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The US is already in the midst of an energy revolution, just not the renewable one in question. Fracking has changed the game and pushed the US into being the l
by jonknee 11y ago
The US is already in the midst of an energy revolution, just not the renewable one in question. Fracking has changed the game and pushed the US into being the largest oil producer in the world.
Hopefully fracking's cheap oil won't push the renewables timetable too much farther down the road.
- toomuchtodo 11y agoMost fracking expansion in the US has come to a screeching halt due to Saudi Arabia's production rate (which they're using to try to kill fracking). This is only prolonging the oil pain though, as the capital expenditures have already been made and the wells established. You'll see consolidation in the tight oil space over the next year as company's default on their (excessive) debt, and wells come back online as the price of oil heads back up to $100/barrel (futures markets are already predicting ~$70/barrel by the end of the year). So you'll see these erratic price movements in the oil market (death throes?) while this transition to electrification continues; renewables investments aren't directly affected by the price of oil due to them not directly competing with oil (oil = vehicles/airplanes/trucks, renewables = electricity market).
- adventured 11y agoThat's not accurate. US oil production is up 10% over this time last year. Most fracking expansion has come to a halt, not fracking itself. The vast fracking production gains have not been reversed. And above $60 to $65, expansion will pick up (which has already begun; along with EOG announcing it will pick up at about $65). Production is currently running near recent record highs: http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=WCRFPUS2&f=W http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=WC...
- toomuchtodo 11y agoThanks for correcting me. I've updated my post. Also: "Half of U.S. Fracking Companies Will Be Dead or Sold This Year" http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-22/half-of-u-s-fracking-companies-will-be-dead-or-sold-this-year http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-22/half-of-u-...
- jonknee 11y agoThe Economist touched on this last week, it's a good read: http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21648622-fall-oil-price-has-not-curbed-fracking-nearly-much http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21648622... Spending went way down, but so far US oil production is actually up.
- jacquesm 11y agoYou're a bit behind current affairs.
- jonknee 11y agoNope. Check the numbers, the US production is up even with the slump in prices caused by all the extra supply. Rig counts are down, exploration is down, but production is up. http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21648622-fall-oil-price-has-not-curbed-fracking-nearly-much http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21648622...
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- jacquesm 11y agoMy Canadian contacts in the fields say otherwise (the ones that aren't laid off...), but I can see how if the exploration is down the number of workers would be reduced as well as when the rig counts are down, hard to square that with production being up but I guess that's possible too if you exploit fewer rigs. The boom has definitely halted though and there is no sign of it resuming any time soon, also there are more and better organized actions against the environmental impact of fracking.