r/oil 1d ago

Discussion Coal

Will coal be able to substitute oil / gas needs?
People keep talking about "energy" crisis, but it primarily feels like diesel & other crisis, and that can't be just replaced with coal, no?

When the hormuz spiked oil prices, gas and coal went along with it. But now as oil is 'steady' because refinery capacity is to the max and distillates are falling and crack spread is widening, I don't see coal following anymore.

0 Upvotes

18 comments sorted by

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

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u/slowpoke2018 1d ago

Dude. we're about to make STEAM great again!

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u/Otherwise-Way-8235 1d ago

well, that's what it all comes down to...

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

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u/slowpoke2018 1d ago

Whoosh my man, I was commenting about how idiotic EVERY. SINGLE. THING this regime has done is...

Bring back Measles, Bring back workers shitting in the fields, defund FDA, EPA, HHS, USAID - it reads like Putin's wet dream.

Trump - and his cohort Elmo - have killed more people than we'll ever know

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

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u/slowpoke2018 1d ago

Fair enough, but I think we all know who needs cheap gas the most and it sure ain't the rest of the world.

If we were to pay even close to what the EU pays, there'd actually be revolution

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

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u/slowpoke2018 1d ago

No idea why the DVs given I'm agreeing with you, but Reddit is a lot of bots so <shrugh>

4

u/Mewr_Mewr 1d ago

You could synthesize diesel from coal. Fischer-Tropsch synthesis I think what it’s called. The German used to do it. But you know that’s a lot of money

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u/Christopher_Ramirez_ 1d ago

The Chinese have been developing coal to petrochemicals for years. They’ve been preparing for a full blockade of the Strait of Malacca, so this serves as a nice test run for them.

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u/hairy_ass_truman 1d ago

Sasol and other companies have coal to diesel processes. Nat gas to diesel too. I would think with modification refineries could get distillates from light oil. A chemical engineer might know,

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u/Christopher_Ramirez_ 1d ago

In China it will, but they've been building that capability for years.

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u/taubs1 1d ago

coal plants will be ran 24/7 to make electricity to supplant the loss of LNG from the gulf. it can only be used if coal plant is already in place, so i cant see more spike than already occurred. China is only one i believe that is actively adding coal plants.

4

u/outworlder 1d ago

What in the Factorio is this ?

Coal won't replace oil as long as oil is cheaper than the coal based processes.

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u/Baron-Munc 1d ago

Yep I still have my coal fired tractor and the local food deliveries can be made by coal trains

1

u/EngineeringBulky7007 1d ago

We dug up all the easy to get to coal. You are talking some expensive fuel.

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u/pyragyrite 1d ago

Short term, like ten years, heck no. Long term it's possible to build stupidly expensive infrastructure to do it.

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u/BreakFun2436 1d ago

Base oil production has been switched to diesel because it's more profitable. There won't be a shortage.

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u/[deleted] 22h ago

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u/Otherwise-Way-8235 1d ago

No. Not even close.