"The Photo NObama and BP Don't Want You to See"

[personalreality]

Taken from commercial airliner over the Gulf of Mexico, oil as far as the eye can see.

[Capt. Picard]

I heard something about the Russians and Iranians telling the USA that this has happened to them before and they fixed the leak before enough damage occured to even be reported by the media. Apparently they have suggested a couple methods to the USA but they are ignoring it to profit from the media coverage or something. Money/power trumps morals in the West at this point.

[personalreality]

http://pesn.com/2010/05/27/9501657_Gulf_oil_gusher_conspiracy_cover-up/

[phxsun]

Wow that is an amazing photo. Just think what will happen if this goes on until Aug. like they keep saying. The hurricane's will bring all that oil right back at us and much farther inland.

[personalreality]

I'm legitimately concerned that when I go to the Outer Banks in NC in July that there may be oil in the ocean.

[phxsun]

Before I saw that picture I would not have thought that the oil would have reached the eastern coast, I'm not so sure about that now. As a side note: NC? say Hi to my Sis!!!

[personalreality]

will do, just email me her address and a picture no more than 3 months old.

 

[Yin]

wonder if the oil is viewable in the ocean with satellites, would be very eye opening for everyone to see just how far the oil has dispersed as I'm 100% sure that picture does the spill no credible justice.

[Chris J.]

It is.

http://mashable.com/2010/04/30/gulf-of-mexico-oil-spill/
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/oilspill/index.html

[personalreality]

awesome

[Chris J.]

It's so awesome it makes me sick.

[Xanth]

It's so awesome it makes me sick.

I'll second that...
My heart absolutely goes out to all those innocent animals. 

~Ryan

[Yin]

If humans were as trees, and lay ever so quiet as they're chopped down, would they be slain so mercilessly?

[Stillwater]

I remember hearing days ago that the spill had likely already exceeded 40-80 million gallons, which would mean that it was at least three times as big as the Exxon-Valdez spill. And I suppose you could triple that estimate if this goes on into August as they said it might, meaning that as much as 250 million gallons or more could spill out. The well is estimated, last I heard, to be 50 million barrels in volume, which amounts to something like 2 billion gallons of oil. That  means BP is admiting that an 8th of this well might well leak out into the gulf by their conservative estimates.

It is difficult to  consider what kinds of ecologilcalconsequences will result from a spill of this magnitude.

[Xanth]

It is difficult to  consider what kinds of ecologilcalconsequences will result from a spill of this magnitude.

The gulf of Mexico is screwed... royally screwed.
And this is going to have repercussions globally.
That oil isn't going to stay put.

~Ryan

[Stookie]

When Katrina hit, gas prices immediately soared and never came back down. I've been waiting for that again, but (at least around here) gas prices have stayed the same. They don't seem to be talking the economics of this thing. Who's taking the hit? Did I miss something?

[Xanth]

When Katrina hit, gas prices immediately soared and never came back down. I've been waiting for that again, but (at least around here) gas prices have stayed the same. They don't seem to be talking the economics of this thing. Who's taking the hit? Did I miss something?

Hopefully this isn't going to interrupt the SUPPLY lines.
I mean, back during Katrina they had to shut down a bunch of refineries.  This caused a massive loss of production, which, obviously caused the price of gas to skyrocket.

This, so far at least, hasn't interrupted the production of gasoline... they're still getting oil from other sources.

THANKFULLY

~Ryan

[personalreality]

It wasn't about refineries.  I mean, maybe for a little bit.  BUt then "they" recognized an opportunity to toy with us a bit.

[Stillwater]

Gas prices before Katrina were artificially low- I think the industry was trying to avoid scaring people, intending instead to gradually raise them until they were comparable with the actual market value of oil, in line with the rising price of the barrel again. I don't know what the current value of a barrel is, but I have heard many analysts say that the just value of a barrel in the market is now around $100 US, regardless of what they actually go for.  I am fairly convinced that we are probably shifting to the down slope of Hubbert's Peak oil curve, as was discussed several years back.

I agree with Xanth on the last comment- the major role the gulf plays is in shipping routes for supertankers. The gulf drilling platforms do provide sizable amounts of oil, but their rates of output are dwarfed by other sources like Venuzuala, Russia, and the Persian Gulf region. Preventing the passage of ships was the main reason I would think Katrina effected gas prices- and once they were raised, the companies chose to profit by keeping them high for a while.

[Xanth]

Actually, since gasoline is traded as a separate commodity... it has it's own price separate from oil.
Oil is trading this very second at $72.61 US.

They say that gasoline, per litre (which is how we do it in Canada) should be around the barrel price of oil / 100.
However, right now, our gas prices for unleaded gas is hovering around $1.00 per litre. 

I think the litre to gallon conversion is 2.2

~Ryan

[Stillwater]

Actually, since gasoline is traded as a separate commodity... it has it's own price separate from oil.

Of course- price per barrel crude does not directly pin down the price of gasoline, since other factors such as corporate pricing decicions, fuel to transport, and supply availibility affect the price of gasoline itself, but there is still a strong causal connection between the price of oil and the price of gasoline.

[Xanth]

Of course- price per barrel crude does not directly pin down the price of gasoline, since other factors such as corporate pricing decicions, fuel to transport, and supply availibility affect the price of gasoline itself, but there is still a strong causal connection between the price of oil and the price of gasoline.

Actually, you'd probably never guess what the MAJOR driving factor in the price of Oil and Gasoline is...

SPECULATION!

We're talking future guesses... people who do the trading speculate what the future value of the commodity is and that raises or lowers the price.
Nice eh?

Up until very recently 6 - 8 years... a barrel of oil generally settled around $25 US.  It's only recently that we've seen the price of oil skyrocket.

~Ryan

[Stookie]

My speculation is that the oil industry sucks. Bikes rock! Except you have to oil the chain... and tires are petroleum based... dang it. We're stuck.

[Yin]

are you saying we're back to good ole' running?

[Stillwater]

Most of what we make out of petroleum, though, is only done that way opportunistically, because it is currently the cheaper option. There are other ways of generating plenty of the same organic compounds. Many crops produce oils that are suitable for making synthetic materials out of. Hemp oil is good for making clothing. There is also talk of genetically modifying bacteria to mass produce substances like polyethylene.

We don't have the infrastructure in place to do it now, but when there is a need, I don't forsee there being much difficulty in making the changes.

I wouldn't imagine those synthetics would be as cheap as those made from petroleum, but it is better than nothing