Why More Shale Oil is Not Gonna Happen

Adding more poison is not the answer

As shale oil production tips into decline pundits are suggesting that it’s just a matter of tapping into other exhausted oil fields, drilling thousands of more holes, dropping more explosives into the holes to bust up the shale formations, and sucking up the dregs. There are calls to extend this desperate ploy into Mexico.

To reiterate, there is plenty of oil remaining, but the problem is one of high costs to extract what is left. Shale oil comprised roughly 10% of our daily 100 million barrel oil burn. The shale industry was rocked by losses in excess of $300 billion dollars as of 2020. By now losses must surely exceed half a trillion dollars.

Clearly shale extraction is an act of extreme desperation because without these extra 10 million barrels of oil per day there would be nowhere enough oil available to keep the global economy afloat (that explains why we have kept at it despite these losses).

Recall that pre shale oil prices hit a record high of $147 per barrel? Without shale, demand outstrips supply and the price of oil continues to climb until the global economy collapses.

Most of the remaining 90 million barrels of oil we use on a daily basis is supplied by conventional oil wells which require less energy (cheaper) to produce. However costs have been skyrocketing with conventional oil production as new technologies are deployed to continue pumping oil from dyding fields.

10% of our oil is coming from incredibly expensive shale production.

90% is coming from moderately expensive conventional production.

Conventional production peaked around 2005 and despite new technologies, the decline in production is relentless.

As Tim Morgan and Gail Tverberg explain, we are on the cusp of total collapse.

Shale oil has bought us nearly two more decades of life, however governments have been forced to offset the damage done by pumping this extremely costly (money losing) oil into the mix by employing extreme stimulus measures. Ultra low interest rates, Liar Loans, supporting insolvent zombie corporations - they’ve done whatever it takes - and more.

And as always with things that cannot continue, they’ve stopped - and now we are fucked. Central banks, faced with an inevitable storm of inflation, raised interest rates to try to tame the beast. Applying these much higher rates to the enormous debt loads accumulated since the GFC will eventually destroy the economy and the last desperate gasp will likely be a rapid reduction in rates which will trigger hyperinflation and total collapse (the pushing on a string phase).

Feeding the dying beast more costly shale oil won’t help because expensive shale oil is what poisoned the beast to begin with. The beast is saying ‘no mas’ to more shale oil.

He just wants to crawl into a quiet dark corner and die.

Just like the hundreds of millions if not billions of Covid Vaxxers who are suffering horribly from injecting a different brand of poison.

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In other news…

THE CONSEQUENCES OF COLLECTIVE SELF-DELUSION

As some readers will know, I recently chose to use a period of necessary travel to isolate myself, for a space, from all forms of purported “news” and “information”.

It is something that I can heartily recommend to anyone, even if it involves just a few hours spent fishing at a place where no fish are to be found.

During this period of reflection, I gained a much clearer perspective on how a chapter of instability masquerading as “modernity” will end, even if the basics – the unfolding failures of money and technology – were already apparent.

Whilst our understanding of these basics will continue to improve, the task now is to strengthen the correlation between the calculated and the experienced.

What is particularly striking is the contrast between the abundant evidence of economic contraction and a near-universal refusal to accept this reality.

In practical terms, this means that “modernity” will end, not gradually, but very rapidly indeed.

Major Aussie Insurer Confirms the Health Care System Overwhelmed by Vaxxers

Earlier today I contact an insurer to enquire about reports of huge wait times to see both public and private health practitioners.

I suggested this was due to the huge numbers of vaccine injured fellas in Australia. The customer service person agreed that the system is overwhelmed and specifically said, ‘You are not off base on blaming this on the Covid vaccines.’