Jeff,

I wasn't sure were to take this article. You always seem to have really good input on these matters.

Appreciate your view/opinion-

Thank You
Earl


The U.S. Oil Boom: Partying Like It's 1998
The AtlanticBy Jordan Weissmann | The Atlantic


The Energy Department is out with a new report on America's booming oil production, and it's something to behold. Thanks to new drilling in North Dakota, Texas and the Gulf of Mexico, the United States is now pumping oil more than 6 million barrels a day of crude, up roughly a tenth since the middle of last year, and the highest volume the country has managed since since 1998. Not since Bill Clinton was busy fending off impeachment charges have we been able to extract oil at this pace. Here's the EIA's chart:
EIA_Oil_Production.png

The oil boom has been driven primarily by two factors: First, companies have taken advantage new drilling techniques that let them tap unconventional crude resources, like the shale deposits in Texas and North Dakota. Second, high global prices have made those extraction methods economical. Even with oil tumbling these days, most people believe that companies can still turn a profit drilling as long as it sells for at least $50 a barrel. Unless something drastic happens in the market, we should expect this growth to continue.

For the sake of not sounding like a Pollyanna, though, here's something to always remember: we still import about 9 million barrels of oil a day. That's a hole we likely can't drill our way out of.

finance.yahoo.com/news/u-oil-boom-partying-1998-143013365.html

Earl wrote:
Jeff,

I wasn't sure were to take this article. You always seem to have really good input on these matters.

Appreciate your view/opinion-

Thank You
Earl


The U.S. Oil Boom: Partying Like It's 1998
The AtlanticBy Jordan Weissmann | The Atlantic


The Energy Department is out with a new report on America's booming oil production, and it's something to behold. Thanks to new drilling in North Dakota, Texas and the Gulf of Mexico, the United States is now pumping oil more than 6 million barrels a day of crude, up roughly a tenth since the middle of last year, and the highest volume the country has managed since since 1998. Not since Bill Clinton was busy fending off impeachment charges have we been able to extract oil at this pace. Here's the EIA's chart:
EIA_Oil_Production.png

The oil boom has been driven primarily by two factors: First, companies have taken advantage new drilling techniques that let them tap unconventional crude resources, like the shale deposits in Texas and North Dakota. Second, high global prices have made those extraction methods economical. Even with oil tumbling these days, most people believe that companies can still turn a profit drilling as long as it sells for at least $50 a barrel. Unless something drastic happens in the market, we should expect this growth to continue.

For the sake of not sounding like a Pollyanna, though, here's something to always remember: we still import about 9 million barrels of oil a day. That's a hole we likely can't drill our way out of.

finance.yahoo.com/news/u-oil-boom-partying-1998-143013365.html


Earl, this looks like another good opportunity to remind people of the ground-breaking video series from Chris Martenson which (incredibly) is now several years old.

www.bullionbullscanada.com/guest-commentary/chris-martenson

In Chapter 17, Martenson explores REAL "Peak Oil": what he calls the "energy surplus".

As far as I know, Martenson was the FIRST to make the brilliant point that it's IRRELEVANT how much oil is beneath the Earth's surface. The only RELEVANT number is how much SURPLUS energy (or net energy) we can get from extracting this oil (and gas).

In other words, 100 years ago 1 barrel of oil supplied enough energy to pump ONE HUNDRED barrels of oil...when the oil was EASY to extract. Today, much/most of this shale oil requires 1 barrel of oil to produce 1.1 barrels of oil.

In other words, oil extraction is roughly 1,000 times less efficient. To pump 100 barrels of oil today requires over 90 barrels of oil. So when the IEA tries to compare U.S. oil production TODAY to the 1990's, what it LEAVES OUT is that it's requiring 3-5 times as much oil to EXTRACT that oil.

Suddenly there no longer seems to be a reason to put on the "party hats", does there...?

Jeff, have you looked into abiotic oil ?

samix wrote:
Jeff, have you looked into abiotic oil ?


Sorry Samix, that's jargon with which I'm unfamiliar...