toobad41

Natural Gas Gains: Not Convinced of Sustainability

I am no longer privy to inside information on natural gas production but I do know that much of the gas we are talking about is old gas...i.e. gas that has been producing to the pipeline for years. For the operator that gas is virtually free. Yes there is some overhead but that is little cost. I suspect that a lot of the drilling going on today is new exploration or lease obligation wells. Lease obligation wells are drilled to save a lease from going to the original owner or to someone else. Some of the drilling may also be aimed at proving up the lateral extent of a new discovery. Sure all of this hearsay on my part but it has been true in the past and I tend to believe it is still going on. Also I would like to point out that most oil or gas operators are not in consort with anyone else and they could care what other operators are drilling unless it is just across the highway from their lease. Sometimes operators will have a relationship with other companies if they have a mutual area of interest. But that rarely happens onshore. It does happen offshore where it costs so much to drill and produce. That is my two cents... For what it is worth.

Ethanol vs. Natural Gas or Coal: Comparison Not Even Close

Kudos, Mr. Shaefer...You are right on with this one. Ethanol is a political as well as bureaucratic look through rose colored glasses at how to solve our energy crises. Even our farmers look at this as a means to get more bucks for their corn crop. Can you blame them? But at what cost to the people (you and me) who pay for this "change" at the edict of our wise democrats. Do the politicians really care if the "change" works or not? I don't think so. Like you mentioned "they take money even though they don't make it". That is the way it works. I also agree that fossil fuels rule the world. Nothing on the horizon that will "change" that regardless how hard we try. I have worked in the oil industry for over 40+ years and I don't see anything yet that rivals this business. When this industry ends so will civilization as we know it. Hopefully, not in my lifetime...But I am not so sure. The world is about to become a whole lot smaller.

Climate Change: How to Invest for the Possibility

Like oil, natural gas is not found everywhere. And as Ferdinand E mentions it is not as abundant as people think. Most of the natural gas that has every been found is gone. It was vented or burned as a by-product. Even today it is burned or vented to the atmospher because there is no market or pipeline needed for transporting. Even exploration today is aimed at non-conventional resources because conventional sources are depleted. With that said, you can bet your bottom dollar that gas will also become a rare commondity and sooner than you think.

Plenty of Natural Gas: Exploration and Production Companies Keep Increasing Oversupply

Your sentence "The action by E&P Companies as a whole could be short sighted" is a flat out stupid sentence. E&P Companies are independent of each other and seldom (if ever) act as a whole.

Natural Gas Stocks: The Ultimate Form of Stored Solar Energy

On the contrary, Mr. Shaefer, we do have a pretty good idea as to how much oil and natural gas is left to be found. As far as the bell shaped curve is concerned Mr. Hubbard did not take into consideration Prudeau Bay or offshore which at the time of his prediction was not even a dream. With that said the curve is not bell shaped. Also he did not consider the impact of a population of 3 billion people growing to 6 billion today nor did he incorporate growing demand. What is disturbing to me is that most of the natural gas found to date has been vented or burned off at the wellhead because of a lack of a market or facilities to gather the gas. I believe I read that North Dakota produces about 85 million cubic gas per day with no market, no gathering system. Is it a coincidence that the drilling for natural gas today is in areas of existing pipelines, population centers and facilities?

The Truth About Fossil Fuels and Renewable Energy (Part II)

Thanks Joseph for the two fine articles. You told it as it is and how it will be. I don't think people realize how very important fossil fuels have been in their lives and to civilization. I dare say I won't be around in twenty years but I can tell you this...the world will be a lot different than it is today and those that are still here won't like it. People born today will not inherit the world of today but will only read about it in history books. That is if we have enough trees left to make history books. Most of my life as been dedicated to the fossil fuel industry and that won't change. We are running out of fossil fuels and that too won't change. With that said we have absolutely nothing else to fall back on. Nothing else will replace what will be gone. Nothing.