Experts say oil refineries stretched too thin

It makes NO sense for oil companies to build more refineries when the supply of the feedstock to them is going into decline and will never be higher than it is now. Why spend a billion dollars on one when in 5 years, there won't be enough supply to satisfy the refineries we have now?
In fact "refinery bottlenecks" are a perfect excuse to keep people from understanding the real problem of peaking oil supplies, which would illicit panic and anger at oil companies instead of just anger.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Darwood @ May 17 2007, 10:34 AM) [snapback]444125[/snapback]</div>

They have to do something with all that money they are making!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mpgFanatic @ May 17 2007, 09:39 AM) [snapback]444131[/snapback]</div>

They buy politicians with it so they can set their own regulations, agenda, and laws and ensure subsidized military protection of their assets.
They also buy up alternative energy to provide future business as the volume of their present business declines. BP solar, Shell Solar, bio fuels, battery technology and materials......

Now if they'd quit #1 and just do #2, I think they'd have a much better public standing and we'd be headed for the next economic boom instead of a financial, political, environmental disaster.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Darwood @ May 17 2007, 09:34 AM) [snapback]444125[/snapback]</div>

In five years we will not be able to supply the refineries we have now? Can you give me some credible sources on that?

 

What needs to be done instead of more refineries would be to build a new infastructure for solar / wind and hydrogen charging stations. No one seems to look into the future unless it lines their pockets. Spend the money wisely not hey it's a 100 yrs old lets keep it. Even if the oil supply drys out in 10-20-30 yrs and not 5 do you think that is long enough or you being selfish and who cares you might be dead so FTW.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priussoris @ May 17 2007, 10:47 AM) [snapback]444184[/snapback]</div>

How about a real energy bill which addresses both. The administration and congress are pathetic.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(malorn @ May 17 2007, 10:51 AM) [snapback]444187[/snapback]</div>

Agreed.

As for documentation on proven reserves, please ask your friendly oil company. Oh, right. They don't let that cat out of the bag. Neither does any oil exporting country. Despite that, we do know that Mexico's oil (15 % decline 2 years in a row), north shore oil (declining rapidly), and pretty much every exporting country (except maybe the Saudi's) have peaked in sweet crude production and are in decline at the very same time demand is growing rapidly due to Chinese and Indian entrance into modernity. You do the math! Are the Chinese and every other country going to just sit back and let us have our oil first and fight over the scraps? Even the Saudi's are possibly at peak. We can only estimate based on secondary information such as the number of tankers that sail away from there, the amount of water they are pumping into the fields, and the number of oil rigs they are installing all over their continental shelf. All of this periphery information is showing the Saudis as scrambling to just keep up with their current production quotos. And since every one else has peaked, we're pretty much capped in worldwide production. There plenty of sour crude, tar sands, shale, but you're talking EROI (energy return on investments) that are no better than ethanol in those sources compared to the straw in the ground sweet crude that is easily refineable. Even if they can keep up with demand, is that the situation we want? For the US and other industrialized nation to have economies completely dependant on the Saudi Arabian royal family? If you want inside info go to www.the oildrum.com, where many oil industry anaylysts, executives, and blue collar employees post. They are very nervous over there and they know a lot more about the industry than you or I.

Yet these same oil companies, have their hands all over biofuels, solar, etc and are holding back on us to maximize their profits on oil and ALSO to maximiza their profits on the replacements by waiting until the situation is critical. IE: Chevron buys Ovonics (maker of NiMH batteries that powered the EV1 from GM) from GM, no less. Now they won't allow ANY large format NiMH batteries to be used for cars. They sued Toyota over the Prius, but the Prius used the largest possible battery withour infringing on the patents. Why don't they produce them for GM and give GM the advantage they need to get back in the race?