BakerHuges Strike Called Off -- Absolutely Nothing To Do With The Bakken -- A Norwegian Story

I've been following this story for the past two weeks, but never posted it because it did not interest me enough to post it. Union workers were going to go on strike against Baker Hughes. The union said they were prepared to strike for years.

I guess it was hyperbole. The strike was called off before it was scheduled to begin. Link to Rigzone.

Poland: The Only Place In The World Where Shale Gas Has Not Been Found -- Now The Rest of the Story

Updates

June 19, 2012:  The rest of the story. It turns out that it was not necessarily an issue of shale gas not being there. The regulators drove the operators nuts.

Exxon Mobil Corp's decision to pull the plug on its efforts to explore for shale gas in Poland isn't what's dousing its local rivals' enthusiasm for the unconventional resources prospects in the central European country, it's the bureaucratic apathy, industry participants said Tuesday.

The industry's frustration with Poland's red tape is palpable as people accustomed to the friendly and expedient regulators of North America collide with government bodies which haven't completely shaken off the mentality of central planning.

Go to the link to read a most incredible story. I am left "speechless." Come this winter, if the Poles complain of "their" natural gas from Russia getting cut off, I won't have any sympathy.

Original Post

It seems that not a day goes by without a story of another natural gas discovery, conventional, unconventional, or otherwise. Here we have a story where they did not find natural gas/shale. XOM announces plans to leave Poland.

Speaking of Predictions: How We Get 100 Years of Natural Gas Supplies

Link here to CNBC News.

When President Barack Obama said in his State of the Union speech this year that the United States has a supply of natural gas that can last nearly 100 years, he was using a quick-and-dirty, back-of-the-envelope computation that is nonetheless rooted in recent geological research.

I was happy to see someone else uses "back-of-the-envelope calculations."

A few story lines there, I suppose, but need to move on. I am way behind on blogging.

Global Growth Now Expected to Rise to 4.1% From 4.0%; Yes, No Typos

I don't know why this popped up in my e-mail today; the article was previously published and dated May 21, 2012.

I don't know about you, but it seems I can find almost any prediction regarding future demand for oil. It seems I've read that predictions were for increased demand, then predictions that demand would fall, and now we are back to predictions that demand for oil will increase.

A lot of interesting data in this article for what it's worth:

After posting near-zero annual growth in the fourth quarter of 2011, global oil demand growth will gradually accelerate throughout 2012, culminating in an increase of 1.2 million b/d by this year's final quarter, the International Energy Agency said in its latest monthly oil market report.

Data points:

• 2012 trend: global oil consumption to rise by 800,000 bopd to 90 million bopd by year's end
• 2013: growth projections have been increased for year-end 2013; forecast growth to 3.5%, revised upward form 3.3% a few months ago, and up 4.1% next year, up from prior forecast of 4%
• Yes, you read that correctly. It's a headline story: forecast that global growth will increase to 4.1% from an earlier forecast of 4%.

Two comments/questions:

Is an increase to 4.1% from 4.0% reproducible and/or statistically significant?

Okay, just one comment/question, but it feels like two.

The best thing about this article: we have a 3-second soundbite for global oil consumption -- 90 million bopd.

North Dakotans Snapping Up Arizona Property

It seems I've read this story somewhere before: North Dakota residents buying up Arizona property. Link is at Minot Daily News.

This is one of the better articles I've read on any subject in the regional newspapers.