The Headline: Trade Deficit Narrows. Can You Guess The Reason? Fracking

Reuters is reporting that fracking is responsible for the U.S. trade deficit [shrinking] in December to its narrowest in nearly three years, suggesting the economy did much better in the fourth quarter than initially estimated.

Wow, ya gotta love it.

Wow, who wudda thought.

In the fifth paragraph at the linked story:

In a reflection of a boom in oil output driven by hydraulic fracturing technologies, petroleum exports rose by nearly $1 billion during the month to a record high level.

Yeah, fracking.

There are a number of story lines in that one sentence. Like the canard that it's illegal to export oil from the US.

And then I reflect on Karlgaard's thoughts (at the link, it's the last story on the page, I believe).

For newbies (we're talking oil, not natural gas): the Bakken started all of this. The Bakken had its start in 2007, but has not yet reached its stride. Lessons learned in the Bakken are being transferred to the Eagle Ford in Texas -- a new play -- and to several other plays in the mid-continent stretching from south Texas to the Arctic (Canol Shale).

Back in 2007, folks were talking about one well in each section; now we're talking about siting 14 wells in one spacing unit in the better Bakken.

I don't recall what the EURs in 2007 were but I do remember EURs of 350,000 bbls were talked about a lot in the early days, and then they went to 500,000 bbls. Now, there is talk of 900,000-bbl EURs in the better Bakken, and there's even talk of 2-million-bbl EURs in the best Bakken.

Lots of story lines.

Disclaimer: for newbies, I am inappropriately exuberant about the Bakken. I often get carried away. I often misinterpret data, misread stories, but that's the way it is. If something I post doesn't seem right, it probably isn't. Go to the original source if one has questions. This is a blog. A diary for my personal use to help me learn about the Bakken and to keep track of what is going on. I opened it up to general readership because a) folks send me some great links; b) folks point out my errors; and, c) comments help keep me grounded.

But:

I Won't Back Down, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Later, I'm hoping to put up a graphic that will point out something I've not seen before regarding the Bakken.