NationStates Jolt Archive

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/specials/broadband/chi-oilsafari-html,0,7894741.htmlstory

This is an absolutely great interactive video on oil. It follows a gallon of gas from an Illinois gas station back to it's origins in Luisiana, Venezuela, Nigeria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. It talks about the conditions in the communities where this oil was pumped, the politics surrounding it... it's just a wonderful piece by the Chicago Tribune called "A Tank of Gas, a World of Trouble." The "Oil Safari" - titled "Oil: A Travelogue of Addiction" - is broken up into great, easily watched and digested 2 to 3 minute segments and is accompanied by pictures and articles - it's just a great read. I highly recommend it to everyone. :)

What bout Candian crude being refined in Regina?

Horsethief Butte']What bout Candian crude being refined in Regina?
What about it? This story wasn't about Canadian Crude. They can't cover the entire world of oil in one article.

Horsethief Butte']What bout Candian crude being refined in Regina?

That's an Ipsco facto argument!;)

That's an Ipsco facto argument!;)
What is that? :confused:

Watched it. Not bad, for an intro to total novices. Doesn't really grab attention and encourage people to look further, though.

Watched it. Not bad, for an intro to total novices. Doesn't really grab attention and encourage people to look further, though.
Sure. A petroleum geologist would probably comment on it being nothing new, but I figure it's a good start for the general population. Plus it has Matt Simmons and I like him. :)

What about it? This story wasn't about Canadian Crude. They can't cover the entire world of oil in one article.
Well then they have no business calling their story "A world of trouble". It should be several countries of trouble, or maybe several communities of trouble, but you can't have a world without Canada, can you?

Well then they have no business calling their story "A world of trouble". It should be several countries of trouble, or maybe several communities of trouble, but you can't have a world without Canada, can you?
*burps*

Well then they have no business calling their story "A world of trouble". It should be several countries of trouble, or maybe several communities of trouble, but you can't have a world without Canada, can you?

Actually...

Well then they have no business calling their story "A world of trouble". It should be several countries of trouble, or maybe several communities of trouble, but you can't have a world without Canada, can you?
Wait until sufficient pressure builds for the energy provisions of NAFTA to get renegotiated. Somehow, I don't think Canada will stick to long-term supply contracts that lock them into exporting a fixed quantity of their oil by volume, not proportion, as their production ceiling falls.

I drive a diesel car, no sweat here :p

I drive a diesel car, no sweat here :p
Doesn't diesel come from oil too?

That site produced five fucking popups by the halfway point of the intro.

Doesn't diesel come from oil too?
Yes it does. Deisel is 100% crude oil derived - same as gasoline.

That site produced five fucking popups by the halfway point of the intro.
Then you have adware.

Yes it does. Deisel is 100% crude oil derived - same as gasoline.
Well, then DM should sweat too. Maybe not as much since it doesn't need to be as refined as gasoline, but still...

The Cubune (what us Sox fans call the Trib) had an interesting special last weekend about America's dependence on foreign oil.

Well, then DM should sweat too. Maybe not as much since it doesn't need to be as refined as gasoline, but still...
well, the proof is in the eating, as it were. The price of deisel is rising right along with gasoline. In anycase, we're not just talking about whether or not you'll have to take the bus. As the article states, some 80% of consumer goods have petroleum derived parts. All commercial pesticides are also made from petroleum. We're talking about transportation of food, textiles, raw materials for industrial activity...

well, the proof is in the eating, as it were. The price of deisel is rising right along with gasoline. In anycase, we're not just talking about whether or not you'll have to take the bus. As the article states, some 80% of consumer goods have petroleum derived parts. All commercial pesticides are also made from petroleum. We're talking about transportation of food, textiles, raw materials for industrial activity...

That's true; however, the biggest challenge is the fact that 70% of oil in the US is used for transportation purposes, and of that share nearly 66% is burned as gasoline. So, that means nearly Nearly half of our oil is used in cars and light vehicles, compared to only 30% used in all agriculture and manufacturing. We use nearly twice as much oil transporting ourselves to the places where goods and services are produced/distributed as we use in their actual production.

Obviously, if we want to tackle the problem of oil consumption, we're going to need to deal with the transportation and distribution system. It seems horribly inefficient that 2.3 barrels of oil are used to transport the people and stuff for every barrel used to make it.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/specials/broadband/chi-oilsafari-html,0,7894741.htmlstory

This is an absolutely great interactive video on oil. It follows a gallon of gas from an Illinois gas station back to it's origins in Luisiana, Venezuela, Nigeria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. It talks about the conditions in the communities where this oil was pumped, the politics surrounding it... it's just a wonderful piece by the Chicago Tribune called "A Tank of Gas, a World of Trouble." The "Oil Safari" - titled "Oil: A Travelogue of Addiction" - is broken up into great, easily watched and digested 2 to 3 minute segments and is accompanied by pictures and articles - it's just a great read. I highly recommend it to everyone. :)
Thanks for posting. It was an interesting journey, although it barely touches on the geopolitical aspects of the oil industry. Especially interesting was the comparison between Venezuela and Nigeria, and the effects upon the people.

That's true; however, the biggest challenge is the fact that 70% of oil in the US is used for transportation purposes, and of that share nearly 66% is burned as gasoline. So, that means nearly Nearly half of our oil is used in cars and light vehicles, compared to only 30% used in all agriculture and manufacturing. We use nearly twice as much oil transporting ourselves to the places where goods and services are produced/distributed as we use in their actual production.

Obviously, if we want to tackle the problem of oil consumption, we're going to need to deal with the transportation and distribution system. It seems horribly inefficient that 2.3 barrels of oil are used to transport the people and stuff for every barrel used to make it.
the problem, however, isn't just the production of those goods. According to your figures 30% of teh oil burned in transportation is deisel. I have no figures on this but I'm sure that the overwhelming majority of deisel burned is in the transportation of goods, not in cars.

The problem is that the only real solutions involve massive changes in the way we move both people and goods around. Further, those changes are going to require building the infrastructure to do it - railroads, mainly. Well, building railroads - and most of the other infrastructure we'll need including things like nuclear power plants and wind farms - takes oil and oil is what is becoming scarce. If the Saudis are indeed tapped and we get a steep decline scenario we're going to need to use every drop of oil we have for feding people and moving necessities around. There may be scant little left for maintaining the infrastructure we do have much less building new railroads and power plants, etc...

Thanks for posting. It was an interesting journey, although it barely touches on the geopolitical aspects of the oil industry. Especially interesting was the comparison between Venezuela and Nigeria, and the effects upon the people.
Yes. It's a mainstream paper so you're not going to get an indepth analysis, but I think it makes a good "where your gas comes from 101" course for the Average Joe. Hopefully a lot of people will see it and start to think and maybe even read further.

the problem, however, isn't just the production of those goods. According to your figures 30% of teh oil burned in transportation is deisel. I have no figures on this but I'm sure that the overwhelming majority of deisel burned is in the transportation of goods, not in cars.

That's correct. Still, that means another 46% is used in cars simply for people to access those services and a good chunk of that diesel is used in trucks that carry the goods on roads.

The problem is that the only real solutions involve massive changes in the way we move both people and goods around. Further, those changes are going to require building the infrastructure to do it - railroads, mainly. Well, building railroads - and most of the other infrastructure we'll need including things like nuclear power plants and wind farms - takes oil and oil is what is becoming scarce. If the Saudis are indeed tapped and we get a steep decline scenario we're going to need to use every drop of oil we have for feding people and moving necessities around. There may be scant little left for maintaining the infrastructure we do have much less building new railroads and power plants, etc...

That's true. The oil supply picture is still pretty unsure, but it's certain that if we face any kind of steep decline we're going to have to enact severe measures to keep the supplies available for alternatives.

Obviously, in the event of a crisis we'd probably see a lot of rationing and other measures meant to develop a crash program of, at first, liquid fuels synthesis for agriculture/shipping/industry and eventually similar programs for energy and individual transportation. Oil shale and other unconventional resources would have to be developed regardless of cost and we'd have to work at breakneck speed to build these things. Thankfully, the US still produces more than 5 million bpd of oil and Canada exports another 2 million so at least a good chunk of our needs are secure.

Doesn't diesel come from oil too?

Don't forget that diesel engines can run on vegetable oil too... This also applies for old chip fat and the likes from deep fat friers across the globalised economy but yeah if the world runs out of oil people are gonna start wishing they understood how to survive in the woods! Seriously oil is not going to dry up just like that in an instant. It's going to slowly decline which, in the meantime, Esso and Shell and all the others will finally stop paying all those clever inventors to cover up their designs for hydrodgen cars and stuff.

Don't forget that diesel engines can run on vegetable oil too... This also applies for old chip fat and the likes from deep fat friers across the globalised economy but yeah if the world runs out of oil people are gonna start wishing they understood how to survive in the woods! Seriously oil is not going to dry up just like that in an instant. It's going to slowly decline which, in the meantime, Esso and Shell and all the others will finally stop paying all those clever inventors to cover up their designs for hydrodgen cars and stuff.
Nobody's paying anybody to cover up designs for better engines or hydrogen cars.

Nobody's paying anybody to cover up designs for better engines or hydrogen cars.

Okay! I admit I made that remark with a cynical mind but yeah you have to treat supermassive global companies with such cynism because the only thing on their mind is capitalist gain. There is no other reason for them being so big other than that. Economically, paying people off to cover up cheaper running and more environmentally sound transport is heavily outweighed by the revenue generated by rising oil sales in the next 50 years. 2+2=4 or 5 depending on what outcome you want. But yeah back to the point of the thread a look at global oil must also take into account things like North Sea oil. Although 'running out' it is thought that only 40% of all the oil in the ground there is accessible by the drills. Many companies are working on new machinery enabled to reach the remaining 60% of oil left there. If that is the case with North Sea oil it must be similar across the globe. So oil may not be running out for a long time yet unfortunately... high petrol prices here we come! Most of the petrol stations near me are at £99.9 so I really am enjoying the fact I have a 1.2l car that's really economical atm! Wooo go 14 year old cars!

Yes. It's a mainstream paper so you're not going to get an indepth analysis, but I think it makes a good "where your gas comes from 101" course for the Average Joe. Hopefully a lot of people will see it and start to think and maybe even read further.
Unfortunately, I think the "average Joe" wants his gas and he wants it cheap, and probably doesn't really care about the geographic or political costs of that supply.

There are still way too many stuck on bigger and faster and damn the consequences. The western economies should have started distancing themselves from their oil dependancy after OPEC held the world ransom back in the earlier 70's.

Okay! I admit I made that remark with a cynical mind but yeah you have to treat supermassive global companies with such cynism because the only thing on their mind is capitalist gain. There is no other reason for them being so big other than that. Economically, paying people off to cover up cheaper running and more environmentally sound transport is heavily outweighed by the revenue generated by rising oil sales in the next 50 years. 2+2=4 or 5 depending on what outcome you want. But yeah back to the point of the thread a look at global oil must also take into account things like North Sea oil. Although 'running out' it is thought that only 40% of all the oil in the ground there is accessible by the drills. Many companies are working on new machinery enabled to reach the remaining 60% of oil left there. If that is the case with North Sea oil it must be similar across the globe. So oil may not be running out for a long time yet unfortunately... high petrol prices here we come! Most of the petrol stations near me are at £99.9 so I really am enjoying the fact I have a 1.2l car that's really economical atm! Wooo go 14 year old cars!
You'll never get 100% of the oil in place out of the ground anymore than yu can squeeze 100% of the water out of a sponge.

The North Sea is in irreversible decline:
http://www.arikah.net/commons/en/0/01/Oil_production_Norwegian_North_Sea.PNG

Getting out what's left with stripper wells like what's being done in the East Texas Oil Field is like trying to piss out a fire. It's like feeding a starving man a sandwhich - piece by piece over thirty years. Your production rates will by in the hundreds, maybe thousands of barrels a day, down from teh millions now. At it's height the East Texas oil field produced in excess of 4 million barrels/day, now it produces about 2,000/day. Flow rates matter, not just ultimate recovery. What if I gave you a $2 billion bank account? Now what if I told you your spending limit was $5 per day?

American and European oil companies do not have the ability to set oil prices. They lost that ability long ago. In total all of the American oil companies together control about 12% of the world's oil reserves - that is not enough to control the price. They also cannot stop Japan and germany and France etc... from creating cars that get better gas mileage - or Ford for that matter. If hydrogen took off- which it wont - they'd just make the hydrogen and sell that to you. They have no loyalty to oil except that in that it is so cheap to produce and easy to move around - the same reason we all like it. They know that ethanol, for example, would be more expensive and consumers by and large wont pay for ethanol when there's a gas station down the street where you can by a gallon of gas for $3.00 less per gallon.

This isn't a conspiracy. The planet is addicted to oil because it's teh cheapest most abundant and easy to transport form of energy we have ever found. We may not be running out anytime soon, but that's not when the problems start. They start when we are no longer able to increase production to meet demand. Once we have to start competing for a dwindling supply the fun starts.

Unfortunately, I think the "average Joe" wants his gas and he wants it cheap, and probably doesn't really care about the geographic or political costs of that supply.My personal belief is that the Average Joe doesn't have any say in the matter anymore. It's geology telling him to pound sand now, not the Arab oil states. Cheap oil is going away quick for reasons that have nothing to do with politics.

There are still way too many stuck on bigger and faster and damn the consequences. The western economies should have started distancing themselves from their oil dependancy after OPEC held the world ransom back in the earlier 70's.
Yep.