. 4.3 billion barrels is a 15-month supply. Nice try, though.

We need to start immediately drilling at 500% faster in Alaska and North Dakota for our own domestic oil. There is enough oil in those 2 states to end our dependence on any foreign oil.

As I've already demonstrated, no there isn't. Wishful thinking does not equal fact.

We just have eco rabid fools who aren't going to be alive long enough to worry about any environmental impacts that will happen 250 years from now. I'm not going to be alive long enough nor will the next 4 generations of my family.

We're going to start seeing the effects in the next 50 years. Enjoy your retirement.

But frankly I'm sick and tired of being pawns for the Middle East and having to pay their ransom for gas.

Moron.

It's funny when right-wing blowhards, who are usually obsessed with private property rights, start talking about what other countries should be doing with their oil -- which belongs to them, not us.

The sooner we nuke Saudi Arabia, the better.

(note: satellite imagery shows the Saudi main oil fields are a lot more depleted than they admit, and oil stocks tied to their fields have suffered ...)

So we drill the crap out of Alaska and North Dakota. Then what? Are we going to pass laws that prevent the oil companies from selling that oil on the world market at market price? How is that going to work, exactly? Why not pass a law that mandates all oil drilled in the US be sold at 50% the going rate?

I can't imagine anyone who owns stock in an oil company being OK with getting less profit than market demand allows. Like it or not, the US is part of the world and we can't pretend they don't exist. It is for this reason that people who insist drilling in Alaska will solve our oil crisis are idiots.

Fnarf hit it on the head on where we get most of our oil. (The Economist covered that a couple of years ago)

Still, gas can easily go up a few more dollars a gallon. Take a look around Seattle and all the Drive only vehicles around..even with gas where it is at.

I think the King should annouce gas production by OPEC will be cut by 30% over the next year!!!!

We could get more petroleum from just recovering the millions of barrels of used motor oil that gets dumped on the ground every year than we'd be likely to get from Bakken.

GW appeases the Saudi's every chance he gets and it was Saudi's that destroyed the twin towers. Go figure.

RealityCheck -

New refineries have not been built in the US due to the Oil companies. They have not been stopped. The good news is they have learned how to get a greater yeild from a barrel of oil. The bad news is they have us over that barrel.

And trust me, you don't want to live near a refinery. I have and I've worked in them.

Well, they're not going to put them HERE. Refineries belong in Port Arthur, TX -- the asshole of the universe.

@20 Damn you fnarf!

First you people want us to carry a cloth bag to the store, and now you expect us to pour our used motor oil back into a container and take it to the auto parts store?

Elitist!! Enslaving us with all of your finger-wagging!