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Oil Security at Risk
High prices lead to increased investment and production which leads to a glut which results in a price collapse, which in turn gives rise to investment, and subsequently production cuts and price recovery. We can wring our hands in despair, or reconcile ourselves to the boom and bust nature of the energy business, or, alternatively,… Read More
Offsetting Depletion
Almost half of Lower 48 crude produced last year came from wells drilled since the start of 2014, according to an article in “Oil Voice”. The good news is that as new horizontal drilling and completion techniques enabled the shale revolution, production from low permeability tight reservoirs increased dramatically. Tight reservoirs which include, but are… Read More
Condensate Con
A recent article in “Oil Voice” by Kurt Cobb, offers the possibility that the global oil glut is mostly attributable to condensate, rather than crude oil per se. Condensates are hydrocarbons that exist in the reservoir as a gas, but when they reach the lower temperatures and pressures at the surface, they condense into a… Read More
Gas Exports to Canada
The shale revolution resulted in a surplus of gas, especially in the Marcellus shale area of Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio. As a consequence, prices plummeted and gas producers had to scramble to find new markets. Some of the cheap gas replaced coal for power generation. The abundance also gave rise to a number of… Read More
Fracing as a Political Football
In spite of her previous general support of fracking, Hillary Clinton seems to be driven to the left in her contest with Bernie Sanders for the Democratic nomination. She now favors aggressive federal regulation of fracking, saying she would not support it in states or communities that don’t want it, when it causes pollution, or… Read More
