Posted on 11/14/2007 6:23:22 PM PST by Dane
Alberta oil too costly: Saudi official Energy minister says Middle East a better investment than oilsands Shaun Polczer, Calgary Herald Published: Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Canada is one of the world's costliest oil producers and requires high prices to remain viable, Saudi Arabia's oil minister said in Riyadh on Tuesday, suggesting Saudi Arabia is a better value for investors.
Commenting in Arabic, Ali Al-Naimi noted that the "sands of oil" in northern Alberta need prices to be at least $40 to $60 US a barrel to develop the massive reserves, which are pegged as second only to Saudi Arabia's.
"Today, the price of oil is proper for producers there," he said at a news conference to kick off the third OPEC summit.
"If you can show me that investing and producing a barrel from the sands in Canada is better than investing and producing a barrel in Saudi Arabia, then I would go there, but it doesn't," Al-Naimi said bluntly.
(Excerpt) Read more at canada.com ...
Actually, we have been DIVERSIFYING our oil purchases for sometime now, to places like Mexico, Sweden, and Nigeria, but most especially RUSSIA....
Our Achilles heel is that 10-12% of our REFINED GASOLINE is imported from Venezuela...
Nigeria is an OPEC member.
Well, some of it is, and you are, or your parents are, so you must be happy.
For me the jury is still out on the origin of petroleum, but everything else you say makes sense. There are enormous amounts of petroleum in the earth’s crust; it will probably be the mainstay of our economy for centuries. Incidentally, Americans are fortunate that the oil sands are located in Canada and not the United States. If they were inside American territory, the giant mining operations necessary for their extraction would be banned by the EPA. The confluence of Big Oil and strip mining would be an irrestible target for the trust fund kids of the Sierra Club. Look at the offshore oil near California and Florida, completely locked out in spite of the successful operations in the Gulf of Mexico (where the hurricanes are!). Better to have the oil and gas in Canada, where it can be shipped to American markets through secure pipelines. You’d be getting even more of it if domestic American oil and gas producers hadn’t done everything they could to block out competition for decades.
You beat me to it. The more we produce from oil sands, the more we will find ways to reduce the costs of doing so. The important thing is to get started.
You really do need a better news source than what you are using. The field is about half the size of ANWR.
Petrobras Finds New Oil Frontier
http://rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=52697
Petrobras analyzed and tested the Tupi area. The formation test analyses undertaken for the second well in the BM-S-11 block, located in the Santos basin, allows the recoverable volume of 28 degree API light oil to be estimated at 5 to 8 billion barrels of oil and natural gas.
We already get more oil from Canada than Saudi Arabia.
U.S. Crude Oil Imports by Country of Origin
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/pet_move_impcus_a2_nus_epc0_im0_mbblpd_m.htm
Not True. This year we have averaged about 8 MBPD of gasoline from Venezuela. We use about 9,300 MBPD.
Total U.S. Finished Motor Gasoline Imports From Venezuela
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/hist/mgfimusve2m.htm
U.S. Finished Motor Gasoline Product Supplied
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/hist/mgfupus2m.htm
That happened decades ago.
Oil Sands History
http://www.syncrude.ca/users/folder.asp?FolderID=5657
Do we get lots of tar products from Venezuela? I see roofers using Venezuelan tar in FL
Require prices between $40-60 a barrel. Hell, we are at $100 now.
We get about 20 MBPD from Venezuela of Asphalt and Road Oil. We use about 525 MBPD.
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/hist/mapimusve2m.htm
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/hist/mapupus2M.htm
More like $15~20 for Oil Sands.
Has the sheik checked the price of a barrel of oil lately?
Noticed yesterday, that Honda will begin leasing the first production all-hydrogen fuel cell car next year in America.
Hydrogen is after all, what?
A really good ... battery. Perhaps the formula isn’t as simple as whether this oil or that oil, is cheapest.
Perhaps the world is moving toward the actual sale of energy itself, in the *form* of hydrogen.
Could it be, we will import energy from the national grid of efficient nuclear power plants running the country of ... our new friend Sarkozy.
In of all places. France. :)
Saudis don’t set the price high, commodities gamblers do.
and this internet thingy will neeeeever take off...
I’m asking only because you seem very knowledgeable.
How would you utilize our Western coal reserves? Do you think coal liquefaction to diesel and jet fuel has a future? How about using coal to make methane or hydrogen then using these to run a lot of our vehicles
Also massive electric generating plants can be built in Montana etc and send their electric outward from there. Or to manufacture hydrogen and ship that out
Start with producing more of them and remove President Clinton's designation of a Monument that removed valuable coal resources from being available to produce. I think coal liquefaction will be used more in the future. I see limited use for it to make methane or hydrogen as transportation fuel. It is cheaper to transport coal by rail a thousand miles than it is to wheel the electricity through enlarged power lines.
...”oil gets any more expensive than now, the American farmer could plant bio crops.”
If oil gets any more expensive, we won’t be able to afford the luxury of the delusion of thinking we are actually making a difference by utilizig bio-fuels
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