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No to just slander energy companies but I had a one-on-one meeting with my Energy Company's CEO a few years ago.

He was a sociopath, cabable of saying anything he wanted even though he only had half a clue.

keehah wrote:No to just slander energy companies but I had a one-on-one meeting with my Energy Company's CEO a few years ago.

He was a sociopath, cabable of saying anything he wanted even tough he only had half a clue.

I wonder at times if there isn't something wrong with all of the CEOs who make rosy predictions. Sociopaths? Perhaps. Clueless is more like it.

The real Conoco CEO is not so optimistic anymore, at least concerning gasoline supplies:

Large Draw in Gasoline Stocks
Boosts Crude Futures Higher
By MASOOD FARIVAR
April 25, 2007 4:33 p.m.

ConocoPhillips CEO Jim Mulva said he was concerned about the refining industry's ability to meet summer gasoline demand.

"We really have to run well," Mr. Mulva said during a first-quarter earnings conference call. "If you look at the supply-demand situation -- and hopefully we don't have weather-related issues -- the concern we have is whether we're going to be able to run and provide the supply we need during the summertime period."

Mr. Flynn of Alaron called the statement "a huge admission by a major refiner."

"This is something an analyst can say but when it comes from the CEO of Conoco, it makes you wonder how desperate the situation is becoming," he said.

[url=http://online.wsj.com/page/commodities.html?mod=2_0030]
WSJ[/url]
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Dantespeak you beat me to that posting...

I would file that CNBC interview among the other media trash we regularly receive such as the recent NYT article quoting CERA and their 4T bbls 'and growing' claims.

Archie is either very much out or the loop, or he's counting on God to provide. Either way CNBC can certainly find current and more knowledgeable oil industry experts to interview. I wonder why they picked him anyhow??

DantesPeak wrote:The real Conoco CEO is not so optimistic anymore, at least concerning gasoline supplies:

Large Draw in Gasoline Stocks
Boosts Crude Futures Higher
By MASOOD FARIVAR
April 25, 2007 4:33 p.m.

ConocoPhillips CEO Jim Mulva said he was concerned about the refining industry's ability to meet summer gasoline demand.

"We really have to run well," Mr. Mulva said during a first-quarter earnings conference call. "If you look at the supply-demand situation -- and hopefully we don't have weather-related issues -- the concern we have is whether we're going to be able to run and provide the supply we need during the summertime period."

Mr. Flynn of Alaron called the statement "a huge admission by a major refiner."

"This is something an analyst can say but when it comes from the CEO of Conoco, it makes you wonder how desperate the situation is becoming," he said.

[url=http://online.wsj.com/page/commodities.html?mod=2_0030]
WSJ[/url]
subscription may be required

Finally someone with a healthy dose of reality. My chips are on this summer being a bitch.

So I guess I won't buy shares in Conoco, in spite of the fact that Warren Buffet has.

keehah wrote:No to just slander energy companies but I had a one-on-one meeting with my Energy Company's CEO a few years ago.

He was a sociopath, cabable of saying anything he wanted even though he only had half a clue.

It's deeply unsettling to have one of those meetings with someone who looks impressive from a distance but when you spend any amount of time with them you realize that they are incredible phonies and probably don't even realize it because their phoniness has taken them so far in life.

emersonbiggins wrote:

AirlinePilot wrote:"Petroleum and NG will be the principal supplier of energy for more than the next 100 years"

FWIW, Archie has been saying this since mid-2004.

From April 2004:

The world's oil supply will outlast global demand, remaining relatively inexpensive and becoming cleaner to burn, the chairman of the nation's third largest oil company predicted.

Archie Dunham, chairman of ConocoPhillips Inc., said technological advances will replace fossil fuels -- crude oil, gas and coal -- long before the world depletes those primary energy sources.

"The world can rely on fossil fuels for the bulk of its energy needs for the next 100 years,'' Dunham said Wednesday at a Tulsa luncheon, adding, "the oil age will end long before the world will run out of oil.''

Dunham spoke as domestic gasoline prices hit record highs with crude oil prices hovering well above $30 per barrel. Those prices helped earnings at ConocoPhillips rise 32 percent to $1.6 billion in the first quarter, the Houston-based company reported Wednesday. link

Other choice quotes (emphasis mine):

Dunham said improved gathering technology and more efficient cars -- like hybrids that use a combination of gasoline and electricity -- will keep supplies flowing into the 22nd Century.

The tar sands in Alberta, Canada, where ConocoPhillips is operating, "probably have more oil than the proved reserves of Saudi Arabia, and technology is allowing those to be recovered," Dunham said.

He predicted crude oil prices will remain below $50 per barrel when adjusted for inflation "for all our lifetimes."

If oil supplies falter, natural gas will fill the gap, Dunham said. But he said more pipelines are needed to transport the world's thousands of trillions of cubic feet of gas into the marketplace, he said.

link

I have to say, that guy is as entertaining as the Iraqi information minister was.

eastbay said:

Archie is either very much out or the loop, or he's counting on God to provide.

God has already provided - he has given us an opposing thumb so that we can hold a rock. As far as MRC and smart wells are concerned, I think we are on our own!

I think part of this guy's schtick is due to his personality.

Seems to me that most CEOs are optimistic visionaries who's job it is to inspire people, whether they be employees, shareholders, or customers.

I've seen it up close and personal. Nowhere is it required in the CEO job description to be a realist, it seems. Or to even be technically competent at a real job function, although I'm sure some of them are. The best are the ones that have a gleam in their eye when they speak. Hucksters and snake oil salesman in class all their own.

I agree that their lofty position makes it easy for them to become detached from reality as one poster noted.

His statements are exactly what I would expect from an oil company CEO. He wants us, the customer, to believe that we can continue our extravagant use of oil indefinitely to enhance Conoco's share price and profit margin. And he wants his employees to believe they are working at a great company with great prospects for the future.

How could he say otherwise?

If you wish upon a star....

shortonoil wrote:God has already provided - he has given us an opposing thumb so that we can hold a rock.

He has also given us a middle finger which I gleefully outstretch to this!

Just caught that Conoco is selling all of their US gas stations, following the path of BP and ExxonMobile. It was on CNBC, WSJ link

Hmmm... I wonder why an oil company would stop selling gas?

To make $800 million to cover lousy crack spreads.

WSJ has a nifty chart:



Wall Street Journal

"Big" Oil more and more refers to their political clout and little else.

TheDude wrote:
"Big" Oil more and more refers to their political clout and little else.

There isn't even much of that anymore.

The dems control both houses of Congress and they are successfully making big oil the scapegoat for the US energy problems.

Plantagenet wrote:

TheDude wrote:
"Big" Oil more and more refers to their political clout and little else.

There isn't even much of that anymore.

The dems control both houses of Congress and they are successfully making big oil the scapegoat for the US energy problems.

scuse me while i bust out my tiny violin.

Plantagenet wrote:

TheDude wrote:
"Big" Oil more and more refers to their political clout and little else.

There isn't even much of that anymore.

The dems control both houses of Congress and they are successfully making big oil the scapegoat for the US energy problems.

That remains to be seen. People fervently believe the Drill Now mantra, and may vote for the candidate with the most jackup rigs. Not that it matters, anyway. I expect little in the way of sensible legislation from DC anytime soon, including from Oh!Bommma, and I'm registered Dem. Bit of flex fuel here, bit of tax credits for solar there. Your proverbial urine stream applied to roaring building fire.

Oh yeah...the dems really hurt the oil companies. I'm sorry. I grew up in La. and worked in the oil patch my whole life. Our Dems were the biggest hogs in the oil companies' trough. Maybe your Yankee Dems aren't so easily bought. Yeah...that's right....I think I did read where Chicago breeds some of the most honest politicians in the land. I'm not really fussing at you but as a Libertarian I gave up expecting the best from the red/blue gang long ago.

About the Conoco gas station sale: we've been speculating for at least 10 years that Conoco would be the next biggie gobbled up by someone. Existing gas stations are a potential huge environmental liability from an abandonment stand point. I heard years ago that there almost was a deal struck on Conoco but the valuation (liability) of the retail segment was the hang-up. Hmmm...maybe I should buy some of their stock before I start spreading these rumors.

We don't have any Conoco stations around here. Long time ago we did, but Kwik Trip has steadily run everyone out of business.

I seem to see no difference in Dems/Repubs

I worked for a gasoline refiner/retailer in the '90s. Back then it was a known fact that gasoline had little margin. The good margin was in the convenience stores.

If we flog the big oil companies our options are what? Saudi owned oil and gas stations? Instead of the Congress bringing big oil and fussing at them while they sit stone faced, it will be a Saudi prince who will call Congress to him and publicly have them kiss his asp.