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ArsTechnica / Wired has a good article out about just that question. One reason that isn’t economic (and there are many economic factors a play here too) is tha

ArsTechnica / Wired has a good article out about just that question. One reason that isn’t economic (and there are many economic factors a play here too) is that if you stop pumping oil, you can potentially damage the well. This would make it more difficult to reopen the well in the future when the prices improve. This also tends to affect smaller producers with fewer wells and thus more risk of one of them is damaged. (This is related to why haven’t wells shut down in response to the drop in price, as opposed to simply producing less oil from existing wells.) https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/05/heres-why-the-world-is-still-producing-more-oil-than-it-needs/ https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/05/heres-why-the-world-...

xiphias2 7y ago
Isn't another solution to just let the oil go into the ground, and stop worrying about destroying earth? I can imagine Trump getting rid of all environmental regulations. How likely is that? (I'm on the environmental regulations side of course, but I'm quite worried that this will be the logical next step).
- worik 7y ago
  Exactly!
- csours 7y ago
  Sure but how will that make money for the well operator? I understand what you're saying, but what actual legal/political/economic framework are we talking about?
  - xiphias2 7y ago
    Right now the operators have to pay for the storage as far as I know. The game is not about making money, but at least not losing. That's why I'm afraid that some people would rather make an environmental disaster than to pay for a company to store the oil. But of course I don't know anything about the oil industry.
lostlogin 7y ago
The was posted yesterday and the comments there are good. The top comment is from deblacquiere, someone who seems to understand the industry and disagrees with the article and it’s conclusions. Most the comment section is quite informative. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23041286 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23041286

xiphias2 7y ago

Isn't another solution to just let the oil go into the ground, and stop worrying about destroying earth? I can imagine Trump getting rid of all environmental regulations. How likely is that? (I'm on the environmental regulations side of course, but I'm quite worried that this will be the logical next step).

worik 7y ago
Exactly!
csours 7y ago
Sure but how will that make money for the well operator? I understand what you're saying, but what actual legal/political/economic framework are we talking about?
- xiphias2 7y ago
  Right now the operators have to pay for the storage as far as I know. The game is not about making money, but at least not losing. That's why I'm afraid that some people would rather make an environmental disaster than to pay for a company to store the oil. But of course I don't know anything about the oil industry.

lostlogin 7y ago

The was posted yesterday and the comments there are good. The top comment is from deblacquiere, someone who seems to understand the industry and disagrees with the article and it’s conclusions. Most the comment section is quite informative. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23041286 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23041286