Oil : Explain to me what would be so bad about...

[madyaks]

I know people are going to yell Socialism or Communism... But explain what would be wrong with doing this..

Rather than lease the rights to an oil company why don't we as a notion hire a company to drill and extract oil for us? Putting the profit into the treasury. Wouldn't we save a ton of money this way? Wouldn't we be able to pay down our debt?
It is our oil, yours and mine, our nations. Why do we give it to big companies so THEY can make a fortune.

Yes I know they create jobs and stuff, well wouldn't we create the same jobs when we hire a company to do it for us?
We give away our national resources for next to nothing, why not use them for our country rather than to make a few people rich?

And rather than bitch and yell socialism, tell me what's wrong with that plan.

[dredbyrd]

Commie.

I'll bet you would've sided with the colonists in booting the East India and Hudson Bay Trading Companies out of government, you Hugo Chavez you.

[Bleacher Creature]

Dude, if you don't trust the private companies to do the right thing with our money, how can you place one iota of trust in the elected robber barrons?

[Reggie Cleveland]

What's in it for the oil company, Yaks?

[Moon Man]

What's in it for the oil company, Yaks?

I believe that he is proposing that the oil companies be paid for the extraction of the oil, but would not own it.

Moon

[Jaws]

I know people are going to yell Socialism or Communism... But explain what would be wrong with doing this..

Rather than lease the rights to an oil company why don't we as a notion hire a company to drill and extract oil for us? Putting the profit into the treasury. Wouldn't we save a ton of money this way? Wouldn't we be able to pay down our debt?
It is our oil, yours and mine, our nations. Why do we give it to big companies so THEY can make a fortune.

Yes I know they create jobs and stuff, well wouldn't we create the same jobs when we hire a company to do it for us?
We give away our national resources for next to nothing, why not use them for our country rather than to make a few people rich?

And rather than bitch and yell socialism, tell me what's wrong with that plan.

Mineral rights belong to the land owner. Oil companies typically lease those rights from the owner.

[Reggie Cleveland]

I believe that he is proposing that the oil companies be paid for the extraction of the oil, but would not own it.

Moon

Right.

So why do I want to do this if I'm an oil company? Can't I find better ways to occupy my time?

[Schwahalala]

Yaks -

I can sum this up in four words.

The United States Postal Service.

For years it sucked - so bad Fed EX and UPS got rich.

Anything the government touches is usually run wrong.

[Schwahalala]

The other issue Yaks is oil.

It sucks as a product - had we not been brain washed into thinking it was something good - we'd laugh if it was proposed.

Lets see Wind power and Solar power are much better.

[hansolo]

See Pemex as an example

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/2880639.html

Granted the article is from 2004 but it explains the problems of having a government-run oil company.

[Moon Man]

Right.

So why do I want to do this if I'm an oil company? Can't I find better ways to occupy my time?

I would think that people who know how to drill for oil would, you know, want to make money drilling for oil. If they are paid enough to drill for that oil, then presumably they would do so, wouldn't they?

The government could offset some of the geologic research and costs associated with locating drilling sites, but retain ownership rights to the oil that is pumped.

Moon

[Reggie Cleveland]

I would think that people who know how to drill for oil would, you know, want to make money drilling for oil. If they are paid enough to drill for that oil, then presumably they would do so, wouldn't they?

The government could offset some of the geologic research and costs associated with locating drilling sites, but retain ownership rights to the oil that is pumped.

Moon

Yaks asks, "Wouldn't we save a ton of money this way?"

If so, there's got to be a ton of drop-off of incentive here for somebody. "Paid enough" would be the key, wouldn't it?

[Sheriff Blaylock]

What happens to all those people who have invested money in the various oil companies. Government going to write them a check? And what do you mean by oil company. It isn't like just one company does everything. You have the people who find it, the people who drill for it, the people who refine it, the people who sell it, etc., etc., Should they all be brought under government control?

What about the exchange traded markets? Guess there is no need for them any more. Taking oil off the board is going to really impact many commodities and not in a good way. Guess all my energy trading friends will be out of a job.

As someone who works in an industry once regulated I can tell you the competition has created a large number of jobs. Trying to make a profit in a competitive market takes more people than plodding along trying to break even.

Why stop at oil. Might as well bring it all under government control.

[Bleacher Creature]

The other issue Yaks is oil.

It sucks as a product - had we not been brain washed into thinking it was something good - we'd laugh if it was proposed.

Lets see Wind power and Solar power are much better.

Come on my friend, oil is what built this nation into the superpower it is. While wind and solar may be the wave of the future, until we can put it into as many practical uses as we have for combustion engines, their day will have to wait.

[billiken_roy]

Yaks -

I can sum this up in four words.

The United States Postal Service.

For years it sucked - so bad Fed EX and UPS got rich.

Anything the government touches is usually run wrong.

i agree with schwa. there is nothing that comes to mind that the govt does better than private enterprise.