Will the 4.3B barrels of oil discovered in N. Dakota help us, or will the envirowhackos ruin this for America?

"An area of shale and other rock in North Dakota and Montana is estimated to hold the largest potential oil resources in the 48 contiguous states, according to an assessment released Thursday by the United States Geological Survey.





The area, known as the Bakken Formation, might contain 3 billion to 4.3 billion barrels of oil that could be extracted using current technology, the survey said. "





http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/11/us/11o...





Will the Libs not let us drill this and keep us hooked on foreign oil?

Will the 4.3B barrels of oil discovered in N. Dakota help us, or will the envirowhackos ruin this for America?
They do not like Nuke power, they do not like coal, oil natural gas.





So what is their solution. They have none.





The democrats complained when gas prices were going up when the Republicans were in charge, well now they are in charge. What are they doing to help the American people. The on thing they could do is lower the federal tax on fuel.





But no they want to tack on 50cents a gal.





Way to go plastic face polosi and dingy harry.
Reply:They are drilling it... but Oil shale is very difficult to drill and extract oil from.


Its really only viable when the price is around +$90 a barrel.
Reply:It is barely economical to to extract the oil from the shale at current prices. How many years will 4.3 b barrels sustain the US? Not very many.





You can't drill the shale out, it's a rock. I have a chunk sitting in my backyard, it does not have oil oozing out of it. Some companies mine it and then process it, basically need to get it to a high temperature and separate the oil from the rock. I think it was Shell was working on a way to heat it up underground, sounds like an environmental disaster just waiting to happen to me.
Reply:The tree huggers will spoil it for everybody. I say drill, drill, drill.
Reply:It would help and they will ruin it.
Reply:Why bother sticking with 19th century technology now that we're in the 21st century? Sure you can convert shale into oil, but its expensive and it uses a lot of water that can't be reclaimed except at a high cost and the waste products of burning anything isn't exactly a hot number for the environment. Besides, it puts off the end game for oil only briefly. Of course the old war cry that these non-existant 'libs' don't want us to do this or that is just some goofy propaganda business....you can blame the strawman for anything. Let's see who's FOR this conversion business. Oil companies? Duh! Getting subsidies and tax breaks and any number of environmental passes are what these guys do...beside retarding what most people understand is the real need. In other words, follow the money! 21st century technology could keep the wheels on the road with far less environmental damage. So why not use these tax advantages, subsidies and the power of government purchase to make that happen? Somehow staying in this oil trap for a few more decades at the most doesn't seem like a tradeoff we can afford. We need to move forward. Moving forward means 'change', and change is the last thing the Oil Mafia wants to see! No kiddin'!
Reply:Actually, tree huggers need trees to, um, hug.





This is North Dakota, remember. XD





Maybe a buffalo or somethin'.
Reply:In 1979/80 I learned to drive a truck while employed moving oil drilling rigs in western North Dakota and eastern Montana. There was a heck of an oil boom going on then. A lot of it had to do with tax regulations. There was and is a whole lot of oil up there. And also right across the border in Canada. But interestingly, I suppose due to tax regulations, no pipelines were being built. Just a little tank next to the pump (after the drilling rig was moved to drill another hole somewhere nearby). Every once in a while a tanker truck would remove the oil from the tank. In other words, a token.





I have asked since then and that oil is still in the ground. I'm no expert on it, but it would seem that the old fashioned American ideal of finding oil, pumping it out and selling it, is less important in the grand scheme of things than the structure of the tax system(s) and probably a million other regulations, policies, incentives, etc.





Dealing with shale or sand oil is different environmentally, it's a lot more messy to deal with. But the good news is that the Buffalo are gone and the badlands bordering those States don't have any endangered species. The bad news is ground water. Lots of it up there, underground water. Extracting oil causes problems with that. Maybe that will be their hook to prevent production.





I just need to mention that high gas prices are not due to lack of supply. Gas costs a lot more lately because the banks (aka Federal Reserve, which is not government, but banks) have been rapidly inflating the currency. So it takes more dollars to buy the same amount of oil. It's not supply/demand, inventories are full. It's inflation. So blame our own bankers, not OPEC. Prices have not risen in Europe as they have here because they begin with Euros, convert them to fednotes, buy oil. It's just Americans who are the frog in the slowly heating water.





Personally I'd like to see 2 Nuclear power plants go up in every State over the next 5 years. Have a Manhattan project to invent a better battery, way of storing it for cars, etc. Take America all electric. Way less greenhouse gasses and waste heat, way more energy independence.

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