Major U.S. oil source is tapped

[Mr. Wyndham]

Supposedly we, the US, have generous untapped oil reserves in Alaska...but we can't drill because the tree-huggers are protecting it....

BUT this has strayed so very far off topic. Start a new 'oil' thread if you must.

[Dunk31]

If we were to tap into the Alaskan Oil fields we'd have enough oil to sustain for over 100 yrs... easily. But that won't ever happen, until they find a way to drill and guarantee no spills in the national reserves, forests, parks, etc.

[bcannan354]

Damn tree huggers,

[TAG UR IT]

So...Alaska has a ton of oil. And, did someone say that Canada has 5 times as much oil as the Saudi's? Hmmm....So. Here we are...sucking up and paying trillions for all the middle easter oil. When they run out...and they need it...who will they come to....:p Hypothetically speaking, of course.

Makes for a good conspiracy theory, though.

[Jak]

Soo, with the millions of acres of forest land up in Alaska, these freaking tree huggers are gonna tell that a ten acre +/- chunk of land for the oil rigs are going to destroy the land up there? What about that huge reserve they just found a few years ago in the Gulf of Mexico? Mexico's already exploring the area getting ready to drill. If it means getting out from under opecs thumb, I say go for it. If it were me, I'd tap those reserves, but for a limited time and put more money into research on alternate fuels, until we're weened off the huge amount of oil we buy from opec.

[DGthe3]

Man, if people think that drill's in Alaska are bad for the envrionment, this is what happens in the tar sands. The dump truck is about 30' tall and weights more than a 747 jumbo jet

[TAG UR IT]

Oh yeah...deep sea oil drilling. Exxon was already out there drilling and were the first to figure out the whole deep sea drilling deal. But, they said it was going to take something like 4 years to get the set up complete to where they could pipe the oil to land.

[Jak]

I also remembered on some other news site that I was flipping through seen that opec warned the US that if we tapped those reserves that they would jack the price of oil way up(as if they're not doing that already) as punishment, cause as you said, it'd take years before that oil actually came on line. But oil isn't the only problem we have, the other one is the lack of refineries, there hasn't been a new one built in years because of the damn tree huggers, cause if we built a few more of them, they might interrupt the mating habits of the spotted hamster or sparky the sand flee or some damn thing.

[TAG UR IT]

Yup...a new oil refinery can be done right and be built/run safely. Carve out a little peice of land way out there and do it right. Tell the tree huggers they won't be able to see it and won't ever know it'll be there. They'll still be complaining. I understand where they come from, but come on. It can be done right and won't kill the environment.

[CamaroSpike23]

Originally Posted by Dunk31

If we were to tap into the Alaskan Oil fields we'd have enough oil to sustain for over 100 yrs... easily. But that won't ever happen, until they find a way to drill and guarantee no spills in the national reserves, forests, parks, etc.

they are working on that already with bendable drilling lines that can go down, then snake along at a certain depth to scavenge the oil in the surrounding miles. and is that 100yrs estimate add in the number of new cars on the road and drivers as well, plus military, airways, etc?

Originally Posted by TAG UR IT

So...Alaska has a ton of oil. And, did someone say that Canada has 5 times as much oil as the Saudi's? Hmmm....So. Here we are...sucking up and paying trillions for all the middle easter oil. When they run out...and they need it...who will they come to....:p Hypothetically speaking, of course.

Makes for a good conspiracy theory, though.

canada is estimated to have a bunch of oil, however like they said, its in the sand below the surface, and it takes a lot more $$ to mine and refine it than normally.

Originally Posted by Jak

Soo, with the millions of acres of forest land up in Alaska, these freaking tree huggers are gonna tell that a ten acre +/- chunk of land for the oil rigs are going to destroy the land up there? What about that huge reserve they just found a few years ago in the Gulf of Mexico? Mexico's already exploring the area getting ready to drill. If it means getting out from under opecs thumb, I say go for it. If it were me, I'd tap those reserves, but for a limited time and put more money into research on alternate fuels, until we're weened off the huge amount of oil we buy from opec.

the main thing is that the system we have now works. and everyone has always known that prices will rise as the days go by so they just accept it.


What I want to know, is why people will bitch about $3.00 a gallon for gas, but will walk into the store and pay the same price for a 1/2 liter of Water?!?! Wiskey Tango Foxtrot

[DGthe3]

Originally Posted by CamaroSpike23

Canada is estimated to have a bunch of oil, however like they said, its in the sand below the surface, and it takes a lot more $$ to mine and refine it than normally.
What I want to know, is why people will bitch about $3.00 a gallon for gas, but will walk into the store and pay the same price for a 1/2 liter of Water?!?! Wiskey Tango Foxtrot[/B]

Our tar sands require around 2 tons of sand to get 1 barrel of oil. And its really thick crap too so yes there is more refining needed than normal. But it is on the surface not under ground (see pic in my previous post). The are run like open pit mines, in fact they are the largest mines in hte world. The entire oil sands area is larger than florida. One of the problems though is that over the course of a year the temp goes from 90 degrees in the summer down to minus 20 in the winter. The workers don't mind that much but the ground goes from rock hard in the winter to something akin to raw bread dough in the heat and 400 ton dumptrucks tend not to like that. The cost of production is only about $15/barrel, about double the cost compared to conventional methods in North America.

And as far as the water vs gas thing goes, I laugh every time i hear it. Personally, I've always wondered how so many people pay so much for water that is nearly the same as what comes from the tap, which you can use to fill reusable bottles.

[Pencil.Fight]

Originally Posted by Dragoneye

Supposedly we, the US, have generous untapped oil reserves in Alaska...but we can't drill because the tree-huggers are protecting it....

Yeah, that's called the Alaska Native Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). The debate has been going on for years whether they should disrupt the refuge in order to drill for oil. The oil companies have said that they have ways of obtaining the oil without disrupting any wildlife, but I'm sure they would say anything to get their hands on that oil. Also, as ANWR is north of the tree line, I'm not quite so sure that "tree-hugger" is an accurate term for them. Maybe bear hugger? *Ouch*

Originally Posted by Dunk31

If we were to tap into the Alaskan Oil fields we'd have enough oil to sustain for over 100 yrs... easily. But that won't ever happen, until they find a way to drill and guarantee no spills in the national reserves, forests, parks, etc.

The actual amount of the oil reserve in ANWR is unclear. This is another reason that government officials are reluctant to open it up for drilling. The oil companies may come in, do all the damage of setting up for drilling and find that there's only 2,000 barrels of oil.


I grew up in Alaska and this whole issue was required learning in both Alaska History and American government classes.

[stovt001]

Originally Posted by CamaroSpike23

What I want to know, is why people will bitch about $3.00 a gallon for gas, but will walk into the store and pay the same price for a 1/2 liter of Water?!?! Wiskey Tango Foxtrot[/B]

Truer words have never been spoken.

I've noticed that every news article, even the ones from reputable publications and sources, that mentions rising gasoline prices only mentions the nominal increase in price, rather than the real increase in price (in other words, the price increase adjusted for inflation). In nominal terms, the price of gas has skyrocketed since it was $0.25 a gallon, but when expressed in real terms, yes the gas of price has increased, but the amount it has increased has been more than covered by improvements in fuel efficiency. The real problem is drivers driving longer distances and wanting more money to spend on their iPods. If I had a car from an era when gas was $0.25 a gallon, but that gas was priced adjusted for inflation but not any other price increases, and another car from today, and drove them equal distances, I would spend less money driving the modern car with modern gas prices.

You always here people say "Oh, gasoline is so expensive today. When I was your age gas was $0.25 cents a gallon." Of course I say "Yes, but a new car was only $2,000 and compare how much money you made then to how much you make now." Why people can't understand the simple concept of inflation is beyond me.

[DGthe3]

Originally Posted by stovt001

Truer words have never been spoken.

I've noticed that every news article, even the ones from reputable publications and sources, that mentions rising gasoline prices only mentions the nominal increase in price, rather than the real increase in price (in other words, the price increase adjusted for inflation). In nominal terms, the price of gas has skyrocketed since it was $0.25 a gallon, but when expressed in real terms, yes the gas of price has increased, but the amount it has increased has been more than covered by improvements in fuel efficiency. The real problem is drivers driving longer distances and wanting more money to spend on their iPods. If I had a car from an era when gas was $0.25 a gallon, but that gas was priced adjusted for inflation but not any other price increases, and another car from today, and drove them equal distances, I would spend less money driving the modern car with modern gas prices.

You always here people say "Oh, gasoline is so expensive today. When I was your age gas was $0.25 cents a gallon." Of course I say "Yes, but a new car was only $2,000 and compare how much money you made then to how much you make now." Why people can't understand the simple concept of inflation is beyond me.

I never thought of the efficiency aspect of it. The price of gas now is about double what it was 40 years ago, but fuel economy has roughly doubled as well. For muscle cars it has quadrupled.