Former spy chief urges oil cutback [R. James Woolsey]

Miami Herald ^ | Sunday, December 2, 2007 | Jane Bussey

[SunkenCiv]

"We should not just try to import less oil," the former CIA director under former President Clinton told a Miami audience Sunday. "We should destroy oil as a strategic commodity" that allows oil exporting nations to hold monopoly power... Woolsey's wide-ranging speech went from describing how Americans' dollars at the gas pumps made their way to fundamentalist Islamic institutions to illustrating advances in solar energy technology that make it more efficient and affordable... Among his suggestions was California's decision to decouple energy company profits from sales two decades ago, keeping the state's electricity consumption flat while the rest of the states have experienced a 60 percent increase. He also cited Wal-Mart for reducing electricity consumption by 20 percent to 25 percent at its stores, a giant savings considering that 70 percent of the world's electricity is used by buildings other than homes... Woolsey also made a pitch for new battery-powered, flex-fuel cars that could be recharged during off-peak periods of electricity costs... On the malignant side, oil and coal consumption are contributing to global warming, which could accelerate at any point. The U.S. electricity grid and world oil supplies also face threats from terrorists and not just glitches that can now cause massive power outages in the interconnected grid.

[thackney]

What other countries can refine the heavy crude from Mexico and Venezuela?

Many of them. Most of Venezuela's oil is refined outside of the US. Most of Mexico's oil is light, not heavy.

[thackney]

Where are Chavez’s refineries?

This describes the refineries owned by Venezuela. According to OGJ, Venezuela had 1.28 million barrels per day (bbl/d) of crude oil refining capacity in 2007, all operated by PdVSA. The major facilities include the Paraguana Refining Center (955,000 bbl/d), Puerto de la Cruz (195,000 bbl/d), and El Palito (126,900 bbl/d). Through PdVSA and its subsidiary CITGO, Venezuela also controls significant refining capacity outside of the country.

EIA > Home > International > Country Analysis Briefs > Venezuela
http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/Venezuela/Oil.html

[thackney]

A federal / state ban on Gulf Coast drilling off Florida has allowed the Chinese to slant drill from Cuba.

The world record for horizontal drill is less than 8 miles. The Cuba waters where they are taking bids for leases only approach 45 from Florida in a small place.

Countries' EEZ
http://www.seaaroundus.org/eez/eez.aspx

[kabar]

Where are Chavez’s refineries?

Impacts of the Venezuelan Crude Oil Production Loss--

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said his government may sell eight U.S. refineries as part of a strategy by the world's fifth-largest supplier of oil to reduce dependency on sales to the U.S.

Venezuela, Cuba Preparing to Bring Cienfuegos Refinery Online

We have the largest supply of coal in the world and can use it as a feedstock along with natural gas for syn fuel..

We have lots of untapped energy sources. Is there the political will to use it?

[VOA]

I give Woolsey credit for at least being fairly consistent. He’s pushed
this idea of getting the USA more energy dependent (by any and all
means) when he appears on panels on BookTV (C-Span2) and his family
drives hybrids.

That’s a LOT more than I can say for the VAST majority of the “green”
people that I’v met in academia, some at a purty-dern liberal university.

[DaveTesla]

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Slant+Drill+from+Cuba+&btnG=Google+Search

You argue for the sake of argument.

I have proposed some solutions for our country.
I can see you are not interested in discussing them.

[DaveTesla]

“US. Most of Mexico’s oil is light, not heavy”

Incorrect, In Mexico, more than 50% of the oil reserves are heavy.

Source: Fernando Castrejón Vacio Instituto Mexicano del Petróleo

[redgolum]

Unfortunately, that is the last thing the green weenies want.

We could go to coal based fuel fairly easy. And the bio diesel from depolymerizaiton can be used for just about all fatty waste from meat packing.

But that won’t happen. To many people have a vested interest in oil to let it.

[DaveTesla]

Politics is why we are not using it.

If there is on thing you can count on it is for government
to become infested with corruption and special interest.

There in lies the reason why why we are doing little to nothing.

Government spoils industry. I have to give G.W.B. credit he
has moved mountains (Teddys fat a@@) but we are 20 years late.

We only need the presidents help in removing restrictions set in place by the politicians.

[trumandogz]

First of all, there is no such thing as “slant” drilling. However, there is a thing know in the industry as directional drilling.

Second, while directional drilling has been common in the oil industry for many years the longest drill string every done would be no where long enough to reach from Cuban to American waters.

Therefore, there is no threat whatsoever in the Cubans sucking all the oil out from underneath Florida waters.

[DaveTesla]

"First of all, there is no such thing as “slant” drilling."

Better let the U.S.G.S. Know that!

Especially since it's been around since the 1930's and was
first approved on U.S. Land by Theodore Roosevelt.
http://www.nps.gov/archive/thro/adhi/adhi4.htm


Source: USGS





"Therefore, there is no threat whatsoever in the Cubans sucking all the oil out from underneath Florida waters."

And while you are at it you better call the U.S. Senate and Fox
and notify Them.

China, Others Drilling for Oil Off Florida.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,193665,00.html

CHINA STARTS OIL DRILLING OFF FLORIDA http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/china_starts_oil_drilling.html

I am trying to conduct an intelligent discussion on
energy and possible solutions here on Free republic but
I see I am wasting my time.

All I get is a bunch of trolls.

[trumandogz]

Thus far you have sourced Randi Rhodes and Sen. Larry Craig. Perhaps you might want to cite people that are a bit more respectable than those two.

Now, according to the Petroleum News, a source I consider more reliable than Larry Craig or Randi Rhodes, the longest directional drilling departure has been 25,000 feet.

http://www.petroleumnews.com/pntruncate/48009602.shtml

Could you please explain how Cuba could drill into Florida with only a horizonal departure of 25,000 feet?

[thackney]

Incorrect, In Mexico, more than 50% of the oil reserves are heavy.

Ratio of reserves does not equal ratio of production. Most of Mexico's oil on a daily production is not heavy. Discovering large amounts of heavy oil without producing hardly any of it does not mean that most of their oil production is heavy.

World Crude Qualities
http://www.meglobaloil.com/MARPOL.pdf

[thackney]

All I get is a bunch of trolls.

Sorry to confuse your opinions with actual production facts.

[kenth]

keeping the state’s electricity consumption flat while the rest of the states have experienced a 60 percent increase.

---

I suppose when you cap the amount of energy the state can produce or pay for, it’s only natural that there won’t be an increase in usage. It’s not there to use. LOL.

Yeah, sitting in the dark is not an acceptable form of energy policy for the United States.

[Smokin' Joe]

They were hiding. We’re poking holes in ‘em now, and have been for a few years.

[saganite]

Hey Smokin’ Joe, good to hear from you. I saw a report the other day that a Montana geologist is predicting a decline in Montana oil production. Looks like the Bakken drilling and production will be tailing off there. Is that correct?

[Smokin' Joe]

Hey, I just came off location on a horizontal well. We did over two miles 'out', which is pretty good in these parts.

In the industry, we call it directional drilling or horizontal drilling, but "slant" drilling is a term we don't use in the industry.

The only time there is any danger of anyone tapping someone else's reserves is when they are drilling near the lease line, and states have established setbacks to prevent even survey error from putting the wellbore in a different lease.

As far as intentionally doing so, engineering limitations apply. The amount of sidehole friction involved in horizontal or directional drilling is a limiting factor. You have to have a draw works and derrick capable of pulling the drill string back out of the hole enough to make a connection, at the very least, and tubulars capable of withstanding the tensile stress involved. At the same time you have to be able to get the bit to bottom to drill.

For production purposes, you need to be able to get a liner or casing to bottom as well, otherwise, holes have a tendency to collapse and pack off, which can bring a good well to a premature end.

Those limitations will make stealing oil on any large scale very difficult, and the best way to make sure the small scale production of resources along boundaries by other people does not occur is to produce what is there on the lease before anyone else can. Talk to Florida about that one, the restrictions are State law.

As for intentionally 'cooking the books' to make it appear that the well was drilled in a different place, no one can pay enough for someone to throw their career away in a fairly small industry where reputation means a lot.

How small? There are fewer than 10,000 people in the world who do what I do for a living, and in any given region we pretty much either know each other of know of each other. There is no escaping a bad reputation, nor anything as valuable as a good one.

[Smokin' Joe]

Yes and no. It is always safe to say that the existing wells will deplete.

Elm Coulee is fairly well drilled up, so the decline curves are kicking in for the wells out there, but I really don't think every thing has even been drilled yet.

So there will be a decrease in production associated with initial and longer term depletion curves (not unusual for horizontal wells--or any well for that matter) but there is a lot more oil yet to be produced (and found) over there.

Keep in mind, though that another factor has been pipeline capacity, and until that matter has been resolved, and the $30.00+/bbl 'discounts' on crude diminish to reflect a better market price, no one is to be making a localized glut worse.

A fair amount of Bakken drilling shifted over to the North Dakota side of the basin, but there are still wells going in in MT, and I expect there will be additional discoveries as well, on both sides of the line.

[BurbankKarl]

I am sure Woolsey is riding a horse around Washington.