Well, for openers, most of Western Europe has been shopping for oil elsewhere for quite a while now.
That's in the body of the story, which actually tells us that Iran is being squeezed from all sides. They can't refine their own oil, because they've been so intent building nuclear reactors and processors they've never gotten around to building something rather more simple. Like oil refineries.
These clowns export crude, and import every drop of gasoline they burn. Sheer genius, is it not?
What's not mentioned in the article is this simple fact: The oil is pumped out of the ground, and pumped onto tankers, who then carry it to the purchaser at any number of destination ports. In the meantime, there is a worldwide, daily, liquid, fluid market in crude oil. That tanker of oil may change hands a dozen times between the port in Iran and the destination port. Sometimes, if there's a glut, the tanker sits anchored at sea until such time as someone decides to buy the contents. In short, once it's on the boat, the Iranians have no say in where it ends up. They ship oil at a contracted price, and get paid for it by the initial purchaser, who then sells it on to the next party, who then sells it on...
Meanwhile, we have a substantial part of the most lethal naval fleet in the history of mankind posted up in the Straits of Hormuz, keeping guard over this craziness. We haven't built a refinery in the US in over three decades, because the same Federal government that sends aircraft carrier groups to the Straits of Hormuz to 'safeguard the oil supply' won't allow anyone to build a refinery on US soil, and routinely discourages anyone from tapping into the sea of oil, gas, and coal that lies underneath the surface of this country.
Someone, somewhere, please listen up: This is madness--it's going to impoverish most of us, and get a lot of people killed to boot.
OS has a friend whose son has just graduated from US Army Airborne training. It's a proud moment for that family. OS holds his breath, wondering what sorts of perils the boy will face because the leadership of this country is so completely incompetent.
Showing posts with label Oil. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Oil. Show all posts
Monday, February 20, 2012
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Interlude, 13 April 2011: Musings On The Meaning Of Four-Dollar Gas
OldSouth hasn't had time or energy to gather many thoughts of late--working pedal-to-the-metal, with a seemingly endless pile of tasks to accomplish in the coming six to eight weeks. It's one of 'those times', everyone goes through them.
Watching gasoline approach $4.00 the gallon in the US, and aware that we float on a sea of oil and natural gas our own government won't allow to be extracted and refined is utterly maddening. Words just fail, except to say that we are now entering about our fortieth year of willful blindness. We have waged two out-and-out wars with Iraq, started another in Libya, have had the fleet all over the Strait of Hormuz, the Med, the Indian Ocean, and everyone armed to the teeth there since about 1970 at least. Then there's Israel, who have located their own domestic sources of petroleum. Bet it won't be much of a debate about extracting and refining their own oil!
How many people have we gotten killed because we won't follow the obvious wise course?
How much treasure has been expended? How many dictators propped up?
How many jobs lost and careers curtailed because of the booms and busts that fuel price rises and falls create?
It's incalculable, but it's real. We've become so numb to it, we forget that it's an insane way to live.
We keep making stupid cultural decisions, whose consequences show up later when industries melt down.
This one is a no-brainer. Let's drill, dig, build refineries, reactors (ooh, he said the 'R' word) not constructed on major seismic faults, dams with hydro generators, coal-fired generators, gas pipelines, and anything else we can think of that will keep the lights on and the economy on the road. Let's do it now.
Let's get this done.
Watching gasoline approach $4.00 the gallon in the US, and aware that we float on a sea of oil and natural gas our own government won't allow to be extracted and refined is utterly maddening. Words just fail, except to say that we are now entering about our fortieth year of willful blindness. We have waged two out-and-out wars with Iraq, started another in Libya, have had the fleet all over the Strait of Hormuz, the Med, the Indian Ocean, and everyone armed to the teeth there since about 1970 at least. Then there's Israel, who have located their own domestic sources of petroleum. Bet it won't be much of a debate about extracting and refining their own oil!
How many people have we gotten killed because we won't follow the obvious wise course?
How much treasure has been expended? How many dictators propped up?
How many jobs lost and careers curtailed because of the booms and busts that fuel price rises and falls create?
It's incalculable, but it's real. We've become so numb to it, we forget that it's an insane way to live.
We keep making stupid cultural decisions, whose consequences show up later when industries melt down.
This one is a no-brainer. Let's drill, dig, build refineries, reactors (ooh, he said the 'R' word) not constructed on major seismic faults, dams with hydro generators, coal-fired generators, gas pipelines, and anything else we can think of that will keep the lights on and the economy on the road. Let's do it now.
Let's get this done.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Why Our Refusal To Drill And Refine Our Own Oil, Mine Our Own Coal, Build Our Nuclear Plants, Etc. Will Come To Haunt Us...
...sooner, rather than later.
Bloomberg on oil futures overnight...
The US made a cultural decision to not develop its own resources.
This will have economic consequences.
OS's masthead idea holds true. When we begin to make better choices as a culture, we will do better as an economy.
Not until then.
Bloomberg on oil futures overnight...
The US made a cultural decision to not develop its own resources.
This will have economic consequences.
OS's masthead idea holds true. When we begin to make better choices as a culture, we will do better as an economy.
Not until then.
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