china snaps up oil

[jose chalhoub + 388]

Just found this interesting report about the dynamics of oil between the united states and china. https://www.voanews.com/a/china-snaps-up-us-oil-straining-us-export-capacity/4409418.html

[ronwagn + 6,290]

Great article! Thanks for pointing it out. We obviously have a lot of building to do and that means more jobs. 

Tanks, tankers, pipelines et all. More storage also means more domestic security. We can always cut off exports and use the oil right here if needed. 

We also need a lot of other energy infrastructure work for national security. 

[Jan van Eck + 7,558]

What are the odds that there are other components, gaseous volatiles such as butane and pentane, trapped inside that Permian light crude, and the Chinese are cleverly extracting the stuff to go sell, basically a free feedstock?  The gas gets a free ride to the Orient, entrapped inside the liquid crude. 

[ronwagn + 6,290]

To Jan van Eck: Great point. I never thought about exported crude containing these valuable fuels. Would like to know more about which crudes are really most valuable considering that factor.

China is trying to ramp up the use of natural gas ASAP in order to decrease coal use and thus real pollution as well as CO2 which is an embarrassment. 

[Jan van Eck + 7,558]

19 hours ago, ronwagn said:

To Jan van Eck: Great point. I never thought about exported crude containing these valuable fuels.

Ron;  reflect on the massive rail disaster in Quebec at Mac Megantic, where a unit train of Bakken crude rolled into town and literally exploded. Crude oil does not do that.  To realize this, look at the shipwreck of the Torrey Canyon off the South coast of England.  The Royal Air Force ended up bombing the ship, first using explosive ordnance to bust open the top deck, then dropping incendiaries on the oil in an effort to set it ablaze.  After four days of bombing, not a lick of fire in the oil. 

Why would that Batten trainwreck burn like that?  Because the volatiles are embedded inside the oil; probably gases such as butane, pentane, and other light hydrocarbons. As the train does the shake, rattle and roll down the line, those gas fractions end up at the top of the tank, held into the oil by the containment vessel, waiting only for a fracture of the shell plus the sparks of metal dragging on rails to set it off. 

Edited June 2, 2018 by Jan van Eck

[ronwagn + 6,290]

To JV: That is one more reason to approve all the pipelines we need. I don't know if some prior separation of volatiles is needed. Thanks for the information. 

[Jan van Eck + 7,558]

1 hour ago, ronwagn said:

To JV: That is one more reason to approve all the pipelines we need. I don't know if some prior separation of volatiles is needed. Thanks for the information. 

Ron:   Prior separation is obviously going to be safer  (together with separation of the fracking fluids).  As long as there is no escape of gases and no spark, including static charges, then you could pass the oil with the entrained gases.  Personally, I would say that doing that was foolish; better to take the gases out and isolate them.  Plus, butane etc is valuable, so why valve it off?  Cheers.