MSNBC has this. It’s all about oil leases that are not used.
‘How to Advice’ tells how to obtain an oil lease yourself.
Oil lease buyers can be found here.
CommonDreams tells you about royalty-free oil for companies holding federal oil leases.
And the truth of it all can be found HERE.
Despite access to more than 200 million acres of public land over the past 15 years (1989-2003), the oil and gas industry has produced enough energy from this land to satisfy only 53 days of U.S. oil consumption and 221 days of natural gas consumption, according to EWG’s analysis of well-by-well oil and gas production records obtained August 16 2004 via a Freedom of Information Act Request. This rate of production amounts to an average of 3.6 days per year of oil and 14.8 days per year of natural gas (MMS 2004, EIA Petroleum Review 2004, EIA Natural Gas Review 2004).
No wonder the Democrats want to pull the plug on cheap oil leases for oil companies.
If you do not use it, you will lose it.
All of those mouthy pundits that parrot the oil companies propaganda are flat out wrong. Tell them to stick it in their pipelines.
So , if you are wondering who to believe on this issue , you should believe the Democrats and the state of Alaska. Not the Wall Street Journal, not the Bush Administration, not Rush Limbaugh, and definitely not Michelle Malkin or Sean Hannity.
All of those blogs that attacked the Democrats for trying to prevent a stranglehold on oil production in the US are misinformed and misled by their leaders.
it is not the oil that oil companies want, it’s the profit from oil. And if they can get profit by buying and selling oil leases, they will. And if they can get more profit by waiting for royalty-free oil, they will. And if they can get more profit by just watching the speculators drive up the price of oil, they will do that, too.
Making money the easiest way possible, at the lowest cost, that is Business. Capital B.
8 responses so far ↓
Mr. Cavaney’s Column in the WSJ « ReasonableCitizen // July 10, 2008 at 9:44 pm
[...] this man said is pap. If you read my earlier column, you will know [...]
Chuck Norton // July 17, 2008 at 9:14 pm
The government can just stipulate in the leases that who ever has the lease my not sell the lease or sublet it.
Of course at $140 if the oil companies could get more oil out of thee leases economically there is a huge profit motive to do so. But having the oil lease is no good if you are prevented from using the lease because the oil is too deep or too hard to get to, or because eco-extremists have prevented you from building the infrastructure needed on the lease so that making use of that oil once you get it is feasable.
ReasonableCitizen // July 17, 2008 at 9:33 pm
I am not convinced of this. I cannot imagine that any oil company, or combination of oil companies, would spend $37 Billion for leases in March 2008 in which they do not know if oil resides underneath. They have geologists up the wazoo to determine the probability of striking oil and they do this for a living. They are professionals. I do not buy the argument that you buy enough oil leases in the hopes that one pans out. That would be amateurish and unacceptable to any set of stockholders.
They have no incentive to drill for oil if other wells are producing and profits are good.
And they can sell any of their oil leases anytime they want. But they don’t. Because holding them without producing oil keeps the market supply low and the price high. If prices fall too low, then everyone loses. The game is about maximizing profit and not oil production. This is a commodity and unless you can drill cheaper or transport cheaper or crack it cheaper, it is in your best interest to have the highest possible oil prices at your lowest current cost of production.
Chuck Norton // July 17, 2008 at 9:35 pm
Oh I forgot – If I am wrong, the oil companies are lying, and the The U.S. Minerals Management Service is wrong…. that getting the oil on these unused leases should be no problem at all – then I have your fix.
Have the government pay oil companies what ever it takes to get the oil from the leases, so the government can sell the oil themselves and keep whatever profits they can make and/or sell it to Americans at a discount.
Use the power of the government to prevent eco-extremists from getting in the way and use the power given to Congress under Article Three of the US Constitution to take the juristiction away from the courts on this issue. They could do it with a majority vote.
If Democrats wanted to make sure that unused leases are used, this is a 100% surefire way to do so…. but such a move would not match their agenda.
Chuck Norton // July 17, 2008 at 9:38 pm
Hi Citizen thanks for your response,
Let me explain why you are mistaken. IF we raise domestic production OPEC will lower production to keep the prices up. So by expending drilling and production here, instead of $700 BILLION a year going out of Americans pockets to OPEC, a big chunk of that pie would go to Americans, in American companies and taxed by our government. It would lower our trade deficit BIG time.
ReasonableCitizen // July 17, 2008 at 9:44 pm
Perhaps the whole thing is beyond my understanding. I am familiar with verticalized industries and familiar with senior management thinking yet the oil company logic escapes me.
I agree that eco restrictions are a problem in NEW oil fields but the leases are not for new oilfields. If I could find the map that shows the known oil fields and unused leases I would post it. I did not save that link.
ReasonableCitizen // July 17, 2008 at 9:49 pm
I admit that I do not know enough to continue this. My visceral feeling is that I am right on this but I cannot match my feeling with arguments. Thanks for stopping by and making me think.
Chuck Norton // July 17, 2008 at 9:50 pm
Well Reasonable, I encourage you to look at my blog, while my politics are not yours, try to look passed the fluff and humor on my site and look at the raw data I present.
Barack Obama himself has made it clear that he does not object to current gas prices. I have the video of him making this point clear to Mort Kondrake on CNBC. In fact the leadership of the Democratic Party has long said that we should have gas prices like Europe has.
Everything the leadership has done points to this agenda. In my view, there is a big gap between moderate left or liberal guys like yourself – and the increasingly marxist leadership of the democratic party.
And thanks again for a great convo!