89. Dave

“Buddy, L3, Eggplant, any other oilpatchers out there:”

Well, I drink coffee with several almost every morning, but I’m not in the oil business, I’m in the raising grandkids and fighting (anyway I can) for our Republic business.

But one thing I hear over and over (besides “Drill Baby Drill”), is that we need at least two new refinerys.

They (the refinerys) should have started construction about ten years ago at least. Refinerys are complex and expensive to build and nobody of course wants them in their back yard and construction would take over five years and possibly ten depending on those nasty government regulations, rules, specifications and such.

Right now almost all the tanks in the US are full and there are even tankers sitting waiting to be unloaded but with the oil no place to be unloaded to, because we just do not have the refining capacity we need. In the last year this has been further degraded by a couple of accidents at our refinerys. Repairs have been completed but it has been a problem for several months.

Another thing always discussed at coffee with those that work in the Oilpatch is those nasty government regulations. Never have I ever heard a good word about them. The conversations salted with West Texas expletives can’t be repeated here on BC.

OPEC is discussed like the rich old uncle who likes child porn. Nobody thinks much of it (them) and most have nothing good to say about them or their pimps in Congress and the EU. Not to even bring up Iran or Iraq (although many have bitched about the Chinese and others (not the U.S.) getting in on the ground floor of the bonanza of oil that will soon come from that liberated country, that we have invested so much blood and treasure in. They might be a real player in the Oil Market if they don’t kill each other first.

I could go on for a long time on this but I have to go and try and find out why I have a “check engine light” from one of my buds who has a scanner.

Another of life’s little adventures.

Papa Ray