US Exported over $430 Billion

[G8trGr8t]

in wealth to buy energy that we have right here. over $3 trillion in wealth has been exported from the US over the last 6 years.

We imported over $430B in oil in 2012. That equals the amount of unemployment paid between 2007 and 2012 combined. We continue to import oil and export wealth because we refuse to use natural gas as a surface transportation fuel. That one simple tool would eliminate the great majority of our oil imports and result in less pollution while rpoviding a $400B annual stimulus to our economy. It would reduce the cost of transport which would lower the cost of production. So simple even a big eared narcissitic spoiled child could do it.

The US exports $780,000 worth of wealth every minute because we refuse to take advantage of our own resources. Imagine what an impact it would be to keep that $$38 Billion a month here and in this economy. but instead, we build $45k electric cars that don't sell and fund bankrupt solar panels and biofuels that ruin our engines. brilliant f'ing people we have in charge

While we were busy funding bankrupt solar companies, we did nothing to convert fleets of big rigs or muni vehicles to use nat gas that is us based, cleaner, and costs appx. $1.5 for the same amount of energy that a gallon of gas/diesel provides. ridiculous

Meanwhile, us drilling for nat gas has been cut to recent lows due to supply glut, yet we continue to fund all the other "green" fuels that are not economically competetive.

rant over....

[gator996]

Would like to read more...
(U have a link to your info?)

[G8trGr8t]

number of sources

pickens plan probably provides most detail and the numbers are verifiable by going through other sources (IEA etc)

Natural gas is a domestic fuel that can free us from OPEC oil.
Nearly 15% of every barrel of oil we consume is used by 18-wheelers moving goods around and across the country by burning imported diesel. An over-the-road truck cannot be moved using current battery technology. Fleet vehicles like buses, taxis, express delivery trucks, and municipal and utility vehicles (any vehicle which returns to the “barn” each night where refueling is a simple matter) should be replaced by vehicles running on clean, cheap, domestic natural gas rather than imported gasoline or diesel fuel.

Currently, domestic natural gas is primarily used to generate electricity. It has the advantage of being cheap and significantly cleaner than coal, but this is not the only use of our natural gas resources.

By aggressively moving to shift America’s heavy truck fleets from imported gasoline and diesel to domestic natural gas we can lower our need for OPEC oil and help President Obama reach his goal of zero oil imports from the Middle East within ten years.

But the Pickens Plan isn’t just about natural gas.
Natural gas is not a permanent solution to ending our addiction imported oil. It is a bridge fuel to slash our oil dependence while buying us time to develop new technologies that will ultimately replace fossil transportation fuels. Natural gas is the critical puzzle piece RIGHT NOW. It will help us to keep more of the $350 to $450 billion we spend on imported oil every year at home, where it can power our economy and pay for our investments in a smart grid, wind and solar energy, and increased energy efficiency.

By investing in alternative energies while utilizing natural gas for transportation and energy generation, America can decrease its dependence on OPEC oil, develop the cutting-edge know-how to make wind and solar technology viable, and keep more money at home to pay for the whole thing.

It is this connection that makes The Pickens Plan not just a collection of good ideas, but a true plan

http://www.pickensplan.com/theplan



big ag, big chem, large power consumers, and power companies do not want pickens plan because they theorize demand will exceed supply and it will raise price of nat gas. chemicals, fertilizers, even pharmaceuticals all benefitting big time from cheap nat gas. cheap nat gas repalces coal that 0 wants to bankrupt without raising price of power. power companies do not want to have to deal with coal regulations so they prefer to shut them down amd use cheap nat gas if possible. large power consumers (sttel plants to server farms) do not want more expensive electricity and don't want to fight over coal plant co2 limitations.

What they fail to recognize is that we are so awash in NG we are running out of places to store it. Get nat gas prce to $4 and the market would be flooded with additional supply and the drilling bidness would come back to life spreading money around. It will not happen until/unless we change big rigs to nat gas.

we changed from gasoline to diesel in about 6 year cycle back in the 70's. we could change to nat gas faster if the political support was there.

[dangolegators]

Wealth is wealth whether it is in the form of dollars or natural resources. Whether we use our own natural resources or buy them from other nations, the wealth is spent either way.

[gator10010]

Originally Posted by dangolegators

Wealth is wealth whether it is in the form of dollars or natural resources. Whether we use our own natural resources or buy them from other nations, the wealth is spent either way.

How is sending $430 Billion dollars to a foreign country better than keeping that $430 Billion dollars right here in America?

[wgbgator]

Weren't we a net exporter of oil last year?

[wargunfan]

We have two fuel oil burning power plants just north of us (10 and 13 miles respectively). We were having soot blowing into our patio every day. Seems the land breeze would take the soot out over the ocean and the sea breeze would bring it back in.
Now that one plant has shut down and the other has converted to NG no more soot! I'm all for converting them all to NG,

[G8trGr8t]

Originally Posted by wgbgator

Weren't we a net exporter of oil last year?

Finished petroleum products
It is illegal to export crude oil. Exception used to be Alaska to Japan.

[GatorEcon]

Do you think the value of our natural resources goes up as the world supply goes down? Go check what America's #1 export is.

[dangolegators]

Originally Posted by gator10010

How is sending $430 Billion dollars to a foreign country better than keeping that $430 Billion dollars right here in America?

It isn't, necessarily. The point is you can't have your cake and eat it too. Either you buy natural resources from other countries or you use your own natural resources. There's a cost involved either way.

[bluelang]

If it saved companies money, they'd already be doing it.

Sounds like a job for big government?

[G8trGr8t]

It is happening but at a very slow speed. Chicken and egg situation between supply and demand.

[mocgator]

Originally Posted by wgbgator

Weren't we a net exporter of oil last year?

Ummm... no we weren't. Where did you get that??

[wgbgator]

Originally Posted by mocgator

Ummm... no we weren't. Where did you get that??

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-0...r-in-2011.html

I don't know if there is info on 2012 yet.

[Gatoragman]

Sounds like the plan, spend money now putting future generations in debt, but save our natural resources so future generations can have.
Wow, the logic!!!!

[brainstorm]

Help me understand why we are importing crude to process and then sell exported gasoline, jet fuel and diesel? And are we netting $$?

[G8trGr8t]

yes, we can make money refining it because we have some of the most technologically advanced refineries combined with some the of the cheapest natural gas in the world to power them. the cheap natural gas powering the refineries makes a big difference in cost to process. we are also getting some of the chepest crude oil in the world from landlocked Canada and North Dakota, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado oil. Canada oil is currently a slave to our demand. Once they get the pipeline built to Kitimat on the west cost of British Columbia, they will be able to sell oil on the open market and we will no longer enjoy the $20 - $25 per barrel differential vs world price that many enjoy now.

We already have enough nat gas proven to last for 200 years at anticipated demand and they really haven't went after the hard stuff yet. The rest of the world is finding their gas too so we will soon no longer have that price advantage. If we double our anticipated demand and find now new nat gas supplies (not likely) and use up all the nat gas over the next 100 years and haven't created something else by then shame on us.

Google methane hydrates..we have more gas trapped in frozen methane hydrates in the bottom of the GOM than we could use in 500 years but with no demand for it, it lies untapped. Saving the fuel until you no longer need it doesn't make much sense to this simple country feller.

[G8trGr8t]

Chesapeake Energy Corp., CHK +1.54%facing a natural-gas glut that has driven down prices, will invest $1 billion over 10 years in natural-gas-vehicle technologies.

The move shows how natural-gas producers increasingly believe that prices will remain low long-term unless they can find new users for the fuel. By starting the new fund, Chesapeake will try to increase demand for natural gas as an alternative to gasoline and diesel.

Chesapeake, the second-biggest gas producer in the U.S., said Monday that it will make initial investments in two companies: Clean Energy Fuels Corp., CLNE -0.58%a provider of natural-gas-fueling infrastructure backed by T. Boone Pickens, and Sundrop Fuels Inc., a start-up that aims to create a new, natural-gas-based fuel that can work in existing gasoline engines. The money will come from Chesapeake's existing drilling budget, the company said.

Newly discovered natural-gas fields in Texas, Louisiana, Pennsylvania and other states have led to a surge in production in recent years, pushing down prices to under $4.50 per million British thermal units, from more than $13 in 2008.

Companies are drilling fewer gas wells in response to the glut, but supplies have nonetheless continued to grow due to improved drilling techniques. Gas production in April was up 6.8% from the same period a year earlier, even as the number of rigs drilling for natural gas fell by 7.7%.

Faced with persistent low prices, companies have tried to boost demand. In 2009, the industry formed a new lobbying group, America's Natural Gas alliance, to push for subsidies for natural-gas-fueled vehicles, among other measures. Those efforts have been largely unsuccessful.

Chesapeake is now taking those efforts a step further by investing its own money rather than waiting for government subsidies. Chesapeake Chairman and Chief Executive Aubrey McClendon said he wasn't abandoning hopes for government subsidies but said the move is a recognition that "government moves more slowly than the marketplace."

Chesapeake and others in the industry, including Mr. Pickens, the billionaire investor, have long argued that the U.S. should burn more natural gas in cars and trucks because it is cleaner and cheaper than oil and is domestically produced.

But natural-gas vehicles have made only limited inroads, in large part because of a chicken-and-egg problem: Drivers don't want to buy natural-gas vehicles until there are plenty of places where they can fill them up, but service stations don't want to invest in natural-gas infrastructure until there are more drivers who would use it.

Chesapeake hopes to break through the dilemma by funding the construction of about 150 natural-gas filling stations on major highways through a $150 million investment in Clean Energy Fuels.

current price is around $3.5 while the EU, Japan, China, India are paying $16

http://www.fleetsandfuels.com/fuels/...gh-incentives/

Clean Energy is completing the first stage of America’s Natural Gas Highway for LNG truck fueling this month, and will consider loans and grants to interested fleet operators willing to buy fuel from the company to maintain volumes at the new locations.

"Several” of the 70 completed stations are actually pumping liquefied natural gas today, says Jim Harger, chief marketing officer for Clean Energy Fuels (NASDAQ:CLNE). To open, without the danger of wasteful and destructive venting of LNG, each station needs 25 trucks each burning about 20,000 gallons per year, or 500,000 gallons to carry a the location.

For such customers, “We would entertain the idea of incentives in exchange for a multi-year fuel agreement,” Harger says.

The incentives could be loans or outright grants, he told F&F.

“We have created America’s Natural Gas Highway to support the growing number of long-haul truckers and shippers who are deploying factory-built, heavy-duty trucks powered by natural gas fuel,” Clean Energy president and CEO Andrew Littlefair said at the American Trucking Associations’ natural gas trucking summit outside Washington, D.C, this week.

they asked congress to tax natural gas at the pump and dedicate that tax to paying off bonds that would help accelerate conversion of fleets to nat gas. 60k per truck to begin with is price differential between nat gas big rig and diesel big rig. once they receive enough demand to run a line full itme, price differential goes down significantly. it is all about volume and getting price differential down. if we spent half the money we wasted on ethanol doing this, the fleets would be well on their way to conversion. pickens is willing to build stations (and is doing so) as long as fleets commit to conversion to help supply demand.

[dangolegators]

Originally Posted by Gatoragman

Sounds like the plan, spend money now putting future generations in debt, but save our natural resources so future generations can have.
Wow, the logic!!!!

Either way there's a cost. Are you able to understand this?

[gatorev12]

What I like about the Pickens Plan is that it addresses short, medium, and long-term needs and acknowledges that converting certain transportation segments to natural gas is only a short to medium term solution.

Long-term, it commits to investing into renewables to get them to the point where they can compete with non-renewables. There's certainly enough terawatts of energy between wind, solar, and tidal to power our country in the centuries to come, but the technology isn't quite market-ready yet (and there's no shame in admitting that).