Sunday, August 5, 2012

Fracking China

The following is an excerpt from the linked article on exporting shale oil and gas drilling and production technology. We need all the exports we can get.
Peter

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/07/21/will-the-u-s-export-fracking-to-the-rest-of-the-world/

Will the U.S. export fracking to the rest of the world?

"Fracking could also catch on in China, eventually. Jenny Mandel recently wrote a long and comprehensive piece in E&E News on the country’s growing interest in U.S. shale gas technology. China is a tantalizing landscape for drillers — the country has an estimated 1,275 trillion cubic feet of “technically recoverable” gas, compared with 862 trillion cubic feet in the United States. But fracking has been slow going. The geology is much more difficult to work in — many of China’s shale formations are far deeper underground — and the lack of private property rights has hindered development. (Meanwhile, the biggest shale gas prize lies in the Tarim Basin out west in the Xinjiang Uighur autonomous province. But water is hard to come by in that arid region — and fracking needs plenty of water.)"

Saturday, June 2, 2012

American Natural Gas Changing The World?

In a sense, natural gas, being mainly methane (CH4) is a "renewable" resource. Consider how it is produced in and from land fills, piles of manure, and so called "swamp gas". Since this gas is so clean burning, (we use it in our homes every day) it is no wonder it is becoming so popular and useful all around the world. The big question is, how much of it is there?

With the horizontal drilling and fracking taking place in shales, the future supply seems tremendous. My question is it constantly being generated from the organic material in all these abundant shales around the world? That would almost make it "renewable", would it not? Any thoughts on this concept?
Peter

Why American Natural Gas Will Change The World

LNG Carrier Galea - IMO: 9236614 - Singapore

source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewhulbert/2012/05/26/why-american-natural-gas-will-change-the-world/

‘It was the best of times; it was the worst of times’ – never a truer word spoken for the gas industry. Whilst Chesapeake is fighting for its life in the US, spot gas prices are reaching all-time highs in Asia. In this ‘Tale of Two Cities’ you’ll get $2/MMBtu in New York (Henry Hub) and around $20/MMBtu in Singapore (Asian spot). The divorce between the Atlantic Basin and Pacific Basin couldn’t be any starker – the question is whether these spreads will incrementally narrow under inexorable laws of economics, or whether politics will throw a spanner in the works. Depending on how you answer this ‘convergence question’ will have dramatic implications for hydrocarbon asset prices in the years to come. Not to mention the contours of international energy relations.

article continued here.