In the article of IHT/NYT, “Spreading an Energy Revolution”. by CHRISTOF RÜHL, published: February 5, 2013, the group chief economist of BP preaches all the wonderful results of fracking. I agree that fracking has its advantages and marks progress. But as I explain in detail in Toxic Capitalism, the technology is also very dangerous if not planned and executed with utmost care. Rühl obviously glances over all those problems. The prospect of North American energy self-sufficiency is real but comes often at a cost that is shifted to future generations to deal with. Especially if some companies, like BP, are known to cut corners with terrible consequences.
See the article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/06/opinion/global/spreading-an-energy-revolution.html
SCMP reported that worldwide shale oil production could add US$2.7 trillion to the global economy annually by 2035 by slashing the price of crude by as much as US$50 a barrel, according to a recent PWC report. Shale oil production could surge to 14 million barrels per day, or as much as 12% of total oil output from around 1% now, as it expands from its US base over the next two decades, PWC reported.
But not everybody is buying it.
In another IHT/NYT article, “Vast Oil Reserve May Now Be Within Reach, and Battle Heats Up”, by NORIMITSU ONISHI, published February 3, 2013 the author digs into some of the controversies regarding the Monterey Shale in California.
The oil companies’ plans for the Monterey Shale are drawing increasing scrutiny from environmental groups. Though oil companies have engaged in fracking in California for decades, the process was only loosely monitored by state regulators.
The Monterey Shale’s geological formation will require companies to engage in more intensive fracking and deeper, horizontal drilling, a dangerous prospect in a seismically active region like California, environmental groups say.
Environmental groups, including the Sierra Club and the Center for Biological Diversity, are suing the Bureau of Land Management and the Department of Conservation to prevent the opening up of further land to oil exploration and to enforce stricter environmental practices.
Said Kassie Siegel, a lawyer at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Fracking poisons the air we breathe and the water we drink. It is one of the most, if not the most, important environmental issue in California.”
As a result, there is now more attention paid to regulate the whole process and make sure it goes as the oil companies pretend: “there are no problems, no incidents”.
Read the whole story:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/04/us/vast-oil-reserve-may-now-be-within-reach-and-battle-heats-up.html
More worrying is that China is looking at fracking for its own energy revolution – but conditions are much tougher than in the U.S. And Chinese excel in cutting corners. More about fracking in China in a next post.