The TechMobility Podcast
Welcome to The TechMobility Podcast, your ultimate source for authentic insights, news, and perspectives at the nexus of mobility and technology. We're all about REAL FACTS, REAL OPINIONS, and REAL TALK! From personal privacy to space hotels, if it moves or moves you, we're discussing it! Our weekly episodes venture beyond the conventional, offering a unique, unfiltered take on the topics that matter. We're not afraid to color outside the lines, and we believe you'll appreciate our bold approach!
The TechMobility Podcast
Foxconn's EV Strategy; Hacked Data for Sale; On-Demand Car Production; OPEC's Oil Strategy
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The automotive manufacturing landscape is undergoing a revolutionary transformation, driven by unexpected players and innovative approaches. At the forefront, Foxconn—the company that likely manufactured your iPhone—is making bold moves into the electric vehicle space. Rather than competing directly with established automakers, they're positioning themselves as the ultimate EV contract manufacturer by developing standardized, modular platforms in partnership with automotive software giant ElectroBit.
This strategic approach addresses one of the industry's most significant barriers: the billions required for platform development. By offering a turnkey solution that new manufacturers can customize through software rather than hardware, Foxconn could democratize vehicle production and spark a wave of innovation similar to what we saw at the dawn of the automotive age. With ElectroBit's software already installed in over 600 million vehicles worldwide from major manufacturers like Ford, GM, BMW, and Volkswagen, this partnership brings substantial credibility to Foxconn's automotive ambitions.
Meanwhile, Toyota has achieved what many considered impossible: true production on demand. Their $1.8 billion K-FLEX project at Georgetown's Line 1 facility can now build multiple vehicle types—sedans, SUVs, minivans, and even EVs—on the same assembly line. By utilizing a revolutionary "bias chassis" approach where vehicles move door-to-door rather than nose-to-tail, Toyota has created perhaps the world's most flexible automotive production line. The potential result? Custom-ordered vehicles delivered in 7-10 days rather than the industry's typical 8-12 weeks.
On a more troubling note, we're witnessing the normalization of data theft with companies like Farnsworth Intelligence openly selling hacked information from over 50 million computers to debt collectors, divorce attorneys, and corporate competitors. This represents a disturbing shift in how personal data breaches are exploited—no longer just by criminals on the dark web, but by seemingly "legitimate" businesses operating in plain sight.
What insights from today's show challenged your understanding of manufacturing innovation or data privacy? Share your thoughts and subscribe for more technology and mobility conversations that examine how these rapid changes affect our daily lives.
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Welcome to the Tech Mobility Podcast.
Speaker 2:I'm Ken Chester On the docket hacked data for sale. Dream realized, building on demand and oil prices. Opec and you. To join a conversation by offering an opinion, asking a question or even suggesting a topic for future discussion. Call or text the Tech Mobility hotline that number, 872-222-9793. Or you can email the show directly. Talk at techmobilityshow From the Tech Mobility News Desk.
Speaker 2:We're going to talk about a company that, for now, I would classify as a wannabe EV manufacturer, and who I'm talking about is Foxconn. Yes, the same Foxconn who probably made the Apple phone you're holding right now. That Foxconn, yes, the same Foxconn who probably made the Apple phone you're holding right now. That Foxconn who does a lot of contract work for Apple, making a lot of different Apple equipment. Let me take you back a little bit. If you didn't know, foxconn has been dabbling in the EV space now for three or four years. Back in 2021, they actually created a outfit, mobility and Harmony Consortium, which was an open electric vehicle alliance with the primary goal of creating a standardized, open and modular platform for next generation EVs. Foxconn coming to the United States, they ended up buying a former GM factory in Lordstown Ohio. They were teaming up with Lordstown Motors, now a defunct EV truck manufacturer to build their pickup and to do some other things. Lordstown went broke, they had a falling out. Foxconn came in and bought up the rest and now they have a plant and what they're looking to do now is they want a team with other potential EV manufacturers to actually be the contract manufacturer of EV vehicles using their architecture.
Speaker 2:It seems that in this decade, it seems that in this decade, this decade bears a lot of resemblance to the beginning of the auto industry over 120 years ago. Back then, everybody who fooled with machines or metal was trying to build a car Everybody. Some ended up becoming part suppliers, some became full-fledged automobile manufacturers, some got merged out of existence, some just flat went broke trying to chase the dream. Foxconn, with their contract with Apple, has deep pockets. This is not a problem for them and it's the next evolution, I believe, and where they want to go eventually, what they really want, not necessarily to build a vehicle with their brand on it, but to pretty much be everything else the platform, the software, everything else. For a manufacturer who says you know what, we've got an idea, but we don't have the money to develop a platform or bring it to market, foxconn says I got you, we've got a platform that we can customize and build for you at so much a unit.
Speaker 2:This wave of automotive manufacturers EV manufacturers is different from the first and second waves back in the day because you don't necessarily have to build everything from scratch. We talked about what GM was doing GM and their Altium battery and that platform that they built which was easily scalable for anybody. And GM was looking to put Altium batteries almost everywhere, whether it was moving or not, stationary vehicles, even down into small implements like lawn equipment, things like that. They were going the full boat. They were trying to do everything which is GM of old. And it makes sense really, because in manufacturing and it doesn't matter whether you're making cars or widgets, it's all about volume.
Speaker 2:If you've got heavy development costs, the only way that you can become profitable and get that money back is building what they call the scale. The more units that you build, the lower cost per item that you can assign that overhead to. And if you've got your variable costs, which is, material costs, labor costs and the actual direct cost involved in making that particular unit, plus the overhead of development, marketing and engineering costs, then you make a profit. The challenge is that in a new industry like EV manufacturing, the cost is so deep, the cost is so heavy. It's not like developing a new gasoline engine or a new transmission and that costs hundreds of millions of dollars. This is totally different, because you've got to build a brand new supply chain, you've got to brand new equipment. You've got to do it, put it together untested. You don't have the history of tens of many years 10, 20, 30, 40 years. You don't have that history in the EV business. You're lucky. The oldest players have maybe 10, 15 years and those are the folks who have been around for a minute this decade.
Speaker 2:You're seeing this and what Foxcom is doing, the purpose of this particular segment, is an announcement. They are teaming with an outfit called ElectroBit and their goal is to jointly develop a rolling EV platform. The goal develop the platform, sell it to a variety of manufacturers who can modify it. Foxconn makes money through scale and they get better. They've got the proprietary equipment. The manufacturers get the benefit of not having to recreate the wheel or build a whole EV battery and battery management system and all of that from scratch. That's already done. They can concentrate on the other attributes. They can concentrate on programming the vehicle's attributes. They can concentrate on what the vehicle is going to look like, what it's going to do, how it's going to perform all software now. So even though Foxconn would be building the primary vehicle, each individual EV manufacturer could make it their own through how they program the software in relationship to how that vehicle performs. And this is very different from where the industry was Back in the day. If you wanted different attributes, it was hardware Larger V8, smaller V8, fuel-efficient four-cylinder, different kind of transmission.
Speaker 2:Do you want an automatic? Do you want a manual? Do you want a four-speed, five-speed, six-speed automatic? Now we're building eight, nine and ten-speed automatics. When I was coming up back in the day about 40 years ago, 3 speed and just starting in the 80s, 4 speeds were the norm and a big deal. And it was only towards the end of the 1980s when we saw our first electronically controlled automatic transmissions. That was over 30 years ago.
Speaker 2:This is the next big wave. In case you haven't heard of Electro-Bit, let me explain a little bit. They're an automotive software developer and they estimate that their software already is installed in over 600 million vehicles worldwide. It is a wholly owned, independent operated subsidiary of automotive tier one supplier, continental that's a German company, and if you think you remember the name yeah, chances are you might be right on continental tires Yep, they're a big deal. The company's automotive clients today, right now, include Ford, gm, bmw, daimler and that's Daimler Benz of Mercedes-Benz, volkswagen Group and Volvo.
Speaker 2:In addition to their automotive customers, electro-bit's premium industry partners include Google, amazon AWS, which is Amazon's Google, amazon AWS, which is Amazon's computing or cloud-based business, qualcomm, microsoft Azure, infineon and Texas Instruments. They are well-connected, meaning they have an outlet. They have an opportunity to put this together and market it and pull what they need and, honestly, if you are an EV manufacturer in the world today that wants to break into the market, foxcom and Electrobit would be offering you a very attractive proposition. They're saying we can help you avoid spending billions of dollars to build this from scratch. We've got the technology for you, all you've got to do is modify it. So, instead of billions of dollars. You're probably looking at tens of millions or, at the least, hundreds of millions, which is still a fraction.
Speaker 2:In order to get into the industry, in order to get into business, you do what you do, they do what they do. Everybody wins and everybody gets paid and, honestly, the public is better off for it, because now you have an EV manufacturer that is able to offer choice competitively, because they didn't have to sink the big money in development costs. 404 Media reports that a private intelligence company is selling hacked data. Not okay. You are listening to the Tech Mobility Show, not okay, you are listening to the Tech Mobility Show.
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Speaker 2:Social media is the main place to be these days, and we are no exception. I'm Ken Chester of the Tech Mobility Show. If you enjoy my program, then you will also enjoy my weekly Facebook videos, from my latest vehicle reviews to timely commentary of a variety of mobility and technology related topics. These short features are designed to inform and delight. You Be sure to watch, like and follow us on Facebook. You can find us by typing the Tech Mobility Show in the search bar. Be sure to subscribe to our Facebook page. Social media is the place to be these days, and we're no exception. I'm Ken Chester of the Tech Mobility Show. If you enjoy my program, then you will also enjoy my weekly Instagram videos, from the latest vehicle reviews to timely commentary on a variety of mobility and technology-related topics. These short features are designed to inform and delight. You Be sure to watch, like and follow us on Instagram. You can find us by typing the Tech Mobility Show in the search bar.
Speaker 2:For those of you that listen to podcasts, we have just the one for you. Hi, I'm Ken Chester. Tech Mobility Topics is a podcast where I upload topic-specific videos each week. Shorter than a full show. These bite-sized programs are just the thing, particularly if you're interested in a particular topic covered on the weekly radio show From Apple Podcasts to iHeartRadio and many podcast platforms in between. We got you covered. Just enter Tech Mobility.
Speaker 4:Topics in the search bar wherever you listen to podcasts. Why afford trucks? Number one? Just listen. The best-selling pickup for 23 years just got better. Right now get a fully equipped Ford F-150 with a free XLT Sport Group at no extra cost. Captain's chairs, air conditioning and more at no extra charge. No wonder F-150 is a consumer's digest. Best Buy, the best car in the mill, ford Tough Leading the way your local.
Speaker 2:Ford store. There is so much to unpack in that commercial, but I'll give you the highlights. You might recognize the voice that would be country singer Sammy Kershaw that did that commercial in 2001 for the Ford F-150. You might also notice that the commercial was heavy on the value of the deal, which is interesting, not so much about the truck's capabilities but the value of the deal, how we can get you into this truck and what you're getting for the money you're spending. And then finally, it said your local Ford store. You might not have realized that about that time the Ford Motor Company thought that they knew better than their franchise dealers and was attempting to buy dealerships and run them as factory stores back in the time and, needless to say, every time the factory does that it ends badly, and it ended badly. They were called Ford Collections and some of those collection stores I think the first group they bought was in Tulsa, oklahoma. They did that in several of the cities. Long story short, they ended up selling them all because the factory really isn't the same as an independent local business person making decisions in that community that are best for that community and running it like the business that it is. It's different between being a retailer and being a manufacturer, and Ford was reminded of that 24 years ago.
Speaker 2:In this day and time, data breaches seem to be the norm, exposing the personal data from millions of Americans and, for some, the ad aggrieved of being compromised via identity theft, financial misdeeds and the like. It was always assumed that those who would do us harm are those that buy and sell this information in a shadowy corner of the internet called the dark web. You know the narrow dwells, the folks that are out to get you, those shady folk. That's who we assumed you know when they did it, and they did do it. Not so much anymore. I get a lot of information from all over the place. This comes from 404 Media. They report that a private intelligence company is now taking hacked data from what it says are more than 50 million computers and reselling it for a profit to a wide range of different industries, including debt collectors, couples in divorce proceedings and even companies looking to poach rivals, customers. And, what's worse, this company is presenting itself as a legitimate legal business. How many ways do I say this is not okay. However, this is Topic A how can this be legal? The name of the company, and I want you to remember the name. I want to give you the name it's called Farnsworth Intelligence, 23-year-old running it.
Speaker 2:I want to know how this man could operate in plain sight, taking information that was illegally and fraudulently taken from Americans and people around the world, invading their privacy, invading their machinery, taking this information and having the audacity to sell it. But here's what's worse the folks buying it. You have an organization, whether you're a debt collector or a lawyer or another company in any industry, willing to buy material that had been gotten illegally Makes you know better than folks buying stuff that was stolen or trying to pawn it at the pawn shop stolen. Why does this man have a right to exist and why in today's world is this trying to be normalized? And I wish I could tell you that he's the only one doing it.
Speaker 2:But this article talks about at least two other companies, and it shows a dramatic shift in the bevy of companies that collect and sell access to so-called open source intelligence. The letters are OSINT. Historically, osint has included things like public social media profiles or flight data. Now, companies increasingly see data extracted from people's personal or corporate machines and then posted online as fair game, not to just use in their own investigations, but to repackage and sell to it is bad enough. We have challenges with big data manipulating and taking our information without our permission. It's even worse that AI is taking our personal information and training itself through large language models and doing what it does Now.
Speaker 2:On top of all of this, it's not enough that you might have been caught without your permission, without your knowledge, in a data breach, but that the information got from that data breach isn't just sold to criminals, it's sold to so-called legitimate companies who are willing to pay for it. Yes, I sound outraged because I am. Personal privacy and your rights and your protections has always been a cornerstone of this show. I can't get with this stuff. I'm reading it and I'm getting steadily upset. Here's something that they quoted a Cooper Quinton. Here's something that they quoted a Cooper Quinton, senior public interest technologist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Here's what he said. To put it plainly this company is profiting off of selling stolen data, re-victimizing people who have already had their personal devices compromised and their data stolen. He adds this data will likely be used to further harm people by police using it for surveillance without a warrant, stalkers using it to gather information on their targets, high-level scams and other damaging motives. If all of that was not enough, they offer this stuff to anybody without screening. You can spend $50, $50, $50 with Farnsworth Intelligence and get some level of this information to use against anybody on the planet who's ever been involved in a data breach and, honestly, truly, if you've been on this planet the last 20 years, you've probably had data breached somewhere at some point in your adult life. I am not okay with this. They have a name for this it's called InfoStealers, and what it is? An InfoStealer are pieces of malware, often stealthily bundled in a piece of pirated software that steals a victim's cookies, login credentials and often more information stored in their browser too, On their website. Farnsworth lays out several potential uses for that stolen data. On their website. Farnsworth lays out several potential uses for that stolen data. This includes skip tracing presumably a typo, I'm sorry, skip tasting that is spelled right. Presumably a typo of skip tracing, which is where a private individual or company tracks down someone who owes a debt and, if you've ever gotten a call from a debt collector, says, hey, I'm looking for so-and-so, which might be a cousin, a friend or somebody, and you're wondering how they got your number and how do you know that? I know that person and why are you asking me yeah, this is not OK, people, it's not OK. But this is where we are now. And they're not the only company doing it. That's the problem. There are at least two more that this article talks about that does the same thing. Why isn't this illegal? And if it isn't, it should be. It really, honestly, should be. Toyota is close to what automakers have been chasing for years Production on demand. This is the Tech Mobility Show. Do you listen to podcasts? Seems that most people do. Hi, I'm Ken Chester, host of the Tech Mobility Show. If you've missed any of our weekly episodes on the radio, our podcast is a great way to listen. You can find the Tech Mobility podcast just about anywhere. You can enjoy podcasts. Be sure to follow us from Apple Podcasts, iheart Radio and many platforms in between. We are there. Just enter the Tech Mobility podcast in the search bar. Wherever you listen to podcasts, social media it's the place to be. We no exception. Hi, I'm ken chester, host the tech mobility show. Several times a week, I post to tiktok several of the topics that I cover on my weekly radio show. It's another way to keep up on mobility, technology news and information. I've built quite a library of short videos for your viewing pleasure, so be sure to watch, like and subscribe. That's the tech mobility show on tiktok. Check it out. In the oldest part of Toyota's Georgetown Assembly Plant, kentucky, something that was long considered an industry pipe dream is coming into focus. Very soon, the Japanese automaker will have the ability, or, more accurately, the flexibility, to make almost any vehicle it needs, when it wants, on the same production line. This is Top topic B, and I start by saying blame Tesla. Let me explain. Recently, last couple of years, tesla has turned the industry on its ear with its perfection of something called a gigacasting, which takes many different parts and turns it into one part, which makes manufacturing a lot quicker, a lot cheaper. Tesla was estimating that they could lop out 25% of the cost of manufacturing a car that way. As a result, the Toyota lean production system, which was regarded as the gold standard in vehicle manufacturing, how they did it, how they've been doing it for the last 40 years through Kaizen, which is incremental improvements over a long period of time, just-in-time delivery of parts and just-in-time manufacturing something they pioneered over the last 45 years and everybody was trying to emulate got upended by Tesla. It sent Toyota back to the drawing board. Consider this, if you will Even with just-in-time manufacturing, the automaker and it's any automaker, not just Toyota, not just Tesla is looking at millions of parts, billions of dollars of inventory, just in time parts, everything coordinating with thousands of suppliers and various different assembly lines of various different capabilities around the country, around the world, world. Imagine if an automaker could build a large number of different vehicles that they sell on one assembly line according to consumer demand. Imagine being able to sit down at a Toyota dealership, pick out a Toyota Camry, maybe even a RAV4, or you know, any one of the vehicles they make a Corolla and being told that you could have that car. It could be delivered to you. It's not built yet, but you can specify it today. We can have it here at the dealership in 7 to 10 days. Right now, on average, in the most perfect world, you're looking at eight to 12 weeks. By being able to do this what it does for the manufacturer? It further eliminates all the work in progress, coordination materials and it allows them to build for real demand in real time. Not that automakers have a lot of vehicles left over like they did in the 70s and early 80s. They've worked to get rid of most of that, but automakers, like I've always told you it's a capital-intensive business. Anything they do that will increase production, lower costs and get them more in line with what consumers want on any given day is what they're going for, and this plan has been under development for almost 10 years. A nearly $1.8 billion decade-long project, internally known as KFLEX and initially undertaken as an innovative experiment in what could be done is transforming the original part of the Georgetown plant known as Line 1, into perhaps the most flexible auto assembly line in the world. That should sound familiar. If you're a history buff, you'd say you know that sounds like 1913 and the Ford Model T and it sounds like their Magneto line, which is where building on an assembly line was first done. That was where they tested it and they rolled it out to the full factory and dropped the price of a Model T in half as a result. As a result, and while at the same time allowing Ford two years later to offer laborers what they call a $5 day, which was almost double what they could make anywhere else, it changed everything. You might be asking in today's world, with the complexity of vehicles. How flexible are we talking about? With the right logistics support, line 1 will be able to build almost any Toyota vehicle designed on its TNGA-K global platform the top-selling Camry and RAV4, whether hybrid combustion or plug-in hybrid, larger crossovers, including the Highlander and even the Sienna minivan, as well as skateboard-based EVs in that size range. Let that sink in. I just talked about a whole lot of things. From a car to a crossover to a minivan. All can be built on that line in real time. $1.8 billion it sounds like a lot of money, but in the auto industry, honestly, it's not. Internal combustion, hybrid, plug-in hybrid and battery electric we wanted to be able to make any of them, and that's Steven Brennan, now Toyota's Senior Vice President for Manufacturing Business Operations. He's the guy who conceived this project back in 2016. And then we really start looking at how big a vehicle and how wide do we want to make the building. So we basically took our biggest vehicle and sized it, so we don't have to go back and change things if a larger product comes. Here's a little background. The key limitations in any assembly line come down to how the vehicle is being assembled, moves or, more accurately, how it's carried from station to station to be put together, especially early on in the body and chassis building process. Most lines resemble a mountain road, switching back upon itself in tight formations to conserve space and cut down travel among body, chassis, paint, trim and final assembly processes. But while it may look like that on the map, in practice it feels more like a cramped busy space with huge machines lumbering overhead, tugs pulling parts through aisles littered with racks and various gravity-fed parts, delivery devices and people working in the voids. And traditionally, if you've ever been in an assembly plant, you would notice that normally vehicles would move nose to tail. Doesn't happen that way on line one. On line one they're turned 90 degrees and travel door to door. And they have a term for this it's called bias chassis. This means not only less walking for those working below, but it actually makes automation easier, because you're not dealing with trying to drive the automation with the whole length of the car. Biased chassis also means that the carriers are not limited by the length of the vehicle they're building and that when the engine, transmission I'm sorry, engine and suspension arrive to be married to the body, they do so together and then are lifted up and efficiently bolted in the most striking part about the new Line 1 is the massive roles that automated robots play. Not surprising Again, what did I say? That in the automotive industry, cost, cost, cost, efficiency, cost, cost, cost. They're always looking to do it better, faster, less money, consistently. So they are on a relentless drive for cost. They're on a relentless drive for production. They're on a relentless drive for efficiency. It's been that way in the auto industry since it started over 100 years ago and, if anything, it's more intense now Still happening. There are scores of smaller auto autonomous robots, roughly 24 inches square, about 10 inches tall, whose job it is to pick up racks of parts and deliver them to the correct workstation. Essentially, what they were able to do by reconfiguring the line was open it up, made it brighter, gave it more room, less clutter, more efficiency. These robots don't rely on magnetic strips or anything. They're programmed to do what they do and make the whole line more efficiency. Wi-fi is the magic thing in this case, and AirPlanet add a whole lot more to that line as she gets up to running Oil production up, oil prices down. Good for you, maybe not. We are the Tech Mobility Show. To learn more about the Tech Mobility Show, start by visiting our website. Hi, I'm Ken Chester, host of the Tech Mobility Show. The website is a treasure trove of information about me and the show, as well as where to find it on the radio across the country. Keep up with the happenings of the Tech Mobility Show by visiting techmobilityshow. That's techmobilityshow. You can also drop us a line at talk at techmobilityshow. You can also drop us a line at talk at techmobilityshow. Did you know that Tech Mobility has a YouTube channel? Hi, I'm Ken Chester, host of the Tech Mobility Show. Each week, I upload a few short videos of some of the hot topics that I cover during my weekly radio program. I've designed these videos to be informative and entertaining. It's another way to keep up on current mobility and technology news and information. Be sure to watch, like and subscribe to my channel. That's the Tech Mobility Show on YouTube. Check it out.
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Speaker 2:Social media is the place to be these days, and we're no exception. I'm Ken Chester of the Tech Mobility Show. If you enjoy my program, then you will also enjoy my weekly Instagram videos, from the latest vehicle reviews to timely commentary on a variety of mobility and technology-related topics. These short features are designed to inform and delight you. Be sure to watch, like and follow us on Instagram. You can find us by typing the Tech Mobility Show in the search bar.
Speaker 2:Opec wants you. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and their affiliates recently announced an increase in oil production by a larger than expected amount for August. It's their effort to reclaim market share by lowering prices. A supply and demand issue. This may not end well for American consumers. This is Topic C. There are a whole lot of moving parts to this.
Speaker 2:I'm going to try to lead you through best I can. We may not have time to cover all of it, but let me deal with the elephant in the room. Yes, I have told you many times. I'm going to tell you again. The United States of America is the largest producer of crude oil in the world. That's larger than Saudi Arabia and you've got a right to ask the question, so I'm going to ask it for you, ken if we're already producing more energy than anybody else in the world, why does it matter what OPEC does? Well, it does. Here's why Crude oil is not priced just in America. Crude oil is priced in dollars. On a global scale, the cost of extracting a barrel of crude in Saudi Arabia is way less than what it costs in America. Here's why that's important. Right now, you have a bunch of different things swirling, each of which will have an impact on the availability and the price of what you're going to pay in the pump in the months and years to come.
Speaker 2:So let's deal with this. Let's start with the easy stuff. Let's start with the shale oil fields up in North Dakota and the Permian Basin down in Texas. Right now, the way that economics usually work is when demand goes up. Way that economics usually work is when demand goes up. It usually encourages producers to spend the exploration money and the development money to produce new sources of crude and bring them on the market. What we've seen in the last few years is the investors in the shale oil fields said hey, even though the price of crude's been up lately, we want our money. We don't want you spending money to develop new fields. We want our money.
Speaker 2:Here's another challenge, real truth Even though these are alternative ways of getting crude oil, which have extended the life of fields and made other fields viable, the truth of the matter is that oil wells are finite, meaning there is a date beyond which they are no longer economically viable because you're not getting anything from the ground. Basically, it's like drinking a cup of milk there's only so much milk in the cup and when you sip it out in the straw you get to the bottom there's no more. You're done. So it means that oil companies need to continue to develop new sources. Problem is, right now it's horrifically expensive to do that in the United States. So oil companies that are still doing exploration are doing it around the world in less cost places.
Speaker 2:But the problem is even though the demand for crude will mean that we probably won't get stuck with an oversupply the fact that OPEC is pumping enough oil. What they want to do, bluntly, they want to break the American suppliers. They want to break the oil fields, the shale oil fields. They want to break the oil fields, the shale oil fields. They want to break the Permian Basin, because, if they can provide oil in the open market for cheaper than American can, even though we have the capacity to do it. They will in fact cause the fact that nobody wants to buy American oil and when it gets to a point where it's cheaper to import it from OPEC than it is to deliver it in the United States, that's a problem, that's an economic problem and that's supply and demand. That's strictly supply and demand.
Speaker 2:Also superimpose on top of that the fact that our pipeline system is screwed up, because if we had a fully diverse operating pipeline system, then the eastern states would not necessarily have to import it from OPEC because we could get it from Cushing, oklahoma, where it's all delivered. But to get that oil from there eastward is a problem. Pipelines don't go nearly as far or at volume as much as they need to, and that's always been a problem because nobody wants a pipeline. Trust me, if you've been following Keystone Pipeline and some of the other pipeline projects in the Midwest in recent years, you know how tough that is. And that doesn't even begin to address it, because Keystone was not even about US crude, it was about Canadian crude and getting that to our refineries in Texas. That's all that was about.
Speaker 2:So let's see, you've got investors telling exploration companies who can get alternative ways of getting crude out of the ground, don't spend any money. You've got the majors working legacy oil fields like the Permian Basin and in Alaska, seeing the same thing that what they've been running for years even with advanced computer techniques, it's going dry. We've got to find new sources. And then you've got OPEC over here saying you know what, even though we've got the same problem, we've still got greater reserves and we can pump long enough to break you. They did it before, in the 1980s. This is not new. So you've got all of this going on.
Speaker 2:And on top of all of it you've got recent legislation that, if anything, is handcuffing the American public to crude oil and eliminating any other sources that we can go to to mitigate what OPEC is trying to do. Because here's what happens If you can break the domestic oil industry because it can no longer make a profit to pull oil from the ground, what do they do? They stop pumping oil, they cap the wells, they turn off the wells. When you get a situation where the cost to run the well, to pay for the electricity, to run the well, is more money than what you can buy for what it pumps per barrel, you stop it. The number I heard a long time ago is it costs Saudi Arabia $1.50 a barrel to get a barrel of crude oil out the ground. In the United States of America it costs $35 per barrel. So if OPEC turns it up and they can undercut us and still make a profit and wait us out, back in the day, the majors would swoop in when this happened and buy the drivers who have the capacity that they could not develop because of the price and just wait it out until the cycle. Because, like everything else, oil has a cycle. That cycle is being superimposed on by the aging out of the wells they have. So you've got a supply and demand thing. You've got one part of the world where we still got supply, but we've got the same problem. You've got, but we probably got a little longer to hold out.
Speaker 2:To break you. You've got oil companies looking at merging with other oil companies to get to the reserves. Those reserves are not necessarily in the United States. What does that mean to you? It means at some point, as this stuff balances out because it's global, it's not country specific the price of oil is going to eventually go up and when it goes up it won't be from American producers. That's the problem. So you're going to be wedded at the mercy of a foreign producer at some point in the future, unless laws change, and you're going to be stuck without alternatives. That's the problem. A successful country should always have alternatives, have alternatives, and right now, with the climate in our country today, those alternatives are being sacked, are being dismantled, are being poo-pooed, and it's too bad, because you should always have a diversity of energy. You shouldn't be wedded to one type, and that's regardless of how you feel about gasoline, diesel and bio choices or renewable energy. You should always have choices, for this very reason.
