Posted on 04/27/2023 6:43:08 AM PDT by PghBaldy
Sucking it out of the Strategic Reserve in 2022 doesn’t count.
“We’re a net exporter as of 2022.”
It’s not as simple as that. According to the article you provided, our total petroleum exports were 9.47 million b/d while our imports were 8.32 million b/d. But if you read further you’ll find that we are a net importer of crude oil. The majority of our exports are refined petroleum products. As far as crude oil goes, we imported 6.28 million b/d and exported 3.60 million b/d.
Also, Biden’s exports from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve need to be considered. While they were technically exports, they don’t represent current production.
https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/biden-sell-26-million-barrels-more-strategic-petroleum-reserve
From the above article:
When Biden took office in January 2021, the SPR contained 638 million barrels out of a congressionally authorized maximum capacity of 713 million barrels. After a series of releases totaling more than 260 million barrels, the SPR is at about 371.6 million barrels as of February 2023 — the lowest level since December 1983, according to data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Selling another 26 million barrels from the SPR without adding new barrels of oil to offset the decline would take the SPR inventory to about 346 million barrels, which would be the lowest level since August 1983.
Come on man! Thrinsjetprexajjr!
Fair enough, but some amount of that imported crude is refined here and exported.
I'm not sure the crude/refined distinction is really relevant to this discussion. We're exporting more petroleum product than we're importing so we have to be a net producer.
I have to give news a break. I’ve heard enough of Biden to understand ‘Thrinsjetprexajjr’. It’s short for I’ll take your rights and you’ll own nothing.
I’m not sure the crude/refined distinction is really relevant to this discussion. We’re exporting more petroleum product than we’re importing so we have to be a net producer.
But the problem is, those refined petroleum products that we’re exporting are reliant on imports of the raw materials. Those exports represent value that we’re adding to a raw material for which we ae a net importer. And it’s totally unnecessary. We could easily be producing the crude oil that are refineries rely on, if the federal government would get out of the way.
As a wise FReeper once said, it's not that simple.
Half of our crude imports come from Canada and Mexico, and the bulk of that is refined in the US and the gasoline and other products sent back to those countries.
It makes economic sense because we have the refining capacity and transportation from those countries is relatively cheap.
Another factor is the type of refining capacity. We have a lot of capacity to refine heavy, sour crude like that produced in Canada, Venezuela and other countries. Refining this crude is more profitable than refining US light crude, to the point that the refineries make more money importing heavy crude.
Again, much of this will be re-exported.
I know it's essentially an ad from Conoco Phillips but this is a pretty good discussion.
Fair enough. You raise some valid points. But then one has to ask, would the price of the end product (e.g. gasoline, diesel, etc.) be cheaper if we were refining our own, higher quality crude oil? Our refineries might not make as much profit, but the price of the end product would presumably be lower.
I imagine the price would be a little lower on the margins but the market for those refined products is global. The price couldn't drop too much before it became more profitable to export the products.
In our system the refiner's goal is to make money, not minimize the cost to US consumers.
Good article. Interesting. But it does sound like there should be more investment in domestic refineries that focus on the lighter crude that we produce here at home.
Looks like The Biden forgot to pay his toll.
Tanker to Texas or Louisiana (SPR?)
The majority of crude oil produced in the USA tilts to the sweet category. This means lighter hydrocarbons and lower sulfur compounds. The majority of USA import oil is the opposite and tilts sour. Sour means heavier hydrocarbons and more sulfur.
Most if not all refineries on the gulf coast for example, blend light sweet and heavy sour crude oils to get the optimal ratio to meet market demands of the moment and to keep the crude oil feed composition in the range the refinery is designed to economically operate in.
In the 1990s, I did a mass balance for a crude oil refinery on the gulf coast. 9 month project. For the crude oil feed, the feed stock was largely West Texas Intermediate blended with imports from the Middle East, Mexico and Venezuela. These four crude varieties were blended In constantly varying ratios to tweak the feedstock composition to the crude unit to match refined product demands.
I got a kick out of the crude tanker imports. From the tanker reports, let's say a long haul from the Middle East, a tanker would sail typically sail a direct course to the Atlantic Ocean. After that, zig zags would happen as the oil was bought and sold. Original destination Chesapeake Bay would change to New Orleans. A few days later, another sale and now headed to Beaumont.
Thanks for the info. It’s an interesting subject.
FFS we’re back to dealing with piracy! TJ had that solved I thought. And now itlooks like Biden has screwed up over 200 years of precedent.
And FReeper thefactor tells me the election was right as rain, pay no attention to the mountains of retardry that I witness every single day. Good lord.
Semi forgot to address your proposition that the govt should get out of the way. Forgot to talk about how hard it is to build new refineries here. Just went on about how the ones we have are tuned to imported oil types. Isn’t that strange?
Of course it would be advantageous to produce and refine our own energy.
Cheap energy is the lifeblood of freedom. And the bad guys don’t want that (cheap energy or freedom).
Yeah, and Marines sign about it, that’s if they are still allowed. They might be too busy learning new pronouns.
Seems like I read somewhere that part of the purpose of the Keystone Pipeline was to pump some of our “light” shale oil to Canada to mix with their “heavy” product from their tar sands fields, then send the mix back to the US as a more ideal blend to be refined. Is that correct?
Those bearded pig fornicators in Tehran know that The Big Guy...and his party...want them to have nukes.
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