richieb Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 Never thought I would complain or worry about prices dropping on a commodity each of us use daily but gas pices are reaching a point that is rocking much more than the extra dollars we gain at the pump. Suburb of KC just paid $1.58 for premium, regular was $1.34. I have read where experts say a Buck a gallon is not out of the question. Energy and petroleum in particular have tentacles that reach much further than the digits spinning at the pump. This is affecting each of us as our $$$ buy more now and you will have less $$$ circulating in your Golden Years. Pay me now/pay me later? Like most things a happy medium is usually best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 Think a little more about that. What if----what if a free energy source was discovered and utilized? Bad thing or good thing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 regular was $1.34 And a good chunk of that is tax. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 Would that be scary? Cool and heat your home and transport yourself with free energy? I can't wait for that kind of revolutionary scariness. All of a sudden industry need not worry about energy cost as a factor of production? Maybe Your wages could go up because energy cost was not a factor? damn I am so scared. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 Yep. Enjoy, because we will pay for it eventually. As you say, better to have prices stable and our national supply secure. Our national supply is now toast. When they wish, our foreign suppliers can now raise prices to whatever they want as it would take 10 years for domestic exploration and production to recover from the shedding of assets they've had to undertake to survive. And, many didn't and more won't. I spent 25 years in that industry and watched this disaster unfold. It was an energy Pearl Harbor. Energy independence was something we reached in 2013. It's gone now. Enjoy it while you can. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 Maybe Exxon's tentacles could be cut. Oh my. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 Yep. Enjoy, because we will pay for it eventually. As you say, better to have prices stable and our national supply secure. Our national supply is now toast. When they wish, our foreign suppliers can now raise prices to whatever they want as it would take 10 years for domestic exploration and production to recover from the shedding of assets they've had to undertake to survive. And, many didn't and more won't. I spent 25 years in that industry and watched this disaster unfold. It was an energy Pearl Harbor. Energy independence was something we reached in 2013. It's gone now. Enjoy it while you can. Dave BS Dave. The energy is stored and the rest is still in the ground. Our independence is safe. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derrickdj1 Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 Paid $1.24 for regular in my neck of the woods. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimjimbo Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 $1.57 South Bend Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 (edited) The energy is stored and the rest is still in the ground. Our independence is safe. You don't understand the business at all. I worked for the largest domestic drilling company in the US. We developed the technology that made shale oil profitable. Fracking actually goes back to 1865 or so and the Pennsylvania oil fields, but the modern process really came into full use in about 2003. But the rigs to drill wells amenable to fracking weren't yet developed. My company developed the FlexRig, which became the standard for all US shale oil fields and accounted for 1 out of 5 rigs by 2015. These were not just hole pokers. They were incredibly sophisticated rigs. The FlexRig M series could be rigged down at a completion and be drilling a new hole miles away in 8 hours. Think about it. Conventional rig move time is measured in days. Extraordinary American exceptionalism just like the old days. The computer software that basically ran these rigs was incredible. By the post 2010 period, we were building one of these rigs per week and sending them to the field. We'd won the war for independence from the ME barons by making it cost effective to bring wells on line that had not been economically viable. All gone. Helmerich & Payne is now a fourth the company it was 14 months ago. Pearl Harbored by OPEC and friends. Those lines that were turning out those rigs are now gone, and so is all the know how to build and operate them. That's why I said we will all pay the piper. They can be started up again, but it will take a decade to recover. The one truth in your post is that the stuff is still there. But when the ME and SA fields start running dry we'll pay more to get it. Moderation and stability would have been better for us. Dave Edited February 12, 2016 by Mallette Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 All knowledge is gone within a year? C'mon man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 You are the one who brought up the skunkworks technology making this all obsolete and saying what a boon to mankind it would be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 All knowledge is gone within a year? C'mon man. Yes. I am one of them. Luckily, I had been in the business so long I knew by October of 2014 that we were done and I'd been planning to retire anyway. I had a large staff of incredibly experienced people of whom only three remain. They won't last long either. The entire fabrication facility and the engineers that developed it are almost dismantled and will be completely so within months. These people won't be there when they are needed again. Just having a rocket doesn't tell you how to build it. You have to have people who understand it. Think, man, think. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 You are the one who brought up the skunkworks technology making this all obsolete and saying what a boon to mankind it would be. And, when I did, I was knocking down a fine salary in conventional energy. A future boon doesn't fill your tank today. Those things will come, but until then it's still burning ancient dead trees purchased at the price the seller chooses to set. Once they know we're screwed for at least a decade, watch them react. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 Growing up close enough to where you did I am sure I don't understand the business at all. Knowing the people I met over a lifetime involved in it never helped my understanding either. Try not to be the buggy whip guy. On the other hand, if necessary we still have lots of coal and somehow the technology hasn't been forgotten! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 yezzir, try putting coal slurry in your gas tank. I was not suggesting you were entirely ignorant of the business. You've dealt with me enough to know I am quick to point out what I don't know. But the exploration and production business is something I not only know but lived half a lifetime in, the latter part with the most successful, highest technology drilling company the world has seen. I know the guys who were the brains behind this technology up close and personal as friends...and the vast majority of them are either hunting a job or found one in other industries. No place to go from the top. Their knowledge is totally lost as they cannot wait a decade to put it to work again. I'm glad you like Big Brown and those other pollution generators that flank Dallas. Enjoy. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 I'm glad you like Big Brown and those other pollution generators that flank Dallas. Enjoy. Never said I like it. Never liked big oil making gazillions while paying no taxes back into society either. Never ever will like being hostage to any form of energy for that matter. My city has been weaning itself from all of that for our power grid as much as possible. When you read about power outages due to excess demand on the grid it's never us. Local control and foresight has seen to that. But forgive me Dave. There is not one economist that wont say that low energy prices are good for the economy in the long run. And knowledge once out of the bag is never lost. But maybe I'm just nervous over the lack of updates regarding the oldtimer room in Texarkana. I mean has a toaster even been procured? I'm willing to kick in on the mattress but it has to be firm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Richard Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 A lot of production wells, on and off shore, have been capped. Is it really that hard to start producing a capped well again? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 A lot of production wells, on and off shore, have been capped. Is it really that hard to start producing a capped well again? You guys don't get it. Yes, uncapping a well isn't that big a deal...but production has to stay well ahead of demand. The lifetime of a shale oil formation is quite limited and our supplies from those that remain producing will start dropping off rapidly and it won't be that long. The folks orchestrating this business move really read the book. They won't raise prices until our internal infrastructure is not only just dead, but well decayed. Brian, our discussions have nothing to do with the availability of your room. Just wish I could get mine sooner. However, we WILL have a camera at the door and you'll need to show bottles of hot sauce to get it unlocked. Toaster is entirely optional. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 You hear that carl? I'm going to need another toaster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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