A Question For Smarter FReepers than I

ME

[Darth Dan]

Thanks for clicking here. I'm working on a project at work and was wondering if some smarter people than I could help with a few questions, as I don't know where else to turn. Here are my questions, and thanks for your time.

1. How much does a barrel of petroleum from the Middle East cost?

2. How much does it cost to maintain a military presence in the Persian Gulf region?

3. How much of a barrel of oil goes into gasoline, or how much in a dollar amount per barrel goes into a gallon of gas?

4. How about diesel fuel?

5.How many gallons of imported oil does the U.S. use each year?

I know these are rather long, but if anyone can help, or point me to sources, or site sources, it would be greatly appreciated.

[Darth Dan]

Thanks for your help, wise ones.

[stands2reason]

This is all I know about oil. The Middle East sells oil at the going rate which I believe is about 23$/bbl right now. They want to restrict production to get it to the price range they prefer, about 24-28$/bbl. It costs them about 2-3$/bbl to pump it. It costs us here in West Texas about 18$/bbl to pump it. I don't know if that helps any, but it gives you an idea on how they own us.

BTW, it costs Russia 12-13$/bbl to pump, I believe.

[RoughDobermann]

The cost of U.S. presence in the Persian Gulf was $1.64 billion in 1998, $1.24 billion in 1999, and is estimated to be $1.04 billion in fiscal year 2000

[RoughDobermann]

45-50% of a typical barrel of refined oil will be used for gasoline

[jpl]

5.How many gallons of imported oil does the U.S. use each year?

Gallons per year? I think a better measurement would be barrels per day. Our current consumption is approximately 20 million barrels a day, and approximately 60% of this is imported.

[alaskanfan]

I don't know if it is relevant, however I read yesterday that Russia now has the largest oil reserves in the world.

[Nitro]

Tuesday a barrel of oil was around $25.

Product Gallons per barrel - a barrel is 42 gallons

gasoline 19.5

distillate fuel oil 9.2

(Includes both home heating oil and diesel fuel) kerosene-type jet fuel 4.1

residual fuel oil (Heavy oils used as fuels in industry, marine transportation and for electric power generation) 2.3

liquefied refinery gasses 1.9

still gas 1.9

coke 1.8

asphalt and road oil 1.3

petrochemical feedstocks 1.2

lubricants 0.5

kerosene 0.2

other 0.3

[RoughDobermann]

Product Gallons per barrel

gasoline 19.5
distillate fuel oil 9.2

[mattdono]

Why did I think that the largest oil reserve is in the Gulf of Mexico, except that we cannot use it due to environmental regulation?

[Steve0113]

Why did I think that the largest oil reserve is in the Gulf of Mexico, except that we cannot use it due to environmental regulation?

I've seen that little factoid somewhere, too.

[theophilusscribe]

DarthDan, I did a quick search and here are some Web sites that might help you. They do not represent my views, they were just what came up when I did a search for "oil." Good luck!

American Petroleum Institute

National Petroleum Council

OPEC

World Petroleum Congress

Refining, Petrochemical, & Chemical Web Sites

[Darth Dan]

Thanks for your help. I knew I could count on the brain power found here on FR!

[TheMole]

Coutesy of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. WCSB stands for Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin, meaning conventionally produced oil from standard oilwells in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia. Most of the oil being exported to the U.S. now comes from oil sands, where the oil is dug up in open-pit mines and then refined with a special process.

If your read through this and other oil and gas industry literature, you will learn that there is LOTS of oil and gas. We're never going to run out. The Middle East is, however, the cheapest source and will be for the foreseeable future.

[TheMole]

Just one more chart for your edification. Sorry that the print is so small ... hope your display is readable. The extent of public ignorance about oil is awesome. Of course, the pathetic performance of most media doesn't help.

[Darth Dan]

just out of curiosity, what is bbl an abbreviation for?
thanks for helping out my ignorance.

[FreedomPoster]

bbl = barrell = 55 gallons

[TheMole]

A bbl = a barrel of oil (by volume, 42 American gallons), so it's about equal to the 45-gallon drums in standard industrial use.

[Darth Dan]

Thanks! I really appreciate it!

[FreedomPoster]

TheMole is right on gallons; ignore that part of my earlier post.