House Passed Bill which Ends Crude Export Ban

I wish it had had a provision requiring American crude be shipped on US flagged tankers.

http://gcaptain.com/house-passes-u-s-spending-bill-that-ends-crude-oil-export-ban/

[QUOTE=Capt. Phoenix;175713]I wish it had had a provision requiring American crude be shipped on US flagged tankers.

http://gcaptain.com/house-passes-u-s-spending-bill-that-ends-crude-oil-export-ban/[/QUOTE]

Creating jobs, national security etc., isn’t the goal of selling US oil abroad. The oil companies paid for this legislation to benefit themselves only. The House did what they were told to do.

I should have been a commodities trader…

[QUOTE=Capt. Phoenix;175713]I wish it had had a provision requiring American crude be shipped on US flagged tankers.[/QUOTE]

Congress doesn’t get paid to defend the American economy and American jobs, it gets paid to support campaign funding by selling America to the highest bidder. American flag ship owners can’t compete in that auction.

This is another fine example of political treachery and treason by a bunch of flag waving hypocrites.

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[QUOTE=Gimli;175722]I should have been a commodities trader…[/QUOTE]

Or a lobbyist or politician … commodities traders have to actually work and take risks, the politicians only have to vote the way their masters tell them.

Term limits for US Congress. 12 years in either house and you’re all done. Go home and get a real job.

[QUOTE=PaddyWest2012;175743]Term limits for US Congress. 12 years in either house and you’re all done. Go home and get a real job.[/QUOTE]

Way too long. Two years tops and a prohibition against working for any campaign contributor, lobbying, or political appointment. As another means to protect the American citizen, why not prohibit an ex-congressman from ever going to DC even as a tourist. This bit of treachery is another fine example of why we need to end the tradition of bribery called campaign funding.

It’s not all bad. Agreed that a Jones Act requirement would be nice, however… Blogs | Council on Foreign Relations.

The first load has gone … on a FoC tanker of course.

I wish they had taken John McCain and a few of his campaign contributors with them.

Here’s another story that will surely warm the cockles of the hearts of McCain and his sycophants:

Just think of the money that will be saved and diverted to campaign contributions when American trade no longer needs Americans. When it’s cheaper to replace the dead ones than provide medical care McCain and his ilk will be able to claim they have not only saved pig farmers a fortune but have actually increased job growth in the third world. Of course we are rapidly approaching that status ourselves thanks to the patriots in DC but that is another story and not one that negatively impacts anyone in Congress.

Haha, if you think this doesn’t happen in America just look no further then America’s number one maritime employer MSC.

If you get sick while overseas you have to use your health insurance, MSC doesn’t cover you. Everyone is required to have a credit card that’s accepted overseas in case the overseas medical doesn’t accept your health insurance. If you’re truly in a bind, say the medical provider doesn’t take credit then MSC can, in some cases, provide a loan if the need is dire.

Basically, you pay and your insurer reimburses you. I understand it’s a law regarding federal employees that causes this.

A few years ago (2010?) we were in Dubai and a mariner fell at the gangway. He was shitface drunk coming back from liberty. He made it up the gangway but fell face first at the quarterdeck dislocating his left forearm at the elbow. (It looked like a closed compound fracture with a bone poking up from below the skin.) I was on watch standing two feet from him when it happened.

USN security showed up within minutes to take him to the hospital but our own medical officer wouldn’t let him go. He needed a credit card. My watch partner ran to his room and had a hell of a time finding it. He was too drunk and in pain to explain accurately where in his room he hid his valuables.

After twenty more minutes she found his credit card and the USN security was finally permitted to take him to the hospital. So it happens and not just on foreign flags of convince.

[QUOTE=DeckApe;176675]Haha, if you think this doesn’t happen in America just look no further then America’s number one maritime employer MSC.[/QUOTE]

Good grief … if that is true then it should be highlighted on MSC’s billboard ads. Does the same policy apply to the shoreside employees?

Why does our government seem to hate mariners so much at the same time they are spending millions to produce baby mates and engineers under the fantasy that they are needed for “national security”?

[QUOTE=DeckApe;176675]Haha, if you think this doesn’t happen in America just look no further then America’s number one maritime employer MSC.

After twenty more minutes she found his credit card and the USN security was finally permitted to take him to the hospital. So it happens and not just on foreign flags of convince.[/QUOTE]

Foreign flag vessels, incl. under FoC flags, are required by MLC to have medical coverage for all crew members and supernumeraries. I thought that applied to US flag vessels when in foreign trade/ports as well?

Maybe MSC vessels are exempt as they are regarded as “naval vessels”??

[QUOTE=ombugge;176688]

Maybe MSC vessels are exempt as they are regarded as “naval vessels”??[/QUOTE]

Don’t need no stinkin’ MLC, they are Public Vessels.

However, “As federal government employees, CIVMARs qualify for a variety of insurance plans: health, vision, dental, long term care, life, disability, loss of wages and injury. There are also spending account options, leave buy back and a comprehensive retirement plan. MSC pays up to 75% of employee health insurance premiums. CIVMARs’ premiums are deducted using pre-taxed dollars thereby reducing taxable income.”

But I don’t see how that absolves anyone from dealing with a medical emergency in the most immediate method. I would think that if an injury or condition was aggravated because some dickhead pencil pusher refused to provide or permit medical aid until proof of ability to pay was presented it would make for a stupendous and well earned lawsuit. As much as some in DC would like to return, we left the Dickensian model of social responsibility behind quite a while ago.

Where does the crude oil exported from the US go anyhow???: http://www.reuters.com/article/oil-marshall-islands-idUSL8N1AT07P

To the Marshall Islands, that’s where!!!

And where do the Ethane made in the US go?: First Ethane Cargo from Morgan’s Point Shipped - Offshore Energy
To Norway, that’s where. (Among other places)

Ethane may become a major US export, along with other LPG products: http://www.reuters.com/article/asia-energy-lpg-idUSL3N16N2KV

Where are the US flag LPG carriers to compete for this trade?

PS> This was not the first such shipment though: US shale gas arrives in Europe for the first time on board the INEOS Intrepid - VesselFinder

FYI: The JS INEOS Interpid is purpose built for the transport of Ethane from US Shale Gas to Europe.

The INEOS Intrepid is currently one of four specially designed Dragon class ships that will form part of a fleet of eight of the world’s largest ethane capable carriers. The INEOS Intrepid has “SHALE GAS FOR PROGRESS” emblazoned along its 180 metre length.

The same goes for Naphtha. US may be the main supplier by 2020: http://press.ihs.com/press-release/chemicals/2020-us-emerge-largest-exporter-light-naphtha-essential-production-gasoline-
Will any of this be carried on US flag vessels? Hardly likely.

[QUOTE=ombugge;188966]Where does the crude oil exported from the US go anyhow???: http://www.reuters.com/article/oil-marshall-islands-idUSL8N1AT07P

To the Marshall Islands, that’s where!!![/QUOTE]

That’s an interesting story, but the data don’t support it very well. Try clicking the various country boxes and then the graph button. You’ll see that nearly all of the US crude is exported to Canada. Marshall Islands is a very distant 6th place.

https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/pet_move_expc_a_EPC0_EEX_mbbl_m.htm

It’s a good thing but not a great thing. There’s a problem when Curaçao, Bahamas, and Marshall islands get a big piece of the trade: they’re not consumers. And we don’t know who the consumers are, for sure. That energy or the profits from that energy could be going to the kind of people who don’t want you to know where their fuel and money are coming from. Anyone know why Marshall Islands shouldn’t be considered as a gateway to the black market?

[QUOTE=Emrobu;189815]That’s an interesting story, but the data don’t support it very well. Try clicking the various country boxes and then the graph button. You’ll see that nearly all of the US crude is exported to Canada. Marshall Islands is a very distant 6th place.

https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/pet_move_expc_a_EPC0_EEX_mbbl_m.htm

It’s a good thing but not a great thing. There’s a problem when Curaçao, Bahamas, and Marshall islands get a big piece of the trade: they’re not consumers. And we don’t know who the consumers are, for sure. That energy or the profits from that energy could be going to the kind of people who don’t want you to know where their fuel and money are coming from. Anyone know why Marshall Islands shouldn’t be considered as a gateway to the black market?[/QUOTE]

Because Marshall Islands is a (former) US dependency and has a free trade agreement allowing crude export there. The crude never sees M.I. but that is beside the point. (What would the do with it it anyhow? There are no refineries on the M.I.

Isn’t the export to Canada another “trade arrangement” to allow transport on foreign ships, with the oil ending up back in the US anyhow? That trade has been allowed for many years.

That could be true. Numbers seem to support that idea. I don’t know, actually. So nearly all of the US crude that is exported is reimported to get around Jones Act? And the few drops that escape may be mainlined to the black market? I don’t feel well. Somebody tell me why this isn’t true. Tell me I’ve got it all wrong.

[QUOTE=Emrobu;189819]That could be true. Numbers seem to support that idea. I don’t know, actually. So nearly all of the US crude that is exported is reimported to get around Jones Act? And the few drops that escape may be mainlined to the black market? I don’t feel well. Somebody tell me why this isn’t true. Tell me I’ve got it all wrong.[/QUOTE]

If I remember right this was discussed earlier. The crude may be refined in Canada and re-exported as products.
Somebody will have better memory.