Any way to force OPEC to increase production of Oil?

[GSX]

In this time of increasing oil prices (plus anything else in the world) is there any way to force OPEC to produce more oil. One idea I had of forcing OPEC would be to use the US power over food exports.
Anyone else has any ideas or feed back?

And I do warn everyone, this thread might become inhumane :seesaw:

[The_Blur]

Europe needs to reimperialize the Middle East for them to produce more oil. It's so ridiculous over there. They are anti-West, and that doesn't appear to change regardless of how much money we throw at them. Oil is an opportunity for them to make a power grab. If they want to play power games, the West would do well to extend its history of winning power games. I know that's a very aggressive policy, but it is the best way to get more oil out of OPEC. Additionally, reoccupying the entire region would put down most resistance. That would work because most guerilla and terrorist groups work over borders. If all the countries in the region are occupied, they wouldn't be able hide in a neighboring country that fosters terrorism because that country would also be occupied. This policy would face intense opposition at first, but NATO forces would overwhelm the region, leading to a reasonable end to the conflict.

And don't get me started on Africa. Europe should never have drawn those boundaries where they are today.

[GTAHVIT]

as extreme as Blurs comments are I pretty much agree that's about what it will take.

There is no leverage for us to apply on OPEC. Even if the US stopped using their oil alltogether. All they have to do is reduce their porductivity to compensate for loosing our business.

In my opinion, we need to have other options, like Celulosic Ethanol, that are quickly deployable and can use existing infrastructure. This takes a bite into the oil company revenue and OPEC's influence on gas prices. I believe in the short term the biggest benefit from Cel. Ehtanol is the price drop it may cause in gasoline. Long term gains will be that OPEC has no more influence whatsoever.

[rmyers]

What if we just drilled for our own oil? We are being held hostage by environmental concerns that are overriding national economic security.

[GTAHVIT]

Originally Posted by rmyers

What if we just drilled for our own oil? We are being held hostage by environmental concerns that are overriding national economic security.

This one always puzzles me too. Take Anwar (sp), They say there is only enough oil there for 10 years at our current consumption rate. (I can't verify this, but I remember hearing this on Fox I think.) So I don't think we need to mess with the environment for a little return. Now I think drilling off the coast of Florida and Texas is a great idea, They say there is more oil in these two locations than the middle east. (Again I can't verify). But that makes more sense to me. But, this doesn't fix the limited refinery problems in North America. If you want to give us immediate relief on gas prices, build more refineries. But again, the green movement is just as against this as they are Drilling. In my opinion, to fix the problem of oil, Build refineries first, drill off shore second. Then we can control our own destiny and possibly even export as an OPEC competitor. But the environmentalists don't see it that way. So, I come back to my Cel. Ethanol proposal. I think it is the best option for the U.S.

[09fathomgreen]

Besides the ANWR, there is, according to federal government estimates, more oil in the Bakken shale in North Dakota, which also stretches into Canada.
The possible number of barrels in the Bakken is about 400 billion barrels. However, there is one hitch. The oil is something like two miles down, in a shale, which is makes it hard to extract.
Technology has gotten better, but with oil prices being what they are, I'm surprised they aren't ramping up production.
Interestingly enough, north of the border, the Canadians have been talking about increasing their production in the shale, but they're reluctant because of the potential difficulty, and and price of putting in the necessary infrastructure to extract the oil.

[TFord]

EVER HEARD OF A GLASS PARKING LOT!

[GTAHVIT]

Originally Posted by 09fathomgreen

Besides the ANWR, there is, according to federal government estimates, more oil in the Bakken shale in North Dakota, which also stretches into Canada.
The possible number of barrels in the Bakken is about 400 billion barrels. However, there is one hitch. The oil is something like two miles down, in a shale, which is makes it hard to extract.
Technology has gotten better, but with oil prices being what they are, I'm surprised they aren't ramping up production.
Interestingly enough, north of the border, the Canadians have been talking about increasing their production in the shale, but they're reluctant because of the potential difficulty, and and price of putting in the necessary infrastructure to extract the oil.

Columbia and Venezuela have been squabbling over a border dispute regarding a similar Oil field within Columbia's borders. Since Columbia is now an ally to the U.S. this may help considerably. I think Columbia won the border dispute. There's supposed to be a similar ammounts of oil there as well. But again, our real problem is Refineries. Even if OPEC increased productivity we can't refine oil any faster. That is part of the reaosn they denied President Bush's request to increase productivity. Then know we can't process it any faster so why produce more... Grrrrrrr.

Originally Posted by TFord

EVER HEARD OF A GLASS PARKING LOT!

Splain ya self....

[swazworth]

Originally Posted by rmyers

What if we just drilled for our own oil? We are being held hostage by environmental concerns that are overriding national economic security.

yep that is it, damn tree huggers. a lot of this(the $$$) also has to do with the drop of the us dollar and china is hoarding a lot of oil.

[Mpower]

Originally Posted by The_Blur

Europe needs to reimperialize the Middle East for them to produce more oil. It's so ridiculous over there.

Uh lol, wow. I want to strongly state my opposition to that thought but heck, I don't even know where to begin. Well, have a good night nonetheless

[DGthe3]

There is no way to force opec to do anything. Think of having oil as having shares in a company. if you have 50%+1 you can do whatever you want. Well, thats what OPEC does. What they decide, the rest of us kinda have to go along with it. If America drilled its own oil or got more from Canada, they would still raise the price/barrel to keep the money comming. So, you pay more for gas and they get just as much cash, you just buy less from them.

Originally Posted by gtahvit

Splain ya self....

nuke+sand=glass parking lot.

[Mr. Wyndham]

Originally Posted by DGthe3

nuke+sand=glass parking lot.

Ah-bah-ah! We call it a Thermal Device...don't want any crazies getting funny ideas....

[Mpower]

Originally Posted by GSX

In this time of increasing oil prices (plus anything else in the world) is there any way to force OPEC to produce more oil. One idea I had of forcing OPEC would be to use the US power over food exports.
Anyone else has any ideas or feed back?

And I do warn everyone, this thread might become inhumane :seesaw:

Let’s see if I can take a stab at this. First off, a quick layman's explanation of OPEC is that it is first and foremost a cartel. I can absolutely see why folks may think OPEC is gouging, all it takes is one trip to the gas station but, one key factor to understanding OPEC is that it is in its best interest to keep the price of a barrel of dinosaur juice at as close to an equilibrium price as they can. What I mean is not too low so they don't make money hand over fist, yet not too high so oil consuming nations seriously step up their alternative energy efforts. Yes it may seem like OPEC is sticking it to the major oil consumers but this is the nature of how a cartel operates. If the oil ministers of OPEC nations feel like the price is too high (in their own minds of course) they will readjust production accordingly. Inversely, if they felt like the price of a barrel was too low, they would agree to some sort of a production slowdown. It’s all about business in the very long run.

So what can be done? Diversifying energy inputs and moving away from oil should be seriously taken up. Brazilian Government has done an amazing job with Sugarcane Ethanol for example. I just learned not too long ago that the U.S. has under-utilized Natural Gas and it’s a good, clean resource. Use of Wind, Solar, and Tidal should be exponentially increased. Now comes the question of digging for oil, if the proper technology is present and it can be done with a minimal ecological impact then why not. What needs to be watched out for is that the environment is maintained that it does not turn into an absolute disaster. Jury is still out in ANWR, but this Canadian/U.S. Oil Shale looks really promising. The amount of "potential" oil could hopefully be a godsend, as long as it’s done clean.

In closing, borrowing from Mike Huckabee who I don't agree with on 99% of anything but he had a line where he said he hoped the day would come that we could tell OPEC we need their Oil as much as we need their Sand. Some of us may differ, but let’s hope the day comes when this can happen.

[DGthe3]

Originally Posted by Dragoneye

Ah-bah-ah! We call it a Thermal Device...don't want any crazies getting funny ideas....

A space heater is a thermal device. A hydrogen bomb is a man made star.