US Oil and Gas Bust, COVID-19 related

[Winehole23]

US crude oil production in May plunged by 1.99 million barrels per day, from 12 million b/d in April to 10 million b/d, the largest monthly drop since at least 1980, and the sixth monthly drop in a row, according to the EIA (https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/production/).


This comes after the collapse in demand for transportation fuels (https://wolfstreet.com/2020/07/23/update-on-the-wtf-collapse-of-consumption-of-gasoline-jet-fuel-diesel/) – especially gasoline and jet fuel – that started in March and exacerbated the oil glut and a downward spiral of the already depressed prices for crude oil. Amid a torrent of bankruptcy filings by oil-and-gas companies (https://wolfstreet.com/2020/07/10/the-great-american-shale-oil-gas-massacre-bankruptcies-defaulted-debts-worthless-shares-collapsed-prices-of-oil-and-natural-gas/), drillers cut drilling activity and production. This trend restarted last year, after having subsided somewhat following phase 1 of the Great American Oil Bust in 2015-2016, but took on record proportions during the Pandemic. From the peak in November 2019 of 12.86 million b/d, production has now plunged by 22.2%
https://wolfstreet.com/2020/08/05/us-crude-oil-production-plunged-most-ever-natural-gas-followed-the-great-american-oil-gas-bust-phase-2/

[Winehole23]

Texas, the state with by far the largest production in the US and the epicenter of the oil-and-gas bankruptcy filings, was also the state with the largest production cuts, in terms of million b/d. Peak production occurred in March 2020 at 5.44 million b/d. By May production had plunged 19% to 4.39 million b/d.


In the federal offshore Gulf of Mexico, the second largest producing area, production peaked in November 2019 at 2.0 million b/d. By May, production was at 1.6 million b/d, down 19%. Texas and the offshore Gulf of Mexico account for about 60% of US crude oil production.

[SpursforSix]

From an environmental standpoint, this is great. The Texas Railroad Commission has turned a blind eye to their own environmental restrictions and allowed oil companies to flair billions (probably trillions) of natural gas into the atmosphere just so the companies can sell the oil in West Texas. Low prices have at least caused many of them to shut in production. Ideally, if a Dem gets elected, they further enforce the environmental issues.

[boutons_deux]

no doubt, BigCarbon was and still is a huge contributor to Trash who fucked them badly with The Trump-Made Pandemic.

Trash fucked America, but still has 40% approval, even from those who are damaged, or lost people, from The Trump-Made Pandemic.

[boutons_deux]

Oil and Water:

How the Pandemic Was Used

to Suspend Environmental Protections


the Railroad Commission of Texas,

the regulatory and enforcement agency that is in charge of our state’s oil and gas industry,

misused a March 16 emergency order by the governor that

suspended portions of the Open Meetings Act

to suspend environmental rules (https://apnews.com/e7636bc2040e5911ceb562e170197984) that were designed to protect Texans.

Among the rules suspended was the requirement of oil and gas operators to plug abandoned wells and remediate waste pits that contain toxic substances.

the industry is now allowed to store oil in underground structures other than salt domes.

These structures are not certified as being safe and pose an extreme risk to the public and the environment.

If we had adequate notice of what was being proposed, ranchers would have asked to be heard and explain why this is bad policy

the railroad commission’s mission is

“is to serve Texas by our

stewardship of natural resources and the environment, :lol

our protection of personal and community safety, :lol

and our support of enhanced development and economic vitality for the benefit of Texans.” :lol

There are over 6,200 orphaned oil and gas wells (https://opportune.com/Energy-Sector-Insights-Events/Insights/Will-Low-Oil-Prices-Accelerate-Number-Of-Orphaned-Oil-Gas-Wells-In-Texas/) in our state that are in immediate need of plugging.

https://therivardreport.com/oil-and-water-how-the-pandemic-was-used-to-suspend-environmental-protections/?utm_campaign=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter-coronavirus&utm_content=thirdparty&utm_term=commentary&mc_cid=085d6d6849&mc_eid=54a5432c74

Capitalism! fuck anybody, fuck anything, corrupt anything to amass/protect Capital

[RandomGuy]

From an environmental standpoint, this is great. The Texas Railroad Commission has turned a blind eye to their own environmental restrictions and allowed oil companies to flair billions (probably trillions) of natural gas into the atmosphere just so the companies can sell the oil in West Texas. Low prices have at least caused many of them to shut in production. Ideally, if a Dem gets elected, they further enforce the environmental issues.

A lot of these old wells aren't capped. Could put an awful lot of oilworkers to work capping them.

[Winehole23]

From an environmental standpoint, this is great. The Texas Railroad Commission has turned a blind eye to their own environmental restrictions and allowed oil companies to flair billions (probably trillions) of natural gas into the atmosphere just so the companies can sell the oil in West Texas. Low prices have at least caused many of them to shut in production. Ideally, if a Dem gets elected, they further enforce the environmental issues.Enviro will to power, I can dig it. IRL the cost of renewable energy is already competitive.

https://www.evwind.es/2020/08/05/offshore-wind-energy-will-surge-to-over-234-gw-by-2030-led-by-asia-pacific/76266

[boutons_deux]

A lot of these old wells aren't capped. Could put an awful lot of oilworkers to work capping them.

there's no profit, pure expense, and the driller or owner is unknown, dissolved, bankrupt, dead

[TeyshaBlue]

A lot of these old wells aren't capped. Could put an awful lot of oilworkers to work capping them.

It's weird. My family owns quite a bit of land that's covered with little stripper wells. I expected them to be capped when the market collapsed. Instead, the bottom dropped out of the royalty checks but they continue to produce. Lately, we've been bombarded with offers for our land/mineral rights. Not what I would expect in a moribund market. There's something I'm not seeing here.

[tholdren]

A lot of these old wells aren't capped. Could put an awful lot of oilworkers to work capping them.

Lol you said all hoapitals in Houston San antonio and Texas would be over capacity.


WRONG



your math is terrible

[RandomGuy]

Lol you said all hoapitals in Houston San antonio and Texas would be over capacity.


WRONG



your math is terrible

(hits view post, out of mild curiosity to see if the post had anything to do with oil/gas)

Nope.

Just you lying, and repeating the same shit over and over.

Its boring.

How does it feel to be viewed as the single dumbest poster in this forum?

[RandomGuy]

It's weird. My family owns quite a bit of land that's covered with little stripper wells. I expected them to be capped when the market collapsed. Instead, the bottom dropped out of the royalty checks but they continue to produce. Lately, we've been bombarded with offers for our land/mineral rights. Not what I would expect in a moribund market. There's something I'm not seeing here.

Guessing a lot of investors are desperate for bargains are pushing money into buying while market is low. That is wierd.

[SpursforSix]

there's no profit, pure expense, and the driller or owner is unknown, dissolved, bankrupt, dead

This is right. Hundreds...maybe thousands of orphan wells. For any company operating in the margins, plugging a well is way down on the list of things to do. And while they have to put up a bond with the RRC, it's usually never enough to cover the cost.
Additionally, the RRC rarely enforces the plugging requirement in the proscribed timeline.

[SpursforSix]

It's weird. My family owns quite a bit of land that's covered with little stripper wells. I expected them to be capped when the market collapsed. Instead, the bottom dropped out of the royalty checks but they continue to produce. Lately, we've been bombarded with offers for our land/mineral rights. Not what I would expect in a moribund market. There's something I'm not seeing here.

They're likely holding a lot of acreage by producing the wells at marginal rates. If they quit producing, they'll lose all of that acreage. There may be potential for other formations that aren't currently producing that might be economic at some point in time. This is pretty common.

[RandomGuy]

They're likely holding a lot of acreage by producing the wells at marginal rates. If they quit producing, they'll lose all of that acreage. There may be potential for other formations that aren't currently producing that might be economic at some point in time. This is pretty common.

Interesting. Thanks for the insight. I learned something.

[TeyshaBlue]

They're likely holding a lot of acreage by producing the wells at marginal rates. If they quit producing, they'll lose all of that acreage. There may be potential for other formations that aren't currently producing that might be economic at some point in time. This is pretty common.

Yeah, I understand keeping the acerage active. What I don't understand is the flood of offers for the land from other producers.

[Will Hunting]

It’s from April, but this article did a really good job explaining the inherent issues with US oil production that the COVID pandemic has exposed:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/10/opinion/sunday/coronavirus-texas-fracking-layoffs.html?referringSource=articleShare

[SpursforSix]

Yeah, I understand keeping the acerage active. What I don't understand is the flood of offers for the land from other producers.

Pretty good sign that they believe there are some good future reserves. Is this West Texas?

[DMC]

Oh my god the end is nigh

[Winehole23]

Oh my god the end is nighI don''t think so, why do you?

[Winehole23]

BP hypothesizes the world may have already reached peak oil demand:


The 2020 edition (https://www.bp.com/content/dam/bp/business-sites/en/global/corporate/pdfs/energy-economics/energy-outlook/bp-energy-outlook-2020.pdf) of the annual outlook (https://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/energy-economics/energy-outlook.html) reveals – albeit indirectly – that global oil demand will not regain the levels seen last year. It adds that demand could soon fall rapidly in the face of stronger climate action – by at least 10% this decade and by as much as 50% over the next 20 years.

The latest outlook was delayed by six months so that it could reflect the unprecedented impact (https://www.carbonbrief.org/iea-coronavirus-impact-on-co2-emissions-six-times-larger-than-financial-crisis) of the coronavirus pandemic. The delay also reflects BP’s plans (https://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/who-we-are/reimagining-energy.html), set out over the course of this year, to reach net-zero emissions (https://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/who-we-are/reimagining-energy/aims-explained.html) by 2050 – as an “integrated energy company (https://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/what-we-do/our-strategy.html)”, rather than an oil major.

https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-world-has-already-passed-peak-oil-bp-figures-reveal
https://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/energy-economics/spencer-dale-group-chief-economist/peak-oil-demand-and-long-run-oil-prices.html