Grumpy Editor

Obama raises eyebrows in repeating U.S. oil ‘scarcity’

Grumpy Editor notes that President Barack Obama, in calling on Congress to give federal regulators more authority to crack down against price manipulators, said it again yesterday at the White House:

“I've said repeatedly, the problem is we use more than 20 percent of the world's oil and we only have 2 percent of the world's proven oil reserves.”

Media remain mum while running with that line for months.

“In classic fashion, (the president) is using a technicality to skirt the facts and keep the myth of energy scarcity alive,” points out the Institute for Energy Research, a Washington, D.C.-based not-for-profit organization that conducts intensive research and analysis on the functions, operations, and government regulation of global energy markets.

“The reality is that the U.S. has enough recoverable oil for the next 200 years, despite only having 2 percent of the world’s current proven oil reserves,” emphasizes IER.

“Proven oil reserves are not all of our oil resources --- not even close,” continues IER.  “Proved reserves represent a tiny portion of our total oil resources. Proven (or proved) oil reserves are reserves that have already been discovered, typically through actual exploration or drilling, and which can be recovered economically. That estimate does not include oil that we know about, yet are unable to access because of regulatory barriers.

“For example, the billions of barrels of oil in ANWR are not included in our proved oil reserves.”

The U.S. has 1,442 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil but only about 20 billion barrels are considered proven oil reserves, says IER.

It adds, “That is partly because the federal government is denying access to hundreds of millions of acres oil-rich federal lands: the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge, the Naval Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, federal waters off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, at least 45 percent of the Gulf of Mexico, the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, and oil shale on federal lands in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming, to name a few.” 

 

Photos showing pain at the pump are pain elsewhere, too

Rather than repeated tired images of drivers filling up at the pumps and shots of gas station prices, print and broadcast editors should try something different to illustrate the soaring cost of gasoline --- run photos of U.S. locations were oil drilling or pipelines would alleviate the high cost and dependency from foreign lands, advises Grumpy Editor.

The aim is to remind Washington to zero in on energy independence in a country rich in oil as analysts predict gasoline prices soon could reach $5 a gallon.

U.S. field production of crude oil peaked in 1970 and has since drifted downward to the early 1950s level.

Lost in the shuffle of election news that dominated print and broadcast media late last week are comments from Jack Gerard, president and chief executive, American Petroleum Institute.

President Barack Obama “is misleading Americans about his energy strategy” in an effort to ease pain at the pump, proclaims Gerard.

“Since taking office he has declared 85 percent of our offshore areas off limits, decreased oil and gas leases in the Rockies by 70 percent, rejected the Keystone XL pipeline and has 10 federal agencies planning more regulation of hydraulic fracturing, which is key to oil and natural gas development,” reminds Gerard.

“The president’s Jekyll and Hyde approach to energy security is hurting consumers,” he adds.

“We urge the president to work with our industry to generate more supply to the market and create new American jobs."

Meanwhile, another result of higher prices at the pump --- inflation.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke yesterday (when the Dow Jones Industrials later fell 53.05 points to 12952.07) tells the House Financial Services Committe that "gasoline prices have moved up ... (which is) a development that is likely to push up inflation temporarily while reducing consumers' purchasing power."

 

Obama pushes ‘green’ UPS trucks, then relies on gasoline

While national print/broadcast media traveling with the president somehow fail to observe such things, alert Kyle Gillis, an investigative reporter for Nevada Policy Research Institute counted “22 fossil-fuel powered vehicles” --- with video to back him up --- in a presidential motorcade headed for McCarran International Airport following Barack Obama’s 20-minute speech in Las Vegas on Jan. 26, observes Grumpy Editor. 

Obama, standing in front of a United Parcel Service truck (not the usual brown, by the way) at the company’s Las Vegas hub, spoke on use of liquefied natural gas to power such vehicles. 

In his brief visit to Las Vegas, Obama praised UPS for "leading by example" in converting long-haul trucks to use liquefied natural gas rather than diesel fuel.

Obama said 14 U.S. companies have converted one million vehicles to alternative fuel during his administration, resulting in less U.S. dependency on foreign oil.

"Let's get more of these natural gas vehicles on the road," declared Obama, before heading for the presidential limousine (a gas guzzler at eight miles per gallon) to transport him to the waiting Boeing 747 Air Force One.

Think tank NPRI’s Gillis, who observed the “fossil-fuel powered” parade --- which included national media in vehicles --- earlier worked at the Media Research Center's Business & Media Institute in Washington, D.C., where he covered financial reform, auto bailouts, housing reform, taxes and the stimulus. 

See the parade of 22 fossil-fuel powered vehicles here.

 

California Gov. Jerry Brown looks at sun to power state

Grumpy Editor feels the short answer to California Gov. Jerry Brown’s massive $26.5 billion budget shortfall in the oil-rich Golden State is simply to push for:  more drill, baby, drill.

More oil production would yield more income --- including taxes to Sacramento --- from more sales, more jobs and more construction, boosting the state’s economy via an industry that has been sidelined lately.  (Annual California field and offshore crude oil production has been in a steady decline since 1985.)

Seems editorial writers on most newspapers in the state haven’t figured that out.  A boost, via more oil, in the economy also would lead to more advertising from businesses, thus lifting bottom lines for worried publishers.

After all, oil remains essential to power vehicles --- from Hollywood entertainers’ extended limousines to mighty Army tanks --- plus ships and aircraft.  Wind and solar power won’t quite work in those categories.

Yet, Brown while marking his 100^th day in office as a governor (again) and his 73^rd birthday this week, signed legislation requiring California utilities to obtain one-third of their power from renewable sources.

The power firms have until 2020 to produce 33 percent of their electricity from solar panels, windmills and other renewable sources.

Such renewable origins for electricity generation will come at a higher price.  Since power companies will have to bill customers at loftier rates, it would lead to less money in Californians’ pockets for other uses ranging from travel to buying homes.

“There are people who think we can drill our way to happiness and prosperity,” the Democrat --- who garnered the “Gov. Moonbeam” title in the 1970s while serving two-terms --- declared Tuesday at a solar panel plant near San Jose.

“Instead of just taking oil from thousand of miles away, we’re taking the sun and converting it,” added Brown.

Until recent years, the California economy mushroomed from growing production of oil, an active motion picture industry, housing construction and agriculture products highlighted by citrus output.

 

‘Inflation’ doesn’t exist in Washington dictionaries

While Federal Reserve Vice Chairwoman Janet Yellen was informing the Economic Club of New York on Monday that U.S. monetary policy “continues to be appropriate” and recent price rises in oil, grain and other commodities are “unlikely to have persistent effects on consumer inflation,” the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) declared escalating global inflation “is the biggest challenge to businesses struggling to recover from the economic downturn,” observes Grumpy Editor.

That is a key finding from a survey by ACCA of more than 2,300 accountants last month.

Then yesterday, fears of rising oil prices putting handcuffs on global growth led commodities lower as the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 117.53 points to 12263.58.

Most of Washington, it seems, looks the other way when inflation is mentioned.

One hopes that some statistical savvy attendee at a White House press briefing will ask if uttering the dreaded “I” word is banned in the nation’s capital.

"The huge rise in inflation has been the most worrying development to emerge from our latest survey,” says Manos Schizas, senior policy adviser at London-based ACCA with 140,000 global members.

“More than half of respondents reported problems with rising operating costs, which will hinder their ability to look for new opportunities at the time when businesses desperately need to fill the order books,” he points out.

"The number of finance professionals worried about inflation will also be a concern to governments that have put in place a range of measures to control rising prices.”

 

Blame Libya for gasoline pain at pump? Not so fast

With the price of oil reaching $106 a barrel yesterday, most media and the White House point the finger at Libya as the culprit in sending the price of gasoline to $4 a gallon and beyond, but Grumpy Editor finds that the North African nation is only a very minor player in contributing to the U.S. crude oil supply --- information that is rarely inserted in current stories relating to oil and gasoline.

One publication mentioning the minor role of Libyan oil imports is The Wall Street Journal.  Today’s top front-page story on Libyan oil mentions, “The U.S. is a small customer of Libya.”  But that’s in the 17^th paragraph of the 22-paragraph article.

Gasoline prices are up a hefty 34 cents a gallon, on average, in just 13 days, reports AAA.

Among nations receiving Libya’s crude exports, the U.S. gets a minuscule 0.5 percent (that’s half of one percent for those confused by decimal points).  That puts the U.S. at the bottom of the list of key nations on the receiving end of Libyan oil.

Put another way, the U.S. receives only 51,000 barrels a day via Libya.

That compares to Ireland, topping the list in importing 23 percent of its crude from Libya.  It is followed by Italy with 22 percent and Austria with 21 percent.

Europe receives more than 85 percent of Libya’s oil.

Of course, U.S. dependency on foreign oil imports can be reduced greatly by more domestic production.

But despite the steady upward climb of oil prices --- contributing to inflation on many fronts --- barriers remain for more domestic production that would result in less dependency on foreign imports.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar last Friday told CNSNews:  “We don’t believe that you need to drill everywhere and we don’t believe that the ‘drill, baby, drill’ program is the way that’s going to get us to the energy independence that we need for America.”

(One has to re-read that quote to understand Washington thinking.)

Salazar said the president and the Interior Department point to the need for an energy program that includes a number of different sources, especially citing renewable energy.

Also on Friday, a Rasmussen Reports survey finds 55 percent of likely U.S. voters (up from 48 percent three months ago) now oppose President Barack Obama’s seven-year ban on offshore oil and gas drilling in part of the Gulf of Mexico and along the East Coast.  

 

Noble Energy gets deep-water Gulf oil drilling permit

Perhaps the turmoil in the Middle East and Libya, triggering rising oil prices and more consumers’ pain at the pump, has pressured Washington to green light the first Gulf of Mexico deep-water oil drilling permit since the massive BP spill last spring, notes Grumpy Editor.

 The permit from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, announced yesterday, went to Noble Energy Inc., Houston, allowing continued work on a well about 70 miles southeast of Venice, La.

The New York Stock Exchange-listed company holds a significant position in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. 

The action came after U.S. gasoline prices jumped an average 17 cents last week.

Now the question is: will expanded drilling spread elsewhere?

The U.S. currently imports more than 60 percent of its crude oil, according to the American Petroleum Institute.

Another area that would greatly reduce reliance on imports is Alaska’s Outer Continental Shelf.

That region could produce almost 10 billion barrels of oil and 15 trillion cubic feet of natural gas through 2057, according to a report by Northern Economics, a consulting firm, and the University of Alaska-Anchorage’s Institute of Social and Economic Research.

It would make Alaska the world’s eighth largest oil production area, ranking it ahead of Libya (one of the nations in current turmoil), Norway, Nigeria and Russia.

The Alaska offshore drilling also would create about 55,000 jobs, the report added.

But current Washington energy policy has put handcuffs on moving ahead aggressively with drilling in the U.S. 

The slow-moving process of issuing drilling permits "continues to stifle domestic production and puts thousands of jobs at risk in the Gulf and around the country," the American Petroleum Institute said.

 

Consumer confidence overshadowed by market stumble

Overlooked in widespread negative business news --- which sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 178.46 points yesterday to close at 12,212.79, lowest since Feb. 7 --- was the Conference Board announcing its Consumer Confidence Index rose to 70.4 this month from a revised 64.8 in January, notes Grumpy Editor.

Chances are that bright spot will be hard to find in your newspaper today.

Unrest, especially in the Middle East and Libya, along with worry over oil supplies that sent prices higher, triggered investors to sell stocks.

The Conference Board’s February finding was well above the 66.0 expected by economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires.

Growing optimism about the short-term future is driving confidence, said Lynn Franco, director at the private research group.

Of course, some of that confidence got knocked down yesterday.

Looking ahead, however, Franco added:

“Consumers are more positive about the economy and their income prospects, but feel somewhat mixed about employment conditions.”

 

Lohan grabs more space than hijacked U.S.-bound tanker

Editors, for yesterday's newspapers, had to decide which was of more interest to readers:  a story on troubled actress Lindsay Lohan going to court or the capture by pirates of a U.S.-bound supertanker that provides one fifth of daily U.S. crude imports --- and somehow vanished, notes Grumpy Editor.

They decided on major print space for Lohan and a few lines, or none, on the Greek-flagged Irene SL, the oil-laden ship captured --- in one of the biggest hijackings of all time --- in the Arabian Sea.

Those are editorial decisions these days.

Passing a swarm of reporters and photographers (including TV shots from helicopters), Lohan went to court in Los Angeles on Wednesday, accused of stealing a $2,500 necklace, pleaded not guilty to felony grand theft and was released on $40,000 bail.

The Lohan saga received more press play in New York than in Los Angeles.

Full front-page photos of her, attired in a tight-fitting white dress, appeared yesterday in the New York Post, Daily News and AM New York while The Los Angeles Times gave her three-column, front-page art with a story on an inside page.

Even The Wall Street Journal gave the actress far more space (an inside three-column photo, with caption only) than the captured supertanker which was wrapped up in one-and-a-half sentences distilled from an Associated Press story.

The 1,082-foot-long supertanker, with a crew of 25, was headed for the Gulf of Mexico when it was hijacked by suspected armed Somali pirates 220 miles off Oman.

Additional elements that made the supertanker story interesting:

+  It was carrying 2 million barrels of oil worth a hefty $200 million.

+  All communication was soon lost with the vessel, built in 2004.

+  Strangely, no word from above --- via satellite or aircraft observation --- or patrol ships with a visual fix on the supertanker, despite its mammoth size.

 

Alaska oil pipeline resumption gets little print coverage

When a leak in the trans-Alaska oil pipeline was repaired and oil started flowing again earlier this week, the resumption didn’t garner much newspaper space in contrast to a few days earlier when comments by analysts brought headlines, including “an appreciable impact on the oil market” with oil headed toward $100 a barrel, reminds Grumpy Editor.

Many newspapers, in fact, did not report the resumption.

The 800-mile pipeline, carrying about 630,000 barrels a day, was shut down on Jan. 8 after a leak was discovered near a primary pumping station on the North Slope.

Gasoline stations, especially along the West Coast, immediately raised fuel prices.

The pipeline, owned by BP PLC, Exxon Mobil Corp., ConocoPhillips, Chevron Corp. and Koch Alaska Pipeline Co. LLC, resumed delivery of about 13 percent of the nation's daily domestic oil production to tankers for West Coast delivery.

Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. restarted the pipeline after installation of 157 feet of new pipe to route oil around the pumping station's leaking section.