2013 starts.... with Shale

WTI 93, Brent 111...... So?
World is going gaga over Shale oil and gas. Hell..... even China is allowing foreigners to come in and tell them how to exploit their shale resources!! (Can you believe that?!!!)
Does that mean do we know a lot about it? Nopes. Nada.
Self-proclaimed experts abound as they do whenever some new stuff comes around. But the fact remains that not many people have any data which can be used to see if any theories make any sense.... and those who do have some data, are not talking!
Where is the oil? How does it flow? What kind of pore-spaces does it come from? Do nano-pores have an effect on the composition of the hydrocarbon fluid? Do the intermediate pore throats connecting the pore spaces cause the fluid to change behavior?
So many questions..... But are they the questions one should be concerned about? Of course..... how else will we be able to 'simulate' shale oil? But currently, the questions being raised are the easier ones, concerning the hydraulic frac designs, effect of natural fracs, completion techniques etc etc. Answering these will help the initial development but won't be able to take us too far unless we can answer the more detailed unknowns....

Who are we kidding???

So the price per barrel has gone below $70. So? What's the hullabaloo about? Yes, the financial slow-down is a matter of concern, but neither is a $60 crude bad for our oil industry nor for the economy in general. So why the cribbing? Who told people to bet on $140 per barrel? Were they completely out of their minds?
When I entered the industry the crude was going at $10...... and we were STILL planning EOR projects, ready to initiate them as soon as the price went beyond $16!!
Greediness has been the downfall of many a industry.... even our industry had learnt its lesson a couplo-three decades back...... or did we?
If we can concentrate on the REAL issues, such as human resources and the lack of competition in many oil-field services, we could do a whole lot better.

Oil Industry Ethos

What is it that makes non-industry people hate us? My bet is that it is the history of the industry which was mostly governed by the erstwhile Exxon. Whenever I talk to an environ'mentalist' all they have to say about the industry is: "Exxon Valdez"!!! Will you let it go already??!!!

The matters are made worse by nincompoop Wall-Street ass-kissers with no background in petroleum engineering who claim to 'know' exactly how much hydrocarbons are left in the reservoirs and when they are getting finished. They all seem to conveniently leave out the fact that as crude prices go up, there is more money in the industry to employ more EOR techniques to enhance the production.

The oil industry is made up of people too...... and 99% of us are not Texan/Russian oil magnates! We are regular people who would also like to see a better environment and a better society. Take us out and the world will time travel back to the 18th century!