Fair use, et al... Please note the last paragraph, they're speaking of two weeks wait time. It could be much, much worse, however I'm wondering if they're speaking of the two weeks' time-frame for finished petroleum products or just for crude oil...

http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1009-200-1489375.html?tag=st.ne.1009.thed.1009-200-1489375

"U.S. contingency oil plan in place for Y2K" By Reuters Special to CNET News.com December 9, 1999, 7:00 p.m. PT

"WASHINGTON--Energy Secretary Bill Richardson today said he sent to the White House contingency plans to sell oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in case of a supply disruption caused by Y2K computer problems."

"The plans rely on the Strategic Petroleum Reserve--and the president, if he deems it necessary, can sign these findings at the appropriate time and put our plans into action," Richardson said in a speech prepared for delivery at an energy conference."

"The reserve, created after the Arab oil embargo of the 1970s, holds about 572 million barrels of oil."

"This is not to suggest that there is a problem, only that we are prepared," Richardson added. His speech gave no details about what else was included in the contingency plans, or what level of disruption would trigger the sale of the stockpiled emergency oil."

"The U.S. energy chief said he discussed with his counterparts from Mexico and Venezuela what actions could be taken if world oil supplies were abruptly curtailed at the end of the month because of malfunctioning computers. The Y2K problem refers to a computer's inability to recognize the year 2000."

"We are developing a communications plan to keep us in concert up to, during and after the rollover in addition to each of our contingency plans in the event that there is an oil supply disruption somewhere," Richardson added, referring to similar plans by Mexico and Venezuela."

"The U.S. Energy Information Administration recently said that in case of an emergency, the nation's stockpiled oil could be moved into the world oil market in as little as 15 days."

-- Deb M. (vmcclell@columbus.rr.com), December 10, 1999

Answers

yeah, but in an emergency, who gets that stockpiled oil? Certainly not John Q. Public. The military would have first dibs, I'm sure.

-- Wondering (wondering@puzzled.com), December 10, 1999.

This reserve will last for about a 100 of days if we will maintain our current consumption level (~100 mil barrels per day) should the foreign suppliers (not counting Canada) that supply ~60% of the daily consumption go down.

-- Brooklyn (MSIS@cyberdude.com), December 10, 1999.

...in case of an emergency, the nation's stockpiled oil could be moved into the world oil market in as little as 15 days.

Um, isn't that OUR oil, already paid for by the gov't? Shouldn't WE THE PEOPLE (of the U.S.) get that oil for FREE? Or did the oil producers just GIVE us the oil? And why would they say "WORLD OIL MARKET"?

WE bought and paid for it; it's OURS.

-- Dennis (djolson@cherco.net), December 10, 1999.

Deb,

Seems like a little "good" news...however, demand is fluctuating between 14 and 20 million barrels of oil per day.

Brooklyn,

That demand level at 572 million barrels in SPR could give us only about 30 days supply in certain situations.

Another factor is that the oil in the SPR is extremely dirty, full of extra contaminants and requires most refineries to stop and prepare their systems for such low-quality oil. I have contacts telling me the absolutely dread the idea of SPR oil. They were in on in once before and it really messed up their refinery operations but good. They would only want it as a last resort. The SPR utilizes salt domes.

-- R.C. (racambab@mailcity.com), December 10, 1999.

I think the following quote from Ladylogic46 presents some of the best news I've ever heard about oil:

From the depths of the thread (and stated more than once) at http:// www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=001xqb

---------------------------------------------------------------------- ... " I am going to say it again, and again, and again, until you people understand it.

THERE IS MORE OIL IN THE WORLD THAN WE CAN EVER USE.

THERE IS ENOUGH OIL IN THE CONTINENTAL US TO PROVIDE FOR THE US AND CANADA FOR 5 - 100+ YEARS DEPENDING ON WHAT SOURCE YOU BELIEVE. No one thinks we are going to run out any time soon.

You can believe me or not, at this point Im tired of discussing it, and no matter how hard I try, I cant make some people understand." ...

-- (LadyLogic@aol.com), December 10, 1999.

---------------------------------------------------------------------- Well, there you have it. You can believe her or not.

It really has to be the best news I've ever heard about oil. And, hey, by the way, since we have the technology to get to the moon (but apparently not mars), we'll never run out of cheese, either.

Now I need to go and plant some quarters to see if I can get a moneytree to sprout.

-- the moon really (ism@deof.cheese), December 10, 1999.

Not that I agree with Laura's final assessment of y2k, but ol' uncle Joe is probably right about the supply of oil here in the US.

For your consideration:

The Fletcher Prouty Commentary - June

---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- Greasing the Palms of the Oil Barons

In the first place what is oil? Is it 85% carbon, 13% hydrogen and 0.5% oxygen with traces of sulfur and nitrogen. Most geochemists ( in the pay of oil companies) believe that the oil originates from the decomposition of organic matter. They would have us believe that because organic matter - that is, formerly living organisms - is quantifiably a very limited source, the supply of oil itself must be limited. It is not.

Oil is often called a "fossil" fuel; the idea being that it comes from formerly living organisms. This may have been plausible back when oil wells were drilled into the fossil layers of the earth's crust; but today, great quantities of oil are found in deeper wells that are found below the level of any fossils. How could then could oil have come from fossils, or decomposed former living matter, if it exists in rock formations far below layers of fossils - the evidence of formerly living organisms? It must not come from living matter at all!

Furthermore, if all the plants, insects and animals that ever lived were all squeezed into a massive ooze, there is no way they could have amounted to the volume of oil that has been found to date. They just would not make that much juice. On top of this, oil geochemists will admit, if pressed, that if all the oil wells ever drilled by their so - called scientific methods of divining had been drilled totally at random, they would have found as much oil with random drilling as by " educated " drilling. In other words, there is a lot of oil down there.....most everywhere. Just drill for it - and if you don't strike it, drill a little deeper.

There can only be one answer to the misinformation we have about oil. The oil men have always wanted a monopoly control, and with it, they want to charge as much money as they can for every gallon of gasoline. With this, they gross hundreds of billions of dollars per - year. They want us to believe that our present rate of oil consumption, we have possibly 20 to 30 years before we run out. They make this sound credible with their " decomposed organic matter" fable.

By bursting this bubble and pulling the plug on this scenario, we discover that petroleum is a natural organic product that is rising, in enormous quantities , from deep within the earth; with deeper drilling, as wildcatters are already doing, there will adequate oil for a long, long time, even at the present rate of consumption.

From 1956 to 1971, the number of giant oil fields more than doubled as drills go deep into the Paleozoic strata and below. Today, there is a glut on the market, and those who control oil are doing all they can to limit production in order to keep the prices very high. To do this, they get a lot of government help.

Shortly before William J. Casey became the head of the CIA, he made a speech before the American Bar Association during which he advocated " international agreements to establish commodity reserves and maintain prices". This is the kind of policy oil men like. At the same conference, Hans Heymann, one of Casey's deputies at the CIA, talked about the "enormous oil inventory building that we've had", and that " we (CIA) developed a system of institutions and codes of conduct that make it far easier for those who influence the international marketplace to exercise that influence". It is " those who influence the marketplace" who are the oil barons, and they are taking us for hundreds of billions of dollars every year - with the aid of almost all Western governments.

(Colonel) L. Fletcher Prouty

http://www.prouty.org/

-- OR (orwelliator@biosys.net), December 10, 1999.

Q: How much oil is there? Are we running out? While the world holds a finite supply of oil, we're not in danger of running out any time soon. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that the Earth could hold as much as 2.1 trillion barrels of crude oil -- enough to supply the world with oil for the next 63 to 95 years! In fact, though we're using more oil, we're also finding more. New technology makes that possible. To learn more about oil supplies, see Oil Supplies: Are We Really Running Out of Oil? [PDF]

Total remaining recoverable U.S. oil may exceed 200 billion barrels-- about 70 years worth at the current rate of consumption. Total world reserves may total 2 trillion barrels.

Q: Where are the most promising sites for new exploration and production in the United States? They are in two very different places. One is offshore on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and the other is in Alaska.

The OCS is an area that stretches 200 miles out from the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf coasts. The industry is allowed to explore for and produce oil and natural gas in parts of the OCS but not in others. It is estimated that about half the oil and one-fourth of the natural gas in the OCS region is in these restricted areas. Those who oppose OCS development fear oil spills and other environmental harm. But offshore operations are among the most stringently regulated activities in the United States. Since 1975, when current federal offshore safety regulations went into effect, about one one- thousandth of one percent of the oil produced in federal outer continental shelf areas has been spilled. That's a 99.999 percent safe record.

There's a second area that's also believed to be abundant in oil and natural gas. It's a small part of Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). ANWR is about the size of South Carolina. The U.S. Department of the Interior has said that ANWR's coastal plain offers "the best single opportunity to increase significantly domestic oil production." Producing that oil would affect only 19 square miles of ANWR. That's about the size of Dulles Airport near Washington, D.C., and only 1 percent of ANWR's coastal plain.

Over the past quarter century, oil operations on Alaska's North Slope have shown that oil exploration and development is compatible with arctic ecology and wildlife.

http://www.api.org/webfaq.htm

-- R.C. (racambab@mailcity.com), December 10, 1999.