Re: Feckless Pelosi

On Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:53:44 -0700, MooseFET wrote:

On Jul 17, 11:22 am, Joe Chisolm <nos...@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Wed, 16 Jul 2008 18:08:04 -0700, MooseFET wrote:

[snip]

The oil companies stopped drilling in Texas because there wasn't enough
money in it to make it worth the risk. In that era, people in Texas were
taking "OPEC holidays". These were unpaid days off work. The price of oil
had dropped so low that the joke:

Q: What's the difference between a seagull and an Texas oil man? A: Only
the seagull can make a deposit on a new car.

was being laughed at through the tears.

So true. It was a tough time for a lot of people I know. If you are
the type to look for conspiracy theories, one could suggest that OPEC
flooded the market with cheap oil to put us exactly where we are now.
I'm not one of those. I think it's just pure market economics. You buy
Chinese shoes because they are less expensive, the same goes for oil
feedstock.

 A lot has changed and not just
the price / bbl.  The technology is better, the tools are better, the
seismic data is better.

The guy with a willow witch still does about as well as the seismic
expert, however.

[....]

I would respectfully disagree. Well completion rates are up by about
20% from the 1970's. Down hole logging is better. Horizontal drilling
is better. In general there is just better knowledge of where to drill.



"Sour" oil and gas (high H2S content) is still more expensive to
process but that process is getting better. When I was growing up there
were *big* piles of sulfur out by the plants. There are markets for the
waste products now.


All the while the sweet stuff can be had and more profits can be made
processing it, the sweet stuff is what will get use. The oil companies
are in the business to make money.

Yes, but the availability of sweet will continue to decline vs that of
sour. The spread difference will start to make sour attractive. The
problem is refinery capability to handle the sour. I think, a couple
of years back, the price to convert a refinery was a billion.


--
Joe Chisolm
Marble Falls, TX

.

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