Totally 100% OT: "...U.S. (that's) visibly awash with crude..."

[utep2step]

https://www.bloomberg.com/gadfly/amp/articles/2017-07-23/saudi-arabia-turns-off-the-us-oil-tap

I'm sorry to put this here, but I have glanced (no, I have not studied it) at articles over the past few months that the U.S. can pee crude both from it's domestic and imports for a very long time. Obama opened up drilling,. "Drill baby drill" and that's what Obama did.

My question is this: Why is it hovering at $1.85 to $2.00 around our region and $2.25 to $2.35 along the trans Pecos corridor or other west Texas communities? I understand the Midland/Odessa boys want it at $2.00 to make some but the U.S. has more than plenty in oil.

 

[UTEPDefense]

I am not an expert here, but after being pulled from the ground, the oil still has to go through a refinery in order to be turned into gasoline and I believe that is where the issue is. The refineries have not caught up to the domestic production. A new refinery has not been built in the USA in 30 years and there are less refineries today than there was 20 years ago. Also, not all of the older refineries can handle the different types of oil that are now being produced.

I believe that this is a good article to read regarding your question:

https://www.google.com/amp/www.cnbc...rs-struggle-with-fruits-of-us-shale-boom.html

 

[UTEPDefense]

Also on a separate issue, but somewhat related, guess which state in the USA has the most earthquake activity? It is Oklahoma. This will surprise most people, but Oklahoma had a ridiculous 639 earthquakes last year that registered 3.0 or higher. Oklahoma had 887 earthquakes in 2015 that registered 3.0 or higher. That is 2.5 earthquakes every single day!

In the 30 years between 1978 and 2008, Oklahoma never had more than 3 earthquakes during an entire year, now they almost average that per day!

Scientist believe that it is due to fracking techniques which pump the dirty water back down to a level below the water table, but once this water gets into the cracks of this level it is creating the problems. What really sucks for people living in Oklahoma is that an earthquake insurance policy is usually required to be purchased separately from your normal house insurance and those that don't have it can't get their houses fixed. Thankfully we don't have to deal with this in El Paso.

Here is the wiki page about it:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009–17_Oklahoma_earthquake_swarms

 

[kickballpro]

With all this talk about Repeal and Replace of Obamacare, I wonder what the future impact for those that pay into an employer system. I pay $1000 a month for crappy coverage and it goes up substantially each year. Premiums increase, copays increase, prescription cost increase. Will reform help us, or just those on the free market and Medicaid?