Some Random Links From A Reader

From The New York Times (the writer seems surprised): US oil production continues to exceed forecasts.

Oil production in the United States rose by a record 992,000 barrels a day in 2013, the International Energy Agency estimated this week.

“We keep raising our forecasts, and we keep underestimating production,” said Lejla Alic, a Paris-based analyst with the agency.

The increase left United States production at 7.5 million barrels a day, with both November and December production estimated to have been over eight million barrels a day.

American consumption of oil also rose last year, by 390,000 barrels a day, or 2.1 percent, to 18.9 million barrels a day. The agency increased its estimate of American oil use in the final quarter of the year, although it lowered its estimate of the increase in some other countries, including China. Over all, world consumption rose 1.4 percent, making 2013 the first year since 1999 that the use of oil in the United States rose more rapidly than in the rest of the world.

Remember: some of these European analysts thought the Bakken had shut down because of a bit of cold weather. LOL. 

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A feel-good story for activist environmentalists, but like all fads, it will die on the vine also. The New England energy debacle and the shortage of propane in the Midwest will bring a few folks to their senses, as they say. (In case the link is broken, it's a story about how the Keystone XL protest changes environmental scene in the US.)

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BP is still trying to move beyond the Gulf spill. The Gulf spill reminded me of one thing: the oil companies have deep, deep pockets.