BP Should Not Be the Scapegoat for the World's Oil Addiction

June 10, 2010
Hi:

Very correct... but the nice thing about a dirty mirror is that you can't see yourself in it.
It all comes down to the consumer... if they don't buy, it dies.. We are in the mess we are today because we don't want to invest the time and mental thought on a daily basis to REALLY look at our buying choices. We see it, we've been told to want it, we buy it.
I was watching an old sci-fi called "Looker" the other day. James Colburn gives one of those memorable "Network" Board Room speech's about TV and the time people spend in front of it. Pretty much sums it up, POWER. In the movie, "Quiz Show", another good one relating to TV's manipulative power, one of the last lines is, ~"We did not get TV, TV is going to get us". The true power of something is when it can lay its own cards down and not compromise its position, such is TV and the corporations that hold its strings...

.....Bill

As a UK resident, I've found the distorting of the facts by the US Administration and US media very disturbing.

For one BP isn't "British Petroleum" and hasn't been for 10 years.

BP changed it's name from BP-Amoco in 2008. Amoco being (Standard Oil of Indiana) and a US company. Several former Amoco directors are on the BP board.

The share distribution is 40% UK, 39% USA, 21% rest of the world. So US ownership almost outweighs "BRITISH" ownership.


The other disturbing thing is how Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and Halliburton (Both US companies) have emerged without the US media conducting anywhere near the same witch hunt. Along with the Swiss operators of the oil rig.


The distortion of the facts and the willingness to grab the pitch forks and have idiots standing on British flags in Louisiana - is a sign of things....

Hi Anon:

Those are interesting points you bring out, and you are right, they have not been put out there for the general US population.
You know its funny, all through history, a given society that has had a run up, always believes it has gotten to big to fail. Kind of like the Titanic, its just so big and so wonderful it can not possibility sink. Of course all that it takes is enough human stupidity by the members holding the strings, and a helping hand from Murphy, and presto, Timber!!!
The only misleading aspect, is that super big trees take a while before they hit the ground....

.....Bill

Some more figures for you Will,

BP Employees: 22000 Americans, 10000 British.

The BP boardroom, is 6 Americans 6 British in terms of directors.


The US media's over indulgent "Britain Bashing" over this is what's completely thrown me. Along with a small minority who've gone along with it, including the (current) US President.

I can tell many American contributors that BP customers here in Europe are equally appalled by the resulting pollution, that certainly does need dealing with. But with a US population that's been (it seems) all too eager to go after what they perceive (US media's told them) as a "foreign" company, and try and push it towards bankruptcy... when the fact is BP is as American as most other large corporations in the US. Which pays British and American pension funds!

I'll say only this - this is America's "Piper Alpha".

I'll also say and urge Americans to resist this agenda to try and attack "the Brits". This is an Anglo-American company with as much US money/responsibility within it as British. So the sight of British flags being trampled on in Louisiana is disgusting.

Particularly that in Afghanistan 296 British have fought alongside and died in combat. Yet within a month the media's portraying us as the villains of the world.

In terms of the renewable energy sector - well most petroleum based industries have indeed started waking up to alt-energy. BP's invested more than others in it too. Including massive investment in Solar energy

Thats the facts. And again other US companies seem to have gotten a better rub of the green in terms of responsibility than the "foreigners". When actually the "foreigners" are less foreign than they actually appear.

Hi Anon:

All very true points. Lately I have been toying with the idea that, and sit down please, suppose that it was not an accident as such. Don't fall up and out of your chair, let me explain. I am a big believer in that corrupt actions that produce a profit, by people who are willing to indulge in such, do not stop just because the latest goal was acquired, I.E. they got away with it. So, I started thinking, who would profit from such a situation. As always to pull off that kind of thing you need allot of money and power and most importantly, some key information that no one else has, I.E, the business opportunity. As professionals do when trying to solve a crime, you look for motive (the business opportunity), and people who have a track record of doing it in the past, successfully. I started to think about the NG push that has been going on as a way to get away from oil. NG has a certain level of acceptance among RE people and anti Middle East thinkers. Anyway, considering the Haliberton Cheney past "moves" (just see Gasland) to profit from increased NG production and sales, might this provide the "push" to get some kind of NG mainstreaming into the transportation sector. I mean a rapid acceleration in the accrptance and uses of NG. Well the first thing I thought to find out would be an analysis of the NG market including, known reserves current and historical production, etc., etc., another wards the whole NG "picture". I found a good link to an independent study by an Engineer who did just this on his own time. The analysis was interesting. Basically it is possible that we are already at 70% of "NG used" and approaching the EROI "tipping point". There are two main estimates of known/unexplored gas reserves that differ quite a bit. ... continued below ....

So I thought about the possible benefits of pushing us faster towards that point, or just maybe someone knows about gas deposits that exist that are large but, shall we say, have not shared the info. with the other kids at the table. I did not get to much further with either of those possible business ideas at the moment.... had to break away and do some real world stuff... anyway, when I get a chance I will continue down those two roads and see if there is any data and logic supporting them...

later...

.....Bill

Hi:

Here is that link BTW:
http://uk.theoildrum.com/node/3673

.....Bill

Mushy, I agree with you 100%. If the demand for oil wasn't as strong as it is, then BP and the other oil companies wouldn't be pushing the envelope as much as they are. It's a simple application of the laws of supply and demand.

Bill, I have to disagree with you on one point. That is, that people have a true choice in regards to their daily energy needs. While some people can afford to buy electric cars and to make the investment to go off the grid, most folks don't have that ability.

When I moved to Oregon from Missouri I had no choice. I had to drive my cars out here (one of them being a Ford F150 pickup that only gets about 16 miles to the gallon).

Could I get rid of that truck? Yeah, I could, but the fact of the matter is that I can't afford to and also, I use that truck. So, while I keep it parked as much as I can, I still drive to the BP station and fill it up about once every 2 weeks.

So, how do we kick the addiction? It's going to take government action in the form of a carbon tax to make the cost of oil at the pump (and other fossil fuels) truly reflect it's true cost. Then "alternative" sources of energy will start to make economic sense and somebody will design vehicles that match the performance of conventional vehicles (along with the needed infrastructure) so that us "poor" people can afford to get off the crack!

Bob "Free As The Wind" Mitchell