Oil Reserves Drop for 1st Time in 5 Years

[Career Prole]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. proven crude oil reserves fell last year for the first time in five years, as energy companies replaced just over half the oil they took out of the ground, the U.S. government said on Wednesday.

The latest data show the United States will remain addicted to foreign oil imports for the foreseeable future. Critics have also complained that oil companies are not spending enough of their record profits to develop more supplies.

Oil companies replaced only 58 percent of the U.S. crude they drilled with new reserves in 2003, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040922/bs_nm/energy_oil_reserves_dc

[hatrack]

1. 3% of world reserves - in the USA, 97% of world reserves - NOT in the USA

Remember these numbers.

They're important.

They're kind of like X-Ray Spex for seeing through political and corporate bullshit.

[Career Prole]

2. They're itching to tear up Alaska, aren't they?

Is that the point?

[hatrack]

3. Not so much that . . .

In a sense, this is a very messy, misleading story.

US domestic production has been falling for about 35 years. At the time of the first Oil Shock, we imported about 28% of all the oil we used. Last year, we imported about 63% of all the oil we used.

Obviously, oil companies have not been "replacing" depleted stocks (through new discoveries) at a rate equal to depletion over that period. If they had been, our import dependency wouldn't be nearly as high as it is.

EIA is famous for its pie-eyed estimates on total US and world reserves. Given that, what's significant here is that even they, using rosy projections about new discoveries, can't maintain the facade any longer.

DOE is having to actually (*gasp*) admit that they can no longer even pretend that US domestic production is going through the motions of running in place.

[Career Prole]

4. Thanks for your thoughtful insight.

So domestic production is in trouble and I just saw this a minute ago... Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait still risky investments: study
"NEW YORK (AFP) - Investing remains risky in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait, notably because the presence of US forces in the region makes these countries vulnerable to terrorist attacks, a security consulting firm said.

Kroll Inc., a global risk consulting company, said it released a report examining business risk in the region in response to client concerns over stability in the region.

"Uncertainty in Iraq (news - web sites), increasing terrorist activity in Saudi Arabia and building antipathy towards the US all contribute to widespread security concerns," Kroll said."

We're in oil kinds of trouble.

[barb162]

5. oil at 48 bucks a barrel, etc

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5612507/

[Wright Patman]

6. I think Cheney

and his merry band of neocon brigands, none of whom had ever been in the military, just did not factor in this "antipathy" to the U.S. live-fire exercises in Iraq.

He really does seem to view it as a "Risk" game or "The Grand Chessboard" (as Brzezinski calls the world domination game).

In terms of the secret energy task force he headed in early 2001, they are way behind schedule. Drilling for new fields and working over the old ones in a pacificed Iraq was supposed to be well underway by now and crude oil was supposed to be under $20 a barrel.