Thursday, February 14, 2013

Nice Op-Ed In Grand Forks Herald on America's Energy Future

CRC sent the link.

An op-ed in the Grand Forks Herald.

Three suggestions:
  • regulators: get "real" with regulations on fracking
  • regulators: get "real" off-shore (imagine grounding all airlines forever after one mishap)
  • regulators: get "real" on the Keystone XL

2 comments:

  1. Bruce, Where do you think we are headed both Nationally and Globally with all this new extraction technology being developed in the Bakken? We keep hearing about other potentially huge reserves here in the US, Canada, Australia, etc. and it would seem that worldwide most countries would now be reevaluating all their resources given the Bakken success. We know China's consumption is increasing, and if we don’t double dip this recession the demand should continue to rise here too. However, how possible is it that new exploration worldwide, together with expansion in known reserves, increase the supply curve to where the Bakken is just marginally profitable and drilling slows to a halt?

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  2. 30-second sound bite: I don't know. But companies are investing billions in the Bakken and I assume they have done the studies.

    Having said that, I'm not hearing much in the way of major shale oil sites outside North America that are a "threat" in my time frame.

    Europe appears to have "huge" reserves, but France says "NO" to fracking and it has been a "negative" experience for XOM in Poland, if I recall, but I don't know where that stands right now.

    Off-shore North America is pretty much off-limits politically.

    OPEC reserves are certainly not growing.

    My canary in the coal mine: the Canadian oil sands. They are selling oil at a $30 to $40 discount to WTI and they continue to produce. If the oil sands shut down due to price, then perhaps one might start worrying.

    But back to the 30-second sound bite: the billions that companies are investing in the Bakken suggests the Bakken will be around for awhile.

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