# Perhaps you should fill your tank now: Saudi Arabia to cut 1/2 crude production after attack **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 14, 2019, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perhaps-you-should-fill-your-tank-now-saudi-arabia-to-cut-1-2-crude-production-after-attack/840231 "2019-09-14T19:07:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2019, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perhaps-you-should-fill-your-tank-now-saudi-arabia-to-cut-1-2-crude-production-after-attack/840231/21 "2019-09-15T16:22:35Z")
> [@pullin](#): > > Panic buying and hoarding are also a big problem, ime. In 2017, an interview (and possibly misunderstood quote) from an oil executive set off panic buying in the North Texas area. The fear was that Hurricane Harvey had disabled a significant part of US refining capability and people began hurrying to fill their tanks. As the day went on, they (literally) emptied the pipelines into the DFW area and the panic got worse. After a couple of days, people were losing their shit. In some cases, enterprising newbie “preppers” decided to take large tanks and grab more of the dwindling supplies in the few(er) open stations. Fights broke out as those further back in line realized the limited amount was being taken by Bubba and his makeshift tanks. Those who didn’t have plenty of fuel found themselves either scouring the surrounding areas for it, or trying to find rides to work for the next week. > > Even if the shortage isn’t “real”, when you’re the last cricket on a picked-over field, it becomes real for you. Having some backup supply, whether it’s the extra half-tank in your car, or purpose-built storage tanks on your property, is pretty smart in my opinion. I was in Dallas at the time, having fled Harvey. Longest line I’d ever seen at a Costco gas station. I had thought though that some of the problems Dallas faced weren’t so much from panic buying, though there was a lot of that, but an inability to replenish stock due to the transportation outages from flooding. In any event, it went away after a day or two, IIRC. AIUI, crude production in the US can be easily raised from its current level. Refining capacity, OTOH, I thought was near peak. It is a very large facility that was set on fire. Is there more information about the extent of the damage? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2019, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perhaps-you-should-fill-your-tank-now-saudi-arabia-to-cut-1-2-crude-production-after-attack/840231/22 "2019-09-15T19:09:17Z")
First reports said that it would take two years to repair the damage. And that’s assuming no more damage occurs over that time. Your filling up today or next week won’t matter a bit in the long run. If this remains true, then the global chain will wind up shifting. The politically important question is whether we can use this as a wedge to drive alternative energy sources because the environmental dotards in the administration claim that we have to pump more fossil fuels out of the ground. Higher gas prices will also make the car manufacturers who agreed to abide with California’s regulations look even more intelligent and far-seeing than the administration who canned the Obama era CAFE rules and is looking into an anti-trust challenge. Hey, if the planet has any luck at all, another drone will knock out the other half of Saudi production. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2019, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perhaps-you-should-fill-your-tank-now-saudi-arabia-to-cut-1-2-crude-production-after-attack/840231/23 "2019-09-15T23:27:49Z")
> [@sps49sd](#): > > Electric car driver, here 🙂 Before you get too smug, consider how all of your goods and services are logisticated. Edit: AFAIK, that’s not a word; I intended to coin it, but for some reason, the spell checker is approving it. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perhaps-you-should-fill-your-tank-now-saudi-arabia-to-cut-1-2-crude-production-after-attack/840231/24 "2019-09-16T00:21:36Z")
Prepare for a lot more fracking to start soon… ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perhaps-you-should-fill-your-tank-now-saudi-arabia-to-cut-1-2-crude-production-after-attack/840231/25 "2019-09-16T01:24:58Z")
Nothing to report from here. No smoke, no sheets of flame. No convoys of fire engines. I am about 35 miles from all this. Oddly this is not ever a subject of water cooler talk at the office. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perhaps-you-should-fill-your-tank-now-saudi-arabia-to-cut-1-2-crude-production-after-attack/840231/26 "2019-09-16T03:45:59Z")
> [@pullin](#): > > Panic buying and hoarding are also a big problem, ime. In 2017, an interview (and possibly misunderstood quote) from an oil executive set off panic buying in the North Texas area. The fear was that Hurricane Harvey had disabled a significant part of US refining capability and people began hurrying to fill their tanks. As the day went on, they (literally) emptied the pipelines into the DFW area and the panic got worse. After a couple of days, people were losing their shit. In some cases, enterprising newbie “preppers” decided to take large tanks and grab more of the dwindling supplies in the few(er) open stations. Fights broke out as those further back in line realized the limited amount was being taken by Bubba and his makeshift tanks. Those who didn’t have plenty of fuel found themselves either scouring the surrounding areas for it, or trying to find rides to work for the next week. > > Even if the shortage isn’t “real”, when you’re the last cricket on a picked-over field, it becomes real for you. Having some backup supply, whether it’s the extra half-tank in your car, or purpose-built storage tanks on your property, is pretty smart in my opinion. Morons, all of them. Anyone with any sense filled up the Friday before, or that Monday (IIRC it hit Houston on a Saturday or Sunday), and then laughed at those idiots waiting in gas lines. Because you KNOW a hurricane hitting Houston is going to cause gas prices to rise, even without dumb-ass panic buying. ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perhaps-you-should-fill-your-tank-now-saudi-arabia-to-cut-1-2-crude-production-after-attack/840231/27 "2019-09-16T04:37:46Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Of course it does. Trump has been practically salivating over the notion of a war with Iran so he can show how manly he is. Total nonsense. If Trump actually wanted war with Iran, there’s no way in the world he would have just fired the one government official who above all others was trying to start such a war – i.e., John Bolton. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perhaps-you-should-fill-your-tank-now-saudi-arabia-to-cut-1-2-crude-production-after-attack/840231/28 "2019-09-16T10:30:49Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Morons, all of them. Anyone with any sense filled up the Friday before, or that Monday (IIRC it hit Houston on a Saturday or Sunday), and then laughed at those idiots waiting in gas lines. Because you KNOW a hurricane hitting Houston is going to cause gas prices to rise, even without dumb-ass panic buying. Yes, we’re surrounded by idiots who can’t think more than a few hours into the future. Googling “baby boomer retirement” will make this even more apparent. I enjoyed laughing at them, as I do at all the unaffected (unhurt, no damage) who scurry around like dismayed children when the shelves/tanks/trucks are suddenly empty. Gosh! A hurricane hit the coast! No one saw that coming, right? I believe it is morally and ethically OK to load up a trailer of $400 generators, drive to Florida in the aftermath of a big storm, and sell them for $2000 each. I have zero problem with this, since those needing them knew where they lived and had plenty of time to prepare. However, many of my fellow citizens disagree, and as I understand it, I (or Home Depot) might be charged with a crime for this. ---
**Author:** ![mandala](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mandala/32/95_2.png) [@mandala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mandala)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perhaps-you-should-fill-your-tank-now-saudi-arabia-to-cut-1-2-crude-production-after-attack/840231/29 "2019-09-16T11:31:15Z")
Saudis supply 10% of the world’s oil - and now they would supply about 5% of it. I would think other suppliers will promptly step up to the plate. In any case the US economy has plenty of reserve oil, and alternative suppliers. To make a noticeable difference to the US economy the reduction in oil supply needs to be extremely drastic and prolonged. ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perhaps-you-should-fill-your-tank-now-saudi-arabia-to-cut-1-2-crude-production-after-attack/840231/30 "2019-09-16T18:55:20Z")
> [@sps49sd](#): > > Electric car driver, here 🙂 > > I’m more worried about this incident causing more armed conflict. What is the source of the electricity you use? Much of the electricity used in the US is generated with steam turbines using fossil fuels. ---
**Author:** ![YamatoTwinkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/cc9497/32.png) [@YamatoTwinkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YamatoTwinkie)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perhaps-you-should-fill-your-tank-now-saudi-arabia-to-cut-1-2-crude-production-after-attack/840231/31 "2019-09-16T19:26:42Z")
> [@Mangosteen](#): > > What is the source of the electricity you use? Much of the electricity used in the US is generated with steam turbines using fossil fuels. While fossil fuels accounts for about two-thirds of US electrical energy production, almost all of that made up of either natural gas or coal. Oil is less than 1%. > **[Electricity sector of the United States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_sector_of_the_United_States)** > > Employment > Net electricity generation by energy source as of November 2022 > There is a large array of stakeholders that provide services through electricity generation, transmission, distribution and marketing for industrial, commercial, public and residential customers in the United States. It also includes many public institutions that regulate the sector. > In 1996, there were 3,195 electric utilities in the United States, of which fewer than 1,000 were engaged in power generation. This lea... ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perhaps-you-should-fill-your-tank-now-saudi-arabia-to-cut-1-2-crude-production-after-attack/840231/32 "2019-09-16T20:07:59Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > Total nonsense. If Trump actually wanted war with Iran, there’s no way in the world he would have just fired the one government official who above all others was trying to start such a war – i.e., John Bolton. [Really?](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/15/world/middleeast/iran-us-saudi-arabia-attack.html) ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perhaps-you-should-fill-your-tank-now-saudi-arabia-to-cut-1-2-crude-production-after-attack/840231/33 "2019-09-16T20:12:24Z")
FWIW. We live in Abqaiq for 11 years. No one we know still lives there. All aged out. But we received an email from some from a retired safety engineer from the other strike. He just retired so knows people still there. They are all safe but the damage he estimates will take about two years to repair. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perhaps-you-should-fill-your-tank-now-saudi-arabia-to-cut-1-2-crude-production-after-attack/840231/34 "2019-09-17T17:58:41Z")
[CNN](https://edition.cnn.com/middleeast/live-news/saudi-oil-attack-iranian-base/index.html): > [@](#): > > The Trump administration “can’t say definitively” that Iran was behind an attack on an oil facility on Saudi Arabia, White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley told reporters, adding that officials are still in the process of making the case to the American people. > > “The President is dealing with all of our partners and allies in the region, and we want to make sure the evidence clearly points to a culprit here. In all likelihood, as the President said, it was Iran,” Gidley said. “But when we have a definitive on that we’ll let you know.” ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perhaps-you-should-fill-your-tank-now-saudi-arabia-to-cut-1-2-crude-production-after-attack/840231/35 "2019-09-17T18:14:46Z")
Per an unnamed US official, the missiles used to attack the oil facility in SA, were launched from Southern Iran, near the Iraq border: [Saudi Arabia oil attack: U.S. official says attack on Saudi Arabia launched from Iranian soil - CBS News](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/iran-saudi-arabia-oil-attack-us-official-says-attack-launched-from-iranian-territory/) > [@](#): > > The United States has identified the exact locations in Iran from which a combination of more than 20 drones and cruise missiles were launched against Saudi oil facilities over the weekend, a senior U.S. official told CBS News national security correspondent David Martin on Tuesday. The official said the locations are in southern Iran, at the northern end of the Persian Gulf… > > …A U.S. team has been on the ground at the oil facilities and identified the specific types of drones and cruise missiles fired, Martin reported. The wreckage was moved to a facility outside the Saudi capital of Riyadh, where it will be used to make what one U.S. official called, “a very compelling forensic case” that Iran launched “a complex and coordinated attack” on Saudi Arabia. > > In addition to the wreckage, the forensic case will include radar tracks reconstructed after the fact that show the cruise missiles and drones coming out of Iran… Interesting that conventional, non-stealthy cruise missiles were able to be launched, transit Iraqi, Kuwaiti. and KSA airspace, and not be interdicted. Good thing it was only explosives being carried by those missiles. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perhaps-you-should-fill-your-tank-now-saudi-arabia-to-cut-1-2-crude-production-after-attack/840231/36 "2019-09-17T18:23:48Z")
Also, per this [tweet](https://twitter.com/mercoglianos/status/1173958075327426561), half of the 46 ships in the Ready Reserve Fleet are being activated, on a ‘turbo’ basis. I have read of a merchant sailor immediate muster drill being conducted either today or yesterday. It may not actually be a drill. These are ships used to convey large amounts of materiel, ordnance, and other supplies from the US to local logistical sites. IOW, if you need to move an army, these are the boats you use move all of the stuff that can’t economically be flown to the area. 40 of those ships were activated for OIF in 2003. Carriers get moved in order to conduct airstrikes. These ships are what you use when you want to invade. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perhaps-you-should-fill-your-tank-now-saudi-arabia-to-cut-1-2-crude-production-after-attack/840231/37 "2019-09-17T18:25:27Z")
As for gas prices, the station near my work where I usually fill up is about 25¢/gallon higher today than mid last week. This is purely profit-taking as there hasn’t been time for the more expensive crude to have been processed yet. Of course, when the price of crude drops, it takes lots longer for that decrease to show up at the pump. And remember back when gas was lots more expensive and a fuel surcharge was tacked on to everything delivered by truck? I’m pretty sure none of those prices came down afterwards. It’s not just the oil companies reaping profits from reduced production. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perhaps-you-should-fill-your-tank-now-saudi-arabia-to-cut-1-2-crude-production-after-attack/840231/38 "2019-09-17T19:05:09Z")
> [@Gray\_Ghost](#): > > Good thing it was only explosives being carried by those missiles. What else would they carry? Candy? ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perhaps-you-should-fill-your-tank-now-saudi-arabia-to-cut-1-2-crude-production-after-attack/840231/39 "2019-09-17T19:08:04Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > What else would they carry? Candy? [I guess, maybe.](https://warheads.com/) I suspect he was thinking of nukes. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perhaps-you-should-fill-your-tank-now-saudi-arabia-to-cut-1-2-crude-production-after-attack/840231/40 "2019-09-17T19:50:50Z")
> [@Atomic\_Alex](#): > > I don’t even _own_ a tank. Should I buy one? Pffff… tank warfare is so last war. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perhaps-you-should-fill-your-tank-now-saudi-arabia-to-cut-1-2-crude-production-after-attack/840231.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perhaps-you-should-fill-your-tank-now-saudi-arabia-to-cut-1-2-crude-production-after-attack/840231.md?page=3)