The dynamics of shale

The dynamics of shale

Andrew Harwood, research director (Asia upstream) at global consultancy group Wood Mackenzie, says that cost reductions and productivity improvements since 2014 mean that today only 20% of US tight oil potential production needs prices higher than $60/barrel to break even. “The majority of current shale oil production breaks even at prices below $60/bbl— this is why we have seen so much growth in US production since the start of 2017,” says Harwood




http://www.livemint.com/Money/RyhA0PnY2GLLuiqG3CeUYO/The-dynamics-of-shale.html

The House of Saud bows to the House of Putin

It may be too early to identify the Saudi pivot to Russia as the shift of the century. It is though a certified game-changer. Moscow is about to become the new sheriff in town, in virtually any town across Southwest Asia. And it’s getting there on its own terms, without resorting to a Colt dialectic. MBS wants energy/defense cooperation? He gets it. MBS wants less Russian cooperation with Iran? He doesn’t get it. OPEC aims at higher oil prices? Done. And what about the S-400s? Free – sort of – for all.


What concerns Moscow, deeply, is Saudi (formal or informal) financing of Salafi-jihadi outfits inside Russia. So a high-level line of communication between Moscow and Riyadh works towards dissipating any misunderstandings regarding, for instance, jihadism in Tatarstan and Chechnya.

Moscow does not buy the much-spun (in the West) Iranian “aggressive behavior” in the Middle East. As a key negotiator of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Russia very well knows that Iran’s ballistic missile program is actually the key target of Trump’s imminent decertification of the Iran deal.

The S-400 success story is unequivocal. Iran bought it. Turkey bought it. Now Saudi Arabia buys it – even after splurging a fortune in US weapons during Trump’s by now infamous “sword dance” visit to Riyadh.

King Salman may have boarded the Saudi Arabian Airlines flight, but the real architect of the pivot to Russia is MBS. Oil in Saudi Arabia accounts for 87% of budget revenues, 42% of GDP, and 90% of exports. MBS is betting all his cards on the Vision 2030 program to “modernize” the Saudi economy, and he knows very well it will be impossible to pull off if oil prices are low.

http://www.atimes.com/article/house-saud-bows-house-putin/

Oil from algae

Algae have emerged as one of the promising sources for bio-diesel production. There is a compelling reason - The yields of oil from algae are much higher than those for other identified sources. In practice, there are many questions and issues to be resolved before biodiesel can be produced sustainably & affordably on a large-scale from algae.

Algae pond operations are very simple. The algae are introduced into the pond and allowed to grow until they occupy 1% of the volume of the pond. Very high growth rates are achieved if the pond is constantly mixed by the paddle wheel and it is infused with an ample amount of CO2 and fertilizer. The paddle wheel rotates providing a current around the pond. The mixing is required to ensure that all of the algae receive the necessary amounts of solar radiation, CO2, and fertilizer required for optimal growth. The bubblers are spaced around the pond so that the CO2 is evenly dispersed throughout the pond.

The research so far indicates that that there are strains developed which can produce algae oil at $25 to 30 per barrel. Also the output indicated is of the order of 1.5 barrels a day per hectare. This is far superior to any other source of bio diesel, a million hectares can yield 1.5 million barrels a day! If crude prices continue to hover at levels of over $40 per barrel on a sustainable basis, algae oil is bound to attract research and development followed by commercialization.

An issue here that concerns India is the size of these ponds. In general the ponds that are to be constructed will need to be at least 20-25 hectares to be of economically viable scale. This implies that small farmers will not be able to participate as growers. Companies or individuals will have to rent out land from many small farmers and construct the ponds. This may not work out in most parts of India India, where renting out land from farmers on a large scale is not encouraged.

www.oilgae.com is a good resource for research on algal oil.