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  #1  
Old 06-18-2007, 09:48 AM
NC Benz's Avatar
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OPEC getting uncomfortable with all of this talk about atlernative fuels.

I believe this is on topic here... mainly towards the biodiesel and WVO folks....

http://www.axcessnews.com/index.php/articles/show/id/11300



Here are a couple of choice quotes:

"We have great concerns about this ... about policies which discriminate against oil"
DISCRIMINATE??!!?

"
OPEC is growing uncomfortable with all of the global criticism toward oil and talk of alternative fuels..."

All that comes to mind is...... payback.... what fun!
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  #2  
Old 06-18-2007, 09:49 AM
Gene
 
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Exactly!
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  #3  
Old 06-18-2007, 09:51 AM
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Policies which encourage the use of biofuels aren't what they're worried about. Its the scientifically unfounded policies which critisise oil producers as somehow being responsible for anthropogenic climate change that they're rightly worried about.

Oil is the lifeblood of the civilised world. People would do well to remember that you can't have progress without it.
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  #4  
Old 06-18-2007, 09:55 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Parrot of Doom View Post
Policies which encourage the use of biofuels aren't what they're worried about. Its the scientifically unfounded policies which critisise oil producers as somehow being responsible for anthropogenic climate change that they're rightly worried about.

Oil is the lifeblood of the civilised world. People would do well to remember that you can't have progress without it.
No doubt, but if I can in my own little way make them worry a tad bit more, I will sleep much better at night.
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  #5  
Old 06-18-2007, 11:22 AM
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It's good for them. The oil companies have pretty much had a monopoly on the fuel market since the get go. Henry Ford's first car was built to run on ethanol, and Rudolph Diesel's first diesel was built to run on peanut oil. But petro fuels became so much cheaper then that the switch was made to gasoline and diesel. The oil companies have had the corner on the market for nearly 100 years. Now they are starting to get some competition from some cleaner burning fuels and they start whining. Maybe they should have started thinking about the days when oil would become too expensive and/or hard to find, and start looking into alternative fuel options. Gasoline here a few weeks ago was more than $3.30/gallon. While biodiesel was just under $3.30/gallon. Makes the ol' biodiesel look a lot more appitizing to people. People are cheapskates, they tend to buy what is cheapest when it comes to fuel. If biodiesel and ethanol become cheaper then people are going to start wanting to use that instead of gas and diesel. Apparently there are enough people that believe the global warming story that they want to start using cleaner burning fuels, maybe the big oil companies need to shift gears, before they become obsolete
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  #6  
Old 06-18-2007, 12:43 PM
Gene
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Biodiesel300TD View Post
, maybe the big oil companies need to shift gears, before they become obsolete
In 20 years, ADM will be as big of a fuel supplier as XOM here in the US I reckon.

I have no friggin' problem empowering American agriculture at the expense of foreign shieks. In fact, I wish we'd speed it up. Let the Chinese be the arbiters of Middle East Peace, so they can pay with body count for the oil.
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  #7  
Old 06-18-2007, 02:24 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Biodiesel300TD View Post
Apparently there are enough people that believe the global warming story that they want to start using cleaner burning fuels, maybe the big oil companies need to shift gears, before they become obsolete
If they don't sell it to us here with our emissions standards, they'll sell it in other countries that don't have them or are no where near as stringent. Until the last drop is sucked out of the ground there will be a buyer for it. And most likely it will be a Kyoto-exempt Third World or Emerging economy with few, if any, clean air/emissions laws.
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  #8  
Old 06-18-2007, 03:22 PM
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Big Oil will have no problems in the transition. They will simply invest in, or partner with, biofuel companies and the like, and reinvent themselves as the 'clean energy people'.
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  #9  
Old 06-20-2007, 10:56 PM
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What you said doesn't make sense. Its like saying the car companies had a monopoly on the automobile market. duh! Thats the definition...

Oil *is* hard and expensive to find. All the big new pools are in regions of political instability and dangerous/hard environments. The good old days of West texas crude supporting America are over.



Quote:
Originally Posted by Biodiesel300TD View Post
It's good for them. The oil companies have pretty much had a monopoly on the fuel market since the get go. Henry Ford's first car was built to run on ethanol, and Rudolph Diesel's first diesel was built to run on peanut oil. But petro fuels became so much cheaper then that the switch was made to gasoline and diesel. The oil companies have had the corner on the market for nearly 100 years. Now they are starting to get some competition from some cleaner burning fuels and they start whining. Maybe they should have started thinking about the days when oil would become too expensive and/or hard to find, and start looking into alternative fuel options. Gasoline here a few weeks ago was more than $3.30/gallon. While biodiesel was just under $3.30/gallon. Makes the ol' biodiesel look a lot more appitizing to people. People are cheapskates, they tend to buy what is cheapest when it comes to fuel. If biodiesel and ethanol become cheaper then people are going to start wanting to use that instead of gas and diesel. Apparently there are enough people that believe the global warming story that they want to start using cleaner burning fuels, maybe the big oil companies need to shift gears, before they become obsolete
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  #10  
Old 06-18-2007, 12:47 PM
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kick em while they are down.. kick em
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  #11  
Old 06-18-2007, 01:08 PM
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I don't think they are too worried. Anyone get the Q2 profit reports from say Exxon/ Mobil yet?
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  #12  
Old 06-18-2007, 08:30 PM
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The article mentioned that Petrobras was thinking about exporting ethanol to other countries. What I wish they would've mentioned is the fact that Brazil no longer needs to import any crude oil. They use alot of ethanol powered vehicles (and maybe powerplants too - don't know) and whatever demand they have for crude, they can meet with their own wells.
That is a scenario that I would like to see here - not so much to prevent global warming....more so, for independence on others.

If OPEC were smart, they might consider aiding with research to help make gasoline and diesel powered vehicles more economical - this way, they can keep us dependent on their fuel, because once again, we'd be reluctant to explore alternative fuels, because they would not be worth the expense; especially if they should sell their crude a little cheaper -or- the available refined fuel finally meets and slightly surpasses demand.

Until demand is lower than the supply, we will continue to have high fuel prices. There is no magic in this - the oil companies have announced that they will not increase production capacity as much as they first said they would (no big surprise there). Some bean counter figured out that if they increased capacity past a certain point, the record profits would fade away - stockholders will not allow such a thing.

Which brings me to a side thought on oil stock holders....One the one hand, if I were to hold oil stocks, I'd be happy with the nice dividends and record profits wouldn't bother me. I can see the benefit of owning oil stocks very clearly. On the other hand, it is oil stock holders, demanding better and better returns, that are in part, indirectly responsible for those record profits - they demanded them, and Exxon put out. The only slight satisfaction I get out of this, is that Exxon (and their brethren) are a bunch of whores, and the stockholders their pimps; while we continue to pay and pay for the same old same old.
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  #13  
Old 06-18-2007, 08:45 PM
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Excuse me while I go fill up with some biodiesel
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  #14  
Old 06-19-2007, 09:44 PM
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There really isn't excess capacity to create Ethanol fuel in the US. Or at least a corn based solution is impossible. The death of MTBE has sharply raised prices for consumer as corn is now going into Ethanol production corn that otherwise would be used in food products (much of our synth food is built with corn... its heavily subsidized thus cheep and available but its built on the last two being true upset the cart and you have a problem.) Further price increases are untenable at a consumer level. Also the investment return is debatable... how much energy goes into creating that barrel of ethanol? Sugar cane is great source and does work well... corn not so readily.
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  #15  
Old 06-19-2007, 10:20 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EliotW View Post
how much energy goes into creating that barrel of ethanol?
As I read it from someone who posted here, the energy gained was about the same as what was put in
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