US EXPORTING Record Amount Of Oil

[babylonsister]

US exporting record amount of oil
Submitted by prissears on Thu, 2008-08-07 17:41.


ANALYSIS-US oil firms seek drilling access, but exports soar
from uk.reuters
Thu Jul 3, 2008 8:04pm BST
By Tom Doggett


WASHINGTON, July 3 (Reuters) - While the U.S. oil industry wants access to more federal lands to help reduce reliance on foreign suppliers, American-based companies are shipping record amounts of gasoline and diesel fuel to other countries.

A record 1.6 million barrels a day in U.S. refined petroleum products were exported during the first four months of this year, up 33 percent from 1.2 million barrels a day over the same period in 2007. Shipments this February topped 1.8 million barrels a day for the first time during any month, according to final numbers from the Energy Department.

The surge in exports appears to contradict the pleas from the U.S. oil industry and the Bush administration for Congress to open more offshore waters and Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling.

"We can help alleviate shortages by drilling for oil and gas in our own country," President Bush told reporters this week. "We have got the opportunity to find more crude oil here at home."

"As a nation, we can have more control over our energy destiny by supplying more of the oil and natural gas we'll be consuming from resources here at home," Red Cavaney, president of the American Petroleum Institute, said in a letter last week to U.S. lawmakers.

But environmentalists and other opponents to expanding drilling areas could seize on the record exports to argue Congress should not open more acres if U.S. refineries are churning crude oil into petroleum products that are sent out of the American market.

more...

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/35380

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

1. figures

thanks, Cheney

[flashl]

2. Opponents could seize upon the Federal Highway Administration report ...

U.S. drivers log 9.6B fewer miles in May

USA Today

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

USA Today -- In the latest reflection of $4-a-gallon gas, Americans drove 9.6 billion fewer miles in May than in May 2007, a 3.7% decline that is the largest drop in miles traveled for any May, the federal government reported Monday.

Traffic normally increases in May, which ends with the Memorial Day holiday weekend that marks the traditional start of the summer driving season. The decline was the third-largest monthly drop in the 66 years that the Federal Highway Administration has tracked miles driven.

The data released Monday show that Americans drove 29.8 billion fewer miles in the first five months of this year compared with the same period last year, a 2.4% drop. The dip continues a seven-month trend beginning in November. Americans have driven 40.5 billion fewer miles from November through May compared with the same period a year earlier.

[nolabels]

3. These oil folks must be sniffing too many fumes somewhere

Wrap you mind around this pant-load of B.S.

The article quotes
"John Felmy, the chief economist at the American Petroleum Institute, said a portion of the oil products exported, especially diesel, was fuel that did not meet U.S. clean air requirements and therefore could not be sold in America. "You may have some that you're not able to use," he said."

Well duh, if were planing to ship out of the country why would you process it those standards that would be needed here? Is the reporter that dumb not to ask the follow up question or does he just stenography :shrug:

[The Backlash Cometh]

23. They are too greedy to be human.

[mloutre]

4. PLEASE get your facts straight -- exporting gasoline is not the same thing as exporting oil!

We have a surplus refinery capacity here in the US compared to most countries, so we end up refining a lot of other countries' oil for them under contract and then re-shipping it back offshore to them.

We also end up out-shipping significant amounts of low-quality crude oil and lower-grade refineed products that are unusable here in the US to other countries that have far less stringent environmental standards than we do.

While this in no way changes the exigencies of our own net-import situation here in the US, it is extremely important for us to get the actual facts straight when we argue our positions or else we just make ourselves look as clueless and/or dishonest as the other side's arguers are.

[babylonsister]

5. This came from UK Reuters, not me. I assumed

they knew what they were talking about. Maybe you should take it up with them?

[mediaman007]

6. Question: When we refine oil for other countries, does their oil entering

our country, count as oil imports to the United States?

[MindPilot]

10. If what you say is true, then they are really running out of excuses.

Because we've been told--especially here in Southern California--that a very significant component of high gas prices is insufficient refining capacity. (Teh all-powerful eco-lobby won't allow any new refineries to be built donchano)

So that is a bald-faced lie too apparently.

[Hannah Bell]

12. it seems to be a lie: check out refining capacity utilization

http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/hist/wpuleus3W.htm

[Leopolds Ghost]

16. Given that we have excess refinery capacity, that PROVES oil cos are not "throttling back".

Reality: the world is pumping more than ever before.

We have reached peak oil.

These two facts are not in disagreement.

Why? Because Americans still drive twice as much as they
did in 1980. 3% drop? Don't make me laugh. Do Americans
cite 3% increase in mass transit ridership as proof that
we no longer are car-dependent on oil? No, they use that
3% to arge the price of oil and tolls should go down so
they can resume their earlier driving habits. How is
opposition to taxing oil and building rapid transit
progressive?

[Hannah Bell]

19. Excess capacity simply shows not as much is being processed here

as, e.g., last year. Not sure what you mean by "throttling back".

Here's why one can object to what's happening at present:

1) It's fraudulent.
2) It kills people.
3) Through its effect on transport, food, heat & all basic goods, it's a tax which hits the poorest hardest & amounts to a wage reduction in times of layoffs & financial crisis - even as oil corps reap record profits.

I think there are few people who have serious objections to a transition from oil dependency. What they might object to, what I DO object to, is one based on lies & soaking the poor, while the rich profit.

[Supersedeas]

27. you mean OUR OIL REFINING capability is sometimes reserved for the rest of the world's gas supply

[nolabels]

11. Not understanding your beef with the O.P. about getting facts straight

The idea that people have voluntarily or because of financial concerns consumed less and driven less miles shows that bottomless pit of money of the American consumer has reached the bottom. The throttling back like they did in O4 probably isn't going to work this time. The oil barons have killed the golden goose. They shipped the crap out so they could claim a supply shortage and thereby would be able to claim a need for keeping prices high. Like duh already

The idea of getting the price real high then cutting back so they could keep a large profit margin was most surely the idea in the first place

[mloutre]

14. I was making two points, actually:

One is that it's an extremely misleading right-wing noise machine canard to claim that we are exporting oil that we could be using ourselves when in fact we are keeping our refineries busy by processing other countries' oil instead -- but unfortunately, it's a very easy canard for your average Joes and Janes to buy into in the face of incomplete (mis)information.

The other is that thanks to our (yes, amazingly enough) relatively-high environmental standards for domestic use, a lot of the oil that we could be drilling out of even the existing leases under US control could not be used by us here in the US anyway. So this whole schtick that the McCain/Oil, Inc. cartel is trying to hard to sell to the voting populace in this critical election cycle is not just a carefully-framed telescoping set of canard misdirections, it's flat-slap pure-greed bogus memesmanship at its very worst.

Gee. Imagine our collective surprise, huh?

[Hannah Bell]

20. Evidence that we're "keeping refineries busy by processing other people's

oil instead"?

If so, strictly US useage must be down more than 3%.

[nolabels]

26. The fact that this was a some news story from the UK indicates.....

that news was not manufactured too much for US domestic consumption by the right wing noise machine (most of the US population probably didn't ever get to hear about it, yet :evilgrin: )

Also for years Europe, Japan etc have had more stringent requirements on just their diesel fuel because of way that some of their particular machines operate (mostly about efficiency and pollution). The different requirements are just different but them planning for that shows the contempt and how this is more driven by oil companies than anything else

Also the original poster seemed to be mostly just posting a story without too much commentary and so that is why the question about the beef.

[FormerOstrich]

28. Easy to keep facts straight

Thank you, Hanna Bell for posting the link to the DOE site. I have posted links to the site many times. I wish more people would use the link!

mloutre, the table at the below link breaks down exports for crude/natural gas/finished products. Does not really alter the picture, nor the message. When "they" speak of domestic drilling it does not mean we are nationalizing our oil. It means the companies will have more domestic product to put on the world market as they see fit. In the past, any attempt to regulate how much can be exported has gone down in flames very quickly.

Thank you for the warning but I am very careful not to be as clueless and dishonest as the other side.

http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/pet_move_exp_dc_NUS-Z00_mbbl_m.htm

[dkofos]

7. Where would one find info on gas tax receipts? I would think that would

be a better measure of how much less fuel we have been using.
If you can believe anything coming from this maladministration.

[flashl]

9. More info ...

http://www.opisnet.com/tfi.asp

[dkofos]

13. Not what I was looking for, but thanks anyway.

[Jim__]

8. Obama should make an ad highlighting this.

If we're exporting gasoline, that puts the lie to the claim that giving oil companies more leases is going to lower the cost of gas. Ram this up McCains lying ass.

[Supersedeas]

15. So who really gets the benefits of off-shore drilling: the highest bidder on the world stage?

And yet, McRove wants to make a domestic political issue to ensure Oil Companies can continue to make profits and oil available to whoever is the highest bidder for the barrels.

[Leopolds Ghost]

17. Yep. It all gets put in tankers and fed into the same pipelines, right?

Out of which exporting tankers draw down what they need.

And importing tankers feed in most US gas at the same terminals right?

All the sales are done at the New York and Houston offices in advance
on a global market. Everyone has the right to outbid everyone else.

Interestingly, many Americans seem to believe we still have tarriffs
in this country to protect domestic industry and consumption and
prevent this sort of thing.

Fools who bought into free trade without realizing "free trade"
means you shouldn't even ASK, much less COMPEL Exxon to sell US
gas in the US.

How is what Exxon is doing selling US gas to the highest offshore
or onshore bidder unethical?

I'll only take answers from free traders please.

Devil's Advocate here.

He he!!

[tjwash]

18. Wow...you mean we are actually EXPORTING something? Besides our jobs that is...

[Supersedeas]

24. do Oil Execs owe an allegiance to anything other than $$ profits even Euros, Country--no so much

[JustAnotherGen]

21. Thanks you!

Interesting piece to read . . . and all you did is post what the mainstream media reported. Go figure! :pals:

[The Backlash Cometh]

22. WTF!

[Stinky The Clown]

25. "Not enough refining capacity" "(because of Dems)No new refineries in 30 years"

Someone defend the idea that these criminals should not see their businesses nationalized. Ga'head ..... try to defend them.

[lildreamer316]

29. I'm confused.

Really, really confused.
Maybe I need to dye my hair another color?