Is Tapping the Monterey Shale Worth It?

Yes but when!

All Fracking has been stopped in California, since July, due to the drought. I expect that it will not be allowed in Monterey. All along the California coast is completely Liberal and they won't stand for it.

They cut the estimates of recoverable reserves by a factor of 10, don't allow fracking, haven't built a new refinery in the State in over 30 years, are trying to get the existing wells, off and on the coast, shut down through environmental regulation, and want a high speed train to go through the fields outside of Fresno, to service LA and San Francisco, at a projected budget of over 65 Billion dollars, and the issue is whether or not they will attempt a go at the Monterey basin?????

So, we'll frack for oil we don't need so big oil can make another $10 billion profit they don't need. Who needs water anyway, it only takes 5 million gallons to frack a single well.

Then we'll just let the unwashed masses eat cake and drink their own urine?

Did you hear the one about the Exxon COE in Texas who sued to stop fracking next to his little spread, because it would spoil his view and he didn't want to hear the sound of progress, or the trucks that came with it?

You mean like Teddy Kennedy and all of the Rich Maaahhhtthhhaa's Vineyard residents, and other Mass. residents suing to stop the offshore wind farms because they were ugly? Or the wealthy Californians who sued to get the wind farms shut down because the were ugly and made too much noise? Or even the attempts of many Enviros to get the big Altamont, PalmSprings, and other wind farms shut down due to the fact they are major "bird, raptors, and bat Blenders"… Or the Ivanah plant , in the Mojave that fries them first? Then has the gall to ask for a delay on their debt coming due, and requests more "Grant" money to bail them out, even after raising their Natural Gas requirements for operations by 4 times? They use a LOT of natural gas. Guess where that comes from? Yeah, I guess you can say I am aware of a few of these. Tell me--You figure out a way to play without having to pay, and you, Sir, are at the top of the History books...

I'm not saying that there is not hypocrisy in those places as well.

It just strikes me as odd that Exxon's CEO doesn't want fracking in his back yard when his company fracks everywhere else.

I have a house and property that is powered by a wind farm in Minnesota. I'd let them put a generator on my land in a heart beat.

How do you justify using 5 million gallons of water to bring in a single well that is not really needed, at this time.

To be sure, you and I will have no say in any of this. As Abe said one day long ago in Gettysburg, "the world will little note , nor long remember, what we say here".

<But it/we will have to live with what we do here.>

Re: Water--Our DWP just blew out a water main and wasted 20 million gallons of water a day,for 3 1 / 2 days days, until they repaired it, and Nothing was produced, and Pauly Pavillion's floor was ruined, to the tune a few million dollars. The City of Sacramento leaks 135 gallons a day, PER Service .. City of Pasadena, with 500 miles of pipe, LEAKS over 1.5 MILLION gallons a day, and again no product. The entire California water distribution system loses approx. (Ready for this???), 228 Billion gallons per year, just through leaking pipes and aging infrastructure . Los Angeles DWP loses between 16 and 36 millions gallons PER Day, through leaks from aging infrastructure. These are only estimates, as they won't know until the next series of big mains break (You gotta break it before you know what's in it!)... Now, there are some shovel ready jobs. And Brown wants to spend 6 billion for a system of tunnels for water distribution, and at least 65 billion for a stupid train to nowhere, and there are only fingers in the dyke. At least the oil producers have a product, and are very judicious and precise with their water systems. Because they have a lot of investment and are accountable to the bottom line, as well as the regulators...My humble opinion..

Nobody wants to spend money on infrastructure, except contractors who will make the profits.

"At least the oil producers have a product" is hardly a valid argument. The have no way to get the natural gas to market. Just look at N. Dakota.

In due time, there may be a reason to pump the oil that is there, but it's not now.

NIMBY is a term used by rich people to put the junk into poorer neighborhoods. It's just a manifestation of the Golden Rule. He who has the gold makes the rules.

BTW, I'm in Arizona. It's cold in Minn. now. I don't go there unless something breaks.

I'd like to think that some of the energy we have locked in the ground would be considered as "reserves".

If we just frack the entire country and dump cheap gas and oil on the world market, we'll be tapped out in 30 years and slaves to whoever is willing to sell to us.

Bad idea.

Wall Street and upper, upper management want profits today.

They don't care about tomorrow.

I'm aware of that and it's a problem.

Unlike a mom and pop business, the businesses that hitch their wagons to Wall St are expected to keep growing forever. It's not possible.

It seems like in a lot of cases the stock valuation is more important than the actual business...and that's where everything moves off into the land of pretend perceived value.

I'm still worried about the repercussions of the Obama/ Fed never ending QE program that is being sustained with digitized dollars. I can't see it ending well.

Stay tuned for housing bubble burst II.

One can only hope that Wall Street will fall/fail then, also.

Care to bet?

Housing bubble?

That's small potatoes. The globe is buying gold and moving away from the petro-dollar...without our permission.

I'm worried about the "dollar" bubble bursting. It will be nightmarishly ugly if it happens, and no policy corrections are being implemented to stop it from happening.

I just hope I have enough gas and guns and ammo to get back to the land in Arkansas.

Probably the best place to be.

It's hard to dismiss the possibility when economists are predicting it...or looking ahead and seeing that our entire GDP will only cover the interest on our debt.

Not only are they continuing the insanity of QE, but they are securing our demise with the idiotic baseline budgeting.

I have serious doubts about the claim that we will run out in 30 years given what we have in just North Dakota alone that can be recovered using present tech is estimated to be enough to keep us going for 50+ years even with the approximate additional usage rates factored in.

If we 'run out' its not geology that causes it it will be politics and politics alone.

Your use of Wind, considering where you are, is a perfect example of proper use. BUT, if you were sitting on an ocean bluff in California, and your wind turbine was over Malibu, Santa Monica, Palo Alto, Marin, etc etc, those Liberals would have you shut down so fast…They want Green energy as long as it doesn't interfere with THEIR quality of life--Everyone else's , OK, but not theirs..Perfect examples of NIMBY's…..

How Better Glass Can Save Hundreds of Millions of Birds a Year

Am hoping so, but couldn't open the link. You could also say cells with 50% efficiency, rather than 21%, would be good too..

Governor Moonbeam wants the speed train, no one else wants it.

This is a real bad and stupid idea...at least for now.

Are they trying to create civil war?

First they wipe out the farmers over water, and now they are considering fracking in the central valley?

http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Drought-Feds-cut-water-to-Central-Valley-farmers-5256131.php

This would be one of the most blatant examples of crony capitalism ever...right up there with using eminent domain to kick people out of their homes so a shopping center can go in.

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Wait a minute. Is it fracking or conventional wells?

If it's conventional wells, and the stuff is seeping out of the ground anyway, why not?

They don't have the water for any fracking operations.

http://walrus.wr.usgs.gov/seeps/where.html