DON’T BE A VICTIM

The content of askthecarbuyguy has always been mainly automobile related. I hope none take offense to me writing about a very current subject that is close to my heart. I feel there is a need for information on this particular subject and I want to share with you.

It has always been my intention to hold car dealerships, salespeople, customers and myself to a higher standard of honesty! I have published several articles pertaining to this subject. It has come to my attention in the last couple of years of a new type of criminal mind. I believe they should be tagged the internet criminal.

The internet has opened the window of opportunity to so many people who previously were unable to interact with the people on a worldwide forum. Unfortunately, it has also opened an opportunity to the criminal minded segment. This opportunity is borderless, ageless and worst of all faceless.

 I believe I will write this in a two part segment due to the amount of information I have to share. Let’s begin with the warning signs. Have you ever received that email, phone call or letter that sounds too good to be true? Well, it more than likely is! Has anyone ever pressured you to sign up or act “ right away”, promising unusually high returns and they require an upfront investment – even for a free prize? When you read their pitch you just wish it was true, but you know in your heart that it just doesn’t feel right! Listen to your heart!

 I have five different email accounts and one of them I have had for 15 years. This older account is the one that they hit the most. Due to the content of most of these SCAM emails, they end up in my junk or spam emails, due to the filters that I have in place. Have you received that email that you are a beneficiary of some foreign individual and once you provide certain personal information and of course a small amount of money, they will deposit your millions in a bank account of your choice? FRAUD – FRAUD – FRAUD!!!!

 The new SCAM is the foreign lottery winner. Even if you have legitimately won a lottery outside of the United States, you will not be able to except the funds. It’s against federal law!! Trust me, you have not won anything. The internet criminal is phishing for your personal information. Once they get this information, they can and will exploit you until you think there is no hope or reconciliation.

 I will follow this with an article entitled “ Fraud Facts and How to Play It Safe”. For your future protection please follow up and learn about the new criminals and how to avoid and fight back!

TOKYO (Reuters) – Nissan Motor Co said on Thursday it would recall 2.14 million March/Micra, Cube and about a dozen other models in its third-biggest recall, to fix a faulty ignition relay that could cause engine problems.

No accident was reported from the defect, Nissan spokesman Toshitake Inoshita said.

Nissan said problems in the ignition relay could cause the engine to stall or fail to restart. The recalls are mostly in Japan, with 835,000 units, and the United States and Canada with a combined 762,000 units.

The faulty vehicles were built in Japan, the United States, Britain, Spain, China and Taiwan between August 2003 and July 2006.

Nissan does not disclose cost estimates on vehicle recalls or any impact on its earnings. But the fix is likely to be relatively cheap, with Nissan estimating less than 25 minutes for the repair, which involves replacing the ignition relay.

Recalls exceeding 1 million vehicles have become more common at big automakers as they use common components across multiple models to save design and production costs.

Last week, Toyota Motor Corp announced a recall of 1.66 million vehicles globally for defects involving the brake master cylinder and fuel pump wiring. That brought the total number of vehicles recalled worldwide at Toyota in the past year to about 14 million.

 I just confirmed the new law recently passed by the state of Georgia. It is now against the law to operate a motor while texting on a cell phone or any other device in the entire state of Georgia. To date, many states have passed the no texting law and I’m sure in the near future all states in the United States will follow suit.

 It’s a good law and should be adhered to by all. If you are caught violating this law, it is indisputable. A permanent record of all cell activity is stored in your phone and recorded with each cell provider. All the police have to do is check the records which are also time and date stamped as to when the device was used.

 Let’s just all admit, that is a very unsafe practice while driving a motor vehicle. That call or text can wait until you have reached your intended destination.

 Let’s be safe out there and “Arrive Alive”.

 LOUISIANA MID-CONTINENT

 OIL AND GAS ASSOCIATION

730 NORTH BOULEVARD, BATON ROUGE, LA 70802

 TELEPHONE (225) 387-3205 FAX (225) 344-5502

 E-MAIL CHRIS.JOHN@lmoga.com

Impacts of

President Obama’s Order Halting Work on 33 Exploratory Wells

in the Deepwater Gulf of Mexico

The Presidential Order does not affect the 4,515 shallow-water wells, and it
does not affect 591 producing deepwater Gulf wells.

Roughly 33% of nation’s domestically produced oil comes from the Gulf of
Mexico, and 10% of the nation’s natural gas.

80% of the Gulf’s oil, and 45% of its natural gas comes from operations in
more than 1000 feet of water – the deepwater (2009 data).

Suspension of operations means roughly 33 floating drilling rigs – typically
leased for hundreds of thousands of dollars per day – will be idled for six
months or longer.

$250,000 to $500,000 per day, per rig – results in roughly $8,250,000
to $16,500,000 per day in costs for idle rigs;

Secondary impacts include:

• Supply boats – 2 boats per rig with day rates of
$15,000/day per boat – $30,000/day for 33 rigs – nearly $1
million/day
• Impacts to other supplies and related support services (i.e.,
welders, divers, caterers, transportation, etc.)
 

Jobs –

Each drilling platform averages 90 to 140 employees at any one time
(2 shifts per day), and 180 to 280 for 2 2-week shifts

Each E&P job supports 4 other positions

Therefore, 800 to 1400 jobs per idle rig platform are at risk

Wages for those jobs average $1,804/weekly; potential for lost wages
is huge, over $5 to $10 million for 1 month – per platform.

Wages lost could be over $165 to $330 million/month for all 33
platforms

Secondary impacts: Many offshore workers live in Louisiana. The state is
going to see a decrease in income taxes and sales taxes that would normally
be paid by those employees. (The state does not collect a sales tax on
oilfield supplies and equipment used offshore.)

Companies Impacted:

Oil Companies Impacted -

Shell has seven (7) exploratory wells that will be impacted

Others include:

Chevron (4)

Anadarko (3)

Marathon (2)

Noble Energy (2)

Eni US Operating Co. (2)

ATP Oil & Gas (2)

Statoil (2)

ExxonMobil (1)

Petrobras America (1)

BHP (1)

BP (1)

Kerr McGee (1)

Murphy (1)

LLOG (1)

Newfield (1)

Hess (1)

The 33 gulf wells where operations are suspended were the ones inspected
immediately after the Deepwater Horizon blowout (per Interior Secretary
Ken Salazar); in those inspections, “only minor problems were found on a
couple of rigs”. Salazar believes “additional safety measures can be taken
including dealing with cementing and casing of wells and significant
enhancements and redundancies of blowout prevention mechanisms.
Although these rigs passed the inspections, we will look at standards that
are in place.”
 

Longer term impacts include -

Idle drilling rigs in the Gulf could mean that they will be contracted overseas
for work in other locations, and if/when the halt is lifted, rigs will not be
available for completing the work in the Gulf.

Loss of tolls on LA Highway 1 resulting from loss of traffic related to
deepwater operations; tolls go directly to retiring the bond debt for
construction of LA Highway 1 improvements, and if those tolls are lost, the
state of Louisiana – as the other responsible party on the bonds – will have
to pay to retire that debt, meaning loss of funding for some other programs
in the state’s budget.

A 6-month halt in new drilling would defer 80,000 barrels/day, or 4% of
2011 deepwater Gulf of Mexico production. (Wood MacKenzie)

Higher drilling costs might jeopardize exploration in frontier areas. More
immediately, estimates are that seven current discoveries could be rendered
sub-economic, putting U.S. $7.6 billion in future government revenues at
risk. Proposals to increase the cap on oil companies’ liability for oil spill
damages to U.S. $10 billion could exclude U.S. independents from offshore
Gulf of Mexico activities. (Wood MacKenzie)

Since these wells are not yet producing, there is no decrease in the available
oil supply. However, it could lead to a decrease in the availability of
domestic oil, and it is hard to tell how commodity speculators are going to
respond over the next six months; there is the possibility for driving oil
prices to levels well over $100 per barrel.

Prepared May 28, 2010, based on most recent data available; will be
updated as needed.

 Otherwise known as miles per gallon. The reason I’m bringing this issue up is due to what we have going on in the Gulf of Mexico. I promise not to stand on the soap box very long, I will be writing more articles concerning the subject. If you are considering purchasing a new automobile, just remember AskTheCarBuyGuy is saying here and now to consider the M.P.G. of your next  car. I’m saying it now; we are fixing to be paying through the nose for a gallon of fuel in the very near future. Not because of the well that is blowing out, but simply because of the “knee jerk” reaction of our Federal Government. The blown out well had never produced a drop of oil, but after the accident our government passed laws shutting down all exploration and production in the “Deepwater Gulf”. The deepwater operations supplies more oil and gas to North America than anyone wants you to know. But, just as we are having a glimmer of light into the recent recession, now this. My following article will explain this in depth. I’m just going to cut and paste the article I received last week from a buddy of mine. Just so you know I’m not just coming off the cuff with this statement, I’ll give just a glimpse of my background. I spent 32 years of my life working in the oilfield. The company I worked for was instrumental in many of the operations in the Gulf of Mexico. I personally have spent many, many, many, days and nights working in the G.O.M.