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The upstream part of the business is separated by several firewalls from the downstream -- by regulation and law -- to prevent too tight of integration between end-market products and the exploration/production arm of the business. Upstream is regulated by the MMS and state / local entities (like the Texas Railroad Commission.) Downstream -- the part that buys crude on the open market to use in manufacturing of everything from aspirin to gasoline -- is regulated by a web of federal & state agencies that often mandate wildly different things.
Fact: the U.S. uses far more crude that it produces so we are a NET importer.
Moreover, the refineries on the West Coast (one of the heavier usage areas) run on heavy crude -- not the kind of stuff we get out of the Gulf of Mexico.
When you start harping on "Big Oil", also remember that the super-majors have already said in congressional testimony that they don't need tax breaks or subsidies -- why? Economies of scale. The part of the industry that really pushes the "drill now" meme is made up of all the "independent" producers -- who sink or swim on price and tax breaks.
Offshore drilling will need to be a part of the mix for decades -- the energy "debate" cannot devolve into false binary choices.
And yes, I work for one of the oil giants -- and am one of those cited in the various analyses about how oil company employees support Obama more than the corporate-run PACs.
Except that I realize a lot of people don't drive (hello city slickers!) so why would they know, and a lot of people who do drive are just plain fucking stupid.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.a.....id=3510303
“Of course the deaths of Russian peacekeepers and the destruction caused by the invading Georgians is an important reason why Medvedev has ordered Russian forces to intervene in the conflict. But there are bigger strategic reasons behind that. Moscow cannot let Saakashvili succeed in his gamble.”
Of course, Russia knows that a Georgian victory would be an American one. It would allow the US to control the Caucasus and the Caspian Basin and their enormous energy resources through the assertion of its military power in the region.
The United States and other NATO members have sent substantial aid to build up Georgia’s army. The American military has been training and equipping Georgian troops for years. At least 130 US soldiers, Marines and pilots are in Georgia to carry out a program, called Exercise Immediate Response 2008, on military cooperation.
Georgia returned the favor, by sending about 2,000 troops to participate in the occupation of Iraq, which made it the third-largest contributor to “coalition forces” after the US and Britain.
Georgia is also aggressively lobbying to join NATO and is supported by the United States in this goal. At the NATO summit in Bucharest in the spring, US President George W. Bush made one of the stronger speeches of his tenure, stating that the 26-member alliance should accept Georgia and Ukraine.
“We must make clear that NATO welcomes the membership aspirations of Georgia and Ukraine and offers them a clear path forward towards that goal. My country’s position is clear: NATO should welcome Georgia and Ukraine into the Membership Action Plans”, he said.
However, Germany and France argued against this. Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, said that a new NATO expansion would annoy Russia too much. Bush tried hard to change the German and French position at the summit but he failed.”
This was in the 70's, for gawd's sake, during the oil embargo when gas supplies were so low that gas was being rationed; people waited in multi-block long lines or were assigned specific days that they could buy gas - if they could find a gas station that even had gas in some places. And all the while, the oil companies were capping known wells.
It comes as no surprise to me that the oil companies are shipping their/our black gold over seas; I'd already realized that a lot of their record profits were undoubtedly coming from those wells drilled 30 years ago. This push for more drilling is total B*** S*** from every perspective
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRwDELGps48
http://thinkprogress.org/wonkroom/tag/aswf/
Unless people are ready to nationalize energy companies, there will be no special price for Americans. Exxon et al are public companies with shareholders who would not want the oil given away cheaper to anyone.
People and the so-called journalists are ignorant of basic economics. I am basically a secretary and receptionist at an investment firm (trained as an actress) and I know this for god's sake.
http://eclectablog.blogspot.com/2008/08/mo-mone...