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AEman has said that the primary focus of his blog is to highlight requirements for … and advances in new power tech. But sometimes statements and data about the old guard sources, upon which we are still completely dependent, come out that really jolt him. And of course, it’s his duty to share these precious moments with you, the concerned citizen and beloved reader. Remember, all alarms are not necessarily sounded by alarmists.
So, on to oil in late 2004 then. Black gold, Texas tea, 10W40. Hey, wonder if that’s the same W … ? AEman’s not sure he’s got a clear picture of what’s driving the recent volatility and price increases (to a new high a few weeks ago of $56/barrel.) Seems like the Iraq war must be a major factor. But what else … hurricanes affecting refining operations down south … political problems in Nigeria and Venezuala … the huge Yukos oil company in Russia essentially being shut down by Putin … BP announcing that it cooked the books and has significantly fewer proven reserves than it lead investors to believe for years.
What about America’s fiddling-while-Rome-burns approach to burgeoning energy and climate change concerns: 3 SUVs in every monster garage? Next up, the Chevy Star Destroyer SUV with quad hemi engines. With over 2,000 horsepower, it’ll snap your head back right quick, doing zero to 80 mph in less than a second … not unlike a top fuel dragster. Or the Dodge Ram-jet pickup, which literally blows the fucking doors off the competition by adding afterburners, inspired by the Batmobile and the powerful Mach 5. And finally, be on the lookout next year for the Hummer H3 Maximus. Early in 2005 the new congress will pass legislation that will enable fielding of the first street-legal vehicle that’s allowed to occupy two full lanes at once. On the positive side, the Maximus uses hybrid design as part of its propulsion system. However, it is the first passenger vehicle that gets worse gas mileage than the M1A2 Abrahms … about 2 gallons per mile highway, 1.5 gallons per mile city (that improvement attributable to the hybrid design).
Whoa there now AEman … easy boy. Get back on topic, would you? OK, he’s back.
Are the large oil co’s adding to the madness? Murray Duffin, writing a couple of days ago in EnergyPulse (AEman will have to figure out whether the EnergyPulse lit is trustworthy, but assuming Duffin and EP are not totally on crack, here’s the money quote:
You will hear that oil company profits are up 90% and that is true. What
you will not hear is that oil company profits have been dismal for several
years, which is one of the reasons that no refinery capacity has been
added. Even after this nice rise, profits are not excessive. No, I
am not a spokesman for the oil industry. AEman’ll take his word for it. Actually, no he won’t … will check Mr. Duffin out carefully. But he does have a winning way about him. Consider the following … let’s go out with a bang not a whimper. This man builds a foundation which makes almost every type of new transportation AE technology already more cost effective than gas/oil today.
If you had to pay at the pump to maintain the military we keep in the middle east
to keep the supply lanes open, (not counting the cost of the war in Iraq),
instead of having it buried in the defense budget, gasoline would be over $7 a
gallon today. AEman will show you the math once he finds it – else will write a retraction. Hmm – re-traction. Maybe we can get some of that in the H4. “The first wheel bends the pavement back, the second wheel peels it back a bit further, giving the other 12 wheels unprecedented hyper traction, delivering the shit-kicking, street-eating, turbine power you’ve come to expect from Hummer.” Alas, what a bummer is a Hummer.
posted by Andy Bochman at 11:32 PM
 
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