We need to learn quickly to keep up with the massive change around us so we don't get run over. We need to outrun change.
Both the Bakken and Eagle Ford fields have a large backlog of wells that had been drilled but are waiting for completion.
Since I do the majority of my work sitting at a computer, I think this is a great problem to have. Not so much for those making a living from oil production.
I’d been wondering about this.
Here is an indication of the time it takes to drill a well, from Stephen J. Lee in the Grand Forks Herald – Record rig count on N.D. Oil Patch:
Continue reading “Typical time for drilling a well in Bakken”
Is interest in Facebook fading?
I’ve seen some indicators that Facebook may be peaking. A few random indicators:
Rich Karlgaard, publisher of Forbes had several comments about the Facebook IPO in his article 7 Reasons Why Facebook IPO Was a Bust:
Check out the previous illustrations of fracking I’ve mentioned here and here.
Then go search for illustrations that are critical of fracking. Ask yourself what critical information is missing.
I was going to link to specific examples, but there are so many it is hard to choose. Also, pointing out flagrant omissions and clever distortions from people’s videos tends to get them irritated. I’m not interested in a flame war.
There seem to be two common problems.
Continue reading “What critical information do the anti-fracking illustrations leave out?”
Reuters reports Shale energy triggers bean rush in India.
Gum from a bean called guar is a key ingredient in hydraulic fracturing. It makes the mixture of sand and water that is injected into a well more fluid and easier flowing. Here is a more detailed explanation from Reuters:
Guar gum is used to increase the viscosity of proppants, materials which are forced into shale fractures to enlarge them so that the oil and gas can be extracted. It also helps reduce friction, which in turn decreases the energy consumed.
How much do you need to frack a well? The Reuters article says nine metric tons per well.
Demand for guar gum has exploded. Prices have increased by a factor of about 10 in the last year.
“Future-proofing your career” has three areas of advice for new college grads from Charlie Ball.
Actually, the advice applies to everyone.
With new college grads having at least a 45 year work horizon in front of them, he has three major words of advice:
Continue reading “Radical change is a factor for even the newest college grad”
Count of drilling rigs week of June 1 – 215 and 276.
Continue reading “Rig count in Bakken and Eagle Ford fields – 6-1-12”
An exhibit at the Huntington Library called Visions of Empire: The Quest for a Railroad Across America, 1840-1880 had a comment describing payments from the government to railroad companies to assist in constructing the transcontinental railroad:
Lots of money at the time, but a bargain considering how much it helped the economy develop.
Here is the Wikipedia definition of proven reserves, which is the same definition I’ve read elsewhere:
Proved reserves are those quantities of petroleum which, by analysis of geological and engineering data, can be estimated with a high degree of confidence to be commercially recoverable from a given date forward, from known reservoirs and under current economic conditions.
Here’s a short definition, from Hard Facts – An Energy Primer provided by the Institute for Energy Research.
They are the estimated reserves that are easily accessible and recoverable with today’s technology and today’s oil prices.
I’ve been using Daniel Yergin’s Wall Street Journal article There Will Be Oil as the jumping off point to explain that the concept of ‘peak oil’ is invalid. See previous posts here, here, and here.
First privately designed, funded, operated, recovered, and paid space ship splashed down May 31. SpaceX’s Dragon capsule returned from its resupply mission to the International Space Station. It will be towed to Los Angeles. How’s that for a more efficient recovery methodology?
See Space.com’s article – Space Dragon Capsule Splashes Down in Pacific, Ending Historic Test Flight.
The article points out this is the first resupply ship that brings things back. It returned with 1,367 pounds of cargo, including completed experiments.
Developments in Mali are interesting to me because I have traveled there in the past.
News in recent months is sad. Previous post describes a coup by the military leaders.
Walter Russell Mead reports in AQ Sympathizers Proclaim Islamic Republic in Northern Mali that several factions have banded together to declare an Islamic Republic in the northern portion of Mali.
Continue reading “Unintended consequences – Ripple effects in Mali from Libyan war”
Lots of news sites are reporting on some data released by the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources.
Here’s the key data:
Typical well in Bakken and Three Forks fields will produce about 540,000 barrels of oil during a 29 year lifespan.
Cost to drill is typically $7.9M
During that run a typical well will generate: Continue reading “Expected lifetime production data for a Bakken well”
An exhibit at the Huntington Library called Visions of Empire: The Quest for a Railroad Across America, 1840-1880 had a display describing coast-to-coast travel time:
Twenty-six weeks versus one week. That would be a 96% reduction in travel time.
The exhibit also had a display listing the average speed of travel in miles per hour:
Previous posts show superb illustrations of fracking here and here. I browsed the ‘net and found a few more illustrations that are good:
Here is an illustration of the fracking process. Notice that the ground water is usually 100’ to 500’ below the surface. The horizontal run is usually 1 or 1.5 miles down. There’s thousands of feet of hard granite that isolates the ground water at 500’. Notice the mile of rock in the illustration between the fracking level and ground water.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=qm7e553S7fg#t=277s]
Continue reading “More illustrations of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.”
On Saturday, astronauts on board the International Space Station docked with and entered a privately designed, built, and funded resupply ship. Count that as a major victory for SpaceX specifically and private space travel in general.
The Wall Street Journal has two great articles:
Here is a one paragraph summary of the plan: