Russia to drill for oil in the Gulf of Mexico

[Throckmorton]

Of course, foresight! How could I have missed it? What we are really doing is sitting on an unknown amount of oil, until the world runs out and then we are going to be laughing all the way to the bank when we hoard all of it for ourselves and no one else is going to do a thing about it, right?

That has to be the most idiotic reason for not using our own resources I have heard yet. At least the environmentalists have a point. In the meantime we are going broke, record unemployment and might not have a need for it when it gets to the point that no one will sell it to us anymore. Brilliant foresight there buddy. Like a farmer leaving lettuce in the field a few months until everyone else runs out.

The actual facts are on my side and "saving it for a rainy day" is not the reason we aren't drilling. If it was we should immediately shut down the entire US petrochemical industry. You guys really are running out of excuses aren't you?

It's common sense not to create a glut of oil and lower prices, just so you can "have more oil now" at the expense of the future. Drilling a few more wells (we have plenty in the Gulf already) isn't going to create a lot of jobs. You obviously know nothing about the oil industry and are grasping at straws.

 

[Throckmorton]

"Whether it's Russia or US drilling, the oil is going to be sold on global markets."

So first it doesn't matter where its produced because its all sold on the global markets. Now you want to save ours for some magical day in the future when everyone else runs out?

Really? Thats the best you got? You want to give up tons of great paying jobs, tons of revenue to states and the feds that could pay for things like healthcare and national security concerns because one day everyone else might run out and we will look like geniuses sitting on some untapped oil in the gulf??? Do you have any idea what you are talking about?

/facepalm

It doesn't matter where oil is drilled now, because we're not paying much for it and American companies are doing a lot of the drilling anyway. It makes sense to have OIL RESERVES IN OUR TERRITORY in the future when oil WILL become much scarcer and more valuable. There's no "might".

 

[Darwin333]

It's common sense not to create a glut of oil and lower prices, just so you can "have more oil now" at the expense of the future. Drilling a few more wells (we have plenty in the Gulf already) isn't going to create a lot of jobs. You obviously know nothing about the oil industry and are grasping at straws.

Lol, I roughnecked for 5 years and tripped derricks for a year in the gulf. I know just a little bit about it.

How many jobs do you suppose a single inland well creates? How about a much more complicated deep water well? Any clue how many new wells we could produce? How about the exploration process? Building the actual equipment like drill rigs? Pipelines to carry it? Hell, "drilling mud" alone to support the drilling rigs is a huge creator of very high paying jobs and thats one very small part of the operation. I know exactly how the process works from start to finish and exactly what the results are.

As far as a "glut of oil", you really are clueless aren't you? Popping a few new wells in the gulf will do absolutely nothing for prices and I have not argued that it would.

Even if we take your fairytale notion that big ass holes in the earth appear all by themselves right down into the very spot we need them and the pipe and casing magically floats down there all by itself and then the pipeline is laid by the ocean gods, the government still makes a nice chunk of change off the royalties and the lease payments.

Come on, at least switch back to the "oh the noes, its gonna screw up the environment" argument. It doesn't have nearly as many holes.

 

[Darwin333]

/facepalm

It doesn't matter where oil is drilled now, because we're not paying much for it and American companies are doing a lot of the drilling anyway. It makes sense to have OIL RESERVES IN OUR TERRITORY in the future when oil WILL become much scarcer and more valuable. There's no "might".

You really think oil is going to be our main form of energy in 2 or 3 decades? If it is and everyone else refuses to sell to us, it doesn't matter because our current known reserves aren't nearly enough to cover our current (before we include population growth) consumption. History has shown us that a growing economy also grows its energy use, so assuming a flat economy and a flat population growth you want to save a small fraction of what we will need for a rainy day while simultaneously exporting more wealth and creating less jobs than we otherwise would?

Like I said, go back to the environmental argument as it doesn't sound nearly as foolish. Anytime you want to take a trip to La send me a PM, I'll take you to some actual drilling rigs and show you the actual jobs it creates. I'll even take ya fishing for some bull reds while we are out.

BTW, do you realize that "oil" isn't the only thing we drill for/need? Should we immediately cap all of our NG wells to save it for the future when we might not be able to buy it from someone else? I bet that does a number to your electric bill. Hell, we should shut down most of the pipelines in Louisiana too, gotta save it for a rainy day right?