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rdlangston13
03-03-2011, 07:31 PM
I just heard on the news that the US government issued the first deep water drilling permit for the Gulf of Mexico this week since last spring! This is great news for me and good news for everything (especially those of us with gas guzzling boats).

I got a call yesterday from a co worker saying that I may be assigned to a drill ship in the gulf! Looks like I may finally be able to escape from Oklahoma and get back to normal life!

Drilling in the gulf will help keep the sky rocketing price of oil (Bush's fault) under control and will hopefully help a lot of my friends get their jobs back as well as allow me to be home more and enjoy the LSV!

mapleleaf
03-03-2011, 09:37 PM
Good stuff, My fractional shares tell me there's not a lot of oil left in the ground in Louisiana!
Stay safe out there....

wolfeman131
03-03-2011, 09:40 PM
Expected lower prices at the pumps is always welcome news.

I heard an interesting perspective from a sound talk-radio hose the other day in regards to the current gas prices. The Obama administration is HAPPY where gas is today and HOPES it will go higher so that their plans for highspeed rail will seem like the right way for our country to go. Only problem is that for most of the proposed highspeed lines, the travel time by car will actually be faster and, most likely, less costly until gas reaches something like $7/gallon.

rdlangston13
03-03-2011, 09:46 PM
I have no doubt that they want higher fuel prices. The higher the price of fossil fuels the more they can push their "green" agenda. Anything they can do to shed bad publicity on the oil and coal companies the better. Makes sense for coal except they plan to replace coal with wind, water, and solar which is unrealalistic, especially since the same people who want these complain that the construction of these power sources "ruins the natural beauty of the landscape". We need to go nuclear for power, natural gas and oil for transportation until we can develop something that is realistically cheaper.

bzubke1
03-03-2011, 10:42 PM
The thing that never makes sense to me about environmentalists is why they are so hell bent on not drilling for oil in america. The oil is gonna come out of the ground no matter what, and you know that we are going to do it in a much more envirnmentally friendly way then say, Saudi Arabia or Iran. So if they're really worried about the environment as a whole they should be pushing for more drilling in the U.S. Not to mention the fact that I don't believe Americans and our economy should have to be held hostage with high prices anytime there is unrest in the middle east.

rdlangston13
03-03-2011, 10:49 PM
You bring a very good point brandon but the thing is these people do not care about the environment as a whole, they care about the little bubble in their immediate area. They want "clean" air to breathe and "pretty" landscape for them, no matter the cost to other people. They are extremely self absorbed people. And if this is not the case then I really cannot comprehend their logic. I somewhat understand selfishness since I get annoyed with paying taxes and then watching people covered in tattoos, wearing $100 dollar nikes, and texting on their iphone while buying their food with food stamps.

jester
03-03-2011, 11:44 PM
It is good to hear they are going to open up drilling again. Also you have to love politician and environmentalist. Each of them have their own goal and you are wrong for not thinking how they think. It is kind of funny or sad depending on how you look at it but a few years back in Oregon a logging company was doing salvation logging after a forest fire and some environmentalist blocked the road. Then they decided to tip over the log trucks and set them on fire. Nothing like burning diesel in the morning to help the environment.

Also a maglev would be nice to have across the US but you have to have a good power setup and we have noticed on the east coast one power plant goes down that whole side of the US goes down.

Canuckle Head
03-04-2011, 12:16 AM
Lets see if you can answer this question: Who is your largest foreign oil supplier?

mapleleaf
03-04-2011, 12:24 AM
hint hint nudge nudge....

jmvotto
03-04-2011, 12:30 AM
canadian Tar sands......

rdlangston13
03-04-2011, 01:12 AM
1. Canada
2. Mexico
3. Saudi Arabia

Sea N' Things
03-04-2011, 01:24 AM
I like the sky rocketing prices as I have oil stocks, higher the price the more I make.....got to love the tar sands in Alberta :)

sandm
03-04-2011, 10:33 AM
I think they could open up 10 drilling wells in the gulf and it won't make a poop of difference in pricing. as long as oil companies have an excuse to keep prices high, it keeps profits high. they are, after all, a business. with all the unrest in the middle east, they have a great reason to keep raising prices.

saskyrider
03-04-2011, 10:39 AM
It's exactly as you described Sandm! I see the same thing in my line of work with Urea Fertilizer. They use the excuse that natural gas prices are rising to jack the price of Urea up, but in fact the natural gas used to make Urea plays a very small part in the process. And whaddya know when natural gas prices drop Urea doesn't???? hmmmm?

rdlangston13
03-04-2011, 07:13 PM
The problem with saying that oil companies will keep charging more even if they start drilling new wells in the gulf is that oil companies do not price their product. It is basically auctioned and the market at that particular time decides the price. The more demand and less supply the price goes up, same for the inverse. Which is why back in the winter of 2008 when the economy fell out all over the world and everyone stopped driving the price of oil went from 145 a barrel to 35 a barrel and i was buying gas for 1.27 a gallon. i have a feeling the rising oil prices are going to hurt america and possibly prolong the recession or make it worse. people spending more money on gas means less money on other consumer goods and high oil and tight budgets on american families due to high debt is what i believe caused the recession to begin with.

oil prices are being driven higher by 4 key things right now
1. Lack of permits being issued in the GOM. The GOM accounts for 25% of out domestic production. 7.5% of the oil we use total, a pretty sizable peice.
2. Recovering world economies increasing demand. As the economies start to recover they will start needing energy, with China and India becoming wealthier there are now more people competing over the same limited resources.
3. Middle east unrest. With all the fighting going on in oil rich regions we have a very unpredictable future. No one knows what kind of governments are going to take power in Egypt and Lybia. My company has already withdrew all our employees from Lybia.
4. US government inflating the market with dollars to drive the US currency down. By driving the currency down and devauling the dollar they make labor cheaper in the America theoretically providing and incentive for companies to keep jobs here instead of sending them over seas. The negative is that commodities priced in dollars are going to rise, such as oil. Oil is not rising that much, you money is just falling that fast.

maxpower220
03-04-2011, 08:41 PM
I have a very different take on oil production in the U.S. Despite the rise in oil costs, it is still fairly cheap. Oil is not a renewable product, so once it is gone, it's gone. I am for conservation of this country's resources. I wish we were totally reducing the amount of oil that we produce. In the distant future (40 yrs), the middle east will be down to the end of oil production. That region will sink back into the no where land that it has been prior to the discovery of oil. Oil prices will be $300-whatever!. At that time, the U.S. becomes the largest exporter of oil in the world. Everyone can go on the social, govt cheese system. Winner!
Your grandchildren are rich and the infidels still rule the world.

kaneboats
03-05-2011, 12:44 PM
Except that we simply don't have enough of the stuff.

I agree that even at $4.00 a gallon it's cheap. Compare what we pay to the rest of the world some time. You'll be surprised. Until it's around $10 a gallon we have no real incentive to find other sources of energy.

rdlangston13
03-07-2011, 02:00 AM
The rest of the world varies wildly from $10 a gallon in some European countries to $.06 a gallon in Venezuela. $4 bucks a gallon = 160 to fill the mobius. no fun

and oil does renew. it just takes a long time. we pull it out faster than it generates

sandm
03-07-2011, 08:36 AM
at $10/gal, the quality of life that we all know/love will be gone. suv's, pickups, boats, rv's and most other "toys" willl disappear for the vast majority of americans.

maxpower220
03-07-2011, 01:16 PM
Good thing my wife drives a Fusion Hybrid.

mmandley
03-08-2011, 01:32 PM
At 10 a gallon most cars will gost 150 to fill up, SUVs will be 300 and trucks like mine will be closer to 400 now multiple that by how many times you fill up in a month and your fuel can easily surpass a mortgage payment.

sandm
03-08-2011, 02:01 PM
10 a gallon and this whole country will be in a crisis and rethinking a lot of things. you think we're in a recession now, look at $10/gal gas and see what happens..

it won't be pretty.

rdlangston13
03-08-2011, 02:16 PM
well 3.50-4.00 a gallon is going to slow or stop any economic recovery that we were having and could in fact drive us back into late 08 early 09 conditions. the economy did not collapse solely due to the economic policies of anyone president or party, high energy prices fueled the collapse and that is undeniable.

plus side is i am looking for a used f 150 and the prices should go way down by this summer so maybe i can pick one up real cheap!

mmandley
03-08-2011, 02:28 PM
IDK man gas prices here in OR are 3.55 for unleaded and 4.00 for diesel. Thats the highest its been in 4 years. At this rate i will be spending more driving to work and home then i do to tow my boat to the lake on the weekends.

Its sucks on all accounts. We were spending 50 to 60 a day last year just in boat fuel and we go out 2x to 3x a week.

rdlangston13
03-08-2011, 02:31 PM
i guess that is one of the good things about my job is that i dont have to drive to work every day. just once a month lol.

looks like this summer i will be busting out the honda 250 moped to run errands and scoot around town. can we say 70 mpg??

moombadaze
03-08-2011, 02:38 PM
At 10.00 a gallon I'll be on a moped too:mad:

kaneboats
03-08-2011, 03:23 PM
Well, there were those that predicted we'd have an economic standstill if gas ever got over 2.00 a gallon. Didn't happen. Cars and people will get more efficient. My point was that until that time there won't be a real incentive to do much differently other than conserve a little.

rdlangston13
03-08-2011, 03:30 PM
2 bucks a gallon is nothing but we all know and have seen what 4 bucks a gallon does

kaneboats
03-08-2011, 03:33 PM
Right, we all stopped using gasoline in our cars, boats, dirtbikes and mowers and started riding bicycles to work. You guys are still missing the point-- yes, I get that it's hard on the economy but it didn't change how we power stuff. A few more hybrid cars and a few SUV's traded in for civics and sentras but nothing really changed and here comes the $4.00 gas again.

sandm
03-08-2011, 03:34 PM
you are true kane, but at $10/gal, I would suspect that our economy would collapse. We've gone from $1-2, and from $2.50 to $4.50 in very compressed timelines, but to go from where we are today to $10 would crush us if it's done in any kind of a compressed timeline. I would think tho that before it got over $6, there will be all kinds of push to open up new refineries/drilling and the gov't would step in.

that would kill the recreation industry in general, not to mention what kind of changes we would see to landscaping and how quickly people would be moving closer to work.

rdlangston13
03-08-2011, 03:40 PM
it didnt change how we powered stuff because at 4 bucks a gallon it is still the cheapest form of energy. but it did cause a huge recession, an unemployment number of over 10% nationally and now before we can even recover from it here it comes again....

sandm
03-08-2011, 03:52 PM
but nothing really changed and here comes the $4.00 gas again.

sorry, long post, but......

nothing is going to change at that price due to 3 things....
1-american consumers have become so used to driving great big behemoths of suv's and trucks "because we can". $4 won't change that because we all sit back and think it will either go back down in the fall or the gov't will step in.
2-car companies are not going to stop producing large vehicles in lieu of smaller cars as there is not as much profit margins, and we all know where wall street makes their money- think h2, not aveo. It was a nice gesture that chevy did with the volt, but lets face it, that car is priced out of the market for 75% of america today which brings a double edged sword- not going to sell since the vast majority of americans can't afford a $40k car, and price isn't going to go down since they aren't able to mass-produce them. lets instead ask gm what killed the ev-1. affordable, easy to produce and great results, but instead, lets crush them and kill the project. I get hybrids, but unless gas stays over $4 or so, they don't make economic sense since most consumers don't keep a car long-term today, so it's tough to talk the public into buying one when they won't recoup the costs. now if gas goes over $4-5 and stays, you will have a much different arguement and will probably see a rise in sales long term.
3-the gov't really is our own worst enemy. they subsidize the volt, and almost every other industry out there, but have placed such strict imact test ratings and emissions ratings that all the fuel efficent cars that are already available in europe can't be sold here due to the cost to retrofit them to our country. let us make up our own minds on whether we think a car is crash-worthy and in regards to emissions, any new car over there is going to be much more efficient than my neighbors 1970 eldorado that is emissions-exempt here and spews crap.. but it's legal and that new peugeot 206 is not??

just a few of my random thoughts into gas/cars :)

brain_rinse
03-08-2011, 04:55 PM
I talk a good game but my garage is full of nothing but gas guzzlers.

moombadaze
03-09-2011, 08:23 AM
^^I've got a Hemi 4X4 running oversized wheels and tires-trust me, this is no gas sipping truck :mad:

rdlangston13
03-09-2011, 07:19 PM
ive got a ranger with a 3.0 v6 that gets about 5 mpg worse on the hwy than my little sisters f350 crew cab king ranch 4x4....

sandm
03-09-2011, 07:36 PM
don't tell me you tow with that ranger?? I had one when I bought my supra and sold it after the second outing. that 3.0 is a DOG..

rdlangston13
03-09-2011, 10:10 PM
i tow the 5 miles from the storage to the ramp and back. if i have to bring the boat to town or go to a different lake i seek other forms of transportation.

i am looking at upgrading to an f150 with the 5.4 by this summer but not sure if it will happen. can't afford another note and i dont really want to completely deplete all of my savings.

bzubke1
03-09-2011, 10:47 PM
Just tell people you'll take em out if they'll tow the boat.

rdlangston13
03-09-2011, 11:08 PM
Just tell people you'll take em out if they'll tow the boat.

yeah i just don't trust a whole lot of other people driving around dragging my boat behind their vehicle lol. i kind of like being in control of that

moombadaze
03-10-2011, 08:11 AM
yeah i just don't trust a whole lot of other people driving around dragging my boat behind their vehicle lol. i kind of like being in control of that


Same here. I have only let one other person in my whole time of boat ownership-about 22 yrs now-tow my boat-but, he has the same boat and it was his trailer and I knew it was in good hand-no worries that day at all.

sandm
03-10-2011, 11:12 AM
I had a buddy insist that he tow my boat to the lake once. he has a weldcraft river boat, so knows towing. got the the lake and started backing down. heard the awful grinding of the bottom of the trailer against the concrete as we went over the edge to the decline. his dropball was lower than mine.

never again..

bzubke1
03-10-2011, 11:14 AM
yeah i just don't trust a whole lot of other people driving around dragging my boat behind their vehicle lol. i kind of like being in control of that

Thats what I meant I definatly wouldn't let anybody pull the boat other than me or my brother. I've only had to do this once with a girls tahoe and she definatley wasn't pullin the boat.

kaneboats
03-10-2011, 12:43 PM
Same here. I have only let one other person in my whole time of boat ownership-about 22 yrs now-tow my boat-but, he has the same boat and it was his trailer and I knew it was in good hand-no worries that day at all.

It was probably early enough in the day he hadn't had that many Yeungs either. :)

rdlangston13
03-10-2011, 07:35 PM
So i just got an email today that brought some good news! Looks like I'll be getting out of oklahoma and back into the GOM here in the next month or so working on the Noble Jim Day deep water drilling rig! This means more time on the boat this summer!

moombadaze
03-10-2011, 08:24 PM
good for you

deerfield
03-10-2011, 08:55 PM
You mean this? What exactly will you do on this rig? What is life like on a rig?

rdlangston13
03-10-2011, 09:41 PM
hey look at that. deerfield googled it lol! Yep thats the one!

I do well cementing so when the drill a section and run the casing I figure up how much cement they will need to pump to secure the casing and then i mix and pump specialized cement slurries

life on a rig? if you are a roughneck or a roustabout its busy and tiring i would imagine, they would 12 hours shifts for 14 days straight and they are hard 12 hour shifts. my job is more of a work as needed job. there are things to do every day but most days are not that labor intensive. take inventory of chemicals and make sure my equipment is well maintained and in proper operating condition. if there is a cement job coming up there is a alot of prep work for that and that will keep me busy for a few days leading up to the cement job