Shale drilling is an American phenomenon, and likely will stay that way for several more years, geopolitical strategist Peter Zeihan said this week in San Antonio.
Zeihan, who spoke at South Texas Money Management’s annual Energy Symposium at the San Antonio Country Club, said that no place else in the world has the combination the U.S. does – the capital, engineers, geologists, chemists, a legal system that recognizes mineral rights, pipelines, midstream infrastructure and a ready market.
“This is not something that your average state-run thug can do,” he said.
“We have more petroleum engineers than the rest of the countries put together. Of all of the horizontal wells that have been drilled in the last five years, 99 percent of them are in the United States. Of all the wells that have ever been drilled ever, three quarters are in the United States.”
Zeihan said that U.S. shale fields have taken off for a number of factors, starting with the fact that shale wells cost “a metric butt ton of money” to drill, and there happens to be a lot of U.S. money looking for an investment.
He said that Mexico – because it’s next to Texas – is the country where shale drilling will take off next.
If the Bakken has taught me nothing else, it taught me that after "location, location, location," it's all about engineers. And even if one is in the right location, without the engineers nothing is guaranteed.
We also have the best roughnecks and truckers in the world, also, with a sense of urgency and a "can-do" attitude.
By the way, I think one can modify the headline: excluding California and New York state, shale is a US phenomenon.
By the way, I think one can modify the headline: excluding California and New York state, shale is a US phenomenon.
No comments:
Post a Comment