News Palin pick an insult to our intelligence

[Karl G.]

why, whose oil was it to begin with?

The oil companies! If they own the land on the oil is located at, they own the oil!

 

[turbo]

The oil companies! If they own the land on the oil is located at, they own the oil!

Normally, oil companies don't own land like that. They buy leases from the government and start extracting oil. It's lots cheaper that way.

 

[Astronuc]

The oil companies! If they own the land on the oil is located at, they own the oil!

Not necessarily. One can own land, but not the mineral rights, which is often the case west of the Mississippi River. In many parts of the west, the US government retained the mineral rights.

 

[Karl G.]

thanks for correcting my error ... learn something new every day

 

[Astronuc]

thanks for correcting my error ... learn something new every day

Many people do not realize this, and that is why it is important to read the deed/title to one's land in order to find out what is included in the land. I have the mineral rights to my property, which prevents anyone coming on my land to mine it or drill for oil or gas.

In Texas, Colorado, and other western states, people are sometime surprised to find oil or gas exploration sites on their property or on a property adjacent to theirs. I've seen oil drilling structures between houses in the middle of a city neighborhood. I'm glad it wasn't mine.

In some cases, the US government did grant mineral rights to corporations, e.g. the railroads as an incentive to develop their rights of way. The history of the western US is quite interesting. Sometimes it's worth a visit to state or federal archives to look at the legal documents, contracts, mergers and acquisitions of corporations, particularly the railroads. It's interesting what one finds.

 

[Karl G.]

Come to think of it, I remember when I was 5, an oil company was looking for deposits on our land (I live in Texas). But at that age, I thought they were planting bombs on our land, lol.

 

[turbo]

Come to think of it, I remember when I was 5, an oil company was looking for deposits on our land (I live in Texas). But at that age, I thought they were planting bombs on our land, lol.

They were. My former brother-in-law used to do this for a living. He'd place charges, and the mapping companies would position large trucks (with extendable outriggers with telescoping lifts and seismic sensors in the bodies) at strategic locations. The charges would be set off, and the data from the sensors in the trucks would be used to create 3-D maps of the stuff under the ground. Usually, they were looking for salt-domes to tap for natural gas and underlying oil. This is very old technology, and I don't know what has replaced it, these days.

 

[Karl G.]

Interesting...

 

[Evo]

Not necessarily. One can own land, but not the mineral rights, which is often the case west of the Mississippi River. In many parts of the west, the US government retained the mineral rights.

In Texas anywhere there is even a hint of oil, the oil companies own the mineral rights.

When I bought my first house near Clear Lake Texas, I actually bought the land from Exxon. I had to agree that any time they wanted, they could erect a derrick on my land and drill and there wasn't a thing I could do about it.

 

[Astronuc]

In Texas anywhere there is even a hint of oil, the oil companies own the mineral rights.

When I bought my first house near Clear Lake Texas, I actually bought the land from Exxon. I had to agree that any time they wanted, they could erect a derrick on my land and drill and there wasn't a thing I could do about it.

When I lived in College Station, there were a couple of neighborhoods in which an oil rig was placed on a lot between two houses. I think in one case, a house was actually demolished to put in the rig and subsequent gas well.

If we opened the windows at night in our apartment, one could hear the noise from one of the rigs as the pipes for the drill string were clanging. I can't imagine what it was like in the neighborhood or next door.

South of I-610, there were a lot of oil fields. I used to drive with my dad down to Brazoria each Sunday, and we passed a lot of active wells.

 

[Werg22]

Evo, with your eagerness to lock threads that have gone off topic on this board, one may wonder why you haven't done so with this one, which has so obviously gone off topic.

 

[Evo]

Evo, with your eagerness to lock threads that have gone off topic on this board, one may wonder why you haven't done so with this one, which has so obviously gone off topic.

It's the 3 post rule. If a thread has 3 sequential on topic posts and doesn't degrade into a flamewar the topic then becomes open. Many Op hijack their own threads once the original topic has run it's course.

 

[chemisttree]

This thread is soooo '08. Can't we all just MoveOn(.org)?

Really? 64 pages of bile and hatred for this woman, mostly by a handful of posters. A real feather in our cap!

 

[Evo]

The thread is officially dead.