What's Going On With California's Monterey Shale? June 4, 2026

Locator: 50910MONTEREY. 

Query: what's going on with  California's Monterey Shale? 

Reply: dead, dormant, dismissed --

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Cottage Pudding Recipe

This looks suspiciously what my mother used to called cottage pudding, though she topped with a wonderful treacly syrup. 

See recipe at this post.  

Shale -- Natural Gas Production -- Global, US, China -- June 4, 2026

Locator: 50909SHALEGAS. 

There are so many numbers here it can get confusing. See data points from Rigzone, back in 2016, see below the asterisks below. These are are a subset:

So, let's see the numbers. Some data points:

• world's natural gas production is set to grow 62% by 2040
• world's natural gas production will grow from about 350 bcf/d to about 550 bcf/d by 2040
• shale gas resources will be the largest component of this increase
• global shale gas production is projected to increase from about 40 bcf/d in 2015 to about 170 bcf/d by 2040
• shale gas production will account for about 30% of global production by 2040
• the US will remain the top shale gas producer
• 2015: shale gas accounted for about 50% of US natural gas production
• 2040: US shale gas will more than double from about 40 bcf/d to about 80 bcf/d 

Okay, so by 2040 -- that more than ten years from now, back in 2016, analysts expected US shale gas to more than double to 80 bcf/d. What is the current US shale gas production, 2025?

Update: global shale natural gas production -- from AI query -- US, 2025, has already reached 80 bcf/d if I have the numbers correct. China is #2 at 2.2 bcf/d.

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Shale Natural Gas

Global shale natural gas: reposting from August 18, 2016. Link here.

Data points for shale natural gas from Rigzone: China will be world's 2nd largest shale gas producer by 2040.

So, let's see the numbers. Some data points:

• world's natural gas production is set to grow 62% by 2040
• world's natural gas production will grow from about 350 bcf/d to about 550 bcf/d by 2040
• shale gas resources will be the largest component of this increase
• global shale gas production is projected to increase from about 40 bcf/d in 2015 to about 170 bcf/d by 2040
• shale gas production will account for about 30% of global production by 2040
• the US will remain the top shale gas producer
• 2015: shale gas accounted for about 50% of US natural gas production
• 2040: US shale gas will more than double from about 40 bcf/d to about 80 bcf/d 
• 2040: US shale gas will account for 70% of total US natural gas production (currently about 50%)
• 2040: China -- shale gas would account for about 40% of its total natural gas production
• 2015: China has drilled 600 natural gas wells in the last five (5) years
• 2015: China, producing 0.5 bcf/d of shale gas 
• 2040, shale gas:
• global: 170 bcf/d
• US: 80 bcf/d
• China: 20 bcf/d at this link
• 2015, shale gas:
• US: 40 bcf/d
• Canada: 4 bcf/d
• China: 0.5 bcf/d
• Argentina: 0.07 bcf/d

Already Thursday -- Wow, These Weeks Go By Quickly -- June 4, 2026

Locator: 50908B. 

NEO: several posts on Apple. See disclaimer.

• Amazon; undercuts Apple with quicker MacBook Neo delivery and discounted price (not by much); link here;
• MacBook Neo: so popular, Apple reported doubled production, link here.
• MacBook Neo: disrupts PC market, link here.
• MacBook Neo: outsold very other Mac in its debut quarter, link here. Previously posted. 

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Back to the Bakken

WTI: $95.31.

New wells reporting:

• Friday, June 5, 2026: 3 for the month, 159 for the quarter, 316 for the year, 
• 42004, conf, Slawson, Cannonball Federal 5-27-34H, 
• Thursday, June 4, 2026: 2 for the month, 158 for the quarter, 315 for the year,  
• 42003, conf, Slawson, Cannonball Federal 6-27-34H,

RBN Energy: US E&Ps eschew CAPEX increases despite oil price surge. Link here. Archived.

Anyone stepping out of a time machine might conclude that the world has become a giant game of chance, with sports betting ads flooding the airwaves and prediction markets offering wagers on everything from the duration of world leader handshakes to pop culture trivia. Given that the Iran war-driven surge in oil prices doubled E&P profits in Q1 2026, it would seem that the closest thing to a “sure thing” in this marketplace would be a surge in capex to capture fatter cash flows as the political standoff sustains higher realizations. But that would have been a losing bet, as industry 2026 capex remained virtually unchanged. In today’s RBN blog, we review oil and gas producers’ current investment and production guidance while analyzing potential future strategy as the economic impacts of the Iran war evolve.

As shown in Figure 1 below, E&P capital spending (blue bars and left axis) has been trending lower since the post-pandemic peak in 2023. After slashing investment in 2020 and 2021 as the onset of the pandemic threatened the financial stability of a chronically overspending E&P industry, producers rode a wave of sustained high commodity prices in 2022 and 2023 to increase drilling to offset steep shale decline rates. Inflation as well as increased acquisition-related activity helped spur a 58% increase in 2022 and a 24% rise to $64.5 billion in 2023, which resulted in a 14% production gain.

Figure 1. E&P Capex and Production, 2014-Q1 2026E. 
Source: Oil & Gas Financial Analytics LLC