ExxonMobil Deal With Russia Underscores U.S. Oil Folly

Investors.com ^ | April 25,2012 | IBD Editorials

[Hojczyk]

Oil: First, some very good news on the energy front: Exxon Mobil is set to drill into a massive, 85-billion-barrel arctic oil reserve that will soon be gushing crude. Now the bad news: They're doing it for Russia, not America.

If the oil flows as expected, total investment could hit $500 billion, or 18% of Russia's gross domestic product, with pumping to begin in 2020.

As part of the deal, Rosneft gets a bigger piece of the U.S. energy market — a one-third stake in three major Exxon Mobil offshore and shale oil projects here in the U.S., the Gulf of Mexico and Canada.

Obama, in one of the bigger whoppers he tells these days, says the U.S. has just 20 billion barrels of oil reserves — 2% of the world's total. This is not true.

Alaska's National Wildlife Refuge alone has 10.4 billion barrels. Offshore, the U.S. has 86 billion barrels of oil and 420 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, the U.S. Minerals Management Service estimates.

And the amount of oil locked in federally held shale formations in Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Wyoming is truly staggering — up to 2 trillion barrels. For some perspective, consider that the world has used 1trillion barrels since the first well was drilled in 1859.

This is our energy. Yet an American oil giant like Exxon Mobil has to go to Russia to drill.

Russia isn't stupid. In signing the deal, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin pointedly noted his country sees oil as a way to modernize and expand the entire Russian economy. And he's exactly right.

The only question is, why doesn't Obama see it, too

[Dilbert San Diego]

Well, Obama is all hung up on this global warming thing. He wants to stop the rising of the oceans, and allow the planet to heal, and all that drivel. He wants to see wind, solar, biofuels, ocean waves, anything but fossil fuels, hydroelectric, or nuclear.

I’m always puzzled that the liberals oppose nuclear, when nuclear power produces zero greenhouse gases.

[Dilbert San Diego]

Goodness gracious......... I wonder what Lenin and Stalin would think of Russia making these deals with the evil capitalist west. They have thrown off the shackles of communism for sure haven’t they?

[STJPII]

Our irrational suicidal energy policy at work.

[Nowhere Man]

You know what, I admire the Russians, if they want or needs something, they just go out and get it. They do not let red tape get in the way nor the stupid greenies. I keep on quoting myself back in 1983, I asked, “what if the US became the USSR and the USSR became the US? What if we became the Evil Empire?” In many ways, Russia is freer than we are now. They have a flat tax, they let their energy companies exploit what they have, it is relatively easy to buy a firearm (although handguns are still a general “no-no”), free to exercise religion and so on. Yes, they still have quite a way to go on freedom as we like it but they have made progress while we are regressing. B-(

[Mygirlsmom]

Don't be puzzled. This is about THEIR power, not ours.

OUR power (oil, gas, nuclear) drives the engine of freedom.

THEIR power is gained by taking ours away. They do that by spinning pretty unicorn fantasies of sunshine and gentle breezes solving all of our problems......problems that they themselves have invented.

Tell me that 50 years ago anyone would have taken seriously the notion that the most dangerous thing on the planet is the stuff that we exhale.

[Dilbert San Diego]

Obama doesn’t see that developing energy resources in our own country helps our economy. He’s too beholden to the global warming crowd. He’s liberal, and liberal ideology says oil companies are evil, oil itself is evil, fossil fuels are evil. But that same ideology says that solar and windmills and biofuels are good.

So it doesn’t matter to liberals that we have so many billions of barrels of oil offshore, or in Alaska, or in oil shale deposits out west. None of that matters, because the fossil fuels themselves are evil, per the liberal theology on the subject.

[Roccus]

I’m always puzzled that the liberals oppose nuclear, when nuclear power produces zero greenhouse gases.

I'm for nukes also, but it DOES produce the most dominant greenhouse gas...water vapor. (which is also fine by me)

[Recon Dad]

Exxon is going to go where they think their investment will get a good return. This happens to be in the Russian Arctic but next week it’ll be Ohio or Mississippi.
I also believe the more oil hitting the market the better. I want us to pump all we can and if everyone else is competition will drive the price down.