ecugringo

Did not know that.

Why is Zelensky meeting with Ben Stiller? Why is Ben Stiller in Ukraine? Seems odd the head of state that's currently at war has time to meet with a holly wood actor?

I think this just shows that an advanced country like Germany is still primarily dependent on Gas for their energy needs. Even Nukes didn't supply 100% power. The Nordstream Gas Line was to go directly to Germany to fill their energy needs. Yeah they have Solar Panels everywhere and some wind farms but the reality is they still are dependent on Gas and were nowhere close to replacing it.

According to Peter Zeihan they are all next. Side note: read an article last night can't find the link now but it discussed how the Intel Agencies missed on Russian Military capabilities. Thinking about it and going back to Al Queda, WMD's in Iraq, Taliban/Afgan pull out and now Russia.....Is there anything else they can miss so big on?

Officially the #1 Tom Cruse movie now. Only trails Avatar in Revenue at this point in its run. Saw it with my Dad, he took me when I was 5 for hte original. Loved it! Really great film to see in theaters. Made the wife watch the original and man was it corny! Still fun to watch but didn't realize the amount of cheese. When I was young the original Charlie was the ultimate prize. Re-watching it.....Nah, she doesn't hold up as well as I thought. Also thought you could have a Beach Home on a govt contractors salary growing up too. Jennifer Conneley>Charlie. There still hotter chics out there.

All that money Germany invested in Green energy appears to be wasted. Going back to coal! https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/20/ukraine-war-germany-turns-to-coal-as-russia-throttles-gas-supplies.html

I read something years ago stating durign the cold war, specifically when we had the DEW line we had more weather monitoring stations in the Arctic than we do now. This helped shape the climate is cooling message. I also remember in the early 90's when the rain forest were being wipe out they would be gone within 20-30years? That message eventually faded away. There were even movies about it. But with most of the global population increasing in 3rd world areas like Africa and south Asia.....they need cheap energy and land to feed themselves....but yeah go buy a Tesla and save the planet. I think 1 car battery needs like a swimming pool of water to create. Oh and the Dow is down 900 pts today.

lol i bought Exxon in May or June 2020 at around $34. Was at $104 last week.

We now have the President telling companies what an acceptable profit margin is. Biden tells oil companies in letter 'well above normal' refinery profit margins are 'not acceptable' (cnbc.com)

The other interesting point is the Crack Spread. This is the ratio of what companies purchase crude at vs selling a finished product. The higher the spread the greater the profit. Right now with Oil at $120/bbl and Fuel at $5sh.....It's actually not good margins for producers. Now when the storage tanks were full at $40-$60/bbl and Fuel started increasing, they made stupid money. Not saying they aren't now but its not what you would think. When Crude gets too low they tighten the valve and layoffs happen. Since Putin has state run oil companies as well as many OPEC players....They really aren't interested in reducing the price of crude. 2 of hte top 10 companies in the S&P now are Marathon and Valero. Not Salesforce or Facebook/META bs. My bet is their strategy is to maximize profits and shareholder revenue today and hold cash. If there is a red wave this fall I think they will invest in infrastructure and you might see more crude hit the market. But if Dems hold ground, these companies will further retreat and not invest in future aquisitions.

there is so much revenue to be create from O&G that can better our country as far as infrastructure, education and other programs that could really help those in need, I dont know why we want to race away from that sector. The US is in a position to be the global energy export leader. When you factor all the jobs involved in Exploration and production (Drilling), Midstream (Transportation) and Downstream (Refining and delivery), ppl only think of hte big players like Exxon and Chevron but there are thousands of other businesses all involved in the process. Maintenance, Integrity, Installation, there are hundreds of thousands employed. Planting a bunch of wind farms wont create the jobs claimed. I also challenge proponents of wind to drive through WY on any given day and notice all the turbines that are idle due to wind loads. Turbines need wind but too much and they break. IMO our energy policy should be to be an Energy leader while supporting R&D to develop new technologies that can be more efficient.

There are a number of issues with Green energy. I would not look at Europe as a beacon of light. They subsidize their green energy but they are currently at the mercy of Putin with Gas. IMO the Ukraine conflict has very much to do with Oil and Gas. The Caspian area has a massive play where Exxon among others have invested billions. The pipelines run through Ukraine and you cant really bypass Ukraine from the field to get to market. If you can own Ukraine you keep the taxes and tarriffs to yourself. If you recall the drama on the pipeline in the Bakken in North Dakota where the Indians were mad about it polluting the Missouri and their Rez, celebrities came out in the cold to protest. Well the Indians wanted hefty fees to pass through the rez so the oil company just bypassed it so they cried fowl to get it back. You talk about thousands of green jobs being created, do you care for the tens of thousands that will be lost? This industry pays well and provides opportunities to those that if they want to grind, they can make more than they dreamed. The tax revenues alone to all local to feds are in hte hundreds of billions. The only real green jobs i see are punks selling solar door to door so their company can get a tax rebate. Just look at Houston. one of hte fastest growing metros. You think they can all just work in wind? If you are a fan of Green energy you really need to understand how the grid will be affected if you make a fast switch. Nukes have been phased out, coal is being phased out. The flat out truth is we are consuming more energy than ever. Play the global warming card and the Earth getting hotter, thats just more AC running. Wind is a real joke. My company has an Advanced Engineering division. We have done studies on wind turbines and the load they experience isnt sustainable. They will fail long before create the energy they promised. ALso they are made of toxic materials and cant be reused or destroyed. So landfill it is. Ive had solar on my home in hte past and it really doesnt make sense financially. The ROI is typically not within reach considering when you are in range of payout, the panels wont be producing as new. Im not against Green Energy, I am just a realists. Most Teslas are powered by coal or natural gas. The US has oceans of Natural Gas. If they want to expand the grid they can easily replace coal with Nukes and Natural Gas. IMO solar and wind will never get us there. It will need to be some tech of a fusion reactor if we go down the road with as many EVs as promised. Lastly IMHO is that the Dems know this but they will make promises on the Green push that they will never see in their lives but are happy to buy the votes. They laugh as the family struggling to get buy to pay $100 to fill up their car on the way to hte beach. I lived in CO and Gov Polis and Hickenlooper both promised to move the state away from O&G. However, they have no way to support the state if they did. They know this but still make it a priority.

Groceries seem like they are much higher. As far as Fuel and Oil prices are concerned there are many factors. I work in the industry and no matter what, everyone thinks the Prez is 100% responsible for Gas prices. Well they are not.....Mostly. Back in 14' Oil took a huge dump. A lot of investment in exploration was put on hold. It only started to recover right before Covid. Then it took a massive dump. For US operators, Oil needs to be above $50/$60bbl to make $$$. The higher the bigger drive to install new wells and increase production. Keep in mind Oil is a global commodity and the more you have, the supply/demand isnt as tight and the price will drop. During Covid, Russia and OPEC flooded the market with cheap oil. Maybe this was to hurt the US? Tough to tell. Since the Covid recovery, demand is up but production went way down. The DEMS are hurting this by pushing hte Green new Deal. Oil companies are getting massive tax breaks to shutter refineries or convert to bio diesel. About 10 refineries are offline since Covid. It would cost billions to get them back running. If you're exxon, p66 etc...are you going to spend billions to get a refinery back up and invest in new leases when Ford says 60% of the fleet will be EV in a few years? No....they will sit on the cash they are swimming in. Also, a lot of hte leases available dont have easy access to the crude and are expensive to extract from. Something else to keep in mind. So in summery: Demand is close to pre covid, There are fewer refineries to make fuel, there is less production going on in the US, Russian Crude has been removed from the global market. Im still waiting on the DOE's plan to have a grid that can handle all the EV's and other push to electric. RIght now, TX cant handle a week of cold, the west cant handle heat.

Well I didnt ask, he volunteered the opinion. I just listen since I want a quality job done.

It is interesting that a foreign leader gets the personnel attention mentioned. And yeah its pretty obvious the US/West in a war with Putin via Ukraine. Perhaps this is hte future of warfare. Engaging enemies through a 3rd party and fully supporting them. I have a contractor on my property in his late 50's or early 60's from Poland. His dad was in a German camp run by Ukrainians. He still lives in Poland but picks up work in the US for a friend. He has an interesting take on all this. He says the only euros you trust less than Russians are Ukrainians. He feels bad about this whole war and doesnt want it but hes not too sympathetic either. His far out theory is that they wanted to clear out the east from the RUssians to make way for Jewish resettlements. Apparently Israel was looking to expand on the coast of the Black Sea and Russia said that. IDK. His thoughts not mine. Either way, the whole war seems odd and a bunch of horrible decisions made but seem pretty clear to everyone else.

Its like that movie "By Dawns Early Light" where a rogue Russian nuke goes off and the Russian diplomat is trying to convince the US not to retaliate but does anyway and WW3 begins. Then the Sec of the Interior is running the show. I am still trying to see what the end zone was going to be for Putin. A quick victory in Ukrains still meant massive sanctions against him. Is he trying to bait NATO into a larger fight so he can move West and then cut a deal to secure more former USSR turf? Is this a master plan for a new Russia/China/India trade sphere?

Explosions in Moldova Attacks Begin in New Country as Russia Warns Nuclear Threat Is ‘Real’ (yahoo.com)

LOL this is basically me. But I have to travel to meet clients when needed and go to my main office in Houston occasionally. Not everyone can work from home. They arent mature enough of they need the social interaction. We are trying to get ppl in but its come in when you need to. The commute is pretty bad for a lot. I also moved out of CO and cashed in and moved to the south east. My clients are all over hte US so it didnt matter really where I was. I think having a Mil background helped maintain discipline for me. I am surprised the Dems seem to push ppl back into the cities though. The work from home option seems to be a helper for climate change and help with congestion. Fewer care=less pollution? Or is the whole global warming scare a farce for voters? Seems like an arrow in your quiver if you care that much.

I remember reading about a town in Eastern Germany where the Wermacht retreated and left the civilian population at the mercy of the Reds. Thousands committed suicide vs the oncoming rape/murder that awaited them. I recall families jumping into a river together tied to rocks. Just hard to fathom. The brutality against the Berliners is pretty hard to read. Then again so is the siege of Leningrad. The Serbs share commonality with the Russians. THey used Rape and torture as a weapon. Isnt Zelensky Jewish? Cant really defend the neo nazi claim by Putin if thats the case. I have a contractor finishing work on my property. He's a Pole in his 60's. He was telling me his father was in a Soviet camp in WW2. According to him, the Ukraines that joined the SS were pretty a pretty nasty group and very feared against everyone espicially the Soviets. Many crimes were at their hands. An Elijah wood movie "Everything is Illuminated" hints at this. Anyway....According to the contractor there is a deep hatred vs the Ukrainians from WW2 in Russia.

I was born in 81'. My Dad took me to see it in the theatres LOL. I think my wife would kill me if I took my boys to see it. Crazy that my 5 yr old will be about hte same age when Top Gun 2 comes out as I was when the original came out. And Maverick is still in the Navy!

NATO estimates Russian casualties at 40k with 7k-15k KIA. Crazy! Thats more losses than the US suffered at IWO Jima.

Been watching a lot of Peter Zeihan interviews lately, not sure it's good for my health. If half of his global predictions come true its a pretty scary world.

Heard that Russian KIA estimates are around 6k. The commentator said this was almost 50% of losses Russia had in Afghanistan in 10 years of war. Crazy to think in 2 weeks they are at the half way point and that war was partially claimed as responsible for the end of the USSR.

It is different but.....If Putin goes home he's done. He cant just hang a Uey and pretend nothing happened. And then what? You get a global friendly Russia? Or Putin 2.0? I just feel like hes going to double down and go all in.

Didnt Iraq have sanctions in the 90's that the UN estimated was responsible for over 500k dead mostly children? You think in WW2 the allies wanted unconditional surrender. That made the Germans and Japanese only fight on harder. More people died in the last year of hte war than all the previous combined. I dont know what the solution is but backing Putin in a corner could be dangerous. If he loses in Ukraine more of Russia will break away and he will lose more resources. Mostly the oil around the Caspian Sea which is vast. He will lose out on the revenue from transportation of crude as well. Even China could become aggressive in Russia's east. They can be starved out through sanctions but I think that will only draw more internal support for Putin. Putin can also show his neighbors that if you go against him he will exhaust all resources to burn you down like Ukraine. Maybe that is his path to victory and create a new economic zone with his neighboring allies and China? If he can take Ukraine he will have a stable food source and can influence the global food market. Also, I guess we're buying Crude from Venezuela now...Good job Brandon!