Permian could top out in 2021

The world’s hottest oil field could run out of steam in just a few years if shale drillers can’t overcome the natural constraints of the region’s geology, a new study says. By 2021, oil production could peak in Permian Basin, as rapid drilling and fracking exhaust underground pressure in the most prolific areas of the […]

UK oil and gas reserves will expire in 10 years

The UK’s oil industry could be entering its final decade of production, according to new research. A study of output from offshore fields estimates about 10% of the nation’s original recoverable oil and gas remains. If the predictions are correct, the UK would soon have to import all the oil and gas it needs, scientists […]

The World’s Largest Offshore Oil Field Is Back In Action

Without much international fanfare, the world’s largest offshore oil field and the largest discovered in the last 40 years, Kazakhstan’s Kashagan Field, is on the verge of finally moving beyond the manifold impediments that hindered its development. Discovered in 2000, the 13 Bbbl field (38 Bbbl of oil in place) was set to begin producing […]

How to Become a Geologist

Petroleum geologists use their know-how in a variety of settings and in a multitude of applications worldwide. Their work can be exciting and challenging, but becoming a geoscientist in the oil and natural gas industry demands that one acquire a broad set of technical, conceptual and practical skills. Aspiring geologists who decide early on that […]

Egypt muscling in on global gas production

Baker Hughes, a GE company, announced September 9, 2017 a major subsea contract from Petrobel for phase two of the “supergiant” Zohr Gas Field situated in the Mediterranean Sea, off the Egyptian coast. BHGE will provide project management, engineering procurement, fabrication, construction, testing and transportation of a subsea production system, and will support the installation, […]

France to ban oil, gas output on home soil

France’s government has unveiled a law to ban all production and exploration of oil and natural gas by 2040 on the country’s mainland and overseas territories. The move is largely symbolic, however, as France’s oil and gas production represents just 1 percent of national consumption — the rest is imported. Current drilling permits will not […]

The Obsolescence of Oil As We Live Out the Current Technology Wave

With every new green announcement on the global technology stage we get propelled further into a reality where oil may no longer be dominant. Whether its France and India committing to phase out gas powered cars, Tesla’s quest to revolutionize the global perception of renewable energy cars or the increasing rate at which many of […]

France to end oil, gas production by 2040

France plans to pass legislation this year to phase out all oil and gas exploration and production on its mainland and overseas territories by 2040, becoming the first country to do so. President Emmanuel Macron wants to make France carbon neutral by 2050 and plans to curb greenhouse gas emissions by leaving fossil fuels, blamed […]

Where oil rigs go to die

It was night, stormy, and the oil rig Transocean Winner was somewhere in the North Atlantic on 7 August 2016 when her tow-line broke. No crew members were on board. The rig was being dragged by a tugboat called Forward, the tethered vessels charting a course out of Norway that was meant to take them […]

Harvey Threatens Natural Gas Supply

Amidst stories of Hurricane Harvey’s wanton destruction — homes flooded, residents displaced, 30 reported dead, countless others missing — it’s easy to forget that storms like this threaten not just the people of the Gulf Coast, but people all across the country who depend on the region’s industries. Natural gas is one such industry, and […]

The next oil super cycle will hit hard

Ministers of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) need to change their mindset — and they need to do it soon, as the next energy super cycle will hit these countries harder than the previous one. Commodities markets are very volatile. Prices can go up and down greatly over a short period. Super […]

Oil production declining rapidly

Oil production from mature oil fields in PNG has declined rapidly, with many of these fields now operating as gas fields. According to the PNG Chamber of Mines and Petroleum, oil production from mature oil fields are in decline, with most production coming from Kutubu complex and Moran fields. Gobe fields have waned rapidly in […]

Hurricane Harvey closes key oil and gas facilities in Texas

Key oil and gas facilities along the Texas Gulf Coast have temporarily shut down as Hurricane Harvey pounds the region with torrential rain and high winds, virtually assuring gasoline prices will rise in the storm’s aftermath. Even before the Harvey made landfall late Friday, dozens of oil and gas platforms had been evacuated, at least […]

The (Only) Culprit Of Coal’s Demise

Summary On August 23, the U.S. Department of Energy released a highly anticipated study on the reliability of the U.S. electricity grid. The DOE report concludes that far from becoming dangerously unstable, the electricity grid has “withstood a number of stresses”. The greatest factor in the massive wave of coal and nuclear power plant closures […]

New Study Shows Stanching of Decline in Oil Reserves

With the release of Ernst & Young’s (EY) 2017 US oil and gas reserves study, the services firm hosted a presentation in which a panel of its analysts discussed trends among independent, large independent, and integrated companies within the industry. Along with oil and gas reserves, the panel examined trends in capital expenditures (Capex) for […]

A Second Wind for the North Slope?

Following an executive order from U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is in the process of generating updated assessments of the oil and gas resources on Alaska’s North Slope in what could be the precursor to an exploration and development boom on federal lands that have mostly been off-limits […]

The Latest Red Flag For U.S. Shale

The U.S. shale industry has had a rough few weeks, with a growing number of reports suggesting that the industry is facing much more financial trouble than many analysts had expected. Now, a new report adds further evidence to the notion that shale is losing its luster in a $50 per barrel market, with producers […]

The World Eyes Yet Another Unconventional Source of Fossil Fuels

Vast quantities of methane hydrates — frozen deposits of natural gas on the sea floor — exist worldwide. But as experimental drilling moves forward, many experts question the wisdom of exploiting a costly, environmentally risky trove of fossil fuels that will accelerate global warming. In May of this year, China claimed a breakthrough in tapping […]

Could UK Oil Production Peak Again In 2019?

Production History And Reserves UK oil production peaked in 1999. The peak was probably pushed out a couple of years because of the major production interruptions following the Piper Alpha disaster. Production declined quickly until around 2011, then the high oil price allowed more brownfield and then greenfield developments that created a third local peak […]

Why Would Oil Demand Peak, Contrary to Peak Oil Supply?

The oil industry is quite familiar with the concept of a “Peak Oil Supply” but people find it hard to believe that there is another side of the theory, which is “Peak Oil Demand”. This article will examine why the concept of peak oil supply failed to materialize and why one should believe the concept […]

OPEC July Production Data

All data below is based on the latest OPEC Monthly Oil Market Report. All data is through July 2017 and is in thousand barrels per day. The above chart does not include the 14th member of OPEC that was just added, Equatorial Guinea. I do not have historical data for Equatorial Guinea so I may not add […]

US EIA raises gas production estimates

The US Energy Information Administration nudged up its natural gas production estimates for the fourth quarter and coming year amid rising demand from the generation sector and a boost in exports. The agency, in its August Short-Term Energy Outlook Tuesday, raised by 840 MMcf/d to 82.1 Bcf/d its natural gas marketed production estimate for the […]

No-Name US Oil Driller Gets Shot at World’s Biggest Reserves

Nicolas Maduro was in his element, flanked by an enormous Venezuelan flag, beneath a portrait of Simon Bolivar on horseback, in front of a statue of Hugo Chavez, praising foreign companies wise enough to make deals with what he called “our beloved PDVSA.” That would be Petroleos de Venezuela SA, the state-owned oil giant struggling […]

Did BP Just Unlock A New Major Shale Gas Basin?

BP made a potentially groundbreaking discovery in New Mexico, which could open up a new area for shale gas development. BP was drilling in a little-known area in northern New Mexico, in a place called the Mancos Shale. The British oil giant reported huge figures from the shale gas well, suggesting the Mancos could provide […]

Is This the Beginning of the End for the Oil Industry?

The energy sector is undergoing a seismic shift that has caught many pundits by surprise. That shift was triggered by the Saudi decision to boost production as the Kingdom sought to challenge the U.S. shale oil industry’s rise and reassert OPEC’s dominance. Because of growing global supplies coupled with waning demand growth, crude prices plunged. […]

Macroeconomic Risks For The Oil Industry

The global oil industry now appears to be in the early stages of a cyclical expansion which is likely to see prices rise over the next few years, slowly at first but then accelerating later. Deep and long cycles in oil prices have been the defining characteristic of the industry since the 1860s (“Crude volatility: […]

Canadian oil struggling for world position

The Canadian oil sector should expect growth in exploration and production, but its place on the global stage is still uncertain, a trade group said. The National Energy Board said that, as of July 7, it expected total production of crude oil and equivalent will be 4.05 million barrels per day for the year, which, […]

OPEC’s Existential Sucker Punch

You wait decades for an existential crisis, then two come along at once. At least that’s how it must feel for OPEC’s beleaguered ministers. In the short term the market for their oil is being eroded by rising production outside their control. Looking further ahead, oil demand itself is under threat from the electrification of […]

Next year U.S. oil production will exceed its 1970 peak

Crude oil production in the U.S. will reach an average of 9.9 million barrels a day in 2018, the Energy Information Administration projects in its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook report. This would surpass the previous record of 9.6 million barrels per day, set in 1970. So much for Hubbert’s Peak. In 1956, geologist M. King […]

Has fracking reached peak sand?

Texas oil is booming, and so are the sand mines needed for fracking the wells. But hydraulic fracturing leader Halliburton is warning that its surging sand use is finally topping out, and maybe even falling. Fairmount Santrol, an Ohio company, announced this week it will build yet another sand mine in the Permian Basin to […]

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