From CNBC via CarpeDiem:
Randy Foutch calls it a renaissance, but when you listen to the
veteran Texas oilman and others describe America’s nascent energy boom,
it sounds more like a miracle.
Politicians have been warning for decades that the U.S. must wean
itself from foreign energy, but just a few years ago their words seemed
like so much wishful thinking: The U.S. was facing what seemed like
ever-rising oil prices and was importing about 60 percent of its supply.
Natural gas inventories were shrinking, and the country was considering
importing a liquified form from the Middle East.
But in a turnaround that industry insiders describe as nothing short
of amazing, the picture has drastically changed. Oil and natural gas
drilling is now booming in places like Eagle Ford, Texas, and the Bakken
formation in North Dakota, bringing jobs and prosperity to those
regions. And believers say the newfound resource is so much bigger than
anticipated that it can help drive economic growth nationwide for years
to come.
Technological innovation — primarily the growth of horizontal drilling
and hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking” as it’s commonly known — is
driving the new production, enabling oil and gas to be extracted from
geological formations once considered impregnable.
If I was in the mood I would write a lengthy note opining why the Bakken boom happened; an angle that I've talked about once before -- a long, long time ago. In a way, yes, it was a miracle, but not for the reason people think. When the book is written on the shale oil boom, there will be a chapter devoted to the miracle of fracking and why it happened.
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