Against the backdrop of the Interior Dept nominee’s full throated promotion of “energy domination”, including “gas powered cars” at the convention, and a DOE nominee who is a climate denier, and CEO of a gas fracking company, the Exxon CEO has gone way off the messaging.
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No XOM, but I do have a position in LNG (Cheniere Energy).
DB2
We don’t give oil companies enough credit for being smart. They do not want to kill the golden goose. One of the things the future administration is far too dumb to understand is that the oil industry likes to make money.
The US is currently producing more oil than any nation in the history of mankind and has been a net oil exporter for four years.
In the last few days/weeks, several oil companies have made it clear that production is being curtailed by demand, not by supply. They can pump more, but prefer not to because that would depress the price. Instead, they would like to return money to their shareholders. They are saying in plain language they don’t want to “drill baby drill.”
Not very long ago, there was an oil fracking bubble. Everybody and their dog was getting into fracking. The US was awash in oil and the global price plummeted. After numerous warnings, the Saudis opened up the tags and flooded the world with even cheaper oil. As a result, US producers wound up being net losers in fracking investments, causing lots of pain for lenders who decided they didn’t like fracking any more, which caused lots of pain for producers who needed capital.
The oil industry is still smarting from all this and would really like to not repeat it. But it is stupid, so the future administration is pursing it aggressively.
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Whereas the global LNG market is supply constrained with a considerable market potential in Europe and especially in Asia. It will be interesting to see how soon the current moratorium on LNG export permitting is changed.
DB2
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I was talking to a guy from OK, who said like CA, we are also getting lots of earthquakes. And mentioned he is thinking about moving to Texas after many generations lived in OK. He talked earthquakes are recent phenomenon, when I asked is it related to the fracking, he got agitated and started defending why the country needs fracking, why more fracking is needed, etc.
This is not an uneducated guy, he is a smart guy with 25 years of IT experience. He wants to move his family but feels compelled to defend the practice. There are many who are counting on Fracking jobs. If the Oil companies are not going to start “drill baby drill”, there is going to be some sort of backlash.
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The consensus is it’s from waste water injection, not fracking.
" In Oklahoma over 90% of the wastewater that is injected is a byproduct of oil extraction process and not waste frack fluid."
Oklahoma has had a surge of earthquakes since 2009. Are they due to fracking? | U.S. Geological Survey
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What happens once wastewater injection is stopped and earthquakes continue? You are going to see some reducing, but it is still going to be higher than pre-fracking days.
Fracking is causing it, and the problem is further exacerbated by wastewater injection. Let us see.
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All I know is what I read.
We have felt a few quakes here in Kansas that had epic centers near the Oklahoma border. The ground/house shook in intensity about the same as a very close lightning strike. I don’t believe there has ever been any serious damage in either state due to the quakes.
Don’t get out much, I guess. From Google:
Fracking earthquakes have caused significant damage to property in Oklahoma, including:
- Homes
Homes near fracking zones have experienced damage such as:
Buckling, splitting, sinking, and cracking
Broken or cracked interior and exterior walls
Damaged bricks, mortar joints, and fascia
Movement or cracking of the foundation
Cabinets separating from walls
Damaged doors and door casing
Damage to door and window trim
Cracked drywall
Other structures
A 5.7 magnitude earthquake near Prague, Oklahoma damaged 14 homes and other structures. A 5.0 magnitude earthquake in Cushing, Oklahoma damaged buildings near an oil and gas pipeline hub. A 5.8-magnitude earthquake in 2016 caused moderate damage in north-central Oklahoma.
Fracking-related earthquakes are chronic and can be quite large and damaging. The number of earthquakes magnitude 3.0 or more in Oklahoma has increased from an average of less than five a year to about 40.Fracking is a technique that involves injecting water, chemicals, and a propping agent into low-permeability rocks to improve oil and gas production.The injected fluid can become hydraulically connected to faults, increasing fluid pressures within the fault and making earthquakes more likely. The wastewater injected is also extremely salty, which can cause it to sink farther down than less dense water, taking that increased pressure deeper.
- New Fracking-related Earthquakes in Oklahoma Spark Demand for Oil, Gas Lease Withdrawal
Nov 7, 2016
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Center for Biological Diversity
- Oklahoma Homeowner Earthquake Damage - Pulaski Kherkher, PLLC
Fracking Earthquakes Are Causing Damage To Oklahoma Property Owners. Homes near fracking zones are buckling, splitting, sinking, a…
Pulaski Kherkher, PLLC - Pulaski Kherkher, PLLC
- Fracking-Related Earthquakes - Earthworks
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Earthworks
- Show all
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I was thinking of damage in comparison to what California/Japan earthquakes cause. Definitely no deaths from them.