Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
The oil and gas industry got U.S. export restrictions lifted in the last decade promising that there would be so much production that the United States would have plenty for domestic use and export. Rising prices of oil products and natural gas have Americans rethinking that policy.
At a recent industry conference, Terry Spencer, head of natural gas infrastructure company ONEOK, made clear the direction the fracking industry was headed: “One of these days one of these big ol’ fracs will be operated with nobody there.”
Hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) and offshore drilling garner a lot of news headlines when it comes to oil and gas issues in America, but they’re far from the only game in town, with those two drilling techniques not even constituting the majority of U.S. oil and gas production. For that, look to enhanced oil recovery (EOR), an under-regulated drilling method that has been around for over a century and could be threatening drinking water sources
The plunge in oil prices last year led many to say that a decline in U.S. oil production wouldn’t be far behind. This was because almost all the growth in U.S. production in recent years had come from high-cost tight oil deposits which could not be profitable at these new lower oil prices. These wells were also known to have production declines that averaged 40 percent per year.
A mid-week update. Oil prices continued to fall this week capped by the EIA stocks report on Wednesday which showed US crude inventories increasing by 5.2 million barrels last week and by 24 million barrels in the last five weeks.
