Jan, I think a lot of them are Federal lands, and they sold the mineral rights. The Republicrats made a lot of money selling drilling rights in the midwest, gulf and Alaska in the 80's and 90's.

According to the US government, we have had only 20 years of oil left since production started in the 1880s. Why would they change their tune now?

I just hope the feds are prevented from buying up Bakken land so that some future Democrat or Green administration can decide that its oil will never see the light of day.

Nothing "natural" about it at all. The Saudis decided to flood the market to prevent our country's wells from being profitable.

I'm sure they will pay off quite well the next time Saudi or Iran decides to embargo us.

Thank you, sir.

Well, that's a drill, baby, drill for you.

Yes. Drill horizontally into an oily shale formation
Use pre-selected points from new advanced technology to inject super cooled butane at the most optimum "pay zones " franc the rock to free the Texas tea.

Nick, I live in the middle of oil country, and can't avoid following all aspects of the business. None of these firms pursue losing enterprises, and the profit margins for fracked fields are substantial when the price per barrel is at $50 or above. There's plenty of resource at a tidy profit when the price is right.

Good to know dino poltergeists won't be rising up to wreck motorized vehicles.
Those of you who don't get what I'm saying watch the end of the original Poltergeist when it turns out that the house sets upon a graveyard concealed by the real estate developer.
Me dino did not see the remake because they almost always stink.
The remake for The Night of the Living Dead is a wonderful exception.
The Village of the Damned remake is fair to middlin'..

They're peak oilers.

Yes yes and yes.

Ayup!...by my calculations, even if there comes a non-oil fuel...we will still need or use oil for other things.
I also feel that corn, aside from a few ears during summer, should die a slow death. It's NOT cost effective, uses up a ton of natural resources in the ground and is not particularly healthful for humans nor animals...it's for the birds, perhaps.

Interesting. So, by that idea, maybe buying a bunch of older "depleted" wells would make sense and hold onto them...

Yes, Dale, I am pretty sure that the point of it is just that. It is an interesting take on a specific area of energy production, totally leaving out everything else and then sliding into "buy gold". However, the most interesting part is the assumption that the reduction is because of lack of availability, vice financial sense based on demand. The comments section is actually sort of funny, calling the article "fraud" in some cases. Maybe I should have put it in humor.

I think this is an alarmist article. The output from Bakken is dropping because the price of crude oil has dropped by over 1/2. This is not surprising at all.

Sure drill when economically when profitable but much of that stuff is not from past allosaurs and their kin but from the little things of the sea and that goes back billions of years further to when land animals were nothing but a dream in the mind of Einstein's Old One.

I read similar articles...hot bed controversy with the establishment. Some older played out well now showing more oil. There is also the thought that surface charging during a CME event may play a role as well.

Yes, I am not arguing that point, I agree that there is also a whole component of financial manipulation in the whole equation that was not addressed. Just as in the whole mortgage mess, the bond mess, and every other mess created when people try to sell something of no value, for huge amounts, or borrow on it.

Doc, as Freedom says, there is a bias there, but I still think the basic statement of the fields failing is true, simply because they were never a success financially, due to the nature of it, the waste and the over estimation of what was going to happen and costs, which then ballooned. A lot of the detailed "predictions do seem to be lacking in clarity and facts.

Dob, I would also say that the "unreported" recession in China, which they tended to hide, as well as the constant improvement in mileage (my 2015 Hyundai Elantra gets 40mpg, and is not a slouch, or small car like Fords Fiesta was) is contributing. The Saudis were playing with the market, and the politics of Iran being let off the leash also had an impact, I believe.

And very little if any, of what you hear.

I amnot sure he cares about how batteries have changed, although the "single focus" approach is always inaccurate because it does not encompass the impact of other associated sources. Look at supposedly Tesla is going to provide a battery system for a city to use, I did not read the article but applications like that will have impact.

Yes, natural gas is currently burned off in a lot of fields, mainly because the cost of holding, processing and transport, is not equal to the price. I would love to see it's use increased, in that in a lot of ways, it is cleaner and mere efficient, as well as not a lot of effort spent to improve it's use because of the perceived issues of storage and containment.

nickursis,
Since the price collapse the cost of mineral rights the cost of drilling rigs and improvements in fracing is already bringing the expense of exploration down significantly. See what the E&P co Pioneer Natural Resources has done. The industry is experiencing bankruptcies for the over levered. Those assets purchased 4 to 5 years are liquidated and sold based on current market conditions i.e.: price of oil and estimated or provable reserves.
With regards,
DOB

Excellent point.

Carl, Freedom has some good links to some interesting articles, where the theory is that oil is not just a result of organic matter, but is a chemical result as well and under the right circumstances, will renew itself.