April 16, 2008 12:41PM
The Time has Come: We Need to Start Drilling in the U.S.
By Alexis Glick
I am fired up today about oil!!! It is time to start drilling in the United States. Enough is enough. Everyone is feeling the pinch: the American consumer, all sorts of corporations including those providing consumer staples, the trucking indsutry and airline companies. You name it…..the rising cost of oil is affecting ALL of us!
Yesterday, I asked my assistant Melissa to gather together a ton of articles on oil. Who’s drilling? Where? What affect these skyrocketing prices are having on corporations? Fascinating stuff!
Look at Brazil…..a prime example of why we need to drill for more oil! Brazil has made one discovery after another. Just this Monday the State-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro or Petrobas made a huge discovery. Some say as much as 33 billion barrels of oil. This following the biggest strike in the World (exploration for oil when you dig and find it) in 2006 uncovering an estimated 6 billion barrels of oil. Brazil, historically a net importer of oil, is now an exporter and is considered one of the best and most promising places for oil exploration.
Take China they have made ten major new energy discoveries. How about India? India has invited foreign companies to begin exploration of new territories to increase their production.
What about the U.S.? We have so many untapped resources including ANWR (the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge), which Congress refuses to tap into. There are estimates that suggest the U.S. has 30 billion barrels of oil left. Some say that’s hogwash. That 30 billion barrels could pump ten years worth but many say we have MUCH MORE!!! The Bakken oil basin between North Dakota and Montanta into Canada reportedly has 4 billion barrels alone. Colorada and Utah are estimated to have 1.2 trillion (TRILLION) barrels of oil. The 2,000 acres of ANWR have as much as 16 billion, maybe more!!!!! That is enough to replace 30 years worth of imports from the Middle East. Can you believe that?
I won’t stop there because you know me, when I get heated I keep going :)!!
If we are so concerned environmentally about ANWR, why did we allow drilling 60 miles away in Prudhoe Bay. It has been operating for 20 years and has produced in excess of 10 billion barrels of oil. It is also considered the MOST ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE OIL OPERATION IN THE WORLD!!!! The coastal plain of ANWR could produce 1.5 billion barrels a day for at least 25 years (25% of U.S. Production). The U.S. would save a small fortune!!!! Think about that!!! We spend roughly $60 million dollars per hour on oil imports. Did you see that figure? WE SPEND ROUGHLY $60 MILLION DOLLARS PER HOUR on oil imports!!!
This morning I had a fabulous rountable of guest on this topic. Take a look at the video. Below this video is an interview that my colleague Connell McShane did live from the Bakkan Oil basin. It’s fascinating. Take a look.
Comment by chuck harrison
Apr 17th, 2008 at 10:39 am
I happen to agree.
Let me tell you something about Vicksburg Ms and its gas retail prices. Since this port is a tourist town becouse of the civil war; the gas prices here have been high. Now two years ago when the barrel price of oil was 50$ a barrel; the local retailer Pantry Inc kept the price at 2.00 while other communities around Vicksburg drop thier prices below 2.00. Now Waring Oil sold thier convient stores to Pantry Inc. THe high gas prices here were equilivant to those of u up in NYC tristate area. It caused the locals to get thier gas across county lines in Clinton,Ms. They’re still doing it I might add.
With Kroger getting in gas pumps here for the first time,here’s what Waring Oil told them and Kroger. U put in gas pumps I want supply you with gas. Waring has a monolopy here though in the local Post the family members tried to explain away that this port had competition. Locals weren’t fooled. As a result business dropped.Now with Kroger getting gas pumps in May here locals would like to see gas prices drop. There’s a ten cent difference in retail gas prices between Vicksburg Ms and the Jackson Metro area. Just do a Google search. The Warings have kept competition out of this market for a loing time. Locals here want real change and some of us even filed DOE complaints against the high prices here and that complaint hasn’t come to frution. Also Vicksburg has a pipeline to offload oil off the barges from the river too. And everyone wonders why gas isn’t cheaper.
One thing did emerge: Pantry Inc suffered. The company suffered in the earnings department with the fact that they kept the gasoline prices at 2.00. When this happened last year they took a real hit. Pantry which has been purchasing convient store chains through out the Southeast had to rollback finances. Layed off workers. Thier customers even deserted them. Pantry Inc is a midcap stock and publicly listed on teh NYSE exchange. Locals here and tourists have suffered from this town’s high gas prices. Now why would a town of 25,000 price its gas as high as those up in New York City? I can tell you the prices here have been higher than those in Miami,Florida.
Comment by chuck harrison
Apr 17th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
This is a follow up.
Waring Oil is a private jpobber. What the company did is this: they told Kroger and Super Walmart that if they both put in gas pumps, the company will not supply them with gas. Just want to make a correction on my sentences above. Now Waring Oil sold his units to Pantry Inc back in late 2005 early 2006 to Pantry Inc for an undisclosed some of money. None of the covnetient store newsletters didn’t disclose the amount but the Federal Trade Commission handle the deal. In Alabama over two years ago Pantry sued a Cosco over thier retail gas prices. Now in the area of gas prices where do jobbers and refiners play in the food chain of price? Here’s another fact about Vicksburg Ms gas prices from two years ago. When New Jersey and Houston Tx had gas prices below 2.00. That stir a lot of complaints to the Vicksburg Post. Now at that sametime when the barrel price of oil was plummeting Charlie Mitchell of the Vicksburg Post didn’t do a follow up story on lower gas prices in the surrounding communties.
Now he did do an in depth article on why the gas prices were high here. Both of the Warings son Dan and Richard did thier best to passify the locals. But the article on genereated anger and resement in the community. Vicksburg retail gas prices never went below 2.00 at that time. Now Pantry has thier prices at 3.38 which is edging close to 3.40. It’s time to have non competive markets like Vicksburg and others get closer scruitiny. Why? How come this port’s gas prices are higher than the Southeast Average which the rest of the state follows. Honestly the State AG office’s hasn’t acted on complaints. So why should the port of Vicksburg get special treatment? Locals want a serious answer for they feel no one isn’t looking at for them.