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December 7th 03, 06:22 PM

In article ,
(Steve Robeson, K4CAP) writes:

(Larry Roll K3LT) wrote in message
...

The problem with Russian vs. Arab oil is that the Arabian oil is a whole
lot easier to get at. You poke a hole in the sand, stick a pipe in it,
and out it comes. Moreover, the oil fields are located close to accessible
sea ports, meaning relatively short and inexpensive transport of the oil
to the ships that will carry it away to the customers. I'm not at all
certain, but I'm pretty sure you'd find that Russian oil is not only a
whole lot further away from sea ports, but also a lot harder to drill
for. A hot, arid climate, while not particularly comfortable, is still a
whole lot easier to deal with than a frigid one when it comes to
crude oil production. If Russia's oil were, in fact, economically feasible
to produce, I have no doubt that those resources would be being
exploited to the greatest extent possible.

All too true...but then too, the geography lends itself to long
pipelines, and once they were laid in, that existing infrastructure
alone would drop the price of oil.

Maybe.

Does anyone have a realistic estimate of how much it will cost and how long it
will take to develop Russian oil to the point where it undercuts crude from the
Middle East in total production cost? (drilling, pumping, infrastructure,
transportation, refining)?

Remember that much of Russia's oil is in places as inhospitable and undeveloped
as Alaska. And there's the added problem that the folks there don't necessarily
play by American rules....

Besides...Russians and Americans are closer in social and
geopolitical ideologies than Americans and those folks in the Middle
East and SW Asia...

In other words, we should trust the Russians?

So let's spend our money where it's appreciated.

Sure.

But perhaps we should also consider reducing our dependence on imported energy.

73 de Jim, N2EY