4 ms·

> It's not a big threat to the US. The US is a net oil exporter, The thing is that the US exported oil is sweet crude, and our own refineries are not made for

> It's not a big threat to the US. The US is a net oil exporter, The thing is that the US exported oil is sweet crude, and our own refineries are not made for that type of oil. So for the petroleum products used within the US need the heavy oil that is imported. So if the world goes tits up so that the US can only use the oil it produces, it would take time before the US could refine it. >Trump could make up with Canada I'm sorry, did this suddenly become a comedy?

idiotsecant 8mo ago
That's not at all the case. We have refineries that can handle everything from sweet to sour to Canadian tar sands
- vel0city 8mo ago
  That and it's way easier to go from retooling from sour to sweet than reverse, way easier to go from heavy to light than reverse, etc. Not suggesting it's just a flip a switch kind of change, but it's usually a net reduction in complexity in refining for both of those changes.
- dylan604 8mo ago
  That goes against every thing I've ever read or heard. I'm no oil man, nor play one on TV, but I only know what information I've come across in reading or hearing in radio/tv. Maybe my googlefu is lacking, but a quick search still suggests this is the answer.
hollerith 8mo ago
>So for the petroleum products used within the US need the heavy oil that is imported. Is that really true? I've heard experts say that sweet crude is easy to refine. I've always thought that the reason US refiners bother with sour crude is that they're better at refining it than non-US refiners are, so they make a little more money that way.
- dylan604 8mo ago
  https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/america-produces-enough-oil-to-meet-its-needs-so-why-do-we-import-crude https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/america-produces-enough-oil-... This link is just one of many that all suggest that the US is just not set up to refine light crude.
  - hollerith 8mo ago
    That link doesn't clear up anything for me
    - dylan604 8mo ago
      I'm not going to lmgtfy with other links. If you have something contradictory to show, then by all means show. I'm never one to be unwilling to learn something new, but I will not just accept the comment of a random stranger on the interweb providing no supporting evidence for their position that opposes my current understanding.
      - hollerith 8mo ago
        https://g.co/gemini/share/7bdebd15decb https://g.co/gemini/share/7bdebd15decb
      - hollerith 8mo ago
        I didn't downvote you. In fact, I upvoted because you didn't dig in when challenged, but rather acknowledged the possibility that you might be wrong, which is more than the writers of most comments on here can manage. (I, too, might be mistaken on this topic.)
- rainsford 8mo ago
  As I understand it, light sweet crude is in fact easier to refine, but refineries still have to be set up for it to get optimal or economically viable results, which US refineries largely are not. US refineries certainly could switch, but the process of doing so would be expensive and time consuming.

idiotsecant 8mo ago

That's not at all the case. We have refineries that can handle everything from sweet to sour to Canadian tar sands

vel0city 8mo ago
That and it's way easier to go from retooling from sour to sweet than reverse, way easier to go from heavy to light than reverse, etc. Not suggesting it's just a flip a switch kind of change, but it's usually a net reduction in complexity in refining for both of those changes.
dylan604 8mo ago
That goes against every thing I've ever read or heard. I'm no oil man, nor play one on TV, but I only know what information I've come across in reading or hearing in radio/tv. Maybe my googlefu is lacking, but a quick search still suggests this is the answer.

hollerith 8mo ago

>So for the petroleum products used within the US need the heavy oil that is imported. Is that really true? I've heard experts say that sweet crude is easy to refine. I've always thought that the reason US refiners bother with sour crude is that they're better at refining it than non-US refiners are, so they make a little more money that way.

dylan604 8mo ago
https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/america-produces-enough-oil-to-meet-its-needs-so-why-do-we-import-crude https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/america-produces-enough-oil-... This link is just one of many that all suggest that the US is just not set up to refine light crude.
- hollerith 8mo ago
  That link doesn't clear up anything for me
  - dylan604 8mo ago
    I'm not going to lmgtfy with other links. If you have something contradictory to show, then by all means show. I'm never one to be unwilling to learn something new, but I will not just accept the comment of a random stranger on the interweb providing no supporting evidence for their position that opposes my current understanding.
    - hollerith 8mo ago
      https://g.co/gemini/share/7bdebd15decb https://g.co/gemini/share/7bdebd15decb
    - hollerith 8mo ago
      I didn't downvote you. In fact, I upvoted because you didn't dig in when challenged, but rather acknowledged the possibility that you might be wrong, which is more than the writers of most comments on here can manage. (I, too, might be mistaken on this topic.)
rainsford 8mo ago
As I understand it, light sweet crude is in fact easier to refine, but refineries still have to be set up for it to get optimal or economically viable results, which US refineries largely are not. US refineries certainly could switch, but the process of doing so would be expensive and time consuming.