Oil Industry Uses Ukraine Invasion to Push for More Drilling

[PatrickforB]

Source: New York Times

Russian troops hadn’t yet begun their full-on assault on Ukraine late Wednesday when the rallying cry came from the American oil and gas industry.

“As crisis looms in Ukraine, U.S. energy leadership is more important than ever,” the American Petroleum Institute, the powerful industry lobby group, wrote on Twitter with a photo that read: “Let’s unleash American energy. Protect our energy security.”

The crux of the industry’s argument is that any effort to restrain drilling in America makes a world already reeling from high oil prices more dependent on oil and gas from Russia, a rival and belligerent fossil fuel superpower.

The industry’s demands have focused on reversing steps the Biden administration has taken to start reining in the production of fossil fuels, the main driver of climate change.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/26/climate/ukraine-oil-lobby-biden-drilling.html

---

The problem, of course, is that the oil industry cares far more about unleashing higher profits than it does 'unleashing American energy.'

It is the way of capitalism, I know. But if we really cared about 'American energy security,' we'd be focused more on solar, wind and other renewables.

And, we'd be working together to ensure even more workers could work remotely to further reduce our carbon footprint...

[multigraincracker]

1. All while their profits are going thru the roof.

Now using that money to lobby(buy) Congress.

[Cheezoholic]

2. Go Fuck Yourselves n/t

[Evolve Dammit]

36. My first thought exactly! Welcome

[Magoo48]

3. No, no, no.

Greedy, Earth destroying, corporate parasites.

[Mr. Sparkle]

4. Wall Street is buying up oil like its going out of fashion

Pushing the prices up sky high

[oldsoftie]

5. Right now, we need to increase OUR production & get OPEC to incase theirs.

Increase supplies to Europe to help get them off Putin's energy blackmail teat.
We should NOT be importing oil & gas from Russia.

We can continue building our wind & solar capacity but those things don't happen overnight. We also MUST increase our energy supplies from nuclear. It takes WAY too long for new reactors to be built & go online.
We MUST reduce Russian profits from oil. It runs most of their economy.

[RussBLib]

11. Europe screwed up by allowing Russian energy

supplies and becoming somewhat dependent on them.

Of course Russia will use those supplies to extract more money and concessions from Europe. Who the hell decided the Russians can be trusted? I still wonder how many Europeans have been profiting from the flood of Russian laundered money?

Meanwhile, full speed ahead on renewables, and, yes, nuclear.

[Lonestarblue]

13. Another option is to temporarily suspend the ban on Iranian oil.

Let them sell to Europe and help cut off Russia. That might go a long way also to getting Iran to the table for negotiations on the nuclear deal.

[PatrickforB]

18. If the oil companies would cooperate and sell their product to the US and Western Europe,

and help keep the price down, I would agree with you because a sound, mixed strategy that gradually replaces oil and gas with other sources - there is one guy on here that says we could use existing nuclear waste as fuel in fusion reactors and pretty much replace oil - makes sense.

But oil companies, like all publicly traded corporations, hold shareholder profits above all else. So, their CEOs hire lobbyists during times like these to decrease regulation about where and how much they can drill and frack. It takes 5 million gallons of water to frack one well one time, and a well must be fracked several times over its life, did you know? And they have to keep the prices up to make it economically feasible to extract oil from places like the Niobrara shale formation.

Like all CEOs, the oil people will gouge the consumer whereever and whenever they can, and in case there is a spill, they will work really hard to pass the cost of cleanup onto taxpayers. They are masters of corporate socialism.

We must all always remember that, even with those oil and gas companies that were incorporated in, and operate mainly in the US, their 'colors' are not red, white and blue. Nope. They go with money-green. They will sell the oil as high as possible to anyone who can pay. This is why their assertion that more 'drill baby drill' will help the US is nothing but a lie.

[oldsoftie]

24. At the end of the day it still boils down to supply & demand.

Demand for oil is at its highest right now since 2019. Supplies are not. The US oil production has yet to get back to where we were in 2020. Its not an overnight process either, but we have the capability to increase our production. Oil companies aren't the main culprit when it comes to overpricing. That falls to oil traders & market makers. THEY need more regulation IMO, although many aren't based in the US either

[PatrickforB]

33. OK, but there is one bit of malfeasance that falls directly in the laps

of the oil companies, and that is their decades-long (since 1971) quest to cast doubt on the science behind human-caused global warming. To add to that, we can also cite their steadfast support of Republican (and some Indy and Dem) politicians in return for...shall we say...a certain hesitancy around forming a coherent energy policy that gradually reduces the carbon footprint. I have family in the oil biz, and some of these people hate government to the point of irrationality. This 'take no prisoners' attitude has resulted in the industry's failure to embrace other energy technologies to the point that is needed if we are thinking of the welfare of the species instead of merely profits for shareholders, and stratospheric salaries for CEOs.

They are quite complicit in our current environmental problems, and this war is convenient for them as a reason to force deregulation around drilling and fracking, and to stall progress toward lowering the carbon footprint yet another few years so they can eke out the maximum amount of shareholder profit before the bottom falls out and we have to force rapid change to renewables.

[rickford66]

6. Can't imagine a fight over the Sun.

[duforsure]

7. Screw big oil and gas,

Putin uses oil and gas as a weapon, and the UAE, and a push now for clean renewable's should stop that and their money being used for terrorism against us. We need now to promote major efforts worldwide for clean energy, and self reliance, and the best opportunity for doing it is now, and quit self funding extremist's worldwide. Big oil has been draining us for years by overcharging us. They need to subsidize clean energy, and wean off subsidizing oil and other dirty energy .

[tonekat]

35. Thank you, oil companies...

...for waiting not even one nanosecond to raise your prices!

[Old Crank]

8. REmove the oil sanctions

From Venezuela first. That will hurt Putin's pocket book by immediately
driving down oil prices.

[oldsoftie]

19. VZ doesn't have the capability to produce much more due to incompetence.

There production infrastructure is a shell of what art used to be because they ran out all the oil companies & made everything "State owned"; meaning "corrupt and inept". Nothing is maintained and expansion is not possible.
No one will invest money there because Maduro & his cronies won't pay their bills.

The ME can easily provide enough oil as can our domestic production.

[mathematic]

23. So your theory is that Venezuela is going to take action to harm their ally, Russia?

Laughable.

[oldsoftie]

31. There are a lot of "free Venezuela!" posts lately.

[marie999]

9. I remember when we could only buy gas on odd or even days.

Gas stations were running out. Gas prices zoomed. This is different. Gas prices are going up, but every gas station has plenty of gas. There aren't any long lines. This is nothing but greed.

[SouthernDem4ever]

10. Everyone who doesn't need to drive, boat or fly

Park your cars, boats and cancel airline trips. This will bring oil prices down. But no, American's are too stupid and selfish to sacrifice for even a little while.

[Emile]

12. Didn't they just slow down production to drive up the price?

Predatory Capitalism is alive and well!

[Blues Heron]

14. saw that here a few times

I say we kick Putin's butt by planting more windmills. Get off the nasty oil/nukes. Feeding our dependence on fossil fuels/uranium mining etc. is not the answer

[oldsoftie]

21. We will never be independent without nuclear. Its folly to think otherwise.

Until new inventions come online that make it unneeded.
With current technology we cannot supply the energy needs of this country with only windmills. Or only windmills & solar. It just will never happen. And much of what's needed to BUILD those production capacities, especially solar, comes from CHINA & RUSSIA.

[Blues Heron]

26. cool story bro

that's just your opinion. Shouting won't make it a fact.

[oldsoftie]

29. OK, "bro", here's your facts. Disagree with reality all you like.

In 2018, the United States was 100% reliant on foreign sources for arsenic.
In 2018, the United States was 100% reliant on foreign sources for gallium.
In 2018, the United States was 100% reliant on foreign sources for indium.
There's more, you can read the report yourself.

https://csis-website-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/Solar%20PV%20Case%20Study%20-%20BloombergNEF.pdf?wDUUlXhfxWtA0lLU66HdshX539MvZHDI


https://csis-website-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/Solar%20PV%20Case%20Study%20-%20BloombergNEF.pdf?wDUUlXhfxWtA0lLU66HdshX539MvZHDI

[bucolic_frolic]

15. I thought they said all the frackers would come back online when oil surged past $70 a barrel

Are we lagging that much? Or did they all go bankrupt way back when?

[oldsoftie]

20. Apparently those wells can't just be turned on with the flip of a switch

but I would think it would be underway by now. And if not, someone should be asking WHY not

[bucolic_frolic]

22. Yes, for competitive reasons, oil companies plug wells with cement when abandoned

So they have to start anew. Seems a wasteful practice, but it's also to prevent underground contamination.

[oldsoftie]

25. Wow, I didn't know they went to THAT extreme!!

[bucolic_frolic]

28. It may be part environmental regulation

But if they didn't cap a well, and went BK or sold the land and the rights, another company would have a fully drilled shaft. That costs money so it would be like giving it to a competitor. At least that's what I've read on the industry.

[Farmer-Rick]

16. Typical psychotic Corporate CEOs

Never let someone dying get in the way of you making a dollar. These psychopaths who would rather you die then pay you a living wage, are in control of our country.

I hope all you "free" traders, all you fools who support Ayn Rand and Milton Friedman, love your end stage capitalism. Until you get rid of it, the oligarchs will continue to kill you for fun and profit.

[twodogsbarking]

17. The world makes me sad. I had hoped for better.

[BlueIdaho]

27. So they will Pump More and Raise Prices?

Time to crank up regulations on the energy sector.

[modrepub]

30. I Want All Their Supporters To Invest All Their Assets

into these companies that are advocating for more drilling. I want hours of infomercials and commercials on Faux news plugging where you can invest your money on new drilling (just like the gold fund infomercials/commercials). All the Congress critters and politicians who advocate for more drilling should automatically have their pension/SS monies funneled into funds investing in drilling operations.

And why do you ask? Because I want these people loose their shirts when oil prices collapse and these affiliated companies go bankrupt. Because that, in the long term, is what's going to happen. Mark my words. The oil industry is a huge Ponzi scheme. It only works if prices continually go up and that ain't going to happen.

Put your G-d Damned $ where your mouth is (and don't direct public tax dollars there because that's communism).

[Bayard]

32. A solution

Go back to everyone working from home, when the streets were practically barren, due to the pandemic.

[PatrickforB]

34. Ah, an opinion after my own heart. Well said, Bayard!!! n/t