Scientists Confirm U.S. Has World’s Biggest Oil Reserves

reply to post by nixie_nox

the part I couldn't fit.

# 213 Niue: 20 bbl/day 2006
Total: 85,085,664 bbl/day
Weighted average: 399,463.2 bbl/day


The world uses 399,463 BILLION barrels of oil, a DAY.

wow

reply to post by AshleyD


I think you have an interesting point Ash, but people forget that oil was already discovered in the US.

Oil was in use, but very expensive because it was hard to get, so it hadn't revolutionized things yet.
There is much debate over who first produced it, the Chinese discovered it frist(of course) 2500 years ago.but credit for the first oil rig goes to Pennyslvania, though some historians contest it and say it is West Virginia, or even China for using a bamboo stick. Though I don't think a bamboo stick was that productive.

Don't know whether to love or hate the guy. But I guess it was bound to be produced anyways. But if people were not addicted yet, I wonder what would of developed.

The most important oil well ever drilled was in the middle of quiet farm country in northwestern Pennsylvania in 1859. For this was one of the first successful oil wells that was drilled for the sole purpose of finding oil. Known as the Drake Well, after "Colonel" Edwin Drake, the man responsible for the well, it began an international search for petroleum, and in many ways eventually changed the way we live.

link

As usual, the guy died broke.

He never patented it. If he has any successors, I wonder if they curse his name every day?

Drake did not possess the good business acumen that his "followers" did. He failed to patent his drilling invention, so he never collected royalties from future wells using it. Then he lost all of his savings in oil speculation in 1863. In 1872, the State of Pennsylvania granted him an annuity of $1,500. Edwin Drake died in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on November 8, 1880.

link

And the oil didn't last long.

Nestled quietly in the rolling hills of Venango County in Northwest Pennsylvania is Pithole, a ghost town located just of Rt. 227 between the small towns of Pleasantville and Plumer. During the oil boom of the late 1860's Pithole City was a rather large boom town. As a matter of fact America’s largest boom town. Oil was first discovered at Pithole in January of 1865, just six years after Colonel Edwin Drake discovered oil near Titusville, which is about 15 miles northwest. By September of the same year, Pithole had grown from a lowly farming area to a boom town of 15,000 people. This entire area is considered the birthplace of the oil industry. Oil wells popped up on every piece of land for miles, while some did not produce much oil, many did. As a matter of fact, there were several small towns that sprang from this oil boom, although most of them are still here. By January of 1866, Pithole was vanishing. Fires, and over drilling for oil caused money to run out and oil to dry up. People started moving on to bigger and better things.

this article is an interesting read.

The city where the oil was discovered is now a ghost town.
link


I think most of the US is like that. Periodic pockets but nothing substantial.




[edit on 9-7-2009 by nixie_nox]

From my understanding, Canada has the most oil reserves in the world, but it is is in oil sands, which will be far more expensive to refine.

www.gasandoil.com...

15-01-02 The worlds largest oil reserve is not lying under Saudi Arabian deserts or under the sea, it is clinging to grains of sand in the Canadian boreal forest of Northern Alberta. Between 1.7 tn and 2.5 tn barrels of crude oil, 300 bn of which are expected to be recoverable, are spread like topsoil across thousands of sq km of Alberta forest and tundra.
And thanks to new technology being developed by many large oil groups, it may offer a seemingly limitless supply of North American petroleum products with the scoop of a steam shovel. "Alberta is in a very enviable position to supply its own needs and those of its trading partners over the next 50-100 years," Murray Smith, Albertas Minister of Energy said ahead of his speech to a conference on North American energy in Washington.

Peak oil production for crude oil and condensates remains at May 2005, other sources peaked in 2008. Certainly demand is down from 2008, but that doesn't explain the failure to increase production of crude oil.

See the chart at the bottom of this page.

www.theoildrum.com...

Originally posted by tothetenthpower
Because drilling for oil is stupid and we have other alternative means of getting energy.

That and it would take 10 years for the construction and processing of that oil to take effect for it to be usable.

By that time Oil will have become the energy of the past.

It's no longer a viable option to keep drilling for a substance that is both harmfull and a key money maker for those in power.

Long live sustainable energy, screw oil.

~Keeper

THIS!

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, THIS!

Two things I want to point out about the extraction of crude oil.

First, the idea that it would take ten years to take advantage of a new oil find is a fallacy. If it really took that long, then the oil industry would have gone under decades ago. The truth is that a mobile drilling rig can be transported to a location on about 5 semi trailers, put together in about a week and begin drilling about a day later. This is how most current oil fields work. Gone are the days of fields of oil rigs drilling over a large area. Most oil fields consist of half a dozen rigs being moved from site to site over a large area. The actual impact of these rigs is quite small. You don't have massive oil slicks when they actually strike oil (who would want to waste that much oil?) nor do you have rusted hulks left behind when they move on now. You have a small area, less than half an acre, that is utilized by the rig crew and equipment.

The second reason that this would not take 10 years is that most oil extracted from fields is pumped out via tanker truck. These trucks haul the crude to pumping stations where it is piped to refineries. In a pinch, many of these trucks can take the oil directly to the refinery.

Thus, with this bit of knowledge, it would take maybe a few months to get production going in some of these oil fields. Not 10 years.

Now, I will concede that some of the oil that is locked up in oil sands and shale would be harder to extract and may take longer to see a return on. I can even see a number like 10 years to reach peak production, but the idea that no oil will be produced for 10 years is a bit of a stretch.

On a side note, I do believe that we need to focus on alternate energy instead of oil. The problem is that any alternate technology will take much longer than 10 years from current technology to get to the point where it can replace oil as a primary source. The exception is natural Gas, of which the US DOES have the largest reserve in the world. It burns cleaner than other fossil fuels and produces almost as much energy per pound as does oil gases. Of course, there is very little being done to make this source more available. It could very easily replace fuel oil for heating homes in the Northeastern US (Most of the rest of the country already uses it guys) and can be made available for use in automobiles just as easily. In fact, most current engines could handle burning it quite well.

Some of guys don't know anything about oil. US has one of the largest oil reserves in the world, but refuses to drill eventhough there is no such thing is peek oil. They buy oil from other countries to help them financially (money isn't a issue to a country that prints it's own money), in return they invest back in the US economy. That's why our economy is the greatest until recently the elite decided to destroy the economy in return would hurt Russia/China pack more than the US.

That's why oil prices are so low compare to a few years ago. US is hurting Russia oil profit financially. This is how the USSR went bankrupt in the past. History repeats itself.

As I remember, it only cost $5 to pump a barrel of oil out of the ground. The rest is profit or use to pay off some people.

You people have been scammed. Fossil fuel is the biggest lie. Oil is produce natural by the churning core of the earth, it would last us forever.

[edit on 18-7-2009 by amfirst]

reply to post by amfirst


Really? Where are these massive reserves?

The U.S. has a lot of small pockets of oil, which are more expensive to tap, and transport, because the costs to set up are higher because these drilling rigs have to be moved everytime an oil well dries out. Transportation of the oil from the site is also more expensive when the site is only temporary. There are also those times when the amount of oil is very small, or even non-existent, and the set up costs are a loss.

Also, added to the cost of extraction of oil is exploration for oil, then transportation from the source, and refining. In the old days when huge reserves were tapped, costs were way down. Once the oil was found, all that had to be done is keep pumping out of the same location, set up infrastructure to support the site, and the well lasted for years.

Saudi Arabia has been pumping sea water into their wells for over a decade now, and the quality of their crude is dropping quickly. Iran and Iraq peaked over a decade ago. It is twilight in the desert, and there are no more huge reserves like what was discovered in the Middle East.

Anyone claiming that we haven't hit peak oil is ignoring the facts.

Even by the idiot environuts there is enough oil for hundreds of years. So why stop using it now?

Because freedom is fueled by "cheap" energy.

Yeah, we will still have lots of oil, but it will be far more expensive to extract. This means that bio-fuels will be able to compete and out compete. Legalize cannabis, which is a very easy to grow and makes highly efficient diesel fuel, and industry will change drastically forever.

Bye bye big oil.

The truth of the matter is that most of the oil in the US has been found. I grant you that. In the late 1970s, when the price of oil crashed, many, many wells were capped in Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas. These wells are still capped. They were not capped because they produced too little oil to be profitable. They were capped in order to drive the price of oil up.

The US still sets on oil reserves that rival that of the middle east. In addition, we have at least twice the amount of natural gas than the combined gas reserves of all other nations. We have plenty of fossil fuels at our fingertips if we will just open the wells. Of course, the price of oil would drop and that isn't good for business.

Remember, the myth of peak oil is good for business as well so make sure you know who funds anyone who makes claims of peak oil. I think you will find a familiar face there.

Originally posted by soontide
Two things I want to point out about the extraction of crude oil.

First, the idea that it would take ten years to take advantage of a new oil find is a fallacy. If it really took that long, then the oil industry would have gone under decades ago. The truth is that a mobile drilling rig can be transported to a location on about 5 semi trailers, put together in about a week and begin drilling about a day later. This is how most current oil fields work. Gone are the days of fields of oil rigs drilling over a large area. Most oil fields consist of half a dozen rigs being moved from site to site over a large area. The actual impact of these rigs is quite small. You don't have massive oil slicks when they actually strike oil (who would want to waste that much oil?) nor do you have rusted hulks left behind when they move on now. You have a small area, less than half an acre, that is utilized by the rig crew and equipment.

The second reason that this would not take 10 years is that most oil extracted from fields is pumped out via tanker truck. These trucks haul the crude to pumping stations where it is piped to refineries. In a pinch, many of these trucks can take the oil directly to the refinery.

Thus, with this bit of knowledge, it would take maybe a few months to get production going in some of these oil fields. Not 10 years,

You need permits to drill for oil. You need permits to build pipelines.
You need permits to build refineries.(refineries are built to reflect the oil they plan to refine in them. change the grade or type of crude oil and the refinery has to be redesigned and modified) most refineries in the US are built to refine light crud from texas or the middle east. not crude from other areas of the world.
The exceptions are some west coast refineries that take calif heavy crude and alaskan crude and blend it with arab oil to use it in there refineries.

The environmentalist want no more oil use.
They will try to block the drilling, moving and refining of this oil with any means possible including lawsuits.
It will take years (10+) without the politicians just to get the permits.
Throw in the democrats and there global warming scam and likely it will take 30+ years just to get the field into full production if ever.

i caint wait when saudi, the big oil elephant goes dry, then a earthquake hits it and the whole place just sinks into oblivian. hopefully all the big oil peoples and big banks peoples are right there when it happens.. hey, all you filthy rich go to quatar and stay there, maybe you sink into ablivian one day. hey, look on the bright side, the world will be a better place to live in if we get rid of them all sorry greedy people who take , take and take. that is the topic of reality, greedy pigs all over the world. if it is oil, banks,govt, buisnesses, you or anything else. the greedy must be elliminated. so go out peoples and do your american job and take care of the greedy nearest you.

The problem with oil shale is the process of drilling and heating it to produce an oil-like substance. Shale is not the same thing as pure grade petroleum. As of now, the harvesting of shale would not be cost effective.


Oil Shale


[edit on 19-7-2009 by AngelHeart]

reply to post by AshleyD


Living in one of the richer countries of the world seems to bring along bad ethics for the human species across the pond...


It is like living off chocolate cake. You are not starving, but damn that is a bad diet!

Okay, bad analogy, I just like cake.

Anyone claiming that we haven't hit peak oil is ignoring the facts.

"Peak Oil is not only an oil company conspiracy, it is a misunderstanding of economics" - John Perkins

The Peak Oil calculations are based on various unknowns, such as the yet-to-find oil fields and the Total Recoverable Reserves. The biggest unknown of all is where oil comes from, and at what rate it is being produced. However, we call extraction 'production' and ignore the real question of production and bingo, we have a peak oil model.

If oil is being produced at a slower rate than we consume it then we will hit a period of peak oil. If oil is being produced at a faster rate than we consume it then we'll never hit peak oil (assuming we can continue to extract it).

So, regardless of what 'facts' you may wish to cite in favour of the theory of peak oil, it is logically and scientifically unknown, and possibly unknowable.

reply to post by Vinciguerra


Sorry, but wrong. Oil production is dropping, and the high quality crude production has been dropping since 2005. 2005 was peak oil. They managed to squeeze a bit more into the supply line until 2007, but it was all from lower grade crude, that wouldn't hardly sale in years past. These fact are well known, not disputable.

What is even more indisputable is that oil well discoveries of large finds has gone away. It has been a while since a significant oil reserve has been found, and the number of finds have been very few for half a century now. Those major finds were not nearly as big as discoveries in the past.. By far, the largest portion of the worlds oil has came from major finds, specifically the Middle East.

Texas and those areas dried up long ago. The Gulf of Mexico is drying up, the North Sea, and the Middle East is drying up. All these wells they are tapping now weren't profitable to tap in the past, and they will not last that long.

These are the facts, you can look them up yourself.

reply to post by nixie_nox


Sorry Nixie Nox and the rest of you, but you have your figures incorrect as to the amount of barrels of oil used per day.

The correct figure of Barrels of Oil used per day is approximately 86 Million Barrels of Oil per Day.

Not as you have stated Nixie Nox:

Quote of Nixie Nox:
"the part I couldn't fit.
# 213 Niue: 20 bbl/day 2006
Total: 85,085,664 bbl/day
Weighted average: 399,463.2 bbl/day
The world uses 399,463 BILLION barrels of oil, a DAY."
Unquote

If Nixie Nox would have looked at her total that she has written down, then yes the 85,085,664 figure would have been correct for 2006; but instead Nixie Nox wrote down the Weighted average and then MISTOOK "BBL" as Billions of Barrels, and that is incorrect; BBL means Barrels.

Just wanted to clarify the facts so that future readers don't get messed up also.

Originally posted by AngelHeart
The problem with oil shale is the process of drilling and heating it to produce an oil-like substance. Shale is not the same thing as pure grade petroleum. As of now, the harvesting of shale would not be cost effective.


Oil Shale


[edit on 19-7-2009 by AngelHeart]

Exactly, and this is from an engineer who has worked on tar sands projects. Tar sand is abrasive, contaminated, sour (Sulfur-laden) crap, which weighs a ton before processing (literally, 1T Sand = 1 Barrel). Shale is even worse. It is trying to extract oil from rock through heating. In-situ heating destroys groundwater and moving mountians uses a lot of energy.

Here is your feedstock:

Well of corse if we drilled in America the costs would go down...
Just like ever since American interests have taken over Iraqi oil fields the cost of Gas
has dramatically lowered. Those companies have proven their fond sentiment to the American people time and time again. Drill Baby Drill!!!