[SAJ]

Not bad for a rookie, John old boy.

If you want to know what's what in the 'awl bidness', you've no further to go than FreeRepublic. Ask FReeper thackney (a real live petro engineer), or Smokin' Joe (hands on in the Bakken formation(s)), or Eric in the Ozarks (long-time trader of lower-end product), to name a few.

Others here might offer a thought or two on the actual (as opposed to the public perception of) workings in the crude and products. Some of us have even written books on the subject.

BTW, did you know that there's no such thing as a physical 'barrel' of oil? Doesn't exist, and the reason for it traces back to the kerosene mkt in the 1880s.

[thackney]

Just for honest disclosure, I am not a petroleum engineer. My degree and professional registration is in electrical, specialized in power systems. But my experience is almost entirely oil/gas/petrochem.

[avacado]

" Not bad for a rookie, John old boy.

If you want to know what's what in the 'awl bidness', you've no further to go than FreeRepublic. Ask FReeper thackney (a real live petro engineer), or Smokin' Joe (hands on in the Bakken formation(s)), or Eric in the Ozarks (long-time trader of lower-end product), to name a few."

I can attempt seismic survey questions: 5 years in the GOM on a seismic ship and another 12 as a software engineer developing seismic processing software for a seismic company here in H-Town.