Energy Notes From All Over -- Easter Sunday Edition -- April 4, 2021

China, John Kerry, and climate change:

• John Kerry: "We can work with China on global warming."
• Algore: "Here, hold my beer."

OPEC basket price: it's been awhile since we've posted this data. Saudi Arabia can't "make it" on 6-handle oil; and Saudi Aramco has said as much, telegraphing it will slash its "promised" annual divided with sub-$80-oil. From OPEC:

Flashback: it never quits -- it's hard to believe but this August 10, 2012, Harvard study is still available on the net. Archived. Pre-pandemic analysis:

Global oil supply capacity is growing at an unprecedented level, and could result in an overproduction glut and steep dip in oil prices, according to a June 2012 study from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.

Contrary to the idea among some that global oil supply is running out, additional production of 17.6 million barrels of oil per day (bopd) could come online by 2020, boosting global production capacity to 110.6 million bopd, even with depletion rates for currently producing oilfields and reserve growth.

"This would represent the most significant increase in any decade since the 1980s," said Leonardo Maugeri, author of the study "Oil: The Next Revolution -- The Unprecedented Upsurge of Oil Production Capacity and What It Means for the World."

The Bakken was cited as the "gold standard" when evaluating shale plays:

The United States has more than 20 big shale oil formations, in particular the Eagle Ford shale, which has a hydrocarbon endowment on par with the Bakken. Most U.S shale and tight oil plays are also profitable at a West Texas Intermediate price ranging from $50 to $65 per barrel, making them "sufficiently resilient" to a significant downturn in oil prices.

Multiple formations in the Permian. I get a kick out of all the analysts justifying the high prices paid per net acre in the Permian based on:

• thickness of the play; and,
• multiple formations.

Memes. 

Conventional oil metrics.

USGS 2013 survey. To the best of my knowledge, never updated.

• based on data from actual wells drilled;
• 99% of Bakken wells at this time were middle Bakken wells
• middle Bakken formation fairly well defined;
• Three Forks first bench: minimal information;
• Three Forks second bench: no evaluation;
• Three Forks third bench: ?
• Three Forks fourth bench: ??
• Leigh Price paper: middle Bakken only? 

Gasoline demand:

Top Rigzone stories this past week, based on page views, link here:

• NextDecade, Oxy sign Texas CO2 storage deal;
• connected to NextDecade's Rio Grande LNG project in Brownsville, TX
• Total, XOM to exit OG1 JV
• next year, Qater Petroleum will become the sole owner of the longstanding Qatargas Liquefied Natural Gas Company Limited (QG1) joint venture;
• Berkshire Hathaway lobbies Texas for more gas-fired power; previously posted;