Hi all,
This thread is intended for non fossil fuel topics. Whatever people would like to discuss.
I will have a new oil post up in a few hours (hopefully). So if you can wait, oil, natural gas and coal related topics would be better in that thread.
North Dakota Oil Production Declining But Slowly
The North Dakota Oil Production Stats are out. North Dakota crude oil production was down just less than 10,000 barrels per day.
Bakken crude oil production was down 7,743 bpd in March while all North Dakota production was down 9,846 barrels per day.
World Rig Count Still Falling
Baker Hughes recently published their International Rig Count. This rig count is at the end of April. It does not include the US, Canada, any of the FSU countries or inland China. The count includes both oil and gas rigs.
Total International Rigs stood at 946 in April, down 39 for the month and down 436 rigs since the latest peak in July 2014.
The Latin America rig count stood at 203 in April, down 15 rigs since April and down 204 since July 2014.
Europe rig count stood at 90 in April, down 6 in the last month and down 63 since July 2014.
African rigs seem to have leveled out. They stood at 90 in April, down only 1 from March. Africa’s latest peak was in November 2014 and they are down 52 from that point.
The Middle East rig count had been holding steady but dropped 13 rigs in April. That is down 48 rigs since their latest peak in July 2014.
Baker Hughes’ total world rig count is just their total international rig count plus the US and Canada. It still does not include any FSU countries or inland China. The total world rig count did not start dropping until after November 2014 when it stood at 3,670 rigs. It is down 2,246 rigs since then and now stands at 1424 rigs after dropping 127 rigs in April.
The US monthly rig count dropped 41 rigs from March to April and now stands at 437. The Count stood at 1,925 in November 2014 and is down 1,488 rigs since that point.
The Canadian rig count is highly seasonal and usually peaks in February. The last normal February peak was in 2014 when it peaked at 626 rigs. The 2016 February peak was 211 rigs. The March to April decline was 47 rigs and their total rig count now stands at just 41 rigs.
Texas Update-April 2016 and US L48 OS C+C Annual Decline rate
The Texas Railroad Commission (RRC of TX) updated its online database a few weeks ago. The best estimates I have seen for Texas C+C and natural gas output are produced by Dean. Thank you Dean for sharing your analysis with us.
The following 4 charts were produced directly by Dean, output for Oil + Condensate, Oil, and Condensate are in barrels per day, and Total Natural Gas is in thousands of cubic feet per day.
The World in 2030- Non-Fossil Fuel Open Thread
This is a non-fossil fuel Open Thread, with a suggested topic of what the World will look like in 2030.
There are many different visions of the future. Some see either slow or fast collapse due to financial crises caused by high debt levels, overpopulation, resource constraints, war, and environmental damage (not a complete list.)
Others see the potential for technological progress in EVs and other transportation, low cost solar and wind energy sources, reduced cost battery storage, low cost sensors, and new business models leading to disruptive changes that may allow us to overcome many resource constraints, reduce environmental damage, and transform society. In addition, this optimistic view foresees a Worldwide demographic transition with World population peaking in 2050 at 8.2 billion and falling back to 7 billion by 2100 and reaching 2 billion by 2200 as total fertility ratios (TFR) fall to 1.6 births per woman and average life expectancy tops out at 90 years.
Reality may fall somewhere between these sharply contrasting visions of the future, but from my perspective, the future is far from clear.