"CRUDE" oil, an absolute must see program !!!

Selected Segments of Energy Hearing

That 'YouTube' link has not yet appeared. And I know that this CSPAN version is too long for most folks to wade thru. So I marked down a few 'time frame windows' that characterize some of the hi-lites of this hearing.

I'll start at the summary statement by Ed Markey that challenges us in the USA to look back at the history of one of our nation's GREATEST technological accomplishments, putting a man on the moon. In 8 years we accomplished this feat....AMAZING !!!! (Particularly when you consider how long we've been working on other problems far less complicated)
Listen to the video segment from time 52:00 minutes to 1:07:00. Ed Markey is suggesting our way out of the fuel oil dilemma is to challenge OPEC with new technologies that we are fully capable of developing.

Listen to the video segment from time of 1:13 to 1:17. John Kennedy challenged our nation to put a man on the moon. Ed Markey invokes this spirit of Kennedy's, to challenge America once again to rise to the occasion of a race for new energy technologies. The prospect of this new future alone could lower futures prices for oil.

If these two segments above get you interested in what was said at the hearing, here are two more surprises ....can you really believe that some young fellow (Bush appointee) would come to this meeting and suggest that they are modeling their energy policy based on a forecast of $2.42 per gallon of gas in 2015 !! What kind of kool-aid are these guys passing around down there in Washington DC ?? No wonder we are in trouble.
Watch these two segments:
13:00 to 15:30
33:30 to 35:50

Few more Segments

A few more 'clips' from that video of the energy meeting:

At time frame 1:25..now a YouTube presentation of this segment
Shai Agassi speaks about the electric car project he has convinced the country of Israel to adopt. And interestingly the separation of the battery from the electric vehicle itself, thus the battery becomes a consumable like gas was for current vehicles. Also modeling the project on some basis like the mobile phone market. His website Project Better Place


At time frame 1:30
A representative from Denmark talks about there past bout with oil energy and how they began attacking the situation quite some time ago. Also Windmill energy generation.

At time frame 1:47
Shai Agassi's estimate for electric cars in USA under a dedicated power systems approach & energy transmission question.

At time frame 1:57 to 2:01
Inevitable trend lines

Mexico's Suppy Problems

July 7 (Bloomberg) -- Crude output from Mexico's Cantarell, the world's third-largest oil field, is falling at the fastest pace in 12 years as investment limits keep state-owned Petroleos Mexicanos from fully exploiting deposits and finding new ones.

Production at the Gulf of Mexico development dropped 34 percent in May from a year earlier, the biggest decline since October 1995, according to data compiled by the government and Bloomberg. That was when Hurricane Roxanne's 131 miles-per-hour (114-knot) winds shut down offshore wells for a week.

Seven decades after Mexico banned foreign oil investment, President Felipe Calderon is pressing lawmakers to allow Pemex, as the state energy company is known, to hire outside producers to help find and pump petroleum. Cantarell's decline is costing Pemex $20 billion a year in sales at a time when oil prices have never been higher, and the company lacks the funding to find enough new deposits to keep reserves from dwindling.

"We are at the worst time right now of the decline," David Shields, an energy analyst and publisher of Mexican oil magazine Energia, said in a July 1 interview. "They should have been developing the fields to be sustainable."

Falling production is curbing exports to the U.S., which buys about 80 percent of the oil Mexico sells abroad. Sales to the U.S. declined to 1.07 million barrels a day in May, the lowest since November 1995.

Exports at Risk

Pemex, Latin America's biggest company by revenue, may need to cut exports this year to meet domestic demand as production falls, Energy Minister Georgina Kessel said last month in an interview.

Mexico nationalized its oil industry in 1938 and enacted a constitutional ban on foreign energy investment to protect the country's resources. Increasing royalties from Pemex, which Mexico relies on for 40 percent of government revenue, have left the company short of exploration and production funding.

Mexico's Congress is in the final month of debate on Calderon's proposal to give Pemex more freedom to hire companies to explore, produce, refine and transport oil. Foreign producers still wouldn't own the oil. Hiring them under service contracts would free Pemex to invest more in other projects.

Pemex is seeking $20 billion in exploration and production funding for next year, up from its 2008 budget of $15 billion. Output at the three-decades-old Cantarell fell 25 percent in 2007, exceeding company projections for a 15 percent drop.

Spending Needs

"Spending on exploration is a relatively low number, compared to other areas of the world," Jed Bailey, managing director of Latin American research at Cambridge Energy Research Associates, said in a July 1 interview from Boston.

Irving, Texas-based Exxon Mobil Corp., the world's largest oil company, plans more than $25 billion in capital spending this year. Chevron Corp., the No. 2 U.S. oil company, budgeted almost $23 billion.

Pemex's funding request is too low to meet a goal of boosting oil production back above 3 million barrels a day, Kessel said in the interview. The company needs about $30 billion a year to hit that target, she said. Total crude output in May was 2.8 million barrels a day, down 10 percent from a year earlier, led by Cantarell's plunge.

Pemex spokesman Carlos Ramirez didn't return calls seeking comment.

Reserves Fall

The company replaced 50 percent of the oil it extracted in 2007. At current production rates, Pemex's oil reserves would run out in 9.2 years if it added no new deposits.

Pemex has been unable to take full advantage of record oil prices. Crude-oil futures traded in New York climbed to a record above $145 a barrel this month, the highest since trading began in 1983.

Cantarell's output dropped by more than 540,000 barrels a day in May from a year earlier as the deposit lost pressure, making it more difficult and expensive to extract crude. Pemex has been injecting nitrogen for more than 10 years to stimulate production.

The development peaked at 65 percent of the company's 3.3 million barrels of daily crude output in 2003. In May, it fell to 37 percent of total production.

The world's largest oil field is Ghawar in Saudi Arabia, followed by Burgan in Kuwait and Cantarell.

What Happen to Crude Prices

Seems that we blew up a big short in the oil market...

This goes a long way to explaining the backwardation in the oil contracts for such along time.

SemGroup was the 12th-largest private US company according to many reports.

The Creature from Jekyll Island

Just the other day I was talking with an 'economics type' and I brought of Greenspans name as a failure to really strongly warn us of this coming morgage situation. He ask if I knew the Federal Reserve Banking system was not a part of our Fed government , but rather a private concern. I told him I was only vagely aware of this, at which point he told me to go read a book by the name of "The Creature from Jekyll Island"

....http://www.brianrwright.com/Coffee_Coaster/03_Book_Reviews/2007/070829_Jekyll_Island.htm
In this tome, author Edward Griffin delivers a devastating expose on the background, execution, and remedies to the Federal Reserve Banking system (FRBS).

The system, which amounts to a national bank under control of (surprise) the money interests who dominate the government of the United States, was rather sneakily enacted into law by Congress just before Christmas recess in 1913. Creature shows how this surreptitious meeting on Jekyll Island, a private resort off the coast of Georgia owned by J.P. Morgan and associates, led to the FRBS and its seemingly unlimited license to steal continuously from the productive class.
_____________________________________________________
...in MP3 format
http://www.spielbauer.com/JekyllDownload.htm


_____________________________________________________
The Creature from Jekyll Island
A Second Look at the Federal Reserve
http://www.financialsense.com/transcriptions/2006/1018griffin.html

The Federal Reserve - An Inflation-Creating Institution

The Truth About Banks and Their Partnership with The Fed

A Legalized Cartel?

What About Secrecy?

Is The Fed a Stabilizer?

World Bank and the IMF

Why Do Central Bankers Hate Gold?

Bankers and War

Is it Inflation or Deflation Ahead?

Can the US Change Course?

Doomsday Mechanisms



________________________________________________
...another section
What is the Mandrake Mechanism?
It's the most important financial lesson of your life!
http://www.biblebelievers.org.au/jekyll.htm

Crude Oil Prices in a War Atmosphere ??

Other than the science of crude formation, exploration, extraction etc, I'll digress for a moment with another factor that may likely influence the price of oil. I've brought this up before, and it still has me VERY concerned.

Another World War...for energy??...and triggered by some small incident...

Russian Missile Sales to Iran May Raise Prospect of Israeli Strike

Coming in the wake of Russian warships passing through the Panama Canal and visiting Cuba, conflicting reports that Moscow intends to sell an advanced anti-aircraft missile system to Iran are ratcheting up tensions with the United States. But more worrisome still is the heightened prospect of a preemptive Israeli air strike against Tehran's nuclear infrastructure before the S-300 system would become operational.

On Sunday, Iranian official Esmail Kosari seemingly confirmed earlier rumors of the purchase, telling Tehran's IRNA news agency, "After a few years of talks with Russia, now the S-300 system is being delivered." But the next day, the Russian agency responsible for monitoring international defense cooperation denied plans for imminent deliveries of the S-300 to Iran, claiming the Iranian's revelation "does not correspond to reality." Yigal Palmor, a spokesman for Israel's Foreign Ministry, also said a senior Russian official had "told Israel that the new report about delivery of the S-300 was false."
As the AP reported Tuesday, despite the Russian assurances American officials believe the sale of the SA-10 (as it is known in the West) is going forward. While protesting that the sophisticated anti-aircraft system would pose a threat to U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, Washington's bigger concern is the prospect of dramatically improved air defense for the Iranian nuclear program. As the Washington Post detailed:
Israel and the United States fear that, were Iran to possess S-300 missiles, it would use them to protect its nuclear facilities, including the uranium enrichment plant at Natanz or the country's first atomic power plant now under construction at Bushehr by Russian contractors. That would make any potential military strike on the Iranian facilities much more difficult.

Make that much more difficult.

Following Tehran's recent acquisition of Tor M-1 surface-to-air missiles, the S-300 system would alter the calculus for the Israeli and American defense planners contemplating a strike against supposed nuclear weapons-making targets in Iran. As the Jerusalem Post noted in August:
[The S-300] is one of the most advanced multi-target anti-aircraft-missile systems in the world today and has a reported ability to track up to 100 targets simultaneously while engaging up to 12 at the same time. It has a range of about 200 kilometers and can hit targets at altitudes of 27,000 meters.

To be sure, the Israelis aren't standing still. In August, an Israeli defense official claimed his country was already developing electronic warfare devices to "neutralize" the S-300. Israel has also purchased 90 long-range F-16I fighter planes which can carry enough fuel to reach Iranian targets. And in June, Israel carried out a massive aerial exercise in the Mediterranean with 100 F-16 and F-15 fighters, a maneuver American defense officials viewed as part warning and dress rehearsal.

As for the outgoing Bush administration, its time and options are limited, if not its preferences. , The New Yorker's Seymour Hersh reported that as early as April 2006, the Bush administration was "planning a massive bombing campaign against Iran." In late 2007, Hersh claimed, the President gave the green light to escalating American covert operations within Iran. (That charge was denied by U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker.) And despite the opposition of Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Michael Mullen, Vice President Cheney is said to prefer that the U.S. and not Israel strike Iran, as "we'll be blamed anyway." (Hersh also reported in July that Cheney hoped to trigger a confrontation with Tehran by staging a shooting incident in the Strait of Hormuz with PT boats manned by U.S. Navy Seals dressed as Iranians.)

All of which means Barack Obama can't enter the White House a moment too soon. Obama has pledged a diplomatic offensive to engage Tehran over its nuclear program. (Last week, the Washington Times reported that Obama plans to name an envoy for outreach to Iran.)

But he won't have much time to alter the trajectory of events in the Persian Gulf. The impasse with Medvedev over the U.S. missile defense system is aggravating Russia's defense of its aid to the Iranian nuclear program. While a recent National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) concluded that Iran abandoned its plans for nuclear weapons in 2003, the IAEA announced in November that Tehran now has enough enriched uranium (if not the know-how) for one atomic bomb. And while upcoming elections in Israel may delay any decision to launch an assault against Iranian nuclear facilities before a deployment of the Russian S-300 systems is complete, a victory by the hard-line Likudnik Benjamin Netanyahu makes that prospect more likely.

...scary thoughts of another 'world war', and unbelievable oil prices

T Boon's message

We've got less than three weeks until a new Congress is seated and our new President is sworn in. But before we muster the troops and charge up Capitol Hill, I want to share an experience of mine that not only changed how I do business but how I look at life.

Forty years ago, the small company I founded was looking at a big deal. In fact it was our biggest deal ever. That's when a friend of mine, Dow Hamm, gave me a piece of advice I've never forgotten: "Boone, you'll spend just as much time on a big deal as on a little deal." And, he pointed out, you'll find plenty of lagniappe in a big deal.

What's lagniappe? I'll tell you what it is. When we get America to end its addiction to foreign oil, new jobs will be created in new industries we can't even begin to imagine. When we stop sending $700 billion a year to foreign countries and start spending that money on energy produced here in the United States, start-ups that none of us have ever heard of will get the seed capital they need to get off the ground and become industry giants. When we go all out and develop wind and solar and other renewable energies, the breakthroughs that American companies will pioneer are going to have other countries sending us billions of dollars for our technology, for our equipment, and for our know-how.

Over the last 50 years, I've done more than my share of big deals. But this one here with you, the Pickens Plan, is by far the biggest. And it's going to pay off bigger than any of us can ever imagine.

That's what lagniappe is. Now let's go get plenty of it in 2009.

Subsidies?

Actually he is not seeking subsidies to build the windmill parks, but rather government permission to give the right of ways for transmission infrastructure to get the power distributed. This goes along with the consensus that the USA needs an entire upgrade to its power distribution infrastructure regardless.

He makes a pretty good case for the particular 'wind corridor' of the USA that he is focusing on. He is not simply saying that all windmill power is feasible, nor economically sensible. I would venture to bet that this 'oil & business man' has studied the economies of this situation quite extensively....and wouldn't be throwing in millions of his own money on foolishness.

I think his 'interium' natural gas plan has merit as well. We (USA) have a lot of this product, and to utilize it in the interiminterim next 10 year period during development of more advanced technologies makes sense to me. He suggest in particular that this gas product be utilized for our 'heavy hauling' transportation needs. There appears to be no real difficult barriers to overcome to convert a lot of our existing engines to natural gas use. So its not as if we need to manufacture a whole new generation of mechanical engines to utilize this gas product almost immediately.

I believe the whole world should be backing such a bold initiative by the USA, since we are gobbling up so much of the world's oil supply to fuel our transportation. Shame that we should be so wasteful of a resource that is diminishing in quantity, and is required for so many other industries than just burning it up in autos. The world should benefit by so bold a move on our part.

Conservation of Fuel and Ocean Resources

...should make ourselves more aware of the sources of the fuels we utilize to power our craft, and how we might become more conservative with their use considering the finite supply of these fuels. Brian

There are a number of other 'ocean management' questions most offshore boaters should become better acquainted with. Last year while visiting a friend in Lunenburg NS, I took a tour thru a very very nice marine museum they have there. Oh, but to view the wonderful and bountiful harvest of COD, etc, that once was the Grand Banks fishery !! It's FISHED OUT now!!

I also spent some time in SE Asia, and I've seen what once was a bountiful supply of ocean food from Vietnam and Thailand. They are getting fished out as well.

Boaters need to help with conservation of our oceans and our fuel resources.

If you take the time to view that film 'CRUDE' I referenced at the start of this discussion, I believe you will find a VERY important link between crude oil initial formations, extractions, and the carbon molecule's loop back to the destruction of our ocean system currents. With that destruction there is likely the end of human life on the earth.

the CARBON loop

I might make the suggestion that you review some portions of this film 'CRUDE'

...a you tube presentation of the film
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5797240072407639740
(I just found a video of this film on a Google site. The sound is screwed up for the first couple of minutes, but then it seems to straighten out)

...now fast forward to minute 59:00 to the discussion of this 'carbon loop' that produced the very conditions that resulted in the formation of the crude oil in the first place.

Imagine an ocean that is losing much of its sea-life, and then an anoxic event that pushes it into greater stagnation....Ocean Stagnation, it has occurred before. (1hr:02 minutes of the film)

Then have a look at 'the engine of ocean circulation' (1hr:8min:30sec)

Questioning anoxic events?? Take a look at some lakes in upstate New York (1:10:30)

If we allow our oceans to die, and some of this related to our fuel (carbon molecule) managements, we may well severely challenge man's survivability on this planet.

The Leverage of Oil & Gas

We have to stay on offense! We can’t let the new Congress and the new Administration shove our dependence on foreign oil to the back burner.

Here’s why.
When we started the Pickens Plan last July, oil was at about $147 per barrel, gasoline at the pump was $4.11, and we were importing about 70 percent of the oil we use. Today oil is $100 per barrel less, but we are still importing about 70 percent of our oil.

Why is this important?
Because we are still at the mercy of foreign governments and unstable areas of the world for our oil supply. It is still a crisis, but it’s also an opportunity for us to fix it.

Look at the headlines from just the past couple of days.
- Oil up $5 on OPEC cuts.
- Russia cut off natural gas supplies to Ukraine.
- Iran calls for oil embargo for supporters of Israel.

Just before the holidays, OPEC met to try to raise oil prices. OPEC delivers 40percent of the daily oil supply. They decided to cut their output by 2.2 million barrels per day to try and get the price back in the $70 range. You’ve heard me tell you before that if consumption runs short of supply, then the only way to balance the books is by raising the price.

What have we seen?
Gasoline at the pump has jumped back over $2 per gallon in many areas and is moving back up.

Next headline:
On New Year’s Day, Russia cut off natural gas supplies to Ukraine in a dispute over prices and payments. According to Reuters news service, “That has hit natural gas supplies to countries in eastern and southern Europe facing freezing temperatures and has worried European countries, which get one fifth of their gas through pipelines that cross Ukraine.”

Think about that:
The Russian government is willing to force its customers to pay whatever price it sets by cutting off supplies; not threatening to cut off supplies, but by actually doing it in the coldest part of winter.

We don’t rely on Russia for our natural gas. We don’t import any of it, and we have plenty of our own natural gas supply.

The problem comes from that second headline – what happens if Iran and other Mideast and African countries decide to use oil as a weapon against us like Russia is using natural gas as a weapon against Ukraine?

I’m not making this up. Here is what the Iranian News Agency reported over the weekend: "Pointing at Westerners' dependence on the Islamic countries' oil and energy resources, [Iranian leaders] called for cutting the export of crude oil to the Zionist regime's supporters the world over.”

Iran understands how to leverage our over-dependence on foreign oil.

OPEC understands how to manage output.

We are left without any weapons in this price war.

We have to remind our leaders in Washington that whether oil is a $50 a barrel or $150 a barrel it is the level of our dependence on foreign oil, not just the price, which puts us all at the mercy of unfriendly foreign governments and you don’t know when they will move against us.
-- T Boone