Posted on 06/04/2005 12:48:38 AM PDT by M. Espinola
NEW YORK- Think $55 a barrel oil is bad? Wait till a hurricane knocks out a U.S. pipeline and a port at the same time that militants are killing hostages in Saudi Arabia, sending oil prices over $150 a barrel.
That's the premise of "Oil Storm," a television docudrama set to premiere in the United States on Sunday. The movie uses exaggerated real life events and fictional characters to examine America's dependence on oil and the havoc a major disruption in supply could wreak on ordinary people.
The movie depicts -- albeit in the extreme -- what energy markets have spent much of the past year fretting about: hurricanes that can rip apart oil infrastructure and war and turbulence in the Middle East, which have driven crude prices to record highs.
And the writers aim to show why the intricacies of oil rigs and oil reserves should be as much a concern for average Americans, with their taste for gas guzzling SUVs and summer road trips, as they are for traders at the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Everything is so interconnected that anything that happens in Saudi Arabia or China will have an impact on oil, and therefore an impact on you or I in terms of what happens at the pump," said Caroline Levy, its British producer and co-writer.
Levy is well aware that the movie could be criticized for fanning fears of a doomsday scenario, similar to last year's Hollywood blockbuster "The Day After Tomorrow", in which New York was flooded by a tidal wave before being frozen solid, in a series of events that defied the laws of physics.
Few specialists expect a chain of events to occur any time soon that would lead to oil at $150 a barrel, although investment bank Goldman Sachs did send shockwaves into the market in March when it warned oil prices could hit $105 a barrel under a "super-spike" scenario.
"None of what we're saying is so out of the realms of belief," said Levy, adding the movie is based on numerous interviews with energy experts and only a slight exaggeration of past events. "The purpose is to show how vulnerable the infrastructure of the oil industry in America is."
In the movie, which will be aired on Fox's FX network, a powerful hurricane reminiscent of last year's Ivan smashes into Port Fourchon, Louisiana, cutting off a majority of the nation's oil imports and crippling production in the Gulf of Mexico.
The U.S. administration turns to its ally and top world exporter Saudi Arabia, which boosts supplies but then is forced to deal with an unfolding crisis of its own, involving "Shoot first, ask questions later" security forces and hostages.
The movie depicts panic spreading across oil markets, sending oil prices above $150 a barrel, while cars across the United States line up outside gas stations, and everyone's lives are thrown into disarray.
"At the end of the movie, prices go back to pretty much what they were at the start of the year," said Levy. "But the film is basically saying 'What we can we learn from this?'"
all photos added
I saw "The Day After Tomorrow" in a theater and thought the special effects especially showing different parts of Manhattan were very well done. This 'Oil Storm' was more like 'Oil Sludge'.
They mentioned the Strategic Petroleum Reserve once, and said the gov't would release 1mm barrels a day for three months. They never mentioned it again. Never mind that the release would be 30 mil barrels out of 700 mil. Sheesh!
The Director, James Erskine and Writer, Caroline Levy both work for the BBC. With very little of significant importance to their resumes at IMDb.
Here's the first review of the film. Which I cut and pasted.
It looks like old Ruppert is not in the least bit concerned about raking in the dough from any & all political spectrum's.
What else was on tonight that we missed? :)
Today's BBC is not the BBC of years ago. On the radio BBC they even cut out the old traditional introductory BBC royal sounding music.
"This movie ignored so many truths about the world economy, there are too many to list. All one needs is a good econ course, taught by an unbiased professor, and they would know how ridiculous this movie is."
Excellent valid points.
Many of the dinky 'cars' liberals drive should be reclassified as being closer to the Matchbox, Hot Wheels, Corgi & the Majorette product lines, thus the amount of gas might not be worth siphoning unless they have just topped off the tank :)
I was really expecting something far different & better then what we had to schlep through, thanks to Fox-FX :)
This movie was boring and mostly a propaganda tool of the left. I never heard them mention gas rationing or supplying gas to critical workers like farmers, food distribution workers, etc. Also, at one point they said this had only affected 13% of the oil supply. It would take alot more than that to cause this level of disruption. Same old same old, the liberal fools never get anything right.
DRILL ANWAR NOW.
Why wait another day.
Plus the scenario in the movie that the oil refinery is SA gets hit with an RPG is while being "secured" by 5000 troops is ludicrous. The first thing they would do is extend a perimeter far enough to prevent anyone getting that close.
Too many other doom and gloom scenarios that would happen only if nothing was done.
I don't believe we would be so inactive under such a tremendous crisis.
There is no way the CG owuld let two tankers in such a dangerous situation in the Houston channel.
The tankers from the Russians would probably have been under Navy escort to prevent any terrorist attempt and not let the Chinses "outbid" after we signed a contract. They would never have left port without a contract.
Sorry, this movie is a cartoon.
Modern day chicken little story.
A lefty scare tactic to get us all on bicycles.
Nice try loony left.
What a waste of money.
And don't mention that Hollywood types love their big cars.
Lot's of hummers around Hollywood. And Cadillacs and Lincolns and Excursions, etc.
* No Eco-friendly Alternative Fuel
* Crisis Good For Environment
* US Imperialism Protects It's Oil Interest Overseas
I saw one of those at the supermarket :)
100% better than that oil slop :)
Bumping this thread because there were so many scoffers then. I wonder if they're scoffing now.
""The movie depicts panic spreading across oil markets, sending oil prices above $150 a barrel, while cars across the United States line up outside gas stations,""
high prices dont equate long lines....at $150 per barrle there wouldnt be gas lines...gas lines result when the price is set BELOW market price
"high prices dont equate long lines....at $150 per barrle there wouldnt be gas lines...gas lines result when the price is set BELOW market price"
As I recall waiting in a gas line was triggered by a 'shortage of supply and record high prices.
"As we Slept", a fictional account of what would have happened in the US if we reacted to 9-11 as Clinton did to the previous al-Queda attackd.
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