Hey Canada! Is that shale oil you guys have a lot of looking pretty good right now?

"According to Danish scientist Björn Lomborg's book The Skeptical Environmentalist, there are enough oil shales in Canada to last us for several thousand years."

So what are you waiting for?! My truck's thirsty!

 

They tried the shell oil thing in Colorado a few years ago. They gave it up because the costs of recovery was too high. That's probably not true today.

 

kinda makes that Black & Decker thing from that car in "Back to the future" look ap-peeling!

Think of all the beer cans/bottles that could be used to power your ride......... I guess that might cause layoffs in the "bad-boy" trash pickup service provides compliments of our incarceration systems!

Can't layoff jobs in the government but it's open season on private comapnies.

I drive a company provided vehicle for my occupation, they provide vehicle, fuel, insurance, and maintenance. We get to bring the vehicles home with us. I wonder how much longer that will last........................

 

Shale oil, biodiesel and other alternate fuels and fuel sources become viable as the price goes up. This is the supply and demand mechanism at work. As price goes up, new supplies and sources that were previously uneconomic begin to appear - which reduces pricing pressure as the supply side of the equation improves.

Another huge largely untapped resource are the Orinoco and Athabasca tar sands located in Venezuela and Canada, respectively. Some sources say that these two formations constitute as much as 66% of the world's total oil reserves, and they both remain largely untapped because they were not commercially viable at lower energy price levels.

Rusty

 

Largely mistaken. The oil sands project is entering the third decade of production. It produces bitumen and sweet crude at far less costs than importation of same from Saudi.

The Orinoco project was shelved by BP back in the mid-90's because of inaccesibility, not because of lower oil prices.

With oil prices topping $52/bbl, you'd think they be uncapping wells like crazy.
But, they're not. Why? Because oil prices aren't really high enough. When prices hit $65-75/bbl then they'll uncap. At least $20 of the latest price is speculation, which means the "actual" price is still $30-35/bbl.

 

Any more "speculation" and price at the pump may catch the "actual" price

 

Maybe, but I don't think it will come that far. Remember, this is an election year.
Here's relavent data about both tar sands projects:
http://www.syncrude.com/who_we_are/01_03.html

http://www.worldenergy.org/wec-geis/...ess/3_1_04.asp

 

Yes, there have been pilot and demonstration projects at the Athabasca tar sands for many years, but I stand by my statement that the reserve is largely untapped because its output, in comparison to the size of the reserve and relative to output from conventional production, is not that significant. If the production cost from this source were equal to or less than Saudi Arabia's lifting cost (among the lowest in the world), this wouldn't be the case
Processing of the Orinoco crude into conventional products is not cheap or easy. That notwithstanding, PdVSA (the Venezuelan oil company) still sends some Orinoco crude into the U.S. Gulf Coast refineries it purchased from Citgo as feedstock. They also market an Orinoco crude oil/water emulsion as a replacement for heavy fuel oil under the trade name Orimulsion - our company (an engine manufacturer) participated in an extensive R&D program to identify problems associated with the use of Orimulsion and to develop suitable engine modifications to make use of this fuel in diesel engines used in onshore power generation applications commercially feasible. Worldwide marine emissions regulations and increased maintenance requirements on the marine engines that utilize this fuel make this a difficult sell, however. Again, relative to the size of the resource, the Orinoco tar sands are largely untapped.

Rather than bog down in ground-level detail, I would refer to the point of my original post - higher crude oil and finished product prices bring new, unconventional sources into the marketplace because they become economically viable. Tar sands and shale oil production are examples of this.

Rusty

 

If you've read the above articles, you'll see both points of view represented. I was in Venezuela when BP pulled the plug. The amount of oil that was removed is tiny, vs what has been removed from Ft. McMurray in the same year. Yes, it's a huge area and the logistics are a nightmare, compared to the already existing well established project in Canada.

 

Filled up at $2.02 yesterday, noticed today the same place is now $2.11 per gallon. GEEZ where's it gonna end up with .9cents a day increase.

 

Filled up today in Richardson, Texas at the Shell at the corner of Beltline and Greenville Ave for $1.959. The first time I've busted $50 on a fill up.

 

Just got back from a 6500 mile trip from Virginia to the western states. Highest prices found were in the Phoenix area (2.25/gallon). much of the fuel I bought was above 2.00/gal. As I got back near home, I began to see 1.95/gal fuel.

This was the longest trip I've ever made and the truck was the best means of getting around. Spent lots of time in Indian land (Monument Valley, etc) on rough and dusty roads. Probably averaged 19+ MPG but drove it a lot at 75 - 80 MPH. Boy, it is one hill-climbing machine!

 

Paid $1.94 for Shell premium diesel yesterday. Last night I noticed a Conoco station had diesel for $2.10!

MikeyB

 

ACK!! $2.09 in Durham, NC!!!! This is nuts!

 

see http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/wohdp/diesel.asp

I don't drive that much so it's 10 to 15 days between tanks for me.
The price is going up 5-7 cents each tank and there are wide variations between stations around here... AND, the same station is not always the lowest price.

Well... at least there aren't lines yet. Does anyone remember odd/even plates on odd/even days? (1979)