Wednesday - June 10, 2020

The Current Global Disaster That Didn’t Make The News At All

MAJOR PETROLEUM SPILL OF NEARLY 3/4 MILLION GALLONS

The Taymyr Penninsula is in northern central Russia along the Arctic Ocean. It is between 1200 and 1700 miles east of Finland and about 1600 miles west of Alaska. This is one of the more remote and inhospitable places on the planet.

Norilsk is a mining and industrial city in the southwest end of the peninsula. What isn’t mines is boggy swamp, when it isn’t frozen solid by the 8 months long brutal winter.

At the Norilsk-Taymyr Energy Company there, a massive spill of diesel fuel from their giant storage tanks has released more than 21,000 tons of diesel fuel into the local waterways and across the tundra. That’s at least 600,000 gallons.

And there’s no way to clean it up right now. They can try and contain it, but actual removal won’t happen for months until things freeze up again.

Perhaps the leaking tanks are right here: 69.329191, 88.251773 (decimal map ref).

There is not a lot of precise information available, but it doesn’t look like the diesel could get into the Artic Ocean from there. No, it will just destroy several of the few bog lakes on the whole peninsula.

Large territories of rivers, streams and tundra lands are covered by more than 20 thousands tons of diesel oil from a reservoir owned by company Nornickel. The catastrophe was reported to the authorities only two days after the spill and nobody really knows how to clean up.

A thick layer of diesel oil now covers more than 20 km of rivers around the installations of the Norilsk-Taymyr Energy Company. Practically all rivers and affluent creeks are filled up by oil products, leader of Russia’s Federal Environmental Control Service (Rosprirodnadzor) says after a visit on site.

Water samples show several tens of thousands times higher concentrations of oil products than the maximum allowed level, Svetlana Radionova told President Vladimir Putin in an online video meeting on Wednesday.

According to Radionova, about 6,000 tons of diesel oil has spilled into the tundra and another about 15,000 tons have ended up in the local waterways.

A layer of diesel oil as thick as 20 cm is found by the oil booms put out on the local river about 20 km away from the site of the accident, the leader of Rosprirodnadzor says. [ 6” thick 14 miles away ]

“We are now identifying damage and potential consequences for the waters, as well as the soil,” she explained to the President.
Reported after 2 days

The accident took place in the morning of the 29th of May, but was reported to the authorities only on the 31st of May. Neither the Norilsk-Taymyr Energy Company, nor its mother company Nornickel had published any official information about the spill until 3rd June, and the regional authorities in the Krasnoyarsk Kray put out a small notice only on that same day, at the same time as regional Governor Aleksandr Uss was ordered to report to the President.

Big clean-up after the catastrophe, but spilled oil will be removed from Taymyr tundra only next winter

Thousands of tons of spilled diesel oil are being pumped into special containers placed along affected rivers and creeks. The substances will be removed from the desolate area only after the tundra freezes next winter.
...
Nornickel must cover the full cost for restoring nature in the area, Putin underlined to Nornickel CEO and majority owner Potanin.

“The owners are obliged to fully liquidate the pollution of soil and waters, ” Putin underlined and added that a comprehensive compensation scheme for restoration of bio diversity and nature in the area will have to come in place.

He also made clear that the Russian General Prosector and the Investigative Committee will study the case carefully to find reasons and assess damage.

“We will pay whatever it costs,” Potanin responded. He added that he believes the price for the clean-up will amount to “ten billion rubles, and more.”

Nornickel fully owns the Norilsk-Taymyr Energy Company, and manages the huge industrial facilities of city Norilsk and the surrounding Taymyr tundra. Nornickel from before has a dubious environmental reputation. Air pollution around the company’s industrial plants in Norilsk and in the Kola Peninsula is among the worst in Russia.

Russian authorities were long at odds over how to clean up the vast volumes of harmful substances from the remote and vulnerable Arctic nature.

Burning was first considered to be the best alternative way to get rid of the oil products. But that alternative has now been abandoned.

Instead, a big number of special containers are being flown into the area and placed along the worst affected rivers and streams. Spilled oil is now pumped into the reservoir tanks.

Russian Inspectors: Drain the other tanks before we have another accident!!

According to Rosprirodnadzor, the environmental catastrophe happened after the concrete foundation on which the reservoir rests began to sink. Following the sinking, the bottom of the reservoir detached from its walls whereupon the diesel oil spilled into the surroundings.

On site are another four similar reservoirs, three of which are in operation. They are now a major subject of concern for the environmental inspectors in the area.

In a letter addressed to the Norilsk Taymyr Energy Company, the environmental watchdog now warns that the remaining reservoirs could ultimately get the same fate as the first collapsed tank.

The reservoirs might together hold more than 60,000 tons of fuel oil.

The control authority proposes that the company pumps all the diesel fuel out of the reservoirs and that it carefully studies the technical condition of the facilities.

The work must be completed by 9th August this year, the letter explains.
Hard clean-up

The major spill happened on the 29th May, but is believed to have been reported to the authorities only on the 31st May. Clean-up operations are now in full swing with more 650 people and 250 equipment items involved, Nornickel informs.

And of course all this happened because of ... wait for it ... Global Warming. Things got warmer, the permafrost softened up, foundations built on them sunk, oil tanks on those foundations split open. Climate change is real there, and across much of northern Russia. It’s why they’re opening all those LNG facilities in the west, and why so many freeze dried mammoths are being found in the east.

The reservoir facilities in Norilsk hold only a tiny fraction of the volumes of oil and oil products stored across the Russian Arctic. A lion’s share of Russia’s oil production is made in the country’s north and storage facilities, pipelines and terminals are stretched across the vast region.

Potentially, similar spills like the one in Norilsk could soon happen in numerous places across the region, including in nearby oil-rich Khanti-Mansiisk area, Yamal-Nenets Autonmous Okrug, Komi Republic and Nenets AO.

Looks like it’s time for Russia to clean up it’s act. Literally.

And this massive spill isn’t even a blip on the news radar here or in Europe. Because protests. And COVID. And politics.

Posted by Drew458     on 06/10/2020 at 08:20 PM   
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   Wednesday - April 22, 2020

kill it while it sleeps

Nearly 30% of ethanol plants idled, including four in Minnesota. Gasoline demand has dropped, but eased FDA rules have let one plant pivot to hand sanitizer.

Four Minnesota ethanol plants are idled and many more have throttled back production as COVID-19 has sapped gasoline demand, crushing the biofuel industry.

U.S. ethanol production has hit an all-time low. Nearly 30% of the nation’s 204 biofuel plants have been idled since March 1, while many others have slashed production.

“The fuel market is just telling us to shut down and not operate,” said Randall Doyal, CEO of Al-Corn Clean Fuel in the southern Minnesota town of Claremont. “Economically, its abysmal.”

This is a perfect time to get rid of this boondoggle. If the Spring seeds aren’t in yet, then don’t plant them. If they are, then run this program one more season, and then shut it down.

We don’t need gasahol. We have lots of oil. Right now we have so much oil that the market is crashing. We have no place left to even store it.

Your engines run better on straight gasoline anyway. You get more power and better mileage.

The entire ethanol thing was a) a political move to show OPEC that we didn’t need them that much. Once fracking took off and we had far more oil and gas than we could ever use, it became redundant; and b) for at least half a decade this has been a serving of pork to farmers. Don’t they get enough pork already? Let them grow something else. Even regular corn.

Posted by Drew458     on 04/22/2020 at 09:17 AM   
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   Monday - April 20, 2020

economic fubar

Insane oil market prices plummet. West Texas Intermediate tumbled to $4 a barrel this morning. Later on it hit $0. ZERO DOLLARS. Oil for free.

Now it’s at NEGATIVE $36.73. That’s insane. That’s impossible. WTF is going on? Duh, what’s going on is the One World Government shutting down, overnight, the greatest economy in the history of the world. Production up, everywhere. Income up, everywhere. Quality of life up, everywhere.

And then COVID-19. 

And the utterly insane panic overreaction to it.

This has to stop, and it has to stop now.

U.S. oil prices plummeted in historic fashion Monday, crashing below zero as traders unloaded positions ahead of the May contract’s Tuesday expiration.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for May delivery cratered by 305 percent to -$36.73 a barrel. At a price below zero, buyers would be paid to take delivery as there are costs associated with transportation and storage. The selling had WTI on track to close at its lowest level since recordkeeping began in March 1983, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

The June contract was trading lower by 18 percent at $20.43 a barrel.

The May contract is a “horror show” and “heading into the worst delivery situation in history,” Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Group Futures, told FOX Business. “With demand still dead and OPEC+ cuts not hitting fast enough, the market looks like it has no bottom.”

CORONAVIRUS PRESSURES US MANUFACTURERS TO BRING PLANTS HOME FROM CHINA

Demand for crude oil is projected to fall by 29 million barrels per day this month, according to the International Energy Administration, as COVID-19 has forced countries around the world to issue “stay-at-home” orders to slow the spread of the disease. Lower economic activity means weaker demand for crude oil and its byproducts, including gasoline and jet fuel.

The sharp drop in demand has storage tanks in Cushing, Oklahoma, a key U.S. oil hub, filling up at an astounding rate. Inventories have ballooned by 48 percent to about 55 million barrels, according to a recent report from the Energy Information Administration. Capacity at the hub is about 76 million barrels, according to the EIA.

Oil supplies were swelling even before Saudi Arabia launched a price war against Russia on March 8 after the latter refused to join OPEC in slashing production, causing oil prices to post their largest single-day drop on record.

After more than a month of pumping out oil at elevated production levels, the world’s largest producers agreed on April 12 to historic cuts that will reduce output by 20 million barrels per day beginning May 1.

The collapse in the world economy has led to a collapse in demand for oil, and pretty big problems for those who are trying to sell it. Oil doesn’t work like a share in a company – it’s not something you can just hold on to, waiting for the right sale price. If you buy an oil contract, you are buying an agreement to accept delivery, on a given date, of one barrel full of oil.

Oil is heavy, it’s toxic, and you have to supply your own barrel. It’s costly to ship and to store – and sorting all of that is the responsibility of whoever is holding the contract on its due date. The contract that hit $0 (though all oil prices have collapsed spectacularly) is for US oil to be delivered in May 2020.

Factories are currently producing less, and so need less energy and less oil for raw materials. We travel less during a recession. We buy fewer cars. Demand drops across the board during any economic slowdown. That can often be moderated by people filling up their stockpiles with oil. If you happen to have a huge warehouse, or a series of huge tankers, and oil is unusually cheap… why not stock up and wait for the market to recover? Those with the capacity have been doing exactly that already. The problem is they’re all now almost full.

At the moment, oil trading is an international game of hot potato, with billion-dollar stakes, and no one wants to be left holding the barrel. That means that no one thinks we are coming out of the coronavirus crisis soon, or that when we do, it will end quickly.

We are all hoping deaths from the coronavirus have peaked already. It could be that we haven’t even begun to see the scale of the economic damage it could wreak.

Granted, there is considerably lag time between pumping the black goo out of the ground and sticking the nozzle in your gas tank. But while gas prices all around the country have been below $1.80 a gallon for several weeks, and often even below $1 even before this latest wave of insanity, gas prices refuse to drop below $2.03 around where I live in NJ. If I had any kind of freedom, I’d think about driving about driving to Minnesota for that 78¢ gas. Or even out to Ohio, where I can find it for a buck and a quarter. Maybe there’s a price fix going on in NY / NJ / PA ? Prices are not dropping Free Market style there at all. A bit lower, but not the give away levels elsewhere. And this is for $25 oil. What happens when the futures come due for MINUS 26 bucks?

What the hell is going on??

[ and when the oil companies go out of business and all the overstock gets used up, then oil will go back up to $400 a barrel ( again, right Bush-Obama? ), gas will hit $5-6 a gallon plus the raised state taxes, and we’ll all have to drive microscopic electric cars, and the Green Nude Eel will rule us all forever ]

If this isn’t the biggest commie plot that ever was, I don’t know what is. And all these assholes fell for it hook line and N95 mask. Because VIRUS RISK ... with what will turn out to be a 0.01% death rate, if anybody can ever put together some honest numbers. Which won’t happen either.

Posted by Drew458     on 04/20/2020 at 05:41 PM   
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   Saturday - August 06, 2016

go green!

meanwhile ...

Posted by Drew458     on 08/06/2016 at 05:49 AM   
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   Friday - November 06, 2015

screw you America

President Obama announced Friday that he has rejected Canadian energy giant TransCanada’s application to build the Keystone XL pipeline, saying that the pipeline was not in the U.S. national interest.

“The State Department has decided the Keystone XL pipeline would not serve the interests of the United States. I agree with that decision,” Obama said at a White House press conference.

The announcement caps a 7-year saga that has become one of the biggest environmental flashpoints of Obama’s presidency. It comes just days after the State Department refused to agree to TransCanada’s request to suspend the review process on the controversial project, which has seen enormous opposition from environmental groups.

Killing the pipeline allows Obama to claim aggressive action on the environment. That could strengthen his hand as world leaders prepare to finalize a major global climate pact next month in Paris that Obama hopes will be a crowning jewel for his legacy.

Alberta-based TransCanada first applied for Keystone permits in September 2008—shortly before Obama was elected. As envisioned, Keystone would snake from Canada’s tar sands through Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska, then connect with existing pipelines to carry more than 800,000 barrels of crude oil a day to specialized refineries along the Texas Gulf Coast.

Greenies, Bernie Sanders, and other anti-Americans had their knickers in a twist because the oil was so dirty. But golly, isn’t that what specialized refineries are all about? Tar sand sludge in, fuel, lubricants, and petrochemicals out.

Don’t worry about Canada though. The Red Chinese will only be too happy to buy up every drop if the Canucks can turn the pipeline to the right and run it to the Pacific coast.

Obama. BOHICA.  His environmental policy is just as daft as his foreign and economic policies. GYMFOOYA.

Republicans called the decision disappointing.

“President Obama’s rejection of the Keystone XL Pipeline is a huge mistake, and is the latest reminder that this administration continues to prioritize the demands of radical environmentalists over America’s energy security,” said. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.

Posted by Drew458     on 11/06/2015 at 01:22 PM   
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   Sunday - October 25, 2015

A Glowing Report

[10/22/15] Federal regulators today approved an operating license for TVA’s Watts Bar Unit 2, allowing the first new American nuclear plant to begin operation in nearly two decades.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission today approved an operating license for the second reactor at Watts Bar, nearly 43 years after the regulatory agency first granted a construction permit for work to begin on the nuclear plant near Spring City, Tenn. The license allows TVA to load nuclear fuel into the new unit and begin testing of the equipment and likely produce power by the end of the year.

NRC commissioners this spring authorized William Dean, director of the NRC’s Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, to grant the operating license once TVA met all of its regulatory requirements. The last nuclear unit to get an operating license in the United States was Watts Bar Unit 1 in February 1996.

“This achievement signifies more than a stage in construction for TVA,” President and CEO Bill Johnson said. “It demonstrates to the people of the Valley that we have taken every step possible to deliver low cost, carbon-free electricity safely and with the highest quality.”

Construction of both units at Watts Bar began in January 1973, but work was suspended in 1988 when TVA halted its entire nuclear program due to safety concerns. Watts Bar Unit 1 was finished and licensed in 1996, and work on Watts Bar Unit 2 was restarted in 2007.

Horry Clap. How on earth did Obama’s EPA let this one slip through the cracks??

Unit 2 (and the currently operational Unit 1) are both Gen II four-loop pressurized water reactors, built by Westinghouse. Generally, Gen II reactors are distinct from more modern Gen III reactors in that Gen III offers improved safety, increased efficiency, and simpler, more reliable designs. For example, four reactors based on the more modern Gen III design, known as AP1000, are currently being built in the U.S. Compared to a Westinghouse Gen II PWR, the AP1000 contains 50 percent fewer safety-related valves, 35 percent fewer pumps, 80 percent less safety-related piping, 85 percent less control cabling, and 45 percent less seismic building volume.

While some media sources try to subtly stoke your unease by implying that the new reactor is out of date and therefore unsafe, keep in mind two things. One, that the original design was approved more than 40 years ago. Shifting over to a new Gen III design would mean that the entire development, inspection, and permitting process would have to begin anew, which could take several decades. Two, the reactor next to it, Unit 1, is also a Gen II design and has been chugging away for decades. So has nearly every other nuclear generator in the nation.

And of course there are those who object to the utility company running a little side business with the government. No, not cooking up plutonium for bombs. Just tritium for gun sights. Because we can’t use all that terrible radium like we used to in the 50s and 60s ...

TVA’s production of a key nuclear weapons component at its Watts Bar Nuclear Plant is expected to boost tritium levels within the plant above its prescribed limits this year even before the utility decides whether to more than double its production of the radioactive material.
...
In a letter sent to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and released this week, TVA says it expects its production of a bomb material for the military will boost tritium levels within the reactor core above the authorized annual levels sometime later this year. But J.W. Shea, vice president of nuclear licensing for TVA, said the release will not exceed any allowable levels for releases outside of the plant or pose any threat to TVA employees.

“There continues to be no significant radiological environmental effect associated with the Tritium Production Program,” Shea said in a letter to the NRC. “TVA has not, nor do they believe they will, exceed any regulatory limits for tritium release into the environment.”

But the notice of higher tritium releases within the plant’s containment system comes as TVA considers plans to more than double its production of tritium for the military. TVA is completing an environmental review of the impacts of producing more tritium for the military at Watts Bar.

Ok, they use tritium in H-bombs too. But it’s a second or third level catalyst or something like that. It ain’t the part that really goes boom.

So one new “old school” reactor coming soon, 4 new “modern” ones on the way. So five new nukes coming in the next decade? Awesome. That’s nearly 5% of the number we actually need.

Jenkinsville SC - Virgil C. Summer Nuclear Generating Station - 2 new units under construction, both Gen III designs, 1.1gW each, online before 2020
Waynesboro GA - Vogtle Electric Generating Plant - 2 new units under construction, both Gen III designs, 1.1gW each, construction began 2013

Click here for more on those projects.

Posted by Drew458     on 10/25/2015 at 09:14 AM   
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   Sunday - August 02, 2015

Still Waiting

Hey, remember early this Spring, when the price of gas dropped like a rock for a few weeks, and you could actually get a tank or two of regular for $1.89/gallon? That was because the price of crude dropped below $50/bbl. Then the oil price rose again, and we heard about scheduled maintenance, and the usual seasonal BS about switching from winter blend to summer blend, even though the switch is actually done in mid-May, not early April.

Right. But crude for under $50, right? You mean, like right now?

Ok. Gas prices have dropped a bit here, from around $2.69 to about $2.39 for a gallon of regular. But they’re not dropping anywhere near as fast nor as far as they did in the Spring, when crude actually cost a bit more.

Why? Who knows? Which crock of crap would you like to hear this time?

Follow this link for a whole basket full of well reasoned petro-bromides, none of which I believe for a second. The price of gas isn’t falling because they’ve got you by the shorties, and you’ll pay. Period. So take a spoonful of petro-bismol and shut up.

Oh, and have you noticed that it’s only Regular (which is the 87 octane crap they used to call Economy, but worse; at least old school Economy gave you 87 octane from gasoline. Today’s “87 octane” “Regular” derives at least 5 points from all the ethanol in it [damn you Booosh!!], so the gasoline part of it is utter piss) 87 octane gas that’s cheap? Step up a miniscule 2 points to 89 octane Plus and the price jumps 15¢. Yikes. It’s only half that to take the next step to 91 octane Super, and another nickel or so to reach lofty 93 octane Premium, which is going for around $2.75 at even the discount stations.

$1.49 for 87, $1.59 for 89, $1.79 for 91, and $1.94 for 93. With no ethanol in any of them.  That’s what gas ought to cost.

UPATE Looks like my crystal ball still works. Headline today at Drudge: Oil Falls Below $50

Oil sinks to six-month low amid weak data, slump in gasoline
Oil sank to six-month lows on Monday with Brent crude falling below $50 a barrel on sluggish U.S. and Chinese economic data and bets for weaker gasoline consumption in the United States after tearaway demand earlier in the summer.

Evidence of growing global oversupply and a stock market collapse in China, the world’s largest energy consumer, have weighed on oil for weeks, leading in July to U.S. crude futures’ largest monthly decline since the 2008 financial crisis.

On Monday, the rout deepened as U.S. gasoline fell its most in a day in 10 months.

Supply worries aside, traders pinned the latest losses on sluggish U.S. and Chinese data.

U.S. consumer spending advanced at its slowest pace in four months in June as demand for automobiles softened. Growth in Chinese manufacturing, meanwhile, unexpectedly stalled in July.

“Economic weakness has set the tone,” said Matt Smith, director of commodity research at ClipperData, a New York-based energy database.

“But the gasoline crack spread is also unraveling,” Smith said, referring to the difference between gasoline and U.S. crude prices, which sets the profit margin for refiners.

Brent , the global benchmark for crude, was down $2.35, or 4.5 percent, at $49.86 a barrel by 2:05 p.m. EDT. Brent’s session bottom of $49.52 was the lowest since Jan. 30.

U.S. crude was down $1.75, or 3.7 percent, $45.37.
...
Gasoline fell about 5 percent, its most in a day since Sept. 2. The gasoline crack, or spread with U.S. crude , narrowed to below $26, its lowest in more than a week.

So now we can add “Chinese stock market crash” to the other floaters in the big crock of reasons.

The market is still open so the daily graphs aren’t up yet. But the price is down. Time to start watching the pumps?

Posted by Drew458     on 08/02/2015 at 09:16 PM   
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   Monday - March 16, 2015

As Usual I Don’t Get It

Oil Continues Drop After Hitting Six-Year Low

Oil prices fell 2 percent on Monday, with U.S. crude hitting six-year lows, on signs of higher output in the United States and Libya and a possible nuclear deal that could end sanctions for Iran, allowing more of its oil into the market.

A market data provider estimated a fresh build of more than 3 million barrels at the Cushing, Oklahoma delivery point for U.S. crude futures last week, traders said, adding to worries that stockpiles in the United States could hit record highs for a tenth straight week.

In Libya, output has risen to around 490,000 barrels per day (bpd), double that of a few weeks ago, an industry source said.

The United States and Iran, meanwhile, inched toward a landmark nuclear agreement that would result in the removal of sanctions against Tehran, although differences remained. Iran said it will boost oil exports once the sanctions are lifted.

Brent’s expiring front-month contract closed down $1.23 and went off the board at $53.44 a barrel, hitting a six-week low of $52.50 earlier.

U.S. crude futures settled down 96 cents at $43.88. It had tumbled nearly $2 earlier to a March 2009 low of $42.85. Technical analysts see the next low at $37.

The selloff in crude extended to refined products, with gasoline ending nearly 2 percent down and heating oil about 1 percent lower.

Really? Lowest price in 6 years, and going lower every day?

Then why on earth is the price of gas up 40¢ per gallon from where it was just 5 weeks ago?

Gas dropped below $2 for the first time in ages, then quickly fell to only $1.79 here; in one place local I saw it going for $1.69.  But after a week, it zipped right back up, and has been at $2.19 - $2.39 locally for at least the past 10 days.

And don’t give me that “seasonal changeover” malarky. Not only do the refineries know to the hour when their changeover will take place, the storage tanks are bulging at the seams all over the country. So there is plenty of gas to go around. And I get the feeling that in Spring and Fall, either seasonal blend will work just fine, regardless to what RVP it’s blended to. But far more importantly, the seasonal switch takes place in April to May. Not late February to early March, when Winter could be sticking around for several more weeks.

Whatever. So we get jacked with a price bump twice a year to pay the refineries to do the job they’re already in business to do. Ok, we got the bump early this year, but bump time is over. Now let’s see that gas price drop again. Only this time, with the “lowest prices in 6 years, and still falling” I want to see $1.49 gas.

And I want to see the Republican majority Legislative Branch end the gasahol ethanol “experiment”. We can do it if we need to, but we don’t need to and it artificially raised the price on everything, food included. So no more corn liquor gasoline. That ought to cut another 15¢ off the price. So we could be talking $1.35, but the corn-hole-ahol thing will take a year or two to clear out. But it was stupid, we don’t need it, and we don’t need the inflation that came with it. Time to kill this program stone fucking dead.

And I’d like to see a push back against local, state, and federal governments: On our jobs we swear, not even a fraction of a cent in additional fuel (or usage or mileage or registration or new vehicle) taxes, fines, fees, tolls, penalties, or executive directives for the next 8 years, to get the economy rolling again. Maybe make it 12 years. Even sponsoring such a bill gets you fired. Signing it gets you fired and costs you every cent of your pension, health insurance, and every other government goody out there.  They have no sacred honor, so make them pledge their wallets. All newly elected representatives required to sign or they vacate their position immediately. Oh, and issue a new “EPA mandate” setting more realistic MPG goals; the ones Osockspooge came up with are asinine greenie wet dreams. Time for a smack down.

Posted by Drew458     on 03/16/2015 at 09:34 PM   
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   Wednesday - January 14, 2015

Obama Slams EPA Brakes On Recovering Economy?

The Obama administration pushed new regulations Wednesday aimed at cutting methane emissions from the natural gas sector, calling the proposed rules a needed step to address global warming as industry groups warned the move would threaten “America’s energy renaissance.”

Relying once again on the Clean Air Act, the rules—the first of their kind—join a host of others that President Obama has ordered in an effort to slow global warming despite opposition in Congress that has only hardened since the midterm elections.

Although just a sliver of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, methane is more powerful than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere.

The White House set a new target for the U.S. to cut methane emissions by 40 percent to 45 percent by 2025, compared with 2012 levels. To meet that goal, the Environmental Protection Agency will issue a proposal affecting oil and gas production, while the Interior Department will update its standards for drilling to reduce leakage from wells on public lands.

The American Petroleum Institute, which represents the oil and gas industry, decried the proposal—questioning why the government would seek new rules when methane emissions have fallen.

“Even with that knowledge, the White House has singled out oil and natural gas for regulation,” API President Jack Gerard said in a statement.

He predicted emissions would continue to fall without government intervention, but said, “another layer of burdensome requirements could actually slow down industry progress to reduce methane emissions.”

Further, he said new regulations “could threaten the shale energy revolution.”

“We need our government to implement sound policies, but this plan seems to be based on politics,” Gerard said.

Yeah, well, no kidding. Even when the economy had the audacity to start to heal, all based on the success of the petro industry DESPITE all this regime’s new rules and regulations and refusal to allow use of federal land, refusal to sign Keystone XL, and so on, now that gas is getting close to being affordable once again for the first time in ages and ages, now the leftist tree humper wants to throw another big speed bump in the way, to take away any hope we might finally have a bit of positive change? Because of Global Warming? As another polar vortex grips the nation for another winter, and snow falls in Saudi Arabia for the 3rd year in a row? That one? The one that doesn’t friggin’ exist?

How much is it going to take to throw this bum out?

Do I need to ask, whose side is this guy on?

The oil and gas industry has insisted such rules aren’t necessary because the industry is already working to reduce methane leakage. After all, methane is natural gas, so the less that leaks during production, the more of it that companies have left to sell.

“We’re doing a good job,” said Howard Feldman, the regulatory director at the American Petroleum Institute. He noted that existing pollution rules on smog-forming pollutants have had the added benefit of cutting methane. “We don’t think it’s necessary to go after methane in any way, shape or form.”

Well duh. Like business is going to just piss away income that they have the ability to collect? So they need new rules to stop them? What kind of commie thinking is that?

Posted by Drew458     on 01/14/2015 at 03:02 PM   
Filed Under: • Economics • Obama, The One • Oil, Alternative Energy, and Gas Prices •  
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   Tuesday - January 13, 2015

wrong, baby, wrong

Back when gas topped $4 a gallon, Republicans chanted “drill, baby, drill” at rallies across the country—arguing more domestic drilling would increase supplies, reduce dependence on foreign oil and boost the U.S. economy.

Democrats, almost universally, mocked the GOP plan. In 2012, President Obama called it “a slogan, a gimmick, and a bumper sticker ... not a strategy.”

“They were waving their three-point plans for $2-a-gallon gas,” Obama told a laughing audience during an energy speech in Washington. “You remember that? Drill, baby, drill. We were going through all that. And none of it was really going to do anything to solve the problem.”

“‘Drill, baby, drill’ won’t lower gas prices today or tomorrow,” Rep. Janice Hahn, D-Calif., echoed on the floor of Congress in 2012. “But it will fuel our addiction to fossil fuel.”

Today, Democrats are singing a different tune, as increased domestic drilling has led to a record supply of domestic crude, put some $100 billion into the pockets of U.S. consumers and sent world oil prices tumbling.

The price of a gallon of regular gasoline on Monday was $2.13 nationwide, and below $2 in 18 states.

“Of course [Obama] was wrong. We’ve seen oil prices fall internationally now by half since last June,” said American Enterprise Institute economist Ben Zycher. “The U.S. is now the biggest oil and gas producer in the world, or almost that, and the effect has been to drive prices down as we’ve seen.”

Most of the domestic increase is due to “fracking” for tight oil in shale deposits across the U.S., as well as advances in directional drilling, where numerous pipelines diverge from a single platform in numerous directions, for a large cost savings.

But the gains, according to oil experts, come off private, not federal, lands.

Oil production on federal lands—those under the president’s control—fell 6 percent since 2009, according to the federal Energy Information Administration, while production on private lands increased 61 percent.

Democrats. Wrong on foreign policy. Wrong on domestic policy. Wrong on big government. Wrong on taxation. Wrong on damn near everything. As usual.

Oh, and BTW ... gas prices are dropping like a rock in the UK too. Petrol has hit 99P ... which is something like a buck fifty PER LITER, which works out to $5.70 US dollars per American gallon. And they think that’s cheap.

A new petrol price war erupted yesterday on the back of falling oil prices and the first 99p per litre forecourt in Britain for more than five years.

Asda sparked a 2p per litre price cut as the three other ‘Big Four’ supermarkets - Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Tesco – swiftly followed suit.

Price cuts will ‘ripple’ through the nation’s forecourts by putting pressure on other retailers to match them or lose business.

But it also led to calls for the Chancellor to cut fuel tax which now accounts for more than 70p in every pound spent at the pumps – the highest proportion for six years.

Obviously too many Democrats and other thud-brained leftists over there as well.

Posted by Drew458     on 01/13/2015 at 10:10 AM   
Filed Under: • Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat Leftists • Obama, The One • Oil, Alternative Energy, and Gas Prices •  
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   Thursday - January 08, 2015

frozen in place, all fracked up

Crivens, it’s COLD. Brrrr.

Must get going anyway. Things to do. Places to be. Shopping. Food. Bank. Gas. Stuff.

Gasoline has gone down in price here again, and is now hovering just over $2/gallon locally. I LOVE IT. I was actually expecting it to break $2 by the end of 2014, but no big deal if I’m off a week or three.

On that note - cheap gas - here’s the next FACE OF FEAR: fracking causes earthquakes.  We. Are. All. Gonna. Die!!! 

That’s right, the technology that’s literally opened up an entire world of recoverable energy is going to destroy the planet. Odd how the last 50 years of fracking haven’t done a thing, or how the mid-American plate area has had some amazing earthquakes in the past - fer instance, the New Madrid quakes of 1811/12 where more than 14,000 tremors rocked the land for months - but hey, no matter, why should we let facts get in the way?

And now it’s literally the end of the world, with a massive bottomless pit opening up in YouCan’tGetHereSki Russia, caused by Satan’s Double Whammy Combination of fracking and global warming. Seriously, I can’t make this stuff up.

http://grist.org/news/fracking-is-definitely-causing-earthquakes-another-study-confirms/
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usc000tcfw#summary

As is the case elsewhere in the world, there is evidence that some central and eastern North America earthquakes have been triggered or caused by human activities that have altered the stress conditions in earth’s crust sufficiently to induce faulting. Activities that have induced felt earthquakes in some geologic environments have included impoundment of water behind dams, injection of fluid into the earth’s crust, extraction of fluid or gas, and removal of rock in mining or quarrying operations. In much of eastern and central North America, the number of earthquakes suspected of having been induced is much smaller than the number of natural earthquakes, but in some regions, such as the south-central states of the U.S., a significant majority of recent earthquakes are thought by many seismologists to have been human-induced.

So here we go again. Hey, what if we sacrificed eggs, salt, gluten, trans-fat, and the term “epic” to the earthquake goddess? Would that save us?

Posted by Drew458     on 01/08/2015 at 11:10 AM   
Filed Under: • Oil, Alternative Energy, and Gas Prices •  
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   Thursday - December 11, 2014

A Moderate Muslim Speaks

Daniel Pipes: An Arab prince denounces Islamism

[ Sort of. Mostly. ]

In a remarkable but thus-far unnoticed address on Dec. 5, Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, the crown prince of Bahrain (an island kingdom in the Persian Gulf and home to the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet), candidly analyzed the Islamist enemy and suggested important ways to fight it.

Prince Salman, 45 and widely acknowledged to be the Bahraini royal family’s principal reformer, opens his remarks by addressing the inaccuracy of the phrase, “War on Terror.” The time has come, he says “for us to get rid of” a term that dates back to 9/11. “It is a bit misleading, it is not the entirety and the totality of our conflict” but merely a “tool” and a tactic.

He goes on in flawless English [ Pipes, you RAYCIS bastard! ] to place the current conflict in historical context: “If I think back in the last century, we faced a very different foe. We faced communism and we faced it together. But when we faced communism we understood it as an ideology. Terrorism is not an ideology.”

He notes that “we are not only fighting terrorists, we are fighting theocrats.” As Salman uses this term, theocrats are men “placed at the top of a religious ideology who [have] the power by religious edict to strip someone … of their hereafter – and use [religious power] for political gains.” They are also tyrants, isolationists, and misogynists who will need to be fought “for a very long time.” He scorns them for being “very much like the seventeenth century” and having “no place in our modern twenty-first” century.

He urges us “to discard the term ‘War on Terror’ and focus instead on the real threat, which is the rise of these evil theocracies”; to this end, he proposes to replace “War on Terror” with his formulation: a “War on Theocrats.” This concept, he hopes, will make it possible to “start to put together the military, social, and political – and maybe even economic – policies in a holistic manner to counter this, as we did with communism.” In perhaps the outstanding line of the speech, he states that “it is the ideology itself that must be combatted. It must be named, it must be shamed, it must be contained, and eventually it must be defeated.”

Read the rest to see how he dithers and avoids “saying the ‘I word’ “, and also the interesting news that the UAE (United Arab Emirates, a country over there) has just placed CAIR (the American group Council on American-Islamic Relations) on it’s list of terrorist organizations. Dig that. A group of Arabs is calling a spade a spade, and labeling an American PAC a terrorist group. Damn straight, Skippy!

Meanwhile, perhaps coincidentally, the khanjars are out, as the OPEC states continue their backstabbing game of “Et tu, Achmed”:

Oil prices plummet worldwide as OPEC infighting intensifies
Open sniping between leading members of OPEC put new downward pressure on oil prices, with the price of benchmark U.S. crude falling another 5 percent, or $3.07, to $60.75 a barrel in trading Wednesday. Oil prices, which topped $107 this summer, have now fallen more than 40 percent since June.
...
In a clear dig at global leader Saudi Arabia, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani Wednesday angrily denounced what he called a “conspiracy against the Muslim world” in the cartel’s failure to cut back production even as prices have plunged. With far lower production costs, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf producers can still turn a healthy profit even at today’s current depressed prices, while higher-priced producers such as Iran, Venezuela and Russia cannot.

Many in Iran, a Shiite-dominated regime, see the oil price fall as an extension of the battle for influence in the region with Saudi Arabia and its Sunni allies in the region.

“The fall in crude price is not merely an economic issue,” Mr. Rouhani told reporters in Tehran. “Iran and people of the region will not forget such conspiracies — or, in other words, treachery — against the interests of the Muslim world.”

A top Iranian oil official on Tuesday warned an industry conference in Dubai that unless leading producers can find common ground, the world could be looking at prices as low as $40 a barrel in the coming months.

Works for me. Both parts. It IS a crusade, and the price of oil can’t drop fast enough or far enough in my opinion. Winter is upon us, and people need fuel oil at a good price. Plus, cheap gasoline and diesel will get the economy rolling again. Literally. Gas is now $2.49 or less around here, at just about every gas station in 3 counties. Good. That makes it only $1/g more expensive than it should be. Get the price down to $20/bbl so that only the Saudis are pumping, then suck them dry.

Posted by Drew458     on 12/11/2014 at 10:03 AM   
Filed Under: • Oil, Alternative Energy, and Gas Prices • RoPMA • War On Terror •  
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   Thursday - December 04, 2014

Cheaper By The Day

A gas station in Oklahoma City has won the race to $2 gas.

GasBuddy.com said Wednesday an OnCue Express in Oklahoma City dropped its price 12 cents to $1.99 a gallon, becoming the first U.S. station to charge less than $2 a gallon since July 2010.

In a post on GasBuddy’s website, senior petroleum analyst Patrick DeHaan said drivers in Texas, South Carolina and Missouri may soon see $2 gas as well. Areas near Houston, Spartanburg and St. Louis are currently the lone metro areas within 20 cents of reaching the milestone.

Gas prices have rapidly declined in recent months, following in the footsteps of a selloff in oil. On Wednesday, West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures recovered 50 cents to settle at $67.38 a barrel, but New York Harbor gasoline dropped to a five-year low of roughly $1.80 a gallon.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Americans are paying an average of $2.74 per gallon, 51 cents cheaper than a year earlier.

Posted by Drew458     on 12/04/2014 at 09:07 AM   
Filed Under: • Oil, Alternative Energy, and Gas Prices •  
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   Saturday - November 01, 2014

Middle of the Night posts: Gas is Cheap

Man oh man, you know we’ve been living with over the top prices for too long, when the price of gas finally drops to merely only a dollar a gallon more than what it ought to cost, and the news articles are asking “What does this mean?” Well, to be short, and crude, it means the trickle down has gone down your leg and is forming a puddle on the floor. In terms of world economics.

Around our end of Hunterdon County, and up into Warren County, regular gas, cash price, around $2.69/gal now. That’s down $0.06 since last week, but a month ago it was over $3, and hadn’t been below that since ... forever? Since Bush? Seems like.

( I don’t know about you, but my car runs like crap on milk. )

NEW YORK – The sight is so surprising that Americans are sharing photos of it, along with all those cute Halloween costumes, sweeping vistas and special meals: The gas station sign, with a price of $2-something a gallon. [ really? Those New Yorkers must be visiting New Jersey. NY’s 75¢/gal tax will keep their gas way over $3 for a long time to come. What cracks me up is that if the price really bottoms, and the rest of us are paying $1.50, NY gas will still be >$2, and the people just might realize for once how seriously their state is sticking it to them at the pump; at that price, the state tax is a solid third of the pump price. Add in the fed tax, and we’re looking at just about half. Sucks, huh? ]

“It’s stunning what’s happening here,” says Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service. “I’m a little bit shocked.”

The national average price of gasoline has fallen 33 cents in October, landing Friday at $3.00, according to AAA. Kloza said the average will fall under $3 by early Saturday morning for the first time in four years.

When the national average crossed above $3 a gallon in December of 2010, drivers weren’t sure they’d ever see $2.99 again. Global demand for oil and gasoline was rising as people in developing countries bought cars by the tens of millions and turmoil was brewing in the oil-rich Middle East.

Now demand isn’t rising as fast as expected, drillers have learned to tap vast new sources of oil, particularly in the U.S., and crude continues to flow out of the Middle East.

Seasonal swings and other factors will likely send gas back over $3 sooner than drivers would like, but the U.S. is on track for the lowest annual average since 2010 — and the 2015 average is expected to be lower even still.

Here are a few things to know about cheap gas:

— Crude prices came off the boil. Oil fell from $107 a barrel in June to near $81 because there’s a lot of supply and weak demand. U.S. output has increased 70 percent since 2008, and supplies from Iraq and Canada have also increased. At the same time, demand is weaker than expected because of a sluggish global economy.

— In the past, a stronger economy in the U.S., the world’s biggest consumer of oil and gasoline, typically meant rising fuel demand. No longer. Americans are driving more efficient vehicles and our driving habits are changing. Michael Sivak of the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute calculates that the number of miles traveled per household and gallons of fuel consumed per household peaked in 2004.

The article goes on further, but those first two points cover it:

* Despite all of Obola’s efforts to stop drilling and fracking, US oil companies are tapping into massive quantities of new hydrocarbons. And while this is great, and where the energy stimulus money OUGHT to have gone (new refineries, Keystone XL, etc) to make America stronger, right now Obamanomics (tax and spend, borrow and waste, steal and bloat) is helping flatline the whole world.

* While some of us do have newer, more fuel efficient vehicles, a huge number of us no longer have jobs, or the Big Career job that was worth the Big Commute. The Walmart is right here on the other side of town, within bicycle distance if the weather isn’t too bad. Did you want paper or plastic?

Oh, and milk? Beats me. It’s 4 in the morning. Go read the article. Milk prices suck, having tripled in teh past 5 years I think. She-it, a friggin’ quart here costs $1.99 I think. If I don’t think about it, my brain wants to tell me that milk costs $2.49/gal. And I know that’s a few years out of date.

Gasoline is cheaper than milk again. In September the national average price of milk was $3.73 per gallon. The annual average for milk is on track to be more expensive than the annual average for gasoline for the first time since 2011.

Fine. What-evs. I can remember milk at 79¢/gal, but that’s ancient. I know that $15 used to fill up my 1997 Saturn’s 12 gallon tank at some point, and that was with real gasoline, not this wimped out ethanol added crap. But I’ll get on board here: let’s get gas down to $1.29/gal. And milk back to $1.49. Because honestly, only cheap food, cheap fuel, and lower taxes are going to get the economic fires burning again.

Posted by Drew458     on 11/01/2014 at 02:53 AM   
Filed Under: • Economics • Inflation and High Prices • Oil, Alternative Energy, and Gas Prices •  
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