That is because there is not much to discuss. What damage is being done due to the current level of drilling?

Spills rarely happen (I've fired employees due to spilling 1 QUART of water on a drill site). More damage is done due to spills at your local gas station than spills at drilling sites.

You should see a modern day completed drill site in ND. Tree huggers from DC would spend the day picknicking and picking up their dog poop on one of those sites.

Biggest issue right now is truck and rail traffic to transport the oil (which the Keystone would solve), high demand on water (they aren't using more, it has just transitioned from AG), and flaring of NG which comes back to pipeline permits to capture.

The well depths in ND make it virtually impossible for fracking to pollute water resources so that is not an issue there. I will admit in shallow areas like PA, it may be an issue and should be addressed.

So, it's not being talked about because there is nothing to talk about.

 

Nothing to talk about... Unless you live in PA.

 

Or Texas, or Arkansas...my buds who live in those states say they can feel the earth shaking with the fracking, and the AR guy said they are getting sinkholes too.

I've been hearing about "Alternative Energy" since I was a kid. When the price of oil ran up in the early 1970's, my mom went and bought a diesel VW Rabbit that got 50 mpg.

And remember the 'first' electric car Chevy built/sold back then?


I remember being taught about Solar Power in school back then, and windmills, etc. just like what we've been hearing the past 10 years. By now we were all supposed to be driving electric cars and using solar power for our homes.


Then just as the 'alternative energy gold rush' got underway...oil prices crashed, just like now, and effectively killed off that whole industry.

Over the past 40 years it's been through a couple more cycles just like that, this is just the latest attempt by the Saudi's to (once again) crush the "Alternative Energy" revolution.

Thomas Freidman wrote a pretty good book about it (needing to find alternative energy, as the 3rd world enters the modern age, with billions of people needing more energy to do it) called "The World is Flat, Hot and Crowded" where he goes deep into the politics and money required to break our addiction to cheap oil.

http://www.thomaslfriedman.com/books...at-and-crowded

I'll save you the time and money; the bottom line is, without a government mandate (like new vehicle gas mileage requirements, and the new light bulbs) investors won't pump in the needed money to truly develop "Alternative Energy" because as soon as they do, oil prices crash and the whole A/E industry gets crushed. No ROI.

 

I WISH we had F/O's like that!

Heck, I wish we had F/A's that looked like that!

 

They are talking about PA and some areas in CO. We could do without those shallow fields if we can extract from ND, TX, and OK.

Shallow hydraulic fracturing is a problem. They still have not proven anything, but it's obvious that the fracking has something to do with water supply contamination.

I do agree with you that it should be done responsibly. Historically, it is an industry that has done a lot of damage.

 

We do! You're just flying with their grandmothers on the 777!

 

True...true.

 

^^^^^^

Yep.

 

The historical problem with oil is that it has always been too cheap & never repaid it's investors without market manipulation.

Before the Seven Sisters, we had the Texas Railroad Commission to limit not only rail, but pipeline transport from East Texas. These efforts were followed by OPEC, who really gained market relevance in 1973 and who since has been a geopolitical cartel, working for not only oil interests, but political self-interest. Arguably, OPEC has had such great influence that the United States has sprung into action at their behest, removing cartel violators and threats to their heads of State (I will loop back around to that point).

The historical, inflation adjusted to 2010, price of oil was $23.68 per barrel in the US and $24.58 on the World market. If a snapshot is taken post-1970's, after US production was exceeded by the middle east, the price goes to $34.77 for US supplies and $37.93 per barrel globally.

Those prices sound ridiculous today, but when George W. Bush took office the price was $35.00 a barrel.

I have two concerns as they apply to our business. First, oil is a predictor for other Global economic activity in times of peace. Oil prices are decreasing as much on reduced demand, as supply. In the United States there is a concomitant reduction in oil based tax revenues which negatively affects those users and generator of jobs. Second, history tells us someone will do something to constrict supply and among those getting killed in the market are nuclear-armed former superpowers.

As for OPEC, some are getting into a new business, running airlines. Their new East Texas is the post-2008 & 2010 European Open Skies shake out which is resulting in consolidation among the bigger and stronger players there, just as it did in the United States following our deregulation. These players know how to lobby and know the hallways of power better than most US citizens.

Given what we are up against I am amazed at the success of ALPA-PAC. It's the best money I've ever spent.

 

So..... I should stop nailing the solar panels on my Mooney Mite?