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Comment by tengbretson | Hacker News Reader

It's better than that! Used steel barrels go for around $29 a piece. All you need to do is buy oil, dump it out somewhere, and then sell the barrel for $17 profit!

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"That Time I Tried to Buy an Actual Barrel of Crude Oil", an interesting read:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-03/that-time...

Storage isn't included when you buy oil. You don't actually get a steel barrel.

You don't literally get the barrel when you buy a 'barrel' of oil.

Joke ---- Head

It doesn't make any sense as a joke - oil isn't sold like the setup of the joke says.

I hope it doesn't ruin your day to hear that chickens also don't typically cross roads.

That's why everyone wants to know why that one did!

You don’t live on Maui...

You mean Kauai?

Frickin’ chickens!

Hum... Yes they do. And they choose to do it way more often when there is a car coming towards them.

The real problem is the "joke" wasn't funny. Telling someone it went "over their head" comes off as arrogant when done for an unfunny joke.

There's a difference between someone saying the premise of the joke doesn't make sense and not finding it funny. It seems like it went over someone's head if they say "Yeah, but oil isn't sold that way" versus saying "That joke wasn't funny."

Not acknowledging the joke at all is one of the best ways of stating that it wasn't funny.

If oil was sold like that, it wouldn't be a joke

Thank goodness that oil is not actually stored in barrels, then.

rent it for others to dump oil in it, ponzi oil scheme

See, this is why we need a good EPA in the US and similarly good in other countries. To protect against capitalists like you who don't care about externalities. ;) Now go make a financial derivative so I can trade on used steel barrels.

With these profit margins I should easily be able to afford a fancy national marketing campaign to cover my ass. I can see it now.

Oil – It comes from the earth. We're just returning it.

You're not thinking outside the box. Buy the oil, burn it for power, sell the barrel, and use a portion of the profit to pay for carbon credits.

Voila, an infinite supply of clean energy.

And a link to his innovation.

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