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**Jxlacvio** · 04-12-2009, 05:55 PM

My dad is an engineer who is heavily invested in oil. He understands this stuff far better than I do. He explains to me that we do not use oil from the middle east, because of the distances involved. He also explains to me that even if the middle east was 100 miles from NYC, we still could not use middle eastern oil, because he says it's not "light sweet" oil, which is the only oil, he tells me, that our refineries can handle, and that our refineries are incapable of processing the "heavy sour" crude which comes from the middle east (It has something to do with sulfur impurities and viscosity... don't ask me, I'm an econ major and I never took chem.). Essentially, even if we had the Iraqi oil, we could not economically use it to make gasoline, only diesel.

We don't use nearly as much diesel as gasoline. If we wanted to invade somewhere for oil, it would be Lybia or some other north african country where sweet crude is more common, I would think. Congo would do it to, apparently, as I'm now pulling info from wikipedia. Anyway... my two cents.

04-12-2009, 05:55 PM	#22
Jxlacvio Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 485 Senior Member	My dad is an engineer who is heavily invested in oil. He understands this stuff far better than I do. He explains to me that we do not use oil from the middle east, because of the distances involved. He also explains to me that even if the middle east was 100 miles from NYC, we still could not use middle eastern oil, because he says it's not "light sweet" oil, which is the only oil, he tells me, that our refineries can handle, and that our refineries are incapable of processing the "heavy sour" crude which comes from the middle east (It has something to do with sulfur impurities and viscosity... don't ask me, I'm an econ major and I never took chem.). Essentially, even if we had the Iraqi oil, we could not economically use it to make gasoline, only diesel. We don't use nearly as much diesel as gasoline. If we wanted to invade somewhere for oil, it would be Lybia or some other north african country where sweet crude is more common, I would think. Congo would do it to, apparently, as I'm now pulling info from wikipedia. Anyway... my two cents.
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