<Peak Oil and the Financial Markets: A Forecast for 2008 The Oil Drum Holding Daniel Yergin and CERA Accountable>
<DrumBeat: January 9, 2008 DrumBeat DrumBeat: January 11, 2008>

233 comments on DrumBeat: January 10, 2008

Comments can no longer be added to this story.

Show without comments | PDF version

stevelevine on January 10, 2008 - 10:28am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Interestingly, the smartest, forward-looking folks on heavy/sour refining have been the Indians, specifically Mukesh Ambani of Reliance, who in one year built an enormous, 500,000 b/d heavy/sour refinery in Jamnagar to process Saudi heavy and other such crudes. Then he did it again -- doubled the refinery's size, again in a year. Jamnagar has a 1-million- barrel-a-day capacity now. I met Ambani in Bombay for a story for the Wall Street Journal a couple of years ago. Unlike the flat-footed U.S. and European majors, Ambani is quick-thinking, decisive and willing to commit enormous resources to execute his ideas. The result is enormous profits. He's one of the world's richest men now.

Steve LeVine, author
The Oil and the Glory
http://www.oilandglory.com

Comments can no longer be added to this story.
mcgowanmc on January 10, 2008 - 10:36am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

This is the same guy who bought his wife an Airbus.

And is building a multi story billion dollar home.

http://www.libertypost.org/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=212691&Disp=2#C2

"The customised monster-of-a-bird, that should have been delivered in April, rolled into Delhi's Indira Gandhi International airport en route to Mumbai on Thursday morning," the paper reported. If the price tag – reportedly £30m – sounds preposterous, it is worth bearing in mind that Mr Ambani is the latest man to be identified as the world's richest person.

The Press Trust of India (PTI) reported last week that Mr Ambani, the chairman of Reliance Industries, had seen his worth soar to more than £30bn, taking him past Microsoft chairman Bill Gates and Mexican Carlos Slim."

Behind every great fortune there is a crime. Honore de Balzac

Comments can no longer be added to this story.
nh3 on January 10, 2008 - 11:44am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

the Chinese saying:为富不仁
为:being
富:rich
不:not, no
仁:benevolent

Comments can no longer be added to this story.
NeverLNG on January 10, 2008 - 2:09pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Taking advantage of people and situations is called "good business sense." Where is the crime?

Giant houses and private Airbusses might be tasteless hyperconsumption -- but at least it provides jobs for some people, and no doubt Mr. Ambani has plenty of supporters and sycophants.

Comments can no longer be added to this story.
NZSanctuary on January 10, 2008 - 7:50pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

"Taking advantage of people and situations is called "good business sense." Where is the crime?"

We are all law breakers. Who has never trespassed, never j-walked, never gone a mile over the speed limit, never littered, never failed to indicate when changing lanes, and never broken a single one of the multitude of obscure laws that each land has? There are in all probability laws that we have all broken that we are unaware of, because few , if anyone, is aware of all the laws in their country.

Their are plenty of people who are criminal however, without breaking laws or being caught. And I would include some business practises in that category. The "Behind every great fortune there is a crime" comment presumably refers to the fact that great fortunes are usually won with the help of some criminal practise - even if the law has not been broken or they haven't been caught.

Comments can no longer be added to this story.
Mrs. Ydnurg on January 10, 2008 - 9:38pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Behind every great fortune there is a crime. Honore de Balzac

"Taking advantage of people and situations is called "good business sense." Where is the crime?"

I think NeverLNG is confusing politics with business. Good business is where an equitable 'trade' has been made between two parties. In Balzac's day the third partner to a deal, the World, was not considered and for the main still isn't. I think he would have a field day commenting on our business practices, since its not not now necessary to have a great fortune to be defined as a criminal.

Comments can no longer be added to this story.
WNC Observer on January 11, 2008 - 9:22am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

The biggest criminals accumulate enough wealth so that they can buy enough politicians to change the laws so that their crimes are redefined away as "good business practices in the national interest".

Comments can no longer be added to this story.

233 comments on DrumBeat: January 10, 2008

Comments can no longer be added to this story.

Show without comments | PDF version