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The United States Is Now the Largest Global Crude Oil Producer

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101–110 of 259 posts

Re: The United States Is Now the Largest Global Crude Oil Producer

#101
post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For my part, I'm not anxious about range; price is the main issue. The car purchases over my lifetime have been $5000, $2500, $1, $4000, $11000, $8000, $12000 ... and I have never bought new. I do not see a viable electric vehicle for me. Tesla looks awesome, and I cannot find an affordable one near me. Hell, there are TWO (count 'em, 2) used Model-3's within 20 miles of me, and they're selling for $50,000. LOL and M…

For Teslas, wait a bit, you'll see them coming in some years

That's what I'm hoping for. You may notice I mention "quality" electric car ... and from what I can see, Tesla is the only producer of quality electric cars, period.

Re: The United States Is Now the Largest Global Crude Oil Producer

#102
That's odd. The gwfp.com link says:

"the Permian region in eastern Texas and western New Mexico,"

that's got it backwards actually (western TX and ...).

And the _current_ EIA's Short-Term Energy Outlook (reference by gwpf.com) says nothing about either Russia or Saudi Arabia.

I'd question the gwpf's research.

The latest weekly US production figures are here:

https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/weekly/crude.php

(3rd chart down - look at number immediately below).

In the most recent wk, 9/7, production dropped back from 11 to 10.9.

Production for SA, Russia and the US have been nip and tuck for a while and (provided capital and markets hold up) the US will likely surpass the other two - but maybe not just yet.

Re: The United States Is Now the Largest Global Crude Oil Producer

#103
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most people I talk with in my peer group wouldn't even think of getting an all-electric car (except maybe as a secondary vehicle), due to range anxiety. However, what I think will happen over the next 20 years (with battery improvement, etc) is more and more hybrids and plugin hybrids. For example, see Ford's plans starting in 2020. But the plugin hybrids won't be sold as "fuel efficient", but sold as "more powerful"…

Why would gas pumps not be gradually replaced with charging points?

Because charging points don't have the same environmental concerns as gas station fuel dispensers and storage meaning they can be anywhere. So why would you want to single purpose the land as most gas stations are. The convenience stores attached to most are designed to serve people in the time it takes to fuel a petrol vehicle which is five to six minutes max.

So chargers can be at places that encourage longer stops and since there is no real environmental impact that means they can be placed about anywhere a parking space already is.

Re: The United States Is Now the Largest Global Crude Oil Producer

#104
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most people I talk with in my peer group wouldn't even think of getting an all-electric car (except maybe as a secondary vehicle), due to range anxiety. However, what I think will happen over the next 20 years (with battery improvement, etc) is more and more hybrids and plugin hybrids. For example, see Ford's plans starting in 2020. But the plugin hybrids won't be sold as "fuel efficient", but sold as "more powerful"…

For my part, I'm not anxious about range; price is the main issue. The car purchases over my lifetime have been $5000, $2500, $1, $4000, $11000, $8000, $12000 ... and I have never bought new. I do not see a viable electric vehicle for me. Tesla looks awesome, and I cannot find an affordable one near me. Hell, there are TWO (count 'em, 2) used Model-3's within 20 miles of me, and they're selling for $50,000. LOL and M…

Price anxiety and maintenance anxiety. I buy 2-3 year old cars and drive them for another 10 years. What is maintaining a 12 year old electric car going to cost? Nobody knows! When Tesla has been gone for 5 years, will a 10 year old model 3 still even boot up?

Re: The United States Is Now the Largest Global Crude Oil Producer

#105

This ignores the fact that Saudi Arabia has a large spare capacity that it doesn't deploy - except when it's absolutely necessary. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-oil-opec-saudi-trump/can-...

Nobody really knows what Saudi reserves are. Including, very possibly, the Saudi's themselves. Moreover, very old fields and, I believe, little in the way of new discoveries.

Re: The United States Is Now the Largest Global Crude Oil Producer

#107
post #45

Daniel Yergin is an energy analyst who has written several good books on oil and energy, The Prize and The Quest. The Prize is a history explaning how to got to 1990. And The Quest explains how we got to 2011. By the end of The Quest, you will understand how we got to here. Why Russia is a major natural gas provider to Europe. Why Venezuela's economy is collapsing. Why Saudi Arabia may follow. And mostly importantly,…

I second the Yergin recommendation but don't understand this:

> Right now the US seems to be using oil exports to weaken other countries, rather than banking the oil and exploiting it when supply starts to dry up. I also think that some methods aren't long-term a good idea.

The US is still a net importer. It exports some because its refineries are more setup for heavy grade imports. The light, sweet crude from its newer shale efforts command a premium price on the world market from those refineries that are less able to handle heavy crude, so are exported.

See for example:

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/17/shale-oil-has-a-refining-pro...

What reason do you have for saying oil exports are being used to weaken other countries?

Re: The United States Is Now the Largest Global Crude Oil Producer

#108

Good on them. But what a sorry state to be in, when global warming and sea level rise related problems already are a reality in Miami or - of all places - Norfolk's naval base.

It's likely that the places worst hit now by global warming are a) the Arctic (but few people live there) and b) the Middle East.

Re: The United States Is Now the Largest Global Crude Oil Producer

#109
post #2

Looking at China and India, I forget how big the US actually is compared to an average country. Same goes for our abundant natural resources which we don’t really talk about much (in the media at least).

Yes China and the US are basically the same size in area. India is smaller. What, to my mind, gets paid less attention is that the US is, in fact, the 3rd most populous nation in the world.

Re: The United States Is Now the Largest Global Crude Oil Producer

#110

It's been fascinating to watch Saudi influence wane over the last few years as this sinks in as the new reality. We live in a completely different power structure now from 20 years ago. They're certainly still obscenely rich, but the power they had over geopolitics via OPEC is effectively gone at this point due to tar sands, renewables, and natural gas.

> They're certainly still obscenely rich, but the power they had over geopolitics via OPEC is effectively gone at this point due to tar sands, renewables, and natural gas. You missed the other significant factor in reducing OPEC political power, horizontal drilling, IE fracking. Almost all the new oil and natural gas in the US is coming from horizontally drilled wells.

Horizontal drilling and fracking are two distinct but related techniques:

  * "Horizontal drilling" refers to drilling a non-vertical
    (and often curved) borehole, to reach deposits that aren't
    directly beneath the wellhead.

  * Hydraulic Fracturing, "fracking," is the practice of injecting
    water into a well to crack the rock around the borehole,
    increasing its permeability.
Each can be used independently, but it's the combination of the two that has increased US production.
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