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Gold/Mining/Energy : Strictly: Drilling and oil-field services -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Heretic who wrote (74705)	9/26/2000 3:58:49 PM
From: ItsAllCyclical	Respond to of 95453

Great suggestions Heretic. Ok with your and John Q's suggestions here goes. -------------------------------------- Common misconceptions about the oil business... 1) Creating a heating oil stockpile during a heating oil shortage will solve the shortage problem. 2) All tankers are always full and headed to the US. 3) Oil and natural gas are one in the same. 4) Refineries can always process additional crude. Utilization, maintenance and repair exist only in the real world. 5) The best way to keep oil cheap and prevent oil price spikes is to prevent oil companies from making a profit. 6) Finding costs for oil and totals costs are the same. Labor and infrastructure are irrelevant. Since the finding cost for domestic oil is only $6-7, long term oil prices will eventually go to $10-12. 7) Whenever we run into tight supply there are ALWAYS missing barrels to be found 8) Finding and bringing new reserves to market takes about 2-4 weeks. 9) Oil markets reflect current data. The data itself is excellent and not subject to scrutiny. 10) Guest "oil analysts" on CNBC study the oil markets before making any statements or predictions 11) The government can bail us out of any energy crisis simply by taping the SPR, SHOR or the SNGR. 12) Oil should not trade like any other commodity on earth. We have a right to cheap oil regardless of the costs. 13) Depletion does not exist. Someone once found that production was declining, but the data must have been faulty and the person was subsequently shot. 14) Full cells will eliminate the need for fossil fuels within 10 years. 15) OPEC is the only reason for 'high' prices, fuel taxes are negligible. 16) There is one price for oil. Blends do not exist. Time has no meaning in oil markets. 17) Our "high-tech" economy is no longer dependent on energy. 18) We can control OPEC. 19) Energy prices should always be removed from inflation statistics since energy is not needed by our high-tech economy. 20) The media is not biased when it comes to reporting on energy matters. 21) The future price of oil can best be determined from where it's traded in the recent past. No research is required. 22) OPEC's true costs are only $2-4 per barrel. (Despite the fact that most of the OPEC countries were running huge deficits at $12-15 crude). 23) There is an infinite supply of oil tankers. 24) Storing and transporting oil on tankers for an indefinite amount of time is not only free, but commonly practiced as evidenced by the perpetual "wall of oil" that always exists. 25) Oil prices are the sole factor that determines supply. 26) The best way to encourage a domestic oil supply is to tax them heavily in good years and ignore their pleas when they are on the verge of bankruptcy during bad years. 27) Larry Kudlow will eventually make a correct prediction regarding oil prices. 28) There is a giant "tap" somewhere that is turned up and down on a daily basis to regulate the flow of oil. 29) There is a natural gas pipeline from the Middle East to the US 30) Canada can currently produce all the natural gas we will ever need 31) The power generation trend towards natural gas in no way requires more natural gas. It only requires new turbines. 32) Gasoline prices in the U.S. are "too high". After all gasoline tastes terrible. Therefore it should be cheaper than milk, water and coca cola. 33) In the energy markets, supply and demand are unrelated. Prices are determined solely by supply. 34) Even though OPEC production comprises less than half the world's production, any shortages are solely OPEC's problem and they alone should get blamed. 35) Increasing oil production automatically translates into extra heating oil, natural gas and unleaded gas since there is only one type of crude and products don't exist. 36) Our troops are in Saudi Arabia to protect their interests. 37) The current oil shortage has nothing to do with the US/Great Britain's enforcement of sanctions against Iraq. 38) Al Gore invented both the internet and the SPR. 39) If oil goes to $40.00+ gold prices will fall further. As long as gold prices remain stable there is no inflation. 40) OPEC countries do not consume oil. Every drop of oil is always exported to drive down prices for more deserving western countries. 41) Government intervention is always the best method of dealing with high energy costs. Market forces should be dealt with only in theory and scientific papers. 42) The US oil companies have kept heating oil expensive by devoting too few rigs to finding it (source: US congressman). 43) Since technology is always improving oil is becoming increasingly easy and inexpensive to find. 44) There are plenty of big oil fields yet to be discovered. 45) High energy taxes have helped Europe become less dependent upon OPEC. 46) Oil executives are good at hedging since they deal with oil on a daily basis. 47) There are no other misconceptions about the oil business