EIA's Forecast For 2018 Crude Oil Production; Coal, Japan, and Korea (A Movie) -- July 30, 2017

For the archives: this really doesn't tell us anything new, I don't think ... I could be wrong. But it was posted just the other day by the EIA so for the archives: US crude oil production forecast expected to reach record high in 2018.

In 2017, this year, total US crude oil production is forecast to average 9.3 million bopd, up one-half-million bopd from 2016. If the EIA is correct, if US production hits an average of 9.9 million bopd in 2018, that will surpass the all-time record of 9.8 million bbls of oil produced per day in 1970.

9.9 is an average, meaning that by the end of 2018, the US could be producing well above 10 million bopd (which the graph at the link suggests.

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Coal, Japan, And Korea -- A Movie

After my recent notes on coal and Europe, a reader introduced me to something I had never heard of before: undersea coal mines during the industrialization of Japan in the 19th century. There is a 2017 South Korean action movie, Battleship Island, soon to be released; based on the trailer it will be way too intense for me to watch, so I won't see the movie.

Whether you watch the YouTube trailer or not, I can't recommend. However, if you watch it first, you will have a better "visual" of the wiki entry on Hashima Island. For folks who wondered where some of the scenes in the James Bond thriller Skyfall came from, now you know.

For me, unable to watch a movie like Battleship Island, I will re-watch Tampopo, which now has a new trailer with "4K restoration."

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Nature's Most Anticipated Movie

This is still almost a month away and Wyoming officials are already preparing. 

I can hardly wait to see the photographs of the park during the eclipse. It will also be interesting to see US gasoline consumption numbers that week.

A reader sent this from a post over at Facebook:

The Wyoming Patrol would like to inform you of the following information as the 2017 Solar Eclipse event quickly approaches. 

The eclipse will take place on Monday, August 21st.

It will start traveling through Wyoming at Grand Teton National Park around 11:35 a.m. MST and follow the path on the map shown below.

No oversize/overweight loads will be permitted in/through WY Sunday, August 20th through Tuesday, August 22nd, 2017. Oversized loads cannot travel during that time period even with a permit in hand.

• be prepared for distracted drivers 
• traffic volumes are expected to create travel congestion particularly along I-25 
• food and fuel are likely to be limited

Plan accordingly before traveling through the eclipse route.
Cell phone coverage may also be limited and no parking is permitted along the highways.
We encourage you to arrive early and stay late to avoid potential traffic congestion.