Industry

Shale gas—Abundance or mirage? Why the Marcellus Shale will disappoint expectations

by

Shale gas plays in the United States are commercial failures and shareholders in public exploration and production (E&P) companies are the losers. This conclusion falls out of a detailed evaluation of shale-dominated company financial statements and individual well decline curve analyses.

Review of Ben Parfitt’s Fracture Lines (report)

by

A Canadian study of shale gas fracking and its impact on water quality was released earlier this month. Entitled Fracture Lines: Will Canada’s Water be Protected in the Rush to Develop Shale Gas?, the study was conducted by Ben Parfitt…He argues that when the low net energy/EROEI from shale gas is coupled with environmental concerns such as carbon emissions and water problems, shale gas looks less and less like the sure-fire“bridge to a cleaner energy future” claimed by its proponents.

Highlights from seventh Advances in Energy Studies Conference in Barcelona

by

Last week, I participated (as an invited speaker) in the 7th Advances in Energy Studies Conference in Barcelona, Spain. Other invited speakers were Charlie Hall, Joe Tainter, Marcel Collel, and Seth Blumsack. Other Oil Drum staff members at the conference were Ugo Bardi and Dave Murphy–Ugo as one of the speakers, and Dave as the second author on Charlie Hall’s presentation. Dave also asked lots of good questions! In this post, I give a few highlights of the conference.

OPEC will never run out of oil

by

Through an accident of plate tectonics and other developments over geological time, most of the world’s remaining recoverable oil is situated around the Persian Gulf. This is unfortunate for us because we will thus never have a reasonable, universally agreed-upon estimate of the amount of oil left to produce. Let me explain.

Uttering the “C” word

by

Authors from three politically disparate think tanks—American Enterprise Institute, Brookings, and Breakthrough Institute— recently published a report on how to foster deployment of clean energy technology. Most worrying (though least surprising) is the authors’ belief that clean energy innovation breakthroughs can drive continued economic growth. Conservation is not something most environmental think-tanks or NGOs (not to mention the likes of American Enterprise Institute) want to discuss, but I dare say it will have a much bigger role in our energy future than "innovative, small-scale nuclear reactors."

ASPO-USA Conference, final thoughts

by

The remark that sticks most in my mind, as I look back on this year’s ASPO-USA Conference was one that I believe totally missed the underlying Conference message. It was Ralph Nader, the speaker at the final luncheon, who trying to encourage action, noted the likelihood of our still debating the same topic at the meeting ten or fifteen years from now. The chances of the happening are slim to none. If by that time there has not been an oil peak, with all its subsequent impacts, the Association will have lost any claim to be able to predict reality, and likely will no longer be having meetings.