Wyoming B.S. Thread

plus given inflation the prices aren't as high as they have been in the past.

Makes you feel a lot more broke though.

 

oh ya, i mean, im fine, i just wont drive as much willy nilly. Still going to do all the same activities with the same frequency. Itll just hurt way more throwing $210 into the diesel vs the 140 it cost last time. Probably go on a few less out of town trips as well tbh.

 

Sure but thats the combination of things we are facing, gas prices are a small piece of it. Personally i think its politics based that drives the hysteria around gas prices. politicians like to have it as part of their campaign pieces. We have been living on the same cash flow for a while now and i can tell you, the distance the dollar goes is noticeably shorter.

I dont think itll impact us that much. sure is a lot cheaper than having a kid!

 

oh for sure. I love how many people in my FB feed are all mad about it and pointing at Biden as if he has any control over the free open market and oil prices fuckin dumb asses

I've been lucky and usually get a good raise every year which I'm very thankful for. But man, trying to build a house is horrid with how short my dollars go. I will probably never get over it.

 

Yeah i am thankful to get into the market when i did. its a meat grinder now. lots of anti biden stickers on the pumps here, which just is a sign of ignorance sadly.

 

I noticed it in a rental 5th gen.

I think a Cummins gets being mpg than either of my shitboxes.

His admistration banned Russian oil, isn't that a huge reason I saw a $0.40 increase in gas today? I understand why it's happening and no idea if it's the best course of action.

 

This. Couldn't have said it better myself.

We saw a .40/gal increase today because of the stock market. Well, the commodities futures market (Trading Places anyone?) but to most of us, those are the same thing (which is "educated" gambling, mostly by the big banks). I guess technically you're right - that move was a result of the admin decision, but still, the market didn't have to raise prices if they weren't out to "make a buck." Russian oil into the US makes up 8% of our consumption, and 1% of their exports.

And of course, the real reason the US did it was to set an example for the other (largely European) countries, where it's really going to be hard to make the same decision. It's a lot easier for us to pressure them when we've done it too.

 

I mean

they could just open the taps on all the wells we have here in the states, or just keep buying it from other countries.

 

yeah this is a big thing too. Most of the oil companies both domestic and abroad have NOT increased production as rapid as demand has post pandemic(well the worst of the pandemic). Thats what got prices up in the first place. Compaines haven't been responding to the demand as fast as they used to.

Which in turn just makes them more money for the same effort. So why would they?

 

I know the company I work for is drilling and recompleting as fast as they can. Lots of rigs going up.

lots of regulations slowing things down too

 

Having flown over lake Powell and lake Mead in the past couple of weeks, we need it to snow for the next two years straight. They’re both puddles at best right now, and I hate winter. But if they don’t fill back up, the western US is screwed.

 

What a lot of people don’t realize is that if a well sits too long, the bore needs to be recleared, which generally involves a highly specialized explosives tech and a lot of quarter million dollar bore scopes. I learned a shit load about energy production when me and my brother in law were driving across central Wyoming to go see TOOL in Salt Lake. He has touched virtually every well in Wyoming at one time or another.

 

For sure, We turned a bunch of shut in wells back on this summer, gotta drill out plugs n shit, not cheap.

 

It's better to have other countries with less environmental protections do it...

Perpetua Resources is trying to reopen an antimony mine not far from here but environmental groups keep shutting it down. The US does not have any active antimony mines at the moment. Guess what uses antimony? batteries. What do we need batteries for? Electric vehicles. So we are supposed to rely on China and even 3rd world countries to mine this that don't have near the environmental protections we do? I guess since it's not fucking our backyard it's OK.

Perpetua is also going to clean up the remnants of the old mining activity that is polluting the area as well before they even start mining themselves. Nobody else is going to put money out there to clean it up.

Maybe I'm naive in thinking that with today's technology we can extract resourses without the environmental impacts of our past.

 

Cost is always the driving factor for any business. Can we do that, yeah to a degree, there will be environmental consequences for sure but to a lesser degree than in the past. But to do it here with that level of environmental concern is likely a lot more costly than paying pennies to a third world place with zero limitations on environmental impact to do it for us. It's about optics and bottom line.

 

Bingo, it's much more expensive per barrel production here than Russia, Iran, or Saudia Arabia. I think it comes down to where we want to be, tied to places that don't like us or be more self sufficient. Not always a black and white easy answer

 

well...I mean it basically flows out of the ground with no effort in the middle east haha only place in the states it does that is Prudoe Bay in AK. But..you have to drill like 800-1500+ feet through ice first. Then to the ground.


Still yeah. Never easy or simple Especially in today's globalized economy.

Honestly, for mining, I know it is possible. The mine by me is the Gold standard on how to mine cleanly and safely. It RIGHT on a river with is known for its trout fishing. They take a ton of care to make sure things stay that way and they do put money into local resources to help with the environment on multiple levels.

But not every company is like that. And certainly every mine is different in the approach.


Either way. People need to remember that natural resources don't just show up at Walmart just like they need to remember Beef comes from cows not Walmart. There is a middle ground there.


(Random aside, but all of this to me is just why EVs are a stupid fad of a bandaid to a greater problem. We will have to mine a shit load of stuff to get to the point where everyone has EVs and well there we go becoming dependent on an natural resource again...)

 

As long as the pollution is done upstream of the consumer, no one gives a shit.

 

I do like that the responsibility is constantly foisted on those who can make the least impact though, the consumer. Go green, put an LED light bulb in, own a hybrid, turn off your heater for an extra 30mins a day. Wanna notice change, mandate (scary word ) those changes and more out of large businesses.

 

I caught a lot of fish in that river!

That whole Bearthooth front area is rad.