Oily Stuff

At what point did the United States abandon conservation of our remaining natural resources, like oil and gas, and allow corporate America to decide what is best for our nation?  

​

The answer is partially when the oil export ban was lifted in 2015.

 

The shale oil sector borrowed hundreds of billions of dollars and put4.8 MM BOPD of unwanted shale oil on a balanced world market. The price collapsed accordingly. Needing more market share and a place to sell its LTO, U.S. shale oil bought Congress and got the export ban lifted. It then borrowed more money and since 2016 it has exported close to 10 B barrels of Permian tight oil to foreign countries, below costs. It lost $400 B along the way and at $60 oil prices cannot pay back it's remaining $178 B of debt. 

​

Regulators, like the Texas RRC, were bought also, and amended field rules that allowed shale oil wells in the Permian to be drilled as close together as 330 feet. It allowed the unfettered waste of natural gas up flare stacks, the depletion of groundwater resources and now there is so much produced water from these shale wells West Texas has become Earthquake City. 

​

And it has changed the landscape in Texas forever with export terminals, LNG terminals, new shipping ports...corporate America did all that because it was in a big damn hurry to drain America, first, before any other part of the world, all for the sake of money. 

​

The United States is the largest oil producing country in the world yet has only 4% of the world prove oil reserves. It got in a big damn hurry to be the largest oil producer in the world and lost hundreds of billions of dollars along the way. 

​

None of this is going to turn out well. We are leaving our children with nothing but debt and no hydrocarbons to manage their lives with, nothing for their long-term energy security. 

​

Oil exports will prove someday, soon, to be the biggest blunder in American energy policy history. 

​