NYT: Surprise!! 1 Trillion $$ of Resources Found in Afghanistan

[2Valve0]

Originally posted by ZenOps
Its life. Canada was carved up for land and resources too.

Of note: Duceppe is going to be trying for Quebec sovereignty again:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle1526726/

If sucessful, he should be able to nullify any native contracts signed with the British Crown. As to whether that would start a war is debatable.

Corruption exists everywhere, so do power struggles.

Oh god here we go again with the crazy french
On one hand I would like to see it happen to see the natives reactions so Canada as a whole can do the same...

On the other hand....wtf...I dont see how it could ever possibly work

[Xtrema]

Not surprised, one bit.

There is a reason why even the Liberals are looking at options to keep troops there past 2011. Just to keep Canadian companies in the bids whenever that happens.

[mx73someday]

Originally posted by ZenOps

Pennies are now made of steel, the cheapest metal afterall.

So are nickels, dimes and quarters.

[syeve]

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/...eration/58104/

Old news

[Xtrema]

BTW, if the same reason China won't let Tibet go and Russia is keeping Chechnya. All in the same region.

[ExRollen]

Originally posted by ZenOps
Iron? A very practical metal (good for building infrastructure) but its value as a precious metal is suspect.

Pennies are now made of steel, the cheapest metal afterall.

Gold is gold. Infinitely valuable if just for the idea that there is 1000x more paper currency than the gold its supposed to be based on (IE: Currencies are no longer gold backed) If things continue the way they are (printing money in times of recession, and EU countries declaring bankruptcy and bailouts) $2200 an ounce is not far off.

Its never a bad idea to have 2% of personal assets in physical gold.

Lithium? Yes, almost as important and worth nearly as much as gold nowadays, but only in practical use. $100+ for a cellphone battery, but worth next to nothing recycled.

Zimbabwean dollar is like a Nortel share, not worth the paper its printed on. Sadly - many countries are heading this way, including 1 out of 6 Euro nations.

What is the relevance of pennies and the metal they are constructed of? Is this a fact to fuel the notion that there does indeed exist a global demand base for steel (which, as some others on the board have, much more scientifically than I care to read about, proved is an iron alloy)... because I suspect you may be able to find better examples of its use which may underpin that it is necessary for any economic progres. But I guess there is a whole fuckpot of new penny demand out there.

Not sure you understand the concept of a common European currency, but if the Euro devalues, it does so equally within all countries in the EU, regardless of their individual financial health. If you're trying to say that the effects of a weak Euro will be most prominent within the economically weaker member states, you're also likely wrong there as well. The sensitivity of, say, the PIIGS economies to a downward revaluation of the currency is likely inverse as they benefit from an influx of tourist/export capital whereas the stronger, more developed member states are directly exposed to euro weakness given that they persistenly run trade deficits (the argument that european exports become cheaper with a weak euro and subsequently spur economic recovery is absolutely correct, but fails to capture these nations' exposure to commodities sourced from outside of the union). Feel free to include the term 'credit default spreads' in your re-buttal.

Also, your argument about global hyperinflation resulting from an imbalance of paper money to gold reserves is preposterous. I agree that inflation is likely to occur as a result of endless liquidity injections, but surely you don't think that this rare metal that we spend billions exploring and mining, only to hoard into subterranean vaults never to be seen or used again, has anything to do with the value of our money?? I don't want to own physical gold because I don't want to be a part of the world in which we trade nuggets for goods... if that's what we regress to, I'm gonna go live in the woods...

P.S. I'll sell you all the $2200 gold call options you want (http://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/calloption.asp)

[broken_legs]

Originally posted by Travel_Dude
Uh buddy. In Iraq for the oil? Canada exports 4x the amount of oil into the states versus what Iraq could ever hope to send stateside. Nearby Saudi Arabia triples the number of barrels that Iraq sends. Hell Mexico is right up there too...

Arguing that the US is in Iraq for oil has always been pretty shallow, considering the cost of fueling the war machine.

Just saying.
/shrug

Just add my comments here:
Iraq has the NEXT BIGGEST CONVENTIONAL SWEET EASY TO RECOVER RESERVES after Saudi Arabia. What does that mean? It means that a lot of oil production can happen very fast, very cheap, and very easily. Iraq could double Canadas production in a few years as easily as poking a few holes in the ground. Canadas production will take a very long time, lots of money and tonnes of infrastructure to develop.

Obviously Saudi triples the number of barrels - They are #1 producer. They drill more wells than anyone, and currently use all the latest technology to get the oil out - Because they are running out of easily recoverable oil. Iraq has hardly been developed. (thats the whole point) Saudis reserve estimates are... "optimistic" at best. They are producing water from a lot of wells that werent supposed to get water cut for decades.

Mexico - Cantarel field - Is on the decline. Mexico will be a net IMPORTER or oil within this decade if they aren't already. Just like the USA hit peak oil production in the 50s, Mexico has already peaked and is on a very very steep decline curve.

So to sum up:
- You can't compare Iraq to Canada.
- Iraq easy cheap sweet light crude > Saudi
- Mexico < Canada < Saudi < Iraq
- The "Cost" of fuelling the war machine is exactly how much it "costs" for congress to "sell" unlimited amount of treasuries to the federal reserve and create money out of thin air. The cost = 0. Seems like a pretty good deal to me.

[Jim Rome99]

"Mexico will be a net IMPORTER or oil within this decade if they aren't already"

Uh.........no. Just no.

[sputnik]

This isn't a new finding.

It has been known since the 1970s and the problem of mining it profitably and the ability to haul the ore to a port has always been the reason that mining isn't happening.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/laurar...k.html?showall

[CapnCrunch]

Russia's known about this since the 70's. In fact, I'm sure the US did too.

[Antonito]

I don't think you guys get the whole cost of war > profits from resources concept. Even when (not if) foreign companies start mining/drilling, America/England/Canada won't see a dime of that money other than a marginal tax rate on whatever the corporations can't hide and having cash flow in the country from whatever operations are done from the head offices. The rest is sweet juicy profit for private enterprise

[broken_legs]

Originally posted by Jim Rome99
&quot;Mexico will be a net IMPORTER or oil within this decade if they aren't already&quot;

Uh.........no. Just no.

I'm assuming you have some reason to say something like this?

Heres some random facts:

Cantarell production is declining (bull case) 8% per year. Some expect cantarell to exhibit declines of 25-35%

Mexican demand is rising at 2.5-3% per year.

Some random Figures:
Demand = 2.1 mbpd
production = 3.2 mbpd

Some easily googled background:

http://www.theoildrum.com/story/2006/7/12/10421/4972
http://www.eia.doe.gov/cabs/Mexico/Oil.html

[ZenOps]

Originally posted by Antonito
I don't think you guys get the whole cost of war &gt; profits from resources concept. Even when (not if) foreign companies start mining/drilling, America/England/Canada won't see a dime of that money other than a marginal tax rate on whatever the corporations can't hide and having cash flow in the country from whatever operations are done from the head offices. The rest is sweet juicy profit for private enterprise

Yes.

And thats the way it should be. Countries/governments have long lost their hold on the ability to make or control resources, they have now lost the ability to wage war as well.

Corporations are more powerful than all, including military corporations. Is the Chinese govt, just a glorified corporation? Is the British Crown just a glorified corporation?

"Let the Chinese (corporation) mine the ground, let the British (corporation) have the land and grow the wheat." Its astoundingly efficient and makes money for everyone.

It is a little sad though - that a pound of bread costs more than a pound of steel.

[Integra10]

Originally posted by Travel_Dude
Uh buddy. In Iraq for the oil? Canada exports 4x the amount of oil into the states versus what Iraq could ever hope to send stateside. Nearby Saudi Arabia triples the number of barrels that Iraq sends. Hell Mexico is right up there too...

Arguing that the US is in Iraq for oil has always been pretty shallow, considering the cost of fueling the war machine.

Just saying.
/shrug

I don't know where you get your statistics.

http://www.marktaw.com/culture_and_m...GlobalOil.html

[semograd]

Let the exploitation and plunder begin!

[atgilchrist]

Originally posted by Integra10


I don't know where you get your statistics.

http://www.marktaw.com/culture_and_m...GlobalOil.html

He was referring to the amount of energy the US imports, not total reserves.