Posts posted by PTINS
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4 hours ago, Vertigo said: So reading the tealeaves on Coleman - If he wants to play with someone who is going to get him to the next level in his final season, his choices are:
Arch Manning in Sark's offense with weapons around him
Marcel Reed in first time play caller Holmon Wiggin's offense with no weapons around him
Brendan Sorsby in second year playcaller Mack Leftwich's offense in the B12
First year starter Keelon Russell in Deboer/Grubb's offense with less weapons around him
To me the choice seems fairly obvious unless he just wants to be home in Alabama, but I doubt that is the case.

2 hours ago, Park Gothic said: Y'all are both wrong. I sell carcinogens - no middleman, I get them directly from the source. Beaumont is like Cedar Rapids for guys like me.
You work at a gas station?
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14 hours ago, atomheartbevo said: What Twicehorn said - we can believe this is a chess move against China, or we can believe that the owner of Citgo, who donated millions to Trump, was looking to get access to that oil.
Citgo gave money to Trump? Funny!

I have no idea what exactly is sanctioned and how that impacts Citgo & PDVSA, and Venezuela. Exxon & Conoco are still owed $$$/??? for their assets that were renationalized, so they may have a lien of sorts, or first dibs, on some of these assets.
CITGO has ~ 800,000 BPD of US Refining capacity, ~ 4% of the total capacity, including the big one in Lake Charles.
I am also confident you have looked at this graphic longer than Team Trump.
I would not be surprised if some tankers loaded "sanctioned" oil from Venezuela, transferred it into an unsanctioned tankers on the high seas, and unloaded the "unsanctioned" oil in the US.
On 1/8/2026 at 10:09 AM, eat em up said: https://x.com/bxieus/status/2008696299328053373?s=20
Could be referencing this?
Evidently the heavy oil is best for making fuel for tankers and heavy ships. We corner Chinese access to that, then they're less likely to fuck with us on rare earth minerals?
We aren' t cornering shit.
Current Venezuela production is ~ 25% of the former capacity. If it isn't being produced now, it won't be missed.
The oil complex is a worldwide, zero sum game, driven by macro supply-demand fundamentals. It is mature, with nationalized and private companies buying and selling a commodity with well defined benchmarks; the epitome of supply-demand fundamentals at work. Economics 101, at its core, but quickly transitioning into probably the most complex trading platform that exists.

The "bunker fuel" used in marine transportation is the bottom-of-the-barrel stuff, between low grade diesel and tar. It is cheaper, and the among the worst environment friendly fuels. Most of the newer marine transportation ships have propulsion from cleaner burning engines, or engines that run on LNG, or batteries.
Some refineries (a lot of the US) are designed form the heavy/sour crude slates, which sell at big discounts to the Oil Market Benchmarks (WTI, West Texas Intermediate, and /Brent (North Sea) grades. That means they are more efficient and profitable refining the lower cost grades, but within reason, they can refine anything. Conversely, refineries that aren't designed top refine heavy/sour crude cannot refine heavy/sour crude. Nobody builds refineries to make tanker fuels, it is the after birth of refining; Aviation fuel > gasoline > diesel >> marine fuels.
China's new 400,000 BPD Guangdong Refinery that just came on line is designed to refine heavy/sour crude. The refinery is owned 60/40, between PetroChina/ & PDVSA. Hmmm? The corollary to the Belt & Road initiative; China will build infrastructure in China, to help monetize natural resources assets in Venezuela. Interrupting the Venezuela supply will affect operations, short term, but they will go into the world market to replace it, from Canada and Mexico and the other producers of heavy/sour crude.
Good thing Canada & Mexico love us. Oh, wait.
The US policy of blocking the Keystone Pipeline was stupid from the word go. It will only get worse. It was a fit for purpose, direct pipeline, from the Canadian production to the US refineries on the Gulf Coast. We forced Canada to find other outlets for their crude oil, so they did, and built an over the mountain pipeline and a huge oil export terminal on the Pacific, which is now the closest source of American heavy/sour crude for China. Not American as in US, but American as in North, Central & South America.
I'm guessing China was getting ready to inject steroids into Venezuela's oil production, and since Xi stiff armed the Donald, the Donald took his ball and attacked Venezuela.
One more point;
While the world oil market is mature, the NGL marketplace is not. It is driven by a handful of US companies, and the development of worldwide gas processing and NGL trading, in and by foreign countries, is in its infancy.
The PetroChina Complex also includes a new world class petrochemical plant that turns Natural Gas Liquids (NGL, ethane and propane) into plastics. There is probably limited interaction between the actual Refining and Petrochemical assets in Guangdong. Colocating them provides synergies in infrastructure, shared utilities, import/export terminals, and operating and maintenance functions and personnel.
PetroChina's NGL imports come primarily (all?) from ... the US. I don't doubt that some of the China petrochemical complex is owned by subsidiaries of US companies. US companies controlling the supply of NGL in the US and exporting the NGL to subsidiaries abroad, away from the legal, environmental, and general NIMBY mindset in the US.
The companies earmarked to come fix Venezuela are probably Exxon, Chevron and Conoco/Phillips. Conoco and Phillips are 2 separate and distinct companies, from the combined companies assets of Conoco and Phillips, that were spilt apart between Conoco, the production company, and Phillips, the refining and petrochemical company. They are separate entities, but joined at the hip, contractually.
These are the same companies behind a significant portion of the NGL trading with China. They are in the middle of taking away China's heavy/sour crude supply from Venezuela and supplying China's NGL's/Pet-Chem business.
They didn't ask to be put in this place, but it goes with the territory.

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20 minutes ago, BlackCat said: I dont see how Coleman is supposed to turn down some absurd offer from Tech. Lubbock blows but Id live on the moon for a year for whatever theyre throwing at him.
Well, Lubbock is like the moon; dusty and mono-colored, and so flat you can see the curvature of the
earthmoon. Lubbock does have those 30 mph winds, creating new fun things to do, like getting dirt our of your ears.20 minutes ago, LCHorn said: This has been a really challenging week for Bobby to come up with narratives that don’t call into question the performance of the coaching and scouting staff.
“I don’t know why all of you keep asking us super chat questions on whether Texas has a plan. Of course they have a plan! It’s a plan, and they have a back-up plan to that plan, and, what? No, I can’t tell you about it. When I asked Brandon Harris what I was allowed to say this morning he just winked at me and then John Bianco texted surveillance photos of my kids.”

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15 hours ago, bad_teammate said: Agreed.
So you're Moore and Baxter and you end up at... Kentucky? OK, cool, but is that really what you were envisioning? How much more are you really making and you're at Kentucky now.
Lockett gets in the motherfucker. Great, now where are you going and for how much, actually?
That "jerry jones" comment with a like from Baxter is actually kind of encouraging. It indicates a plan and a process, which are two very good things to have in a time of chaos. Even a weak plan is better than none.
Moore took his NIL money and started a food truck business, Jive Turkey, w/ his mother, in Austin, the unofficial food truck capital of the world. I thought that was pretty clever, that people would be supportive of using his NIL winnings in a manner that was taking care of his family, whether they were Texas fans or not.
I expect the food truck is transferring with him to Kentucky. I'll take the under on how well $15 "Deep Fried Turkey Tacos" do in Lexington v. Austin.
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2 hours ago, Portal Pirate said: I would bone Michael Dell's wife on camera if it got us 5 solid OL by Friday.
2 hours ago, Portal Pirate said: Throw in Cam Coleman and I’d have her like this.

If you boned Dell's wife and left her looking like this, you don't need Dell, you just got the wife, and her half is enough.
46 minutes ago, SameSame said: So what happens when he simply unenrolls at Udub, then enrolls at LSU and starts suiting up and playing? What's to stop that?
Someone explain this to me like I'm 5.
36 minutes ago, WBT said: Nothing. Washington might sue but they will lose.
If the BIG is standing behind Washington, Washington and the BIG should file a Tortious Interference claim against LSU and the SEC. With the filing and the responses, it would not get settled prior to the fall, which means the POS doesn't get to play football in the fall for either team, and if the POS plays somewhere else, he doesn't get a dime.
Escalating this from Wash v. LSU to the BIG v. the SEC would force the issue that the rats nest of the varied laws and regulations and guidelines do not work in concert with each other, to the detriment of all parties, and needs to be resolved.
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16 hours ago, Macanudo said: This. This. This. Sure, the big oil companies may be for it because shareholder value is all that matters, not American jobs. Those jobs out in Midland go away if oil prices crater. And then the jobs in Houston and NOLA crater. And then the jobs in Dallas and OKC crater. And then....
This country is so fucking shortsighted.
It is a matter of perspective, but the US Oil & Gas Industry is nowhere what the perception is. Production volumes have increased considerably in the past 10-15 years, but the number of companies and their employees is much, much smaller. Where possible, everything is done on a contract basis, eliminating the feast or famine hiring and firing of days gone by.
There are 4 Integrated oil companies ("Big Oil or Super Majors" w/ Production & Refining/Petrochemicals) of note in the US (Exxon, Chevron, Conoco & Phillips, & Marathon).
All of the "independents" listed are either midstream (pipeline & processing companies) or refining companies, focused on the US Lower 48 & Canada, with limited international exposure outside of that. None of them are exploration/production companies, the smaller segment that drills wells and is most reactive to shorter term economic cycles.
The 2023 Revenue for the 4 largest Integrated US companies was $1,098 Billion, and for the all of the largest US Oil & Gas companies was $1,634 Billion (12 companies with +$30 Billion in 2023 Revenue).
The 2023 Revenue for the 4 largest non-O&G Companies was $1,845 Billion.
Walmart: $612.3 billion (United States)
Amazon: $514.0 billion (United States)
Apple: $394.3 billion (United States)
UnitedHealth Group: $324.2 billion (United States)
US total exports of crude oil & petroleum products & natural gas liquids (NGL) is ~ 10 MM BPD, with a significant portion of that going to Europe (transportation fuels) & SE Asia (NGL/petrochemical feedstocks). Given the symbiotic relationship between crude oil and the finished products, it is prudent to consider how the US "activities" on the supply/crude side impact the relations with our customers on the product side.
Approximately 40% of those product exports go to China, with ~ 75% of that being the NGL volumes for petrochemical plants. Some of those petrochemical plants are partners w/ US affiliates, the aforementioned integrated companies.
Following is the listing of the largest Oil & Gas companies by Revenue, highlighted as noted.
US Integrated (Production and Refining/Petrochemicals) - 4 companies
US Independent (
Production, or Midstream (pipeline & processing) or Refining) - 8 companiesSomewhat aligned w/ US, IMO
Somewhat hostile w/ US, IMO
Largest oil and gas companies by revenue in $US Billion
#
Company Name
Country
2022
2023
1
Saudi Aramco
Saudi Arabia
400.4
604.3
2
Sinopec
China
424.8
478.5
3
China National Petroleum Corporation
China
435.1
435.1
4
ExxonMobil
United States
285.6
413.6
5
Shell
United Kingdom
272.6
386.2
6
TotalEnergies
France
205.8
285.8
7
BP
United Kingdom
157.7
248.8
8
Chevron Corporation
United States
162.4
246.2
9
Marathon Petroleum
United States
119.9
179.9
10
Valero Energy
United States
113.9
176.3
11
Phillips 66
United States
114.8
175.7
12
Equinor
Norway
88.7
150.8
13
Eni
Italy
90.5
139.3
14
Lukoil
Russia
128.3
128.3
15
Rosneft
Russia
121.1
124.9
16
Reliance Industries
India
107.0
124.0
17
Petrobras
Brazil
83.9
124.0
18
Pemex
Mexico
72.6
122.7
19
Indian Oil
India
99.8
119.5
20
Eneos Holdings
Japan
99.3
115.6
21
Iraq National Oil Company
Iraq
75.6
115.0
22
Engie
France
57.9
98.9
23
PTT
Thailand
70.7
96.3
24
Pertamina
Indonesia
57.5
95.9
25
Energy Transfer Partners
United States
67.4
89.8
26
ONGC
India
87.0
87.0
27
Petronas
Malaysia
59.8
85.4
28
Repsol
Spain
61.6
82.9
29
ConocoPhillips
United States
45.8
82.1
30
Gazprom
Russia
138.7
80.0
31
Sonatrach
Algeria
34.0
76.9
32
Idemitsu Kosan
Japan
60.8
72.8
33
SOCAR
Azerbaijan
45.5
70.0
34
OMV Group
Austria
42.0
68.2
35
Bharat Petroleum
India
58.8
68.0
36
SK Innovation
South Korea
42.1
64.4
37
China National Offshore Oil
China
38.1
62.7
38
PKN Orlen
Poland
32.3
62.6
39
Hindustan Petroleum
India
50.8
59.4
40
Guanghui Energy
China
58.6
58.6
41
Enterprise Products
United States
40.7
58.1
42
Plains All American Pipeline
United States
42.0
57.3
43
Cenovus Energy
Canada
38.9
55.1
44
QatarEnergy
Qatar
34.9
53.8
45
Kuwait Petroleum Corporation
Kuwait
52.7
52.7
46
Ecopetrol
Colombia
27.5
47.8
47
GS Caltex
South Korea
31.0
46.8
48
PBF Energy
United States
27.3
46.8
49
Suncor Energy
Canada
32.7
44.9
50
Centrica
United Kingdom
41.6
41.6
51
CPC Corporation
Taiwan
31.9
41.0
52
Enbridge
Canada
37.5
40.9
53
Petrovietnam
Vietnam
27.1
39.8
54
OQ
Oman
39.1
39.1
55
HF Sinclair
United States
38.2
38.2
56
Occidental Petroleum
United States
26.3
37.0
57
Cheniere Energy
United States
33.4
33.4
58
CEPSA
Spain
26.4
32.8
59
Canadian Natural Resources
Canada
26.2
32.5
60
Empresas Copec
Chile
30.7
30.7
61
Surgutneftegas
Russia
25.6
25.6
62
Transneft
Russia
14.6
14.6
63
PDVSA
Venezuela
11.0
11.0
64
National Iranian Oil Company
Iran
no info
no info
14 hours ago, KYHorn said: It's worth mentioning that Greenland looks gigantic on maps and Venezuela has the "largest oil reserves in the world".
Flat maps are hard to interpret, but Greenland still large, ~ 27% the size of the US Lower 48, or more than 3 times the size of Texas.

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20 minutes ago, Brisketexan said: These are very important words:
"Transitions are not moral moments but exercises in power management. Venezuela’s last successful one survived because it accepted ambiguity and continuity long enough to stabilize the system. Anyone expecting clean breaks, instant legitimacy, or orderly handovers in this country is not being hopeful."
Now....realize that they apply to our future....if we are to have one....as well. One does not simply shake off an authoritarian government and its sycophants like a hangover following a single bad decision (look, generic tequila is ALWAYS a bad idea). If we emerge from this current authoritarian shitfest, the transition cannot look like "well, that was nasty. Anyway, back to normal." What must follow is a period of real ambiguity and counter-intuitive actions that may be just as distasteful as the actions that must be undone and corrected.
15 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said: An anecdote from Uzbekistan: An unnamed company had to rent warehouses to store its pallets of local cash because the government refused to let them convert it into hard currency and putting it into a local bank meant that you basically lost access without paying a bribe. Occasionally the government would offer to convert but only if they took a 20 percent haircut. The firm had all this money listed as profit on its balance sheets, and walking away would have caused issues with auditors so it chose to maintain a minimum local presence and continue trying to solve the issue. The government felt this was very clever and would tell them that the money belonged to Uzbekistan and shouldn’t leave. One can imagine what this did to the investment climate.
He mentions that the government was happy to see their educated citizens leave. I mentioned it above. It is a classic feature of idiot third world socialism, as opposed to what the Russians and East Europeans did after a course correction and the Chinese after a longer one. Those regimes internalized that a functioning country, even one building socialism, needed an intelligentsia and competent technical, scientific, and administrative class. They used a range of coercive and persuasive methods to build and retain them. The Berlin Wall was meant to keep the intelligent and talented IN, not the capitalists out.
Idiot third world socialism is cunning, not smart. It is true that an illiterate and impoverished populace is easier to cow and rule over; and the leaders have the mentality of a successful crime kingpin; not realizing that this criminal mentality cannot enrich itself forever in the absence of prosperous rule followers to prey on.
There is also internalized the deep idiot third world socialist belief that anyone who has or creates an extra measure of anything: wealth, intelligence, talent— must have somehow attained it by dubious or criminal means since that is the way they look at the world. (See: Cambodia and executing all the literate). The Chinese and Russians would show off their talented and intelligent as proof of what socialism could create. The idiot third world socialist simply tears down or welcomes their flight so that the promised equality may come prevail.
In my youth, I formed the opinion that democracy works for an educated populace. I still believe that.
However, as I realized a long time, that no longer applies to the US.
That is complicated by the evolution of US policy to a binary state, either or, with nothing in between.
We are either "Who cares what happens over there" or "Who cares, we take what we want."
I am more pissed than disillusioned.
We lived at Clark AFB in the Philippines when I was 2-4 year old, and my father was stationed in Taiwan in the late 60's. I have wanted to go back there all my life, and now I'm not sure that's such a good idea.
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1 hour ago, wildcat09 said: Can you post an unrolled version of the thread? Those of us who don't have twitter accounts can't view it.
"My Venezuela experience as head of trading in the region for Cargill.
Cargill was/is the leading producer of critical staple ingredients such as flour, pasta, vegetable oil, and rice in VZ. I am not saying I agree with grabbing the dictator, but I did have a front row seat to the damage a kleptocracy did to innocent people.
1. The government took over our "minute rice" facility at gunpoint because we were "gouging" the nation's poor. The government was never able to run the plant. It never ran again. It was returned years later with no equipment inside
2. There are 1000's of generals in the army. They are each given a slice of the economy to loot. The large number of generals made it difficult to organize a coup against the regime.
3. The government opened grocery stores and sold staples below the cost we sold them to the government. In theory they used petro oil money to lower grocery prices. Our regular grocery outlets were forced out of business. When the government demanded we sell them products below cost we simply had to shut down. The populous became ever more dependent on the government handouts. (PS this is the mayor of New York City's proposal.
4. Dollars- We needed dollars to go buy raw materials like wheat from places like the US and Canada. The government would periodically allocate us some dollars that could only be spent for raw materials and freight. Eventually only the local companies that can and would pay bribes got dollar allocations. We had several facilities closed for lack of raw material
5. My employees liked working for Cargill. The office was an armed compound with access to a gym, high speed internet, global communications, and a weekly box of basic staples. Cargill provided a safe and secure environment if only for the working hours.
6. Employees became very close to others inside the apartment building. Going out on the street with a desperate population was not advisable.
7. I needed wood pallets for feed. We tried to export wood pallets to swap for grain. We refused to pay the bribes it would take to export the pallets
8. I once tried to set up a closed loop wheat planting to flour mill supply chain. A. They came and stole all the seed wheat for food. When we tried to ship in seed wheat in containers via US donors there was no way to get it out of the port without it being stolen
9. Livestock- Our feed business completely collapsed. Even if you could raise a pig, you couldn't defend it from being stolen. People with guns were hungry.
10. Employees- In the end my highly skilled team alone with other highly educated people chose to leave. Cargill often found jobs for them in other Latin countries. The regime was more than happy to see the well-educated leave the country. Setting these employees up with high quality stable jobs after fleeing remains one of the best things I ever did in my career. No one remembers millions in trading earnings.
This is a short list. In my opinion the first money spent needs to happen now and it needs to be food. The US is already on the clock. The current regime does not care if it starves the population. The orgy of theft will actually accelerate if they believe their days are numbered. VZ should be an outstanding customer of US grown ag products. Rice, bread wheat, veg oil ect. Feed the people first.
Jeff Kazin
Former head trading Cargill"
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Trump teases meeting with oil executives following Maduro arrest
Speaking to House Republicans today, Trump teased his upcoming meeting with US oil manufacturing executives this week. “You know what that’s about. We got a lot of oil to drill, which is going to bring down oil prices even further,” the president said, telegraphing his plans to regain control of production in Venezuela.
Nothing incentivizes a bunch of oily's to spend billions of $$$ they don't have in a quagmire to increase oil production, so we can "bring oil prices down even further."
The Guardian - Trump calls Caracas strikes 'amazing' and 'brilliant'
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18 hours ago, atomheartbevo said: I have my doubts about that. It’s going to take years of investments to really increase output, and won’t pay off until after Trump is out of office, and there’s always a populist leader who will happily run on a premise of “they’re stealin’ our oil!” and then things are nationalized again.
And how many years of American troops guarding pipelines and facilities will we tolerate? I’m guessing up until the next administration takes office, or January 2027.
There is a reason Trump and Rubio were vague about plans after Maduro, and most likely because they thought they had deals cut with various people that maybe aren’t deals anymore.
Trump went t from praising Rodriguez to threatening her life in less than 24 hours.
The two most important phrases I learned in my career:
"I don't know, but I'll find out."
"I understand what you said, without agreeing with what you said."
This is going to turn into a shit storm.
13 hours ago, 956 Worldwide said: @InkaUtexas since you’ve been mentioning food. Thread of former Cargill exec experiences. Some of this reminds me of Uzbekistan back in the Karimov era.
Venezuela was in a state of unbridled chaos all on their own. The dilapidated state of the oil industry is well known, but that pales in comparison to not being able to feed the people, per this post and as Peter Zeihan alluded too.
The Donald just gave the Venezuela government an out, a Magic Johnson touch pass to shift the blame for the chaos, to the US. This has the potential to turn into a Katrina-like cluster fuck.
"... We're (the US) in charge."
"Can you get us something to eat?"
"Wait, what?
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1 hour ago, Voluminous Banality said: Watched all of this. He doesn't have a lot of lower-the-shoulder power to his game at all. He also lacks the long speed of Isaac Brown.
He has good initial burst/acceleration, great shiftiness to avoid tacklers, and excellent patience/vision. Also a good receiver out of the backfield.
Looks like a solid all-around back and definitely an upgrade from Wisner.All Texas needs is a good initial burst and acceleration. That gets you positive yardage and moves the chains. Occasionally, the plays go like you draw. them up, and you get the long TD's.
Yes, it would be a bonus to get high end 100M speed, but that should not be attribute #7.
59 minutes ago, Hiphopopotamos said: How many of those players they signed were the best at their position? Indiana isn’t going after the Cam Coleman’s or trying to entice a Jayden Baugh into the portal. They’ve signed a few very good players - but none of those guys are top players being chased by multiple top teams.
This. Texas needs quality players. We might need a high end WR. It is also possible 1 of our 5* WR actually plays like a 5* WR.
52 minutes ago, Horn of Gabriel said: Most importantly he has an elite trait: to make the first defender who is going to hit him in the backfield after the O-line whiffs miss. That'll play at Texas.
32 minutes ago, farmersnotfighting said: The staff not knowing what "all in" means in consistent with them not knowing what "all gas no breaks" means either.
This pisses me off more than Tom Herman's antics. Get a big lead, control the game, put the offense in a box, play prevent defense that folds like a cheap tent, and squeak out a one possession game. Those style points, or lack there of, is the difference between being in the playoffs and watching them.
How about we at least try "All Gas, No brakes!" Go full throttle, get a big lead, feather in the younger guys with the experienced guys, and let our high end recruits see the field and get some game experience.
Any quality skill position player is probably gone in 3 years whether he red shirts or not. Redshirting a WR thinking he needs, or will be here, for 5 years is way beyond ignorant.
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8 hours ago, MagicSoccerSpray said: Who's in Guyana?
Operated by ExxonMobil Guyana Limited (45%), with Chevron Corporation (30%) and CNOOC (China National Offshore Oil Company, 25%) as partners
7 hours ago, atomheartbevo said: it’s amazing that Trump assumed these companies will rush to invest billions in projects that won’t pay off until long after he’s in office. Almost like he didn’t talk to them beforehand or thinks it’s like some real estate development deal that can be finished in a few years or something.
I can't see this happening.
These are OIL COMPANIES, "Big Oil", the scourge of mankind, the reason for everything bad in your life.
They are publicly traded companies, with institutional investors and pension funds, and every regulatory agency known to man looking over their shoulders on everything they do.
Staying within the law is kind of a biggie.
Their prudent planning and management, with a Wall Street approved capital expenditure program, has allowed them to ride out the storm from oil prices dropping by 50% in 3 years. There response was to producer more oil the old fashioned way;
they bought it form somebody elsethey bought out the other companies. I'm kidding, but not really. The Permian development is an ideal play that can be ramped up and down very fairly quickly, within reason. Starting idle rigs is easy. Building new rigs takes a lot longer.Oil companies don't have the kind of cash reserves that tech companies have; (i) they aren't that big, and (ii) that is asking for government intervention.
Will the federal government dictate public companies take government money and spend it on a flyer? Seems like they did something like that before.
Giving banks money to loan to consumers is a bit different than forcing them to invest moneys on a high risk venture with a 5-10 year investment profile and 10-20 year payout period. BP's one well "Oops!!" cost them ~ $60 Billion; Are the feds going to backstop that possibility? Not to mention, similar assets have been nationalized before. Twice.
There is nothing from this administration that points towards a comprehensive discussion with the principle players, before they pulled the trigger.
Kidnapping Maduro was the easy part. Now what?
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9 hours ago, atomheartbevo said: So, my dad retired from one of the companies being mentioned in the media (well they acquired his company, but he spent 10+ years at them) and he worked all over Central and South America, including both onshore and offshore operations, from the 1980s through the early 2000s in his 45-year career.
He's in a facebook group with a bunch of his former co-workers that he's remained friends with and was telling me some of what they were discussing. Bunch of former o&g exploration/production folks in their 60s-90s mostly from the South and Texas, so you can guess their politics. It sounds like some of them have been contacted "recently" about going down to Venezuela or at least acting as consultants here, because they have knowledge of the areas or former facilities or something.
He said there's two main threads - the first is security. When they were down there, regardless of the country, they almost always had private security teams that secured their compounds, and they had the country's government backing them (sometimes units had small barracks nearby). Even if there was corruption, there was an understanding that various groups (drugs, guerillas) generally wouldn't fuck with them too much because the governments liked the oil flowing, and pretty much everybody got some kind of cut of revenue (bribe) whether it was locals or whatever groups were active nearby, and they were usually left alone as a result. They also, as a last resort, usually had American contacts they could call upon. Here in 2025, they may not have the Venezuelan military/government on their side (if there is a military) if there's bitterness/resentment over how things are playing out, especially if all of the revenue was flowing straight from the facility back to America. You can get into some nasty areas out there in the boonies.
The other thread is basically "what's the point" because a bunch of them think even if we go in there and run things, it's going to take years of investment to make a healthy profit and if we actually follow through on elections, 5 or 10 years down the road, some populist/socialist type will get elected on a platform of "they are stealing our oil" and things will get really nasty again, and there will be a hostile environment and/or either the government takes a lot more of the revenue, or stops any contracts (or even nationalizes things again). The US is then faced with either letting those resources go, or being hardasses and putting down the Venezuelan government, and that will come down to whoever is in the White House. They think there is no way in hell Chevron or Exxon or anybody else will go in there without guarantees from the US government of covering their expenses/potential losses, which means the taxpayers will cover it.
And a couple of people mentioned that if Chevron and Exxon go in there, they will probably face a pretty serious boycott by a lot of people, and/or there may even be problems with them operating in other countries who don't renew their contracts or even cancel them outright over this. They thought there was a real possibility that surrounding countries, and even countries outside of the region, will decline to do business with them in the long run.
@atomheartbevo , we should get a beer and a dog some time. I'm in Austin.

I have a display of golf balls from 49 places and companies I've accumulated over the years. All the places are still there. The majority of the companies are not, and the people that gave them to me are all retired, or have passed on. The industry I grew up in is down to British Petroleum and Royal Dutch Shell, and Exxon, Chevron and Conoco/Phillips, a bunch of smaller independents, and a handful of midstream companies. That is the exploration and production side of the US oil industry (not gas), 3 super-majors with a disciplined capital investment plan, and a lot of independents that aren't in a hurry to drill for $58 oil.
I can't name the Donald's Secretary of Energy, and I don't care enough to look, but i'm guessing he's a tall, white, male and probably knows how to put gas in a car. Probably a drinking buddy of "Whiskey Pete's."
The 3 US companies all basically said "no comment" in the few stories I read.
Chevron is the dominate producer in the Permian Basin, and in the process of moving out of California, which will look like a long, bitter divorce, from a hostile government. They are the second largest interest owner, behind Kazakhstan, in the Caspian oil production, and are in the middle of dealing with Ukraines attack on the Caspian loading facilities, ~ 1,000,000 BPD. Chevon has been prudent in consolidating their worldwide portfolio to fewer efficient and profitable ventures, and has been systematically moving ex-pats back to the US for over 10 years. Chevron/Texaco have been nationalized be Venezuela twice and still has a presence there.
Exxon is Exxon. They don't want partners, unless they have too. They are always the biggest, and an easy target, because they have the most. They are usually right, but that doesn't matter, they still get sued and pay, because it's easier and cheaper. just swallowed Pioneer Resources to strengthen their position in the Permian. They were probably the biggest loser w/ Russia's self-detonation, and probably will be one of the first western companies to go back and pick up the pieces. Exxon has also have been nationalized by Venezuela twice, and sued and won, once. They still haven't been paid.
Conoco and Phillips, are now separate companies, again, upstream and downstream, with joint "ownership/control" of the midstream assets in the middle. They are both 150 year old Oklahoma grown companies, that have select positions in the international space, and are in the midst of a 20-25% global staff reduction. Like Exxon, they have also have been nationalized by Venezuela twice, and sued and won, once. They still haven't been paid.
All 3 have a lot on their plates already, have a vested interest in Venezuela, and they have also been burned, twice. Unlike the military, or CIA, or whatever, they don't have the equivalent of a Delta Force or Seal Team they can mobilize and deploy overnight to restore order. If I, or anybody like me, went back to work (I won't), I would start by asking a lot of questions, and I'm sure all I would get back are blank looks. The first time I went to West Virginia in the 80's was ... different. No way I would take a recon trip to Venezuela right now. It's not like your starting from scratch, but in a lot of ways, you are.
Most important, whatever happens in the next few week, will probably not be embraced by the American populace, and more important, I don't think our next President will follow in the Donald's footsteps. I just can't see those companies going forward anytime soon.
But, I also swore I would never live in Houston and work for an oil company. But when they put the money on the table, I spent most of my adult life working for energy companies, and lived in Houston 4 different times.
It's not for me, but ... make stupid choices, win stupid prizes, or, my favorite, ... fuck around and find out.
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6 hours ago, atomheartbevo said: Oh, and before American oil companies go in there, we probably should, and I'm just spitballin' here, we can workshop the details later on, but I think we should probably secure the country first. We start sending in oilfield workers and engineers without, I dunno, having boots on the ground, well I don't think it will end well.
And that's putting aside the fact that it's not really our business to help companies deal with really bad decisions on where they invested in the first place.

" ...we should probably secure the country first..."

6 hours ago, Chopper said: I know little about the oil business but isn't Venezuela's oil considered very low quality to the point where it makes no sense to extract it at current prices? Makes me think this is more about creating a diversion from the Epstein files and for fascism to flex its muscles for domestic purposes.
"Current prices" are not the same for everybody. The component of US oil & gas production costs attributable to taxes, our litigious society and insurance costs, and safety and environmental costs are not issues with most other countries. Other countries net a much higher percentage of the current price than US companies realize.
The US is different in that if you drill, you have more oil. If you don't drill, it declines at 15-20% per year. We have already been through the primary, secondary and tertiary phases of oil recovery, and are back to the primary phase, on steroids this time.
Venezuela has arguably the highest oil reserves in the world. Current production is ~ 600,000 BPD v. a peak of ~ 3,600,000 BPD.
~ 3,000,000 BPD x $75/bbl x 365 = $82 Billion/year, with a "B"
Put me in the, "What the fuck are we doing?" column. This is 100% political BS. And whatever the Donald does, will be undone, when he is gone.
But it's hard as hell getting the toothpaste back in the tube
6 hours ago, atomheartbevo said: My dad said something about we have refineries that could handle that oil.
Trump at least spent a lot of time talking about taking the oil. At least he’s not hiding it.
5 hours ago, 956 Worldwide said: Our Gulf Coast refineries are specifically built to refine it.
A large part of the US refining Industry was "retooled" in the 80'-90's to refine a slate of heavy, sour crude from Mexico & Canada, Venezuela, and other places.
Most of what I knew about Venezuela's oil industry I forgot about about 20 years ago. Here is a graph of their historical oil production:
Some key dates:
1970 Venezuela oil production peaks at over 3.5 MMBPD
1976 Nationalization of the Venezuelan oil industry, creating Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA, "ped-e-vesa") , the state-owned oil and gas company of Venezuela.
1984 Oil production dropped to ~1.5 MMBPD after the nationalization.
1995 Oil production increases to over 3 MMBPD with sharing agreements w/ western oil companies. PDVSA & partners was an efficient partnership.
2002 Chávez, crippling and bleeding PDVSA to fund his social agenda, resulted in PDVSA employees going on strike, starting the decay of the domestic industry.
2007, PDVSA's renationalization program; Assets of ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips were expropriated in 2007 after they declined to restructure their holdings to give PDVSA majority control; Total, Chevron, Statoil and BP agreed and retained minority shares in their Venezuelan projects. Basically, the western companies started heading towards the exits.
2016 @PTINS pushed away from the table and moves home to Austin. Okay, not sure what caused the precipitous drop, but it coincides with the shale boom in the Permian, led by Chevron, Exxon & Conoco.
Though the US production volumes are sufficient to meet domestic demand, the US exports ~ 3.5 MMBPD of light crude oil and imports similar quantities of heavy crude oil.

The renationalization in 2007, after western oil companies had spent $$$$ to rebuild the oil industry, did not sit well with a lot of people.
Exxon and Conoco, sued, and won, I think, but I doubt either of them ever received anything back.
3 hours ago, Updawg said: How fucked is Texas if gas drops below $1?
I think federal, state and local taxes will prevent that from happening.
Whatever has caused the decline in oil production down to 500,000 BPD, it won't come back by simply opening a valve. The oil is heavy and sour, and requires significant investment and time to reverse the decline. Please note the fresh air equipment John Wayne is wearing. The oil & gas has high concentrations of hydrogen sulfide; extremely toxic, like one breath and you die.
The big US companies are the largest producers in the Permian Basin, the shooting fish in a barrel Permian Basin; the same companies that got fucked, and then fucked again by Venezuela. I can't see them hurrying up and doing anything in V, even if they could. They have all made huge acquisitions in the past few years, are consolidating operations, and have had large staff reductions in the past few years, all under the umbrella of oil prices that are half of what they were 3 years ago.
Nobody, not the US, the Saudi's, Russia, nor OPEC, are wanting to see a flood of oil coming from Venezuela any time soon.
I expect there will continue to be upheaval in the world market, but not from an increase in Venezuela oil production.
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On 1/1/2026 at 11:15 AM, closetojumping said: It actually is. Juggs reps, one-handed reps, and jump ball reps can and do drive more proficiency for catching the ball. I found myself wondering this year if Texas was doing any of that and how often, but surely they are. The offseason will hopefully include a crazy amount of that work as well as cut and quickness drills.
Having the dropsies can also be psychological for a player, sort of like a RB with a fumbling problem. That shit can change for a WR from one season to another if that is the problem.
On 1/1/2026 at 1:51 PM, Tex-19 said: Sure doesn't seem like they're doing enough of this. Not only the drops but 50/50 balls are more like 10/90 with Texas WRs this year. It's been driving me crazy watching the WRs from Indiana and other CFP teams routinely make those difficult catches.
Mosely is the only one with ball skills this year (maybe Lockett, TBD). Last year Golden had them and Bond was ok.
edit: probably worth adding that a lot of this is stuff the players can practice on their own. Get a GA or walkon and have them feed you balls. I wonder how much time these guys are spending on it outside of mandatory practice.
I think Texas had 5 drops in the first half, Parker and Wingo with 2 each.
Those guys should be carrying a football with them every place they go.
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Edited by PTINS
typo. text.5 hours ago, Nicole44 said: 🥺😢😭🤘🏼🤘🏼🤘🏼

"CATCH THE FUCKING BALL!!!!!!!"
Was this after the 1st or 2nd drop, before halftime? The fucking announcers blamed Arch for the pass being a little off target after 40+ yards, but it still hit both of PL's hands.
Wingo also had two 1st half drops.
Neither should have played after that.







Jaime Ffrench 2025
in 🤫$9.95🤫
Re Ffrench; He was ranked as a Ffive Star until shortly before signing day. Why???