Quote:
Originally Posted by VintageBall
But why is it that it can be more profitable not to drill in some instances, as you state? And when your county and the world need such production, can these companies step up and do the right thing even if it is less profitable? I honestly don't know the nuances of such answers, but think the question is relevant and deserving of being asked by the public, our leaders and journalists.
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I want to clear up one thing first. You stated earlier that "there are currently 9,173 approved oil drilling permits that have been approved but are going unused by the oil industry." That is correct. However, those 9,173 unused permits are on
federal land. That's important to note.
I'm trying not to get political, but Biden ran on a campaign platform based partially on green energy and climate change, and even promised to ban drilling on federal land. So why is his administration issuing drilling permits on federal land? I don't know the answer to that. But put yourself in the shoes of the oil companies. Are you really going to invest all that money into new drilling on federal land knowing that the administration could impose a moratorium on it at any minute? Think about that and certainly you can understand the reluctancy to drill? Maybe that’s why those federal land drilling permits go unused, but I’m only speculating. That’s way beyond my pay grade.
Last year, Chevron, Shell, ExxonMobil and BP all had record profit years. Good for them. I hope they continue to do so (I own Chevron and ExxonMobil stock). If one owns a business and they have a record profit year we look at them as a symbol of success. But when the oil companies have record profit years, they're considered greedy and evil. Why? Where is the line drawn between successful and greed/evil? Is it a dollar amount? Is it a profit percentage?
Now to answer your question above. Why would they bring more oil to market? What incentive do they have? If you found 10 T206 Wagners and wanted to sell them, would you release them all on the market at the same time or slowly over a long period of time? Of course you wouldn't flood the market. So why would the oil companies? It also has to do with not reporting the reserves (no drilling - no reports), but I won’t get into all that because I don’t know how to explain it properly. A friend explained it to me and I understood it, but I don’t want to misspeak.
I’ll leave you with this. I’m not the one that brought up drilling in this thread. It was you and others as if somehow more drilling solves the current problem. Oh, really? How’s that? Are there gas shortages in America right now where people are waiting in long lines? Are refineries not operating at near full capacity? So how would drilling solve the problem? I don’t think the current gas prices are the result of a lack of drilling or production issue at all. We only got on that topic because others brought it up.