I wonder if those idiots that were so happy gas was going up are still happy?

What, only two quads and a motor home? No boat or jet skis and a spare quad? What kind of peasant is that for a friend? Now that you put it that way I see how tough times are.

"We have an agreement with CANFOR, Lakeland, and Carrier which covers the escalating costs of fuel. CANFOR adjusts the hauling costs every month. They have been very strong on that point and it has been a saving grace for those that haul for them" Purdon said."


A positive comment about CANFOR? Has hell frozen over?

Dont forget thats Burke Purdon thats talking about canfor. NONE of his trucks were in that protests a few summers ago. They say if you rub the door stickers hard enough they say "Canfor" underneath.

The reason the rigs at FSJohn aren't drilling is the same reason no one is logging a finished and planted cut block in Prince George.

This isn't some union government job. Rigs don't drill unless they have oil to drill for, and loggers don't log unless there are trees to log.

thats odd because theres plenty oil and trees. markets set prices. oil prices are subject to supply and demand but markets add the "Paper Factor" Just because oil prices are high doesn't necessarily mean there is demand for oil itself, rather what we are seeing is demand for oil-backed paper, such as futures contracts, stocks, etc. This has led to rampant speculation which pushes up prices. Look around, are there any fuel shortages? No. Oil producers are selling the same or less oil for a higher price, there really is no need for more supply. We all just need to keep cool until this speculation and US dollar hedging business unwinds.

there is oil in hemp.
time to start a new industry.

oh an Mr. Purdon... boo hoo. :)

Everybody is hurting. This is just one example.

Gamblor ---- well said --- oil wasn't even traded on the futures market until 1983. The daily change in the price of a barrel of oil on the exchanges has nothing to do with supply and demand but "we" have meekly allowed ourselves to be yanked at the pumps based on nothing more than paper speculation.

Refinery limitations are a real problem --- more of a problem than oil shortage. That is a problem that can be solved.

You know what. We need to build more refineries to ease off the shortage on fuels, lets glut the market.

you fools are all haters!!!

I feel for those poor people....enough of the truckers already - this story is getting a little tiring - here's an idea - why not interview the average joe on the street..this story is ridiculous - does Purdon advertise on this sight?

Come on people - are there any real journalists at 250?

"I wonder if those idiots that were so happy gas was going up are still happy?"

Yup .... becuase people will not learn without learning the hard way ... getting your fingers burned on a hot stove top is the quickest way to learn to be more careful around stoves ....

Sad, but true .....

Take a drive around the peace river country and count the capped wells that absolutely cover the landscape up there.
Start counting along the backroads around Chetwynd.
Any one that tells us there is an oil shortage is a liar.
There are hundreds of wells in the Chetwynd, Tumbler Ridge area alone that were capped 25 years ago that are still capped to this day.

The rising cost of fuel certainly does have an impact on everything. Its going to affect absolutely everything...and not just some guy filling up 3 quads!...

The cost of groceries, and general merchandise has risen tremendacely in the past year. People that have to travel any distance to work are paying 30% more this year with no wage increase.

I could fill up for about $40 last year now its nearly $70.

Ford and GM have already announced cut backs on bigger vehicles, it just shows the direction we are heading..and the direction is rapid. Lost product=lost jobs.

The forest industry is in the tank and yet the cost of production has risen--anyone in forstry knows that in todays age--things arent looking good at all.

Farmers aren't making any money now and with rising fuel prices we can expect to see less product on the shelves, as a result. It will drive the price of fresh produce and meat through the roof.
Who is going to ship thier cows with poor prices and increased shipping costs?..who is going to put hay up, when fertilizer has risen $200 a bag ?...not to mention the fuel cost of running eguipment to process the product into food.

Maybe we need to realize to make life simple once again...I dont think society can take that though!...want, want, want...no one needs anymore.

I am sick of seeing new taxes inplemented which drives the cost up that much more, for tax payers. I am sick of seeing money given to various groups for-'studies'. I am sick of lining the governments pocket with nearly every breath I take. If you think this is a free country---your sadly mistaken. Its time to take our lives back. We keep cutting to keep ahead of the game and the government is spending like 'mad men' If they would let up, maybe we could handle the price of fuel...

"Rigs don't drill unless they have oil to drill for, and loggers don't log unless there are trees to log."

That is supply side economics which should explain the rise of fuel cost and a rise in lumber cost ........ problem is one is going up and the other is going down .... so does not explain anything at all does it?

Look at it from the demand side .... less demand of forestry products means that the system designed to deliver those products begins to shut down in those areas where costs are highest to produce or where companies are less likely to take risks .... there are still plenty of trees to cut down, in fact, the ones that have been affected by the MPB should have been removed fairly quickly ......

Demand for oil and gas is still up, maybe there is nothing left, but does not look like it to me since they are building pipleines, putting tons of money into exploration and will be putting more into it in the next few years ..... labourer types are getting $400 to $500 per day riding around on their ATVs cutting sysmic lines and drilling blast holes in the peace area ......

"Any one that tells us there is an oil shortage is a liar.
There are hundreds of wells in the Chetwynd, Tumbler Ridge area alone that were capped 25 years ago that are still capped to this day."

Sort of like driving through the countryside and seeing all the dying and dead trees ready to be cut and going tro waste in a short while .... no demand at the moment for them....

In the case of capped wells, you have to remember that is only part of the system that gets fuel into your gas tank.....

I do not know the capacity of existing pipelines .. there is at least one bid out at the moment for one ... there are about 4 or so planned as far as I know including ones which will allow LNG to be shipped via Rupert ...

Then we have refineries ... I do not know the capacity of those, but I understand they are going full bore and no new ones are apparently getting built on this continent at least ... everytime there is a major weather event in a sensitive area, or a plant suts down for some other reason, the price of oil takes another jump ......

In the meantime, exploration continues, locations are found, drilling for wells has slowed down, but remember, there are othr players coming on board .... Saskatchewan for one.....

There is no mistake that Canada is a have country when it comes to transportable energy resources and the face of this country will change dramatically over the next decades as a result .....

The blue eyed Sheiks will be becoming more prominent all around us and we will become a country of have and have nots where the traditional grouping will be rearranged, both regionally and individually if we are not careful.

No shortage of idling SUVs going thru Tim's drive thru, the government hasn't opined about lower lottery ticket sales, also the liquor stores aren't hurting cause I don't read about it. The bars downtown are probably overflowing every weekend. And on and on. Cigarette sales down due to the cost of living? Buy smuggled if they get too high. Lotta nice trucks and SUVs still driving around. People got money. It's just a matter of getting them to part with it. Of course right now, I sure wouldn't want to be a hot tub salesman working on commission for that matter.

I have to thisb quetuion again. Will all this stop before we become a third world country?

Cheers

Okay Bridge... the short answer is "NO."

And, (just to make you feel better) :-) according to the numbers... we are ALREADY a third world country !!

The really, really funny part is that we are so darn busy with our overwhelming denial, we just cannot face that reality !!

We are only temporary custodians of any cash we might think we have... that's why it is called cash "flow"... because it just flows right thru our fingers...

Hey... there might be a song in that...
" I held the cash ... on the tips of my fingers,
I let it slide... right thru the palm of my hand..."

Peace... :-)

RRabit that was an awesome song by Roy Clark.

RRabbitt your statement that we are a third world country is outrageous. If we are a third world country then who isnt? Japan? Maybe the US? I dont think that there are 2 1st world countries left in the world. What numbers are you refering too?

Capped wells do not suggest lack of demand. They suggest lack of a feasible means to get the remaing gas or oil from the well. Estimates of recovery from wells is currently 50% (Twilight in the Desert, Huberts Peak Oil Theory et al). There is a presumption that at some price and with the evolution of new technology these wells will become profitable again. At $135/barrel I dont think that there are alot of wells that could produce that arent producing.

Refinery and pipeline capacity are issues, but I am not sure that any credible source has suggested that it is currently the binding constraint.

The real issue for all of us is going to be the baby boomers, especially those that are dependent on fixed (non-indexed) pensions or CPP. Alot of people that really saved for retirement are gonna find themselves in poverty in 10 years, and alot of people that thought the pension plan would be sufficient are gonna be homeless at best. The baby boomers are either haves or have nots. I for one am thinking that I will have to be prepared to help support my parents. Not that I am complaining, but its gonna get ALOT worse and it may never get better. Save till it hurts and then save a little more.

Born on BC writes..."
Capped wells do not suggest lack of demand. They suggest lack of a feasible means to get the remaing gas or oil from the well."

Capped wells suggest a very large oil and gas reserve.

Oil and gas companies drill for oil and gas then cap the wells. Then they move on and drill some more, then cap the wells, then move on and drill more, etc, etc, etc.

Oil and gas companies are very proficient at extracting any remaining product from their wells.
Lack of feasible means no longer exists.

I have it on good authority that the oil co's are not doing a lot because the cost of doing business was getting too high.
Remember a couple of years ago, when the oil patch came shopping down here for goods and services? The main reasons for that were: lack of local capacity (labour)
and local contractors were thought to be charging too much for their services-directly linked to lack of capacity. When they found out that it was not any cheaper to tap into our labour and service market, they went home, and cut back on exploration and drilling. They can play the waiting game until people get hungrier, but the rising cost of everything might mess with their strategy.
metalman.

Oil companies also cap depleted wells (or partially depleted wells) as well as dry wells. To suggest that every well cap contains conventional oil is outrageous. If that was the case then why are companies spending $60+ per barrel in the Athabasca oil sands when conventional oil has historically been available at between $10 and $15 per barrel. Your logic needs a little work, to say the least.

Well... true... the color of the caps tells you what the current status of the hole happens to be.

Most of the capped wells in the Chetwynd, Tumbler area are actually NG, not oil... not enough money in NG yet, I suppose.

:-)

Old Burke is chirpin about costs?
Is he not the one that set the rates in PG?

"I for one am thinking that I will have to be prepared to help support my parents."

Welcome to the natural world. That is the way it works in most societies other than North America and some parts of the remainder of the industrialized countries in the world.

30 years ago I designed a "granny flat" for an ex landlady of mine who moved from Toronto to the enlightened part of Australia where they were thinking ahead and promoting granny flats.

Of course, some cultures have extended families living with them in PG and we typically frown on them, when it reality they have it right and we can learn al lot from them.

We are too independent from the rest of our families. We like to think we are family minded, but once the Xmas dinner is over with, everyone goes back to their own hovel, doing their own thing. And that costs a lot of money - more housing, more paid for services, more transportation .... in the short version, more oil.

http://www.readingt.readingcities.com/index.php/toronto/comments/12765

http://www.cdnportable.com/Granny_Flats.8.xpc

"Lack of feasible means no longer exists"

more or less true, but lack of money to pay for some of those means does. Oil sands are only possible because the oil has reached a high enough price that is becomes so called "economical" to extract the oil. The problem of course is that it is not a very effective way to get at oil since it is so energy intensive. But we do not care about that, right?

Now, if someone would just put 2 and 2 together and build a hydro project which creates renewable and vitually pollution free energy for extractive uses gets paid for by the oil companies, and when they are done paying for the plant, they can have the next project on line which they can pay for and the general population has a "free" hydro power source for some indeterminate time into the future all paid for by us as we fill our tanks with oil without one bit of a carbon tax dropped on us.......

But hey ..... what would an opinion 250 poster know about such higher finance?

;-)

It is not our practice to comment on those people who like to take a swing at our reporting staff, unless of course it is someone who says they are a reporter journalist but are afraid to put their name to their work for fear of being identified. When you question our ability to identify a story I take exception.
South fort guy asked earlier if there are any real journalists at 250.
Well let’s start with Elaine Meisner (Macdonald) to name a few
CLIO Award winner
Ohio State International award
Michener Award
Radio Bureau of Canada for markets over 400,000
Radio festival of New York, Finalist
16 years in CHUM Toronto –News
32 years in news
Ben Meisner
to name a few
Lloyd Moffat Award
Thompson award for reporting
Nominated for the Order of Canada
Life Time achievement award from RTNDA
52 years in the news business all across Canada
And no I didn’t get a Michener, anyone that knows me, knows he was my friend, and those from Red Deer will remember some of our famous hunting trips with the Queens sect Esmond Butler.
We don’t hide behind some façade, we just go out and do our job and as St Ft Guy already knows kick the hell out of every other news source in this region.
Very often the only thing left is to criticize the messenger when you know you are beaten , belly up to the bar St Ft Guy.

good work Ben!

I felt the same way when i read those comments Ben. It took me a while to find the site but it is the most up to date local newsite.

Gas prices will start to fall next year. This problem is only as big as the gas burners. 60% of fuel consumed in North America is for recreational purposes. No one will car pool in the Country, nor will they take a bus.

Once the demand for gas falls the Oil companies (our benefactors) will go back to selling by volume rather than high prices.

Posted by: Born in BC on June 19 2008 1:24 PM
Oil companies also cap depleted wells (or partially depleted wells) as well as dry wells. To suggest that every well cap contains conventional oil is outrageous. If that was the case then why are companies spending $60+ per barrel in the Athabasca oil sands when conventional oil has historically been available at between $10 and $15 per barrel. Your logic needs a little work, to say the least.

Who is suggesting every capped well is oil?

"Capped wells suggest a very large oil and gas reserve."

Someone using the same name as you suggested it earlier today.

"Lack of feasible means no longer exists."

Its common knowledge that current practices only extract 50% of the oil in a well. "Beyond Oil" by Ken Deffeyes is an excellent book that is short and too the point (200 pages, a one night read). It seems that the oil exists.

I agree entirely owl. When we bought our house we made sure to get both enough property for guest house and a house with a suite, should any of our parents require support in their later years.

Hmmm Born
I read it as oil and gas.
What do you read it as? Or can't you read?