Attack on pipeline halts Iraq's oil exports

[bemildred]

Beiji - An attack on a pipeline in northern Iraq has halted exports of oil via Turkey, Iraq's state oil company said on Tuesday.

A huge explosion in the early hours of Tuesday destroyed the pipeline at a refinery in Beiji, around 220km north of Baghdad, a company employee confirmed.

IOL

[radwriter0555]

1. The acquisition of the iraqi oil wasn't with the intent to take it to

market, but rather to control is and precent if from going to market.

More money in less fuel, you see.

In direct smack down to the peak oil myth.

[bemildred]

3. They do seem to be trying hard to keep the oil flowing.

Given the demonstrated propensity of the occupation to ignore stuff
they don't care about, I have to believe somebody wants to keep that
oil moving and sell it now.

[phantom power]

5. You might find this interesting

This bit of news is really the exact definition of peak oil: it's getting more expensive to find new deposits. It's costing more to locate new oil than they could sell it for, at current prices.
http://business.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1183112004

[radwriter0555]

9. Nah, all a myth. Peak oil is a total scam. Oil cos are capping off wildly

profitable wells in places like Bakersfield CA, while declaring record high profits.

The point is to CONTROL the oil... there are plenty of new, untapped deposits out there, in places like Somalia and North Korea.

By controlling the supply, they control and drive up profits. A LOT!

The cost of tapping into new deposits is more than paid for within a couple years of production; it's part of the cost of being an oil company.

There is plenty of oil for thousands of years to come, but with so much so easily accessible, profitability standards need to be jacked up.

[bpilgrim]

10. lol

all that without one link... is this a joke?

peace

[phantom power]

11. Hmm. You and I read different news.

I'm skeptical of your claims, but then again I don't have first-hand knowledge of anything regarding the oil industry.

I do have a friend whose brother makes his living (a very, very good living) predicting the economic return on oil fields. I asked him his opinion on a different report, also predicting declining reserves; he said he completely agreed with the predictions in that report.

I certainly agree that limiting the supply would allow them to sell at higher profit. Everyone got a personal demonstration of that from the OPEC embargos back in the 70s. However, that strategy would apply regardless of the size of the remaining supply.

[NickB79]

12. That would be utterly stupid for their long-term profits

If the oil-producing countries were to proceed as you suggest, yes they would reap record profits in the short-term. But, the skyrocketting prices will eventually put nations into an economic downturn or even recession, reducing their demand for oil. The overall effect would be a net loss of profit by the oil companies. Why do you think OPEC nations set goals of $~25-$28/barrel, when they could squeeze so much more money out of it?

[hunter]

15. How is it "In direct smack down to the peak oil myth." ???

If oil was still plentiful then supply disruptions caused by these Iraqi saboteurs would be invisible. Whenever prices went up significantly other oil suppliers would simply turn up their production, maybe like you said, in Bakersfield, Kern County, California.

But if you look at Kern County, California, all the easy oil is gone. You can't just stick a straw in the ground anymore and suck up the oil. Now most production there is the equivalent of sqeezing the "sponge" harder to get the last few drops of oil out.

The hard facts are that Kern County oil production peaked in 1985 and has been declining ever since then at a rate of 3 percent to 5 percent per year. Increases in oil prices don't stop the decline, they only push away the time at which it becomes unprofitable to squeeze the sponge any harder.

Personally I see the posibility of a scary positive feedback loop here. If oil producers decide they are making more money leaving their oil in the ground to appreciate in value than they do by actually "producing" it, then we come to the edge of an economic cliff. The owners of the oil profit the most as the economy dances along that edge, but there is always a substantial risk that the edge will fail, and the world economy will go crashing down with it.

[JPace]

2. They've been working on the pipeline...

All the live long day...
they've been working on the pipeline,
to drive Americans away.

I think they are trying to tell furious george,
"Yankee go home!"

[nolabels]

4. The proverbial life vain of the modern world runs through the Middle east

People in other countries don't get the same uptake of propaganda as the US population. But in some aspects the stock market is a good indicator of what's really going on, what others are seeing and what they think about it.


Markets
Oil-price drop fuels modest Dow gain

By MICHAEL J. MARTINEZ
The Associated Press

NEW YORK — A sharp drop in oil prices gave Wall Street a modest relief rally yesterday, with stocks edging higher on news that oil production had soared during September.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 22.94 to 9,956.32.

Microsoft, one of the 30 Dow stocks, advanced 42 cents to close at $28.41 a share. Boeing, also a Dow stock, fell 60 cents to $49.59.

Broader stock indicators were moderately higher. The Nasdaq composite index gained 25.02 to 1,936.52, while the S&P 500 index was up 5.82 at 1,114.02.

Investors who have sold stocks for months as oil prices climbed reversed course yesterday and started buying as the price of crude declined. While oil topped $55 per barrel in pre-market trading, the latest production report from OPEC — showing crude production last month at 25-year highs — deflated futures trading substantially.
(snip)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2002066576_stox19.html

[daleo]

6. "vain" is right

It takes the vanity and hubris of the neo-con/PNAC group to think they can do this.
The whole effort will be in vain.
They have opened up the veins of tens of thousands of people in the process.

[nolabels]

8. Yea, but the pond scum don't care, they just want the profits

[leftchick]

7. holy moly! That is some blaze...

An Iraqi pipeline is ablaze following a huge terrorist attack that halted all exports from Kirkuk. Saboteurs struck Iraq (news - web sites)'s oil industry twice, blowing up a portion of an oil pipeline linking northern oil fields to Turkey and a pipeline near a major refinery, the head of the Northern Oil Company told AFP.(AFP/File/Marwan

[The_Casual_Observer]

13. Ah shucks, just when they were coming to their senses and

dropping the price, the "bad guys" do this. The oil analysts are just as bogus as the stock market ones.

[delete_bush]

14. you mean, another dry hole for Chimpy?

Anything in his background that could have predicted this?

[Dancing_Dave]

16. Just keep that bad news coming right up to election day

And hope that enough of our fellow citizens wake up! ;-)