[Vwdiesel] Diesel below $3.00 - Alaska refineries and a little about our Guv...

[Will Taygan]

Warning, the next paragraph is getting off topic - although it does have
petroleum issues hidden in there.  Skip to the 2nd one to get back to
diesel ;)

The Guv I see on TV is not the Guv we all elected.  We elected a
middle-of-the-road anti-lower-48 pro-Alaska Guv (ever hear of the Alaska
Independence Party?), not the wicked far-right stepmother she has turned
into.  Well, maybe she was the ice queen all along, but she wasn't
marketed as such.  Her in-state approval ratings have dropped over 40
points since she started running..  (according to an unpublished but
leaked FOX news poll.)  Mostly she was known for pushing an ALL-ALASKA
gasline so our natural gas would provide heat, jobs and benefit Alaska,
not the line through Canada to the lower-48 that she is now so proud of
(by the way, that's falling through because the company its with needs
the Alberta tar-sands pipeline first, and with falling prices the oil
sands are not economical anymore.)  It's pretty easy to balance the
budget when you got a huge oil surplus, we'll she how she fares now the
price of oil has dropped below their budget estimates -- oooops!  In
essence she's a lot like W: she's got a few big picture items that she
won't listen to reason on, and then she's clueless about everything
else.  She is not a team player, but uses intimidation to keep her
people loyal - she's kicked out the old boys club and replaced it with
her new incestuous power club (ask me how I know - I live in the next
town down the highway). She is, however, very concerned with
popularity ;)

I'm done rambling now. 

------------------

Sorry, getting a bit political there, I guess it's the season...

Yes, we do have in-state refineries, but they price themselves just low
enough to deter out-of-state imports.  So, we pay lower-48 prices plus
shipping, even though it's local fuel.  Of course, they say it's because
we're a small stranded market and costs are higher, etc. etc.

I teach a fair amount of biodiesel classes, but with methanol prices
hovering around $6/gallon plus HazMat barge shipping at $0.60-$1.00 a
pound, it's hard to make it worth it in the remote communities.

2-tank SVO systems, however are increasingly popular for the mid-90s and
earlier diesels.  Cheap, heated - and if you've got a long enough
commute - works well even in sub-zero temps.

Will.

On Fri, 2008-10-31 at 20:36 -0400, RedMerk at aol.com wrote:
> Well, I love the Governor, but the prices would deter me from drifting
> into Alaskan territory.  Wonder why they just don't build a local
> refinery and process the crude coming down the pipeline?
>  
> Emmit
>  
> In a message dated 31 Oct 08 19:16:20 Central Daylight Time,
> dieseltdi at verizon.net writes:
>         YOWZERS!!!! Glad I don't live in Alaska (for many reasons
>         including  
>         the Governor and I just don't want to be that close to
>         Russia :^) )  
>         although I would sure like to visit for the Geology.  Hayden

-snip-
>