Posted on 06/24/2005 4:23:21 PM PDT by Libloather
The Chinese know how to drill oil wells. They've got thousands of them. Unocal does not own something they can't get elsewhere, if we tell them to take a hike. If we won't sell them oil we own in SE Asia, then they will have to buy more Venezuelan oil or Mexican oil, or ME oil to make up the difference. And they will be bidding against us when they do so.
They are willing to pay us a premium for this oil, and the reason, I suspect, is that it's close to China, so the transportation costs are lower. We can import our oil form SE Asia, at great cost to us, and make them import from Venezuela at great cost to them. Or we can import from Venezuela at lower cost to us, and let them import from SE Asia, at lower cost to themselves.
We'll both be better off.
If you take your logic to its conclusion, then why stop at Unocal? Why not ban every American oil company from selling to China? In fact, why not ban every American from selling oil to anyone? After all, we need, that oil, don't we? Why let it slip out of our hands?
This seems eerily similar to the issues surrounding our boarders (sovereignty/national security). If Pres. Bush lets this go through, he may as well join the Democratic Party.
I'll concede to your knowledge on this subject. Seems like we are outsourcing and selling off America, I just hope it doesn't come back to bite us in the ass.
Thank you. My sentiments, exactly.
Very true.
We're buying oil a lot faster than we are selling it, even after taking the Unocal deal into account. The thing to keep in mind about the Unocal deal is that it is the result of market forces. The guys who own Unocal would rather have China's dollars than the oil. Apparently, they think the dollars are worth more than the oil.
Yes, I hope they are right, too, but they are in a much better position than you or I to tell. And it's not like they don't have a choice. China is bidding against an American bidder for Unocal. They were the high bidder. Apparently, the other bidder thinks the price is too high, or they would increase their bid.
The causes of Japan's aggresiveness in Asia circa 1933 to the attack on Pearl Harbor would take even the most superficial historian far too much space here to explain.
I suugest you read: "While America Slept," or some equally authoritative history study of the time. Yes, it involved oil, scrap iron, trade with the US, living space, minerals, agricultural land suitable for feeding its immense and growing population as well as a security buffer from the Soviet Union that coveted Asian areas bordering on Siberia and the far southeast reaches of the USSR republics.
"....hope it doesn't come back to bite us in the ass."
It will. "Buying UNOCAL" is not just some neighborhood oil near China......"Unocal (in its entirety) is a WHOLE bunch more.......to behold it, see these hotlinks at the page the blue link below will take you to. Does anyone want China to own and control all of this instead of us?
All About Unocal
Learn about our company, our operations, our plans, and our people.
A snapshot of who we are and what we do.
More than a century of spirit since our founding in 1890
North America Energy Operations
International Energy Operations
Geothermal Energy Operations
Unocal Midstream & Trade
Real Estate, Remediation Services, Mining & Carbon Operations
Delivering Superior Results Through Technology and Innovation (pdf format)
All about Unocal's patents for clean-burning gasoline formulations
http://www.unocal.com/aboutucl/index.htm
"If the Chinese decided to show down Unocal's US refineries it could have a large negative effect."
Yep. Why is so hard for some to see that we have to protect our national interests.
Raw capitalism will at times sell out to the highest bidder; sometimes the highest bidder wants to kill us with what we sell to them.
We wouldn't have sold oil to Japan during WW2 if they offered us a higher price.
Hearing this at the same time our court wants to take away property rights is really bizzare.
I want Norman Rockwell's world back.
"If the Chinese decided to show down Unocal's US refineries it could have a large negative effect"
If the Chinese decided to shut down Unocal's US refineries it could have a large negative effect.
I think I heard somewhere that Venezuelan oil is not good quality
You better believe it's a security issue.
China is thirty for oil.
They can easily divert the oil from here to China and leave us high and dry.
Or they could be getting out while the getting is good - nest egg and golden parachute to boot.
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