longoil

Invest Now with a Keen Eye and Be Regarded a Genius for Decades

Oil is definitely the place to invest now. The chronic under investment in oil E&P coupled with the sky rocketing demand that will occur when the economic recovery has setup a perfect investment opportunity.

I like Canroys & MLPs. You get the best of both worlds
1) Steady dividends of 5% to 15% (even with sub $40 oil)
2) A nice capital gain when the price of oil rebounds.

Of course, services companies (DO, Pride, Noble, HAL, etc) will be major beneficiaries as well oil recovers.

Obama's Misguided Ethanol Policy

JAAG,

I agree with you that we should get off of oil, but to convert to an oil-free society will take 30 yrs at least. Ethanol and hydrogen are not the solution as they both have a negative EROI (it takes more energy to produce them than is returned). The US has over 200 million cars, so we are stuck with a gasoline/diesel economy and with desperate measure such deep sea drilling, oil sands and oil shale. T. Boone Pickens has the right idea. Use solar and wind to generate electricity. The natural gas saved can be used for Gas-to-Liquids plants to make gasoline and diesel. No a complete solution, but a step in the right direction. Pickens is currently investing about 15 billion in wind farms in Texas.

I also agree with you that oil revenue is diverted to terror groups by some oil producing countries. (For example, 18 of 19 of the 9/11 suicide bombers were from Saudi Arabia).

The USA spends 1.2 trillion a year on oil (assuming $130/bl).
$900 billion of that amount is used for imported oil. That is a very scary number when you consider that the US GDP was only 13 trillion dollars in 2007.

Obama's Misguided Ethanol Policy

jimgrell44,
The Green Faucet article is pretty interesting.

There is a long "cause and effect" chain associated with corn ethanol.

It obviously drives up food prices when you convert food to fuel.
In Canada they even make ethanol with wheat.

By making corn more expensive, the basic food of many Mexicans, the ethanol advocates have also inadvertently increased illegal immigration into the US.

Expensive corn means expensive tortilla bread and has caused many poor Mexicans to go North to seek a better life.

This is another problem with dismantling NAFTA (like Obama wants to do). NAFTA currently provides jobs for many Mexicans. Changing it would put more Mexican folks out of work and aggravate the current illegal immigration problem in the USA.

Obama's Misguided Ethanol Policy

I think Barack Obama does not see the big picture when it comes to energy policy.

He wants to renegiotate NAFTA. (ironically NAFT is the arabic word for oil). Bad Idea !!!! At least John McCain see this.

What he doesn't realize; there is a clause in the current version of NAFTA that guarantees 60% of oil and gas produced in Canada goes to the USA.

I am sure if he tries to renegiotate NAFTA, this 60% clause will be on the table. There is plenty of takers for Canada's resources besides the USA. Why do you think a pipeline is being built from Alberta to the Pacific coast ?