Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Oil But Were Afraid To Ask.

On March 16 I had the pleasure of interviewing Bob Van der Valk. Below are the links where you can listen to the entire interview.

Bob van der Valk is an Independent Consultant in the petroleum industry. He has over 50 years of experience in the wholesale and retail gasoline and lubricants industry. Has expertise in gasoline price forecasting, DTW / zone pricing issues, commercial fueling network, wholesale, retail branded and unbranded matters, refined products margin questions and retail fuels supply issues.

Bob is a product marketer and a thoroughly knowledgeable businessman in the refining and downstream marketing sector of the petroleum industry, with particular expertise on the U.S. western region.

He is a Contributor to the “Bakken Oil Business Journal” and has been often quoted by news publications and his opinion solicited by government entities, besides his ongoing daily business of running large-scale supply and marketing operations.

As you can imagine oil is a complex issue with passions running high on all sides. I hope to have Bob as a regular monthly guest on my Saturday, Open for Business show. Hope you enjoy this very informative interview on the oil business.

Part One:

Oil and the price at the pump, how do oil prices and pump prices relate? Learn about Location and Zone pricing. Learn who really sets the price of gas. Does the addition of Ethanol affect the price at the pump? What are oil and tar sands? How does Warren Buffett profit if the XL Keystone pipeline is not built? Where does natural gas fit in? What about China and natural gas?

Part Two:

Breakdown of gas pricing covered. How much does the gasoline in a 42-gallon barrel of oil cost to produce? The XL Pipeline, how much can it carry? How much imported oil would the pipeline replace. Is energy independence possible? New refinery in North Dakota? How pure is the oil in North Dakota? Nebraska Aquifer? Pipeline across private property?

Part Three:

How many barrels a day does a successful well have to produce? EPA and clean air? How much of our oil is exported and how much stays here? How concerned should we be about our oil exports? Does the exportation of oil require any kind of permit? Where does China get the bulk of their oil now?

Part Four:

Green energy vs. fossil fuels. Causes of 1973 gas lines when tankers were parked in our docks. Will those days come back? Are fossil fuels finite or are they a resource that is renewed naturally in nature? The Beverly Hills Oil Fields? Environmental impact of the Keystone XL pipeline? Taxes created by the pipeline?

You can follow Bob on Facebook or join his Blog Page.