I think it's safe to say that there were 3000 Americans that would have voted for ethical oil.
Posted on 01/11/2012 10:05:38 AM PST by bayouranger
While the green movement naively harbours hopes it will be able to shut down unconventional oil and gas development, in Saudi Arabia they are already contemplating a time when North American fossil fuel will replace their oil.
Looking past the din of protesters, state-owned oil giant Saudi Aramco is resigned to the fact that its influence will wane because of the massive unconventional fossil-fuel development underway in North America. As such, Saudi Arabia has no plans to raise its production output to 15 million barrels per day from 12 million, said Khalid Al-Falih, the powerful chief executive of Aramco.
“There is a new emphasis in the industry on unconventional liquids, and shale gas technologies are also being applied to shale oil,” Al-Falih, president and CEO of Saudi Aramco, warned a domestic audience in a speech in Riyadh Monday.
“Some are even talking about an era of ‘energy independence’ for the Americas, based on the immense conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon resources located there. While that might be stretching the point, it is clear that the abundance of resources and the more ‘balanced’ geographical distribution of unconventionals have reduced the much-hyped concerns over ‘energy security’, which once served as the undercurrent driving energy policies and dominated the global energy debate.”
Aramco is the powerful state entity that manages the Kingdom’s nine-million-barrel-plus oil output. Saudi Arabia has long dominated oil markets by leveraging its spare oil capacity and, as the OPEC kingpin, striking a delicate balance between the interests of oil consumers and the exporter group.
But the oil chief’s remarks reveal Saudi fears that the market dynamics are changing and its dominance over energy markets is under threat by new unconventional finds.
OPEC estimated in a recent report that global reserves of tight oil could be as high as 300 billion barrels, above Saudi Arabia’s conventional reserves of 260-billion barrels, which are currrently seen as the second-largest in the world after Venezuela.
Global output of non-conventional oil is set to rise 3.4 million bpd by 2015, still dominated by oil sands, to 5.8 million bpd by 2025 and to 8.4 million bpd by 2035 when tight oil would be playing a much bigger role. By 2035, the United States and Canada will still be dominating unconventional oil production with 6.6 million bpd, the group forecasts.
Last year, even as the world consumed nearly 30 billion barrels of oil, not only was the industry able to replace this production but global petroleum reserves actually increased by nearly seven billion barrels, as companies increasingly turned toward higher risk areas, Al-Falih noted.
Clearly, the Kingdom is preparing for new market realities as the discussion on energy has changed from scarcity to abundance, particularly due to the new finds that can be produced ‘feasibly and economically.’
In the past, Saudi Arabia, along with its OPEC allies, could drive prices down by opening the taps to ensure unconventional fossil fuels remained firmly buried in the ground. But most analysts now expect oil prices to remain high, at least over the medium term, thanks to tight supplies and continued demand from emerging markets. That’s great news for Canadian oil sands developers, which need prices around US$60 to US$70 per barrel, to make their business models economically feasible.
Saudi Arabia’s own break-even oil price has also risen sharply in the past few years, making it less likely to pursue a strategy of lower prices. The Institute of International Finance estimates that Saudi Arabia’s break-even price has shot up US$20 over the past year to US$88, in part due to a generous spending package of US$130-billion announced this year to keep domestic unrest at bay.
The Saudis now find themselves between a shale rock and a hard place: While high crude prices mean the Saudis can maintain their excessive domestic subsidies for citizens, in the long run that means the world is developing new sources, making it less dependent on Saudi oil.
Although the Saudis have vigorously fought the Ethical Oil ads, which paint them in a negative light, they already know their oil is less welcome in the Americas — Saudi oil made up a mere 9.3% of U.S. oil imports last year, down from 11.2% five years ago, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
But while Saudis would be cheering on the green groups with ‘No KXL’ signs, they don’t hold out much hope for renewable energies either. Calling them ‘green bubbles,’ Al-Falih says governments should stop focusing on unproven and expensive energy mix, as there is frankly no appetite for massive investments in expensive, ill-thought-out energy policies and pet projects.
“The confluence of four new realities — increasing supplies of oil and gas, the failure of alternatives to gain traction, the inability of economies to foot the bill for expensive energy agendas, and shifting environmental priorities — have turned the terms of the global energy dialogue upside down. Therefore, we must recast our discussion in light of actual conditions rather than wishful thinking,” the pragmatic chief said.
Somebody should explain this wishful thinking to the green movement.
I think it's safe to say that there were 3000 Americans that would have voted for ethical oil.
As long as Obama is in office they have nothing to worry about.
Where do environmental organizations in the US get their money? I can’t believe it’s just naive college students.
Yet he won't do it because he values his marriage to ideology more than his marriage to power.
**** the saudis.
LLS
If they are “worried” instead of “deeply offended” then I’d say we are making progress, on multiple fronts.
When the day of oil independence comes to America, the Saudis will need to duck and cover. They are responsible for much Islamic radicalism and terrorism.
What a surprise! Apparently the camel humpers don’t believe in the Peak Oil horse crap either.
No need to worry. Barry has “got your back”.
With zero direct evidence I GUARANTEE the Saudis and OPEC fund the “environmental” movement.
You don’t really believe we have no offshore oil because of one stupid oil spill in the 1960’s?
“Americans worry about Saudi terrorist-breeding surge”
There; we all have worries.
Imagine this, this is Clancy-ish...
They fall and it gets ugly.
Rather than let the insane insurgents get their high tech assets they fly their F16's and F15's to "a friendly" nation... Israel !!!!
What we really need to do is start converting autos to run on natural gas. If demand has dropped so much that we’re now exporting gasoline and oil, think what that would do to oil imports. That’s the fastest way to impact oil prices. We’ve got the natural gas NOW with much more coming. When oil drops below $80/bbl and stays there, as a dividend you’ll see the mullahs in Iran tossed out with the garbage. Terrorists will no longer be able to count on Islamic sugar daddies to bank roll their operations either. It’s a win win worldwide.
So does the Tides Foundation along with 44 organizations that campaign against Canadian oil. The top recipient was Corporate Ethics International which runs RETHINK ALBERTA, a campaign to pressure the Alberta government by depicting Alberta in a negative light.
In 2010 alone, the Sierra Club was paid $420,000, Environmental Defense Canada Inc. was paid $250,000 and Greenpeace Canada was paid $200,000 for participation in the “Tar Sands Campaign,” according to 2010 tax returns for Tides USA.
As reported in The Financial Post, in 2009 the U.S. Tides Foundation and Tides Canada funded a total of 36 organizations that campaign against the development of the Alberta oilsands. Of these, 26 organizations were funded by the Tides USA. The total granted to these organizations by Tides USA was $3.6 Million for 2009, according to U.S. tax returns.
In 2009, Tides Canada Foundation paid at least $7 million to 20 organizations that campaign against Canadian oil, according to analysis of Tides Canada’s U.S. tax returns. In 2009, fully half of Tides Canada’s grants went towards projects on a small but very strategic part of the Canadian coastline: the north coast of B.C., right smack where oil tankers export bound for Asia would need to travel.
[...]
Detailed breakdown of Tides Foundation anti-oil contributions here.
http://fairquestions.typepad.com/rethink_campaigns/tides-tar-sands-campaign-2009-2010.html
Peak Oil is pure horse shiite! (As is the myth of “Climate Change”).
I’ve been saying this for over 25 years: The USA has more untapped oil than the rest of the world combined. To wit, I wrote a college term paper on the “Green River Oil Shale Deposit” in 1985. This particular shale deposit extends from the Rocky Mountains to the Appalachins, and contains more oil than the entire planet has consumed in the past 100 years. It’s a monstrous oil field trapped in shale.
The only reasons we haven’t tapped into it yet is:
1.) Environmental nazis have too much political influence and thus make it damn near impossible for oil companies to obtain permits and licenses for drilling;
2.) The Arabs keep the price of their oil cheap enough to discourage US oil companies from investing in domestic production.
(EPA regulations and gubmint red-tape, courtesy of Environmental Nazism, make domestic oil production too damn expensive and not worth the headache or financial risk.)
It’s not a matter of “if” the USA can be energy independent, it’s of a matter of “when”. We gots about a trillion barrels of oil sitting beneath our feet. We just gots to go get it.
Thanks.
This is the frustrating part.
Yet he won't do it because he values his marriage to ideology more than his marriage to power.
Yet he won't do it because he values his marriage to ideology more than his marriage to power.
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