Friday, August 1, 2008

Where is Obama coming from?

On TV Obama stated that it will take 10 years minimum and maybe 20 years to bring in a new oil well. This is completely false. Drill rigs make the hole deeper by tens to hundreds of feet a day. That gets down a thousand feet in ten to 100 days. Ten thousand feet (really deep) takes a hundred to a thousand days. Allow 6 months to drill the average well and another six months to put in the pipeline or tanks and loading facilities to get the oil out to the refinery. Say a year. You probably don't commit to constructing the pipeline/loading equipment until the well actually comes in. Spending all that money and then have the well turn into a dry hole doesn't make a lot of sense. But still, a well will come into production in a year or two.
Obama ought to know this. If he doesn't, he is ignorant and been listening to the wrong folk. That's a down check as far as this voter is concerned. A president ought to know a few things. Or, he knows the truth but is saying ten to twenty years because he thinks it will get him elected. That's a down check for two reasons. First 'cause saying things you know are not true is a character flaw. Second, he must figure there are more rabid greenie voters than there are plain folk who just want gasoline to drive to work and fuel oil to heat the house. If he really thinks the greenies have more votes than ordinary people, then he is out of touch with the voters. Either way it's down check.

Plus, just announcing the start of drilling will bring the price of crude down even if the well won't come in for a while.

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