4 ms·

Well we could produce it all locally instead of having the president begging them to pump more

ajross 4y ago
We do, effectively. North America produces enough petroleum today to meet its own needs[1]. But the rest of the world doesn't, middle east oil is cheap relative to offshore or (especially) fracked petroleum, and at the end of the day fuels are a fungible commodity and our local prices reflect demand in the rest of the world. The bit about "dependence on foreign oil" you're hearing is largely spin. Supply is not the problem. Pump more and we'll just use more. [1] Which is not to say we don't import or export any. Markets are markets.
- throwaway894345 4y ago
  I'm of the impression that we can't use our own oil because our refineries largely aren't equipped to process it (different kinds of oil require different kinds of refineries, which is to say oil sort of isn't fungible), but rather our refineries are equipped to process foreign oil. So we can pump to our heart's content, but without the refineries we aren't able to use that oil.
  - seanmcdirmid 4y ago
    It’s actually the opposite: our refineries are great at processing shale, and Texas is the best place to deal with Albertan shale oil as well (hence why they wanted keystone XL so badly). We also have enough clean crude that can mix with heavier dirtier crude to enable that to be processed (so Venezuela had to import American oil to process their own). The oil industry is weird. One thing is that shale oil is expensive to extract and refine. It wasn’t until recently when prices rose again that it became profitable.
  - ajross 4y ago
    I mean, someone is using it. Everything is about cost. Back in the 90's, we couldn't get to our fracked oil because our existing equipment wasn't able to extract it. Then prices spiked and it made sense to build/invent new equipment. Refineries are changing too, to accommodate the state of the market they serve. The bottom line is that "we" (in the sense the upthread poster meant) have plenty of oil. We pump plenty of oil. People saying we need to pump more oil are ultimately just reflecting the desires of companies who want to pump (and sell!) more oil and not the putative nativist needs of "our" oil consumers. The bottom line is that no matter what the US does, oil prices are on a steady, inexorable rise[1] as the world exhausts its cheap supplies and needs to transition to difficult sources (again, fracking is the poster child here). Everything else is just crony politics. [1] Though at this very moment they're experiencing an external shock due mostly to the war in Ukraine.

We do, effectively. North America produces enough petroleum today to meet its own needs[1]. But the rest of the world doesn't, middle east oil is cheap relative to offshore or (especially) fracked petroleum, and at the end of the day fuels are a fungible commodity and our local prices reflect demand in the rest of the world. The bit about "dependence on foreign oil" you're hearing is largely spin. Supply is not the problem. Pump more and we'll just use more. [1] Which is not to say we don't import or export any. Markets are markets.

throwaway894345 4y ago
I'm of the impression that we can't use our own oil because our refineries largely aren't equipped to process it (different kinds of oil require different kinds of refineries, which is to say oil sort of isn't fungible), but rather our refineries are equipped to process foreign oil. So we can pump to our heart's content, but without the refineries we aren't able to use that oil.
- seanmcdirmid 4y ago
  It’s actually the opposite: our refineries are great at processing shale, and Texas is the best place to deal with Albertan shale oil as well (hence why they wanted keystone XL so badly). We also have enough clean crude that can mix with heavier dirtier crude to enable that to be processed (so Venezuela had to import American oil to process their own). The oil industry is weird. One thing is that shale oil is expensive to extract and refine. It wasn’t until recently when prices rose again that it became profitable.
- ajross 4y ago
  I mean, someone is using it. Everything is about cost. Back in the 90's, we couldn't get to our fracked oil because our existing equipment wasn't able to extract it. Then prices spiked and it made sense to build/invent new equipment. Refineries are changing too, to accommodate the state of the market they serve. The bottom line is that "we" (in the sense the upthread poster meant) have plenty of oil. We pump plenty of oil. People saying we need to pump more oil are ultimately just reflecting the desires of companies who want to pump (and sell!) more oil and not the putative nativist needs of "our" oil consumers. The bottom line is that no matter what the US does, oil prices are on a steady, inexorable rise[1] as the world exhausts its cheap supplies and needs to transition to difficult sources (again, fracking is the poster child here). Everything else is just crony politics. [1] Though at this very moment they're experiencing an external shock due mostly to the war in Ukraine.