NEW - LOTS of oil in North Dakota, Montana

[kpounds]

Some good news for a change! A US Govt. Geological survey says there's 28X more oil here than the agency's 1995 estimate. Story has a link to the USGS site.

Billions of gallons of oil in North Dakota, Montana

"The Bakken Formation estimate is larger than all other current USGS oil assessments of the lower 48 states and is the largest 'continuous' oil accumulation ever assessed by the USGS," said a news release making the announcement.

[jshillin]

That's great news, it would be nice if it dropped our gas prices below $3/gallon

[jpochile]

Very interesting articles to read . It looks that oil it is not coming from dead plants and dinos . It looks that it will never end .


Cheers , Jean Paul

[themightytimmah]

Let the invasion begin

[Setec Astronomy]

Originally Posted by jshillin

That's great news, it would be nice if it dropped our gas prices below $3/gallon

Considering we use over 800 million gallons of oil a day, I wouldn't hold my breath that "billions of gallons" is going to do much for your pump sticker-shock. That new find is 3-4.3 billion barrels...we use ~7.5 billion barrels a year.

[TortoiseAWD]

Where's my Mr. Fusion, dammit?!

And flying cars. When I was a child, I was told we'd have flying cars by now.

[Setec Astronomy]

Originally Posted by TortoiseAWD

Where's my Mr. Fusion, dammit?!

Doesn't that come along in 2015? Or do I have my timeline messed up?

[kpounds]

Originally Posted by Setec Astronomy

Considering we use over 800 million gallons of oil a day, I wouldn't hold my breath that "billions of gallons" is going to do much for your pump sticker-shock. That new find is 3-4.3 billion barrels...we use ~7.5 billion barrels a year.

True, but our oil is mostly imported, in order from Canada, Saudi Arabia and Mexico. Iraq is #6!! The main thing is this would seem to increase our available oil supply, thus they can't hold "low supplies" over our heads (as much) to increase prices in the future.

Crude Oil and Total Petroleum Imports Top 15 Countries - EIA.gov

[Setec Astronomy]

Originally Posted by kpounds

True, but our oil is mostly imported, in order from Canada, Saudi Arabia and Mexico. Iraq is #6!! The main thing is this would seem to increase our available oil supply, thus they can't hold "low supplies" over our heads (as much) to increase prices in the future.

Crude Oil and Total Petroleum Imports Top 15 Countries - EIA.gov

Now that I'm thinking about it, isn't the problem with gasoline supposed to be not supply of crude oil, but refinery capacity, the dearth of which causes a "low supply" of refined oil products? Or was that just the excuse from the other year? Because I for one find it hard to believe that energy-company executives would take huge bonuses for themselves instead of doing the right thing for the company and the country by investing profits into modernizing their refineries...

[Scottwax]

Originally Posted by Setec Astronomy

Now that I'm thinking about it, isn't the problem with gasoline supposed to be not supply of crude oil, but refinery capacity, the dearth of which causes a "low supply" of refined oil products? Or was that just the excuse from the other year? Because I for one find it hard to believe that energy-company executives would take huge bonuses for themselves instead of doing the right thing for the company and the country by investing profits into modernizing their refineries...

Not just the oil companies but the hippies don't want refineries built either.

The biggest problem is all the different summer blends of gasoline; even with expanded refinery capacity there will still be a price jump in late spring when they make the switch.

[Setec Astronomy]

Originally Posted by Scottwax

Not just the oil companies but the hippies don't want refineries built either.

Wait a minnit...I thought the hippies from the 60's became the MBA CEO's of the 00's that are pocketing the profits instead of investing in refinery capacity? Or is that the 80's Alex Keatons that did that? I get so confused...

[BlueZero]

Originally Posted by TortoiseAWD

Where's my Mr. Fusion, dammit?!

And flying cars. When I was a child, I was told we'd have flying cars by now.

My weekly reader lied to me too. Then again the way most people drive I'm sort of happy the cars are staying on the ground.