Don't count on big oil to make gas cheaper
Bush and McCain want to open our coastlines and Alaskan wilderness areas to drilling, but how committed to exploration are the big oil companies like Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips?
Not so committed, apparently. Even with the price of oil going up dramatically over the past few years, the percentage of their profits spent on exploration has remained flat. They spend far more cash on paying dividends and buying back their own stock. What they appear to be committed to is making tons of money for their stockholders.
And don't forget that they've already got 68 million acres of federal lands leased for exploration... on which they are not producing any oil.
More leases aren't the answer. More drilling isn't the answer. It's time for real change.
Not so committed, apparently. Even with the price of oil going up dramatically over the past few years, the percentage of their profits spent on exploration has remained flat. They spend far more cash on paying dividends and buying back their own stock. What they appear to be committed to is making tons of money for their stockholders.
And don't forget that they've already got 68 million acres of federal lands leased for exploration... on which they are not producing any oil.
More leases aren't the answer. More drilling isn't the answer. It's time for real change.
Labels: election2008, energy, McCain
posted by michael at 3:50 PM
Subscribe to this RSS feed
2 Comments:
Look under the long term charts. In 1999 and 2000 even the foreign and world rig counts dropped to a very low deployment level. I seems to me that all the oil companies decided to lower production to boost prices. Now that the prices are up - they are deciding to drill more. Oil producers are manipulating the market for their own benefit, using supply and demand as their tool. The US is part of an global oil market. The Republican smoke screen for opening up more lands for more drilling argument does not hold up when you look at the charts. If the price for oil stays up, the world will produce more oil. If the price for oil drops they will simply drill less. This is why I support the windfall profit tax the Dems promote. Then invest that money into renewable energy like wind, solar, geothermal, bio-fuels, weatherization, green buildings, battery tech for electric cars etc. I don't see the Republicans holding the oil companies accountable for their past actions or proposed legislation to change their actions in the future. Do you?
http://www.wtrg.com/rotaryrigs.html
I am watching your presentation on C-Span. I agree with some of your positions. One topic was not covered. I did this research a couple of days ago because it seemed no one was looking at the nuts and bolts of production.
The Democrats say there is plenty of oil and land to drill on. The Republicans say the high price for gas is a supply and demand problem. I set off to look for information. I found some interesting charts on the Bakers-Hughes web site. They are a company that Provides products and services to the worldwide oil and gas industry.
Lets go back a few years. from 1973 to 1979 the price per barrel for oil was less than $10.
During that time the drilling count went from around 1,000 to 2,500 drilling rigs. In 1982 oil prices spiked to around $32 because of the Oil embargo. At the same time the drilling rig count peaked at 4,500 rigs. By 1986 the oil prices had dropped to around $32. The rig count had dropped to 1,900 rigs. From 1987 to 2004 oil bounced from $10 to $35 a barrel. On 4-23-1999 the drilling rig count hit a low of 448. In 2005 oil started going up as did the amount of drilling rigs. Oil passed $40 and the rig count went to around 1,500. As of July 11th 2008 more rigs have been brought online. Up to around 1,900 (equal to the 1986 levels). The price for a barrel is now around $135 per barrel.
It seems obvious to me that the oil companies deploy drilling rigs when it is in their own interests. It has nothing to do with national security or helping consumers. I encourage you to check out this web site and do the research yourself and respond. When the first oil crisis hit in the 70's the oil industry ramped up to 4,000 rigs. With our dependence on foreign oil growing from 25% back then to 60+% now, how can anyone explain the rig deployment dropping to 448 in 1999. It seems oil producers are only interested in profits. How can any one guarantee the oil producers will keep producing when prices drop? The history says no.
Post a Comment
<< Home