Why do some people suggest drilling for oil when there aren't enough refineries for the existing supply?

Also, isn't ';drilling'; for better auto-technology a better solution?Why do some people suggest drilling for oil when there aren't enough refineries for the existing supply?
The same people advocating the drilling are advocating the lifting of idiotic blocks to more refining. Even if we didn't have the refining capacity though, more oil under friendly sane control (meaning oil not under control of middle east nuts, Russia, and Venezuela with the crazy Chavez controlling it, with all of those threatening to cut off any who don't allow them to run amok in the world) would bring down oil prices quite a lot.





Why do you think prices are high? Some unexplainable force? It's supply and demand, much of the supply being bought 2 years out and the instability puts oil at a premium.





The reason prices are high now are 2 fold,





1st, the democrats being bullied by pseudo environmentalists kept blocking drilling or any more refinery capacity for decades, saying, well it won't do any good for at least 4 years ... having said that since the 80s, and the long term thinking having gone out the window we didn't do what we should to ensure energy for our country. Should we continue that idiocy? That would be idiotic in the extreme, which pretty much defines many who take in the democrats line.





2nd, China, and India and others in less major ways, with our help have become growing industrial economic powers and are increasing their demand for petroleum many fold, which is straining the capacity of the current production. This causes a competition for oil which causes the prices to raise.





That is the reason for the rising prices of gas right now. It is a fact that the value of oil is determined by a world market, but the fact that much production is controlled by middle eastern nut bars and nuts like Chavez in Venezuela, and the production in Russia being controlled by the worsening situation in the government in Russia causes concern about the stability of supply world wide, as well it should. Speculators attempt to secure supply for countries and business concerns for 2 year blocks, and they have to bid against each other. To not have supply would be devastating to any economy or any business which ran on the fuel, so it is bringing a premium. More control by the US of part of the oil supply would do a great deal to relieve tensions. Even our saying we are going to drill, and better yet start drilling means there will be a larger supply in sane control in the next few years, which would calm down prices and probably drop them a very good % before the supply even came, because price is based on projected supply and it's stability of availability. With a good supply owned by the US the crazy countries couldn't keep threatening a cut off to get their way, their power over oil prices and thus western economies would fall to near zero.





Increasing supply in the US would decrease the prices, there is no doubt for anyone who understands the situation. Those who say this is not so are either ignorant, or lying to you for their own political purpose.





Who in the US is profiting from high oil prices in the US right now? Those who can point to an economy in trouble and use people angry about high gas prices to blame the president, (as if that office had more to do with it than congress, which it doesn't) and so blame the republican party and get votes. Democrats want a bad economy, want high gas prices, and want things to look ugly in Iraq and have been working for that ever since Bush got elected, so they can take power. That is what is going on here.Why do some people suggest drilling for oil when there aren't enough refineries for the existing supply?
1. Drilling is a good start. Please know that the vast majority of us who want more domestic drilling also want to increase the national capacity for refining oil.





2. Better auto technology is a good thing. However that is still a long term solution. What we need is a good short and medium term solution to carry us to a good long term solution. If this nation taps its national resources we have enough oil to last for the next couple of centuries at least. (estimates are 300 years for shale oil alone!)





3. If the govt nationalizes refineries, it will make it much easier to build more refineries as it would be in the ';national interest';. All of the special interest groups would be unable to block through the courts as the govt must give permission to be able to sue the govt.
Most people have no idea that cars produced in the 1990s and early 2000s were less fuel efficient than cars that were produced in the 1970s. Many people also don't realize that oil is to the commodities market was housing was up until very recently, so there is a price bubble that has nothing to do with supply. The oil companies also have drilling permits that they are sitting on, it's a money making scheme.
Building more refineries is part of the process.





Everybody is focusing in on oil strictly for use in cars but petroleum is used in a vast amount of products. It is the basis for most plastics, tires, asphalt, polyester, rayon, etc... We need increased production for fuel but we also need increased production to enable these other industries to keep their prices down.





My company manufactures, in the USA, a product that is almost 50% petroleum based and our costs are skyrocketing. I have only two choices to either increase my prices to the consumer or make less money and possibly have to shut down operations.
Build more refineries. STOP the oil companies from destroying their OLD refineries that are still profitable. Start MASS PRODUCING Apteras. I mean ... 300 mpg is nothing to sneeze at.





I'm looking at a new job that is 60 miles away. With my current technology it would cost me $40 in gas per day to commute. With the Aptera I could commute for an ENTIRE WEEK for $5 if fuel goes up to $5/gallon.





Anyone rich and famous reading this? Please buy me an Aptera and I will pay you monthly for all the money I save in gas for 5 years. That should EASILY pay off the $25,000 cost of the Aptera.





:-)


Peace
Oh. We want to build refineries too.





And although it might be prudent to continue to search for better technologies, assuming that we will find a cost effective alternative just because we throw gobs of money at it is short sighted and dangerous, in so far as it leads to not increasing supply of existing energy sources.
Domestic oil production has decreased by 50% duing the time that oil was cheap. Now that it's expensive it would be better to buy it from ourselves than to buy it from let's say, Venezuela. This is regardless of where the oil is going to be processed. Try not to confuse the two issues.


That's not hard to understand is it?


We've been developing better car technology all along. We have to do both. It's not an either/or situation.


You must be off your meds today.
Solution: make more refineries. Weren't you also complaining it would take 10 years to get the oil? How many refineries could be made by then?


Windfall priofits tax with deductibles for capacity increasing projects would solve your problem. I didn't think you would support that.
Because I don't want to drill for oil to alleviate price or to counter economic demand with China . . . I want the infrastructure in place should the crap hit the fan in the middle east . . . I see it more in line with emergency reserves . . .
Because it is a two step process. First we need to let the oil companies drill for oil and then we need to let them build new refineries and upgrade the existing ones so they can turn the oil into gas.
It's implied that if we get more oil that we'll also get more refineries.





That is if the Democrats leave the oil companies profits for them to work with.
It's a smokescreen.
The Dems are on the floor of the senate today saying that refinery capacity is at only 88%... So, it looks to me like we need more oil to refine.
Those would be the folks that only do what they are told. i doubt they have used critical thinking to come to any original thought on the matter.
They do not understand the process and time it takes to refine it. You are correct we do need more refineries.
It's a start Mr. Chi...





better than just doing nothing...





of course this would imply more refineries built
Why not both. We need both. Converting to something else will take decades. Are you suggesting we do nothing in the mean time?
WE SHOULD THEN BUILD MORE REFINERIES TO GET


THAT PROBLEM SOLVED. I GUESS THE DEMOCRATS WOULD OPPOSE THAT TOO.
here in SoCal, they're talking about bringing some of the old shutdown refineries back online. there were a bunch of 'em, too... we'll see if it actually happens, though *shrug*