The Revolution That Wasn’t: Why the Fracking Phenomenon Will Leave Us High and Dry
A new, landmark report shows that hopes of a long-term golden era in American oil & gas production are unfounded.
Shale Oil
Drilling Deeper: A Reality Check On U.S. Government Forecasts For a Lasting Tight Oil & Shale Gas Boom
Drilling Deeper reviews the twelve shale plays that account for 82% of the tight oil production and 88% of the shale gas production in the U.S.
Has OPEC Check Mated US Shale Producers
Faced with the prospect of losing market share to tight oil producers in the US, OPEC has simply taken the most prudent business decision. Keep the taps open.
US shale oil growth covers up production drop in rest-of-world
The world is transfixed on growing world crude production driven by US shale oil but forgets to look what is happening under this remarkable growth curve.
The great imaginary California oil boom: Over before it started
It turns out that the oil industry has been pulling our collective leg. The pending 96 percent reduction in estimated deep shale oil resources in California calls into question the premise of a decades-long revival in U.S. oil production and predictions of American energy independence.
What Happened to My 13 Billion Barrels?
On May 21 the Los Angeles Times reported that “Federal energy authorities have slashed by 96% the estimated amount of recoverable oil buried in California’s vast Monterey Shale deposits…”
America’s Feel-Good Oil Bonanza
By now you’d think we’d be planning cautiously and conservatively for America’s energy future. But thanks to the federal government’s latest report on domestic energy, most everyone is again assuming that there’s plenty of oil and nothing to worry about. Here’s why it’s dangerously wrong.
Wonders yet to come: A sound basis for energy policy?
Wonders-yet-to-come seem to dominate U.S. energy policy. There is talk of changing laws to allow the exporting of oil and natural gas. There is talk of American energy independence. There is talk of an American energy renaissance and the ruination of OPEC. It is all very breathless and essentially baseless.
‘Watch what we do, not what we say’: Shell cancels U.S. gas-to-liquids plant
It is understandably difficult to shut out the constant din of abundance stories sponsored by the industry and its well-financed public relations machine–that is, until you understand that it’s not what the industry says that’s important, but what it actually does.
The numbers don’t add up to U.S. energy independence
Energy independence. It’s so easy to say, but oh so hard to actually accomplish, which is why the United States has been a consistent importer of oil since the late 1940s.
Are fracked oil and natural gas really “snake oil”?
In his new book Snake Oil, Richard Heinberg takes on overblown claims from both the oil and gas industry’s salesmen–its top executives, industry trade groups and PR firms–and its shills–fake think tanks, paid consultants, and captive analysts who are often quoted and interviewed (mistakenly) as independent experts.
The hype cycle: How the oil and gas industry manipulates investors and the public
What would you expect them to say? That’s the question you should ask whenever spokespersons for the oil and gas industry (or fake think tanks funded by the industry or analysts whose bread is buttered by the industry) announce a new find that is going to be a "game-changer.”