if true...

zogger

Thu Nov 08 19:49:00 -0800 2007

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...that might put the kabosh on the biofuel ethanol industry there with the sugar cane.

if true...

Bhima

Fri Nov 09 00:11:37 -0800 2007

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I can't imagine that it would.  By the time the Brazilians bring that field online Americans will be paying upwards of  €100, in Euros (by then it will be roughly equivalent to 200 USD) per barrel of any quality crude… double that if they start any hostilities with Iran.  Why would Brazil change their infrastructure when they can sell it for the big money to the addicts in America? For 6 months anyway…. That’s not a lot of oil when you start looking at just how much the US consumes.

Brazil Oil Field

DrkShadow

Thu Nov 08 22:27:01 -0800 2007

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When I was going through the university required economics course, the professor said that in the 80's he was hired to determine the viability of producing oil from the oil share that is in the mid-western states.

His conclusion: it wouldn't be worth it until oil hit 80$/barrel. I think it was between 40 and 50 at the time, maybe less. While going through the class a couple years ago, he approximated for inflation: it wouldn't be worth it unless oil hits 120$/barrel.

Granted, the dollar has inflated significantly since then.. but we're almost at 100$/barrel, and 20$ only took 6 years or so to add on.

Perhaps, by 2015, the US will be energy-independent from the rest of the world. I understand the oil share holds quite a significant amount of oil..

-DrkShadow

Brazil Oil Field

Bhima

Fri Nov 09 00:51:44 -0800 2007

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I think that there are enough other problems with oil production from oil sands or shale that it is unlikely that they will ever see serious production in the continental United States. It's one thing for the Canadians to destroy huge swaths of the country side and divert & contaminate billions of gallons of water in the middle of nowhere Canada. It's quite another to do it in the lower 48.

 

Also this technology gets pressure from other technologies.. both non renewable and renewable. So I think that by the time the process has developed enough and the price of Oil increases enough for this to overcome some of the barriers against, so other processes will be more attractive… who knows if would be ‘clean’ coal, solar, or even nuclear… either way I don’t see a bright future in Oil sands & Oil shale.

Brazil Oil Field

rubycodez

Fri Nov 09 06:57:13 -0800 2007

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there are now oil extraction technologies that don't use water, nothing like huge demand and sky-high prices to spur R&D

Brazil Oil Field

cowardly dragon

Fri Nov 09 08:11:29 -0800 2007

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Really? Oil shale and sands extraction techs that don't use water?

If you would be so kind as to point us to a reference?

Brazil Oil Field

rubycodez

Sat Nov 10 18:12:21 -0800 2007

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technocrat past article and discussion!  8D


RF and carbon dioxide injection and heating in situ, to name a few

Brazil Oil Field

cowardly dragon

Fri Nov 09 08:10:20 -0800 2007

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Industrial processes that require large amounts of freshwater won't be viable.

Convergence of shortages: Many areas may have already peaked on freshwater. You think peak oil is bad? How about no water?

Brazil Oil Field

Paul Jackson

Fri Nov 09 13:04:10 -0800 2007

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I don't think that is going to be a problem, there are too many technologies that are at or almost at break-even for us not to do some serious investing. The car companies want hydrogen in the worst way, because it means they can kiss the fuel-mileage and emissions requirements good-bye. If something is profitable it'll get a tax break to make it that way, there are to many enviromental/geo-political problems with petro-fuels now not to.