Kern County oil flop – Occidental Petroleum – peak oil

Soon you’ll be calling it the Kern County oil flop. In a year, you’ll completely forget this discovery was made.

Two days ago, I was informed by several readers that all our oil supply troubles were over. Apparently they became a little too excited after reading about Occidental Petroleum’s “huge discovery.” Admittedly, I should have seen this coming once the news reached my desk.

I know exactly what happened. These guys saw the headline, “California’s Largest Oil Discovery in 35 years,” and jumped right to making conclusions. It’s true that the potential 250 million barrels of oil equivalent comes out to about one-tenth of the state’s on-shore reserves.

But when you put the numbers into perspective, please don’t be afraid to laugh right along with me. I’d like to reiterate a point my colleague, Chris Nelder, has continually tried to impress upon you: It’s all about the flow rates.

Cherry Creek News