Senators resist filling oil reserve

[flashl]

Source: News Star

WASHINGTON — A group of senators introduced a bill this week that would stop the federal government from filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve until the price of oil drops to $50 or less a barrel.

The reserve is a system of salt caverns in Louisiana and Texas that store millions of barrels of oil to protect the United States from a disruption of supply. President Bush wants to expand the system and has promoted building a new facility in Richton, Miss.

The president wanted the reserve, which holds enough oil to replace 55 days of imports, to increase to a 90-day supply. But Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., said the salt caverns contain enough oil. They have a combined capacity of 727 million barrels of oil and are about 90 percent filled.

Dorgan said "topping off" the Strategic Petroleum Reserve at a time of high oil prices adds little to the nation's energy security.

"Stocking up to put it underground drives gas prices higher," he said.

The NewStar

Read more: http://www.thenewsstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080211/NEWS01/802110310

[cornermouse]

1. "Stocking up to put it underground drives gas prices higher," he said.

Boy does it ever. Now is NOT the time to do this.

[phantom power]

4. Except that the price of oil isn't going back down.

[cornermouse]

5. It may not go down

but it sure as heck will climb to the stratosphere real quick if they divert gas from the public to the underground storage. It always does. They aren't buying extra gas on the side. They'll be buying the gas that the public would normally be buying and the public will be in the middle of a shortage.

[RantinRavin]

14. They are not GOING TO divert anything

They already are putting oil into the reserve. This is an attempt to stop what is already happening.

[cornermouse]

6. Thank you to someone.

:)

[The Croquist]

9. Nobody knows which way oil prices are going

If they did they there wouldn't be an oil market. Think about it, if people know that oil will be more expensive next week they won't sell it until next week. If they knew it would be cheaper they wouldn't buy it until next week. Do you really expect this government to guess right?

The government can try to time the market but that's what mutual fund managers try to do and typically fail at it.

The strategic reserve is there for emergencies, not to try to adjust the market. It does us no good if it's empty.

Advice: Buy an index fund.

[phantom power]

15. The price of oil is going up. Because we are past the peak.

Sure, it will jitter up and down, etc. But the trend from here on out is up. Hoping to ever see $50/barrel again is a sucker's bet.

[The Croquist]

18. You're almost certainly right about the long term trend Phantom

but congress is trying to time the market and that's what I'm worried about. We're supposed to have this huge supply of oil for an emergency but we don't. I'd love them to save $5.00 a barrel but if they keep waiting for the price to drop they may end up having to pay $150.00 a barrel to replace what they took out. The bottom line is that the reserve is supposed to keep the US going in the event of an oil disruption not to control oil prices. We can control oil prices by driving less, changing the thermostat settings, using CFLs and just being smarter.

A couple of years ago I was filling up my Toyota Celica (33 MPG) at a Quik-Trip and another car owner started bitching about gas prices. I could have parked my Celica inside his new SUV. He was driving by himself in a huge truck. Now maybe he needs a gas hog because he normally drives the Swedish Bikini team from event to event but somehow I doubt it.

[phantom power]

2. We are led by imbeciles.

[pitohui]

11. no, they know exactly what they are doing

we are being led by thieves, which is a different matter altogether

when a man keeps fucking up, and the fuck-up puts millions in his pocket, it's time to stop believing in coincidence

they are simply evil men doing this on purpose, are we so sophisticated that we can't call a thief a thief even we see him red-handed with his hand in our pocket?

[truthisfreedom]

3. bush: "But but but... my cronies need more cash, NOW!"

[flashl]

7. Thank you someone for the heart. nt

[RantinRavin]

8. And in other news

OPEC votes to cut production by the same amount.

[pitohui]

10. it's time to open the strategic reserve and bring the price of oil down by increasing supply

this is ridiculous -- bush/cheney are scheming to blatantly stockpile the oil and keep the price pushed to these impossible levels

i guess they WANT us to starve to death in the cold

have i said lately how much i hate these people?

every old woman who dies for lack of heat this winter, i put on their heads

and there are STILL foolish people who believe the "peak oil" bullshit, when it is as plain as day that the oil is there, it's just being held back and manipulated to steal from us

[NickB79]

21. LOL, "the oil is there"?

There are approximately 700 million barrels of oil in the SPR: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_Petroleum_Reserve

The US uses 21 million barrels per DAY. If we pumped the SPR dry, it would be enough to run our country for ONE month.

That sounds like a lot of oil to you? Just keep calling peak oil bullshit and we'll see, I guess.

[Arctic Dave]

12. Scam

Lets see. We pump it out the ground here, so we can put it in the ground there, so IF we need it, we can pump it out the ground, again. Can you say scam. That might have been the original idea of having a reserve, but now its only use is to help producers so when the prices crash, this way they always have the Feds to buy it and keep them from going under. If they want to have back up plan for oil shortages, I believe that is what the National Petroleum Reserve is for. :shrug:
But what do I know, I only worked the oilfields for the last 14 years.

[RantinRavin]

13. The National Petroleum Reserve

is exactly what they are referring to. Only it is now call the Strategic Reserve.

[Arctic Dave]

19. NPR is not the same as SOR

NPR is actually located on Alaska's North Slope, or a least one of them is. The oil companies have been doing seismic and exploratory drilling up there for the last five or six years. Google Earth Prudhoe Bay, AK. You will find the largest oilfield the US has. Every thing to the West of there is what they call NPR-A (National Petroleum Reserve- Alaska). The strategic reserve is basically a holding tank in the south.
The SOR basically, in my opinion, is the equivalent of government buying milk from dairy farmers so they can pour it on the ground somewhere else.
Thanks for the reply, this is really fun. :D

[The Croquist]

20. Actually it makes perfect sense

Having this oil in the ground near the refineries is like having money in the bank. This oil was supposed to be used only when there is an oil stoppage like we saw in the 1970s. Since the US imports 60% of the oil we use we are highly vulnerable to disruption.

If OPEC refused to ship us oil, if there was a war that prevented it from being shipped, if a man made or natural disaster prevented it from being shipped we have this oil to temporarily fall back on.

If you woke up on a Sunday morning and all the ATM's and credit card systems were down you would be glad you had 20 dollars in your wallet and gas in your car.

I went to the Bahamas once with about 20 dollars because my bank's ATM network was down. I had to pay mega fees the next day at Barclay's bank to get cash.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

16. And who runs the operation of the Strategic Oil Reserve?

Why, those texas Oil Barons, The Koch Brothers! One of whom is married to Doro Bush!

I am certain it's just a coinkydink. Or something.

[Javaman]

17. "until the price of oil drops to $50 or less a barrel."

Well that's never going to happen. Why? because as long as the price of oil stays above 60 bucks the alberta tar sands are profitable.

oil corps are now too heavily invested up there to allow oil to fall below 60 bucks ever again.

So in other words, here we go folks!