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We keep hearing about how america's overstretched itself with massive debt and budget deficits pulling the U.S economy into the dust and how the Dragon is poised to take over and how the next century will see the end of the American hyperpower,but what if this never happens?
I never speak without research and the primary reason the above question has come to my mind here is one particular resource the U.S has that has the potential to change the way America does business.... i speak of Shale oil and gas.
What is shale oil?some of you may ask well the answer as per wikipedia is
-Oil shale, an organic-rich fine-grained sedimentary rock, contains significant amounts of kerogen (a solid mixture of organic chemical compounds) from which liquid hydrocarbons called shale oil can be produced. Shale oil is a substitute for conventional crude oil; however, extracting shale oil from oil shale is more costly than the production of conventional crude oil both financially and in terms of its environmental impact.
How much shale oil is there on the planet?
-A 2005 estimate set the total world resources of oil shale at 411 gigatons — enough to yield 2.8 to 3.3 trillion barrels (450×109 to 520×109 m3) of shale oil. This exceeds the world's proven conventional oil reserves, estimated at 1.317 trillion barrels (209.4×109 m3), as of 1 January 2007.
How much shale oil does the U.S have?
The largest deposits in the world occur in the United States in the Green River Formation, which covers portions of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming; about 70% of this resource lies on land owned or managed by the United States federal government.Deposits in the United States constitute 62% of world resources.Four out of the five largest global fields of shale oil lie in the United states(the fifth is in Russia).
Isn't shale oils supposed to be commercially non- viable?
With current technologies yes, The earliest attempts to extract the oil utilized an environmentally unfriendly process known as "retorting." Stated simply, retorting required mining the shale, hauling it to a processing facility that crushed the rock into small chunks, then extracted a petroleum substance called kerogen, then upgraded the kerogen through a process of hydrogenation (which requires lots of water) and refined it into gasoline or jet fuel.
However New technologies such as hydraulic "fracking"
Hydraulic fracturing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
and an experimental(till now)technology called In-situ Conversion Process (ICP) by shell can change all that. Turning the United states into the World's largest oil producer with Saudi Arabia's daily output being a mere fifth of what american can get out of it's currently proven shale oil deposits per day.
What would this money change?
Everything... America would be able to build and maintain a far more advanced and numerous Military and also be a far bigger donor.The end of american dependence on mid-east crude would mean the end of american support to the monarchies which could lead to regime changes like crazy.. remember the map of the Neo-con Mideast we saw earlier, that gentlemen might come true faster than you can imagine.
Europe would be reduced to be a bit player relying on Russian oil and gas to fuel it's needs while the removal of american demand will see global oil prices go down leading to reduction in Russia's oil revenues to some extent as India and china will still remain consumers of global oil.
Just a Thought... would love to get your views on this
re
Oil Shale Reserves
New Boom Reshapes Oil World, Rocks North Dakota : NPR
Plans for Redrawing the Middle East: The Project for a �New Middle East�
Oil shale - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Shale oil - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
New American oil boom starts now | UnionTown Energy Inc.
Shale Oil Boom Comes To More US Plains States
Shale Oil Reserves and Drilling in North Dakota, Colorado
Oil shale reserves - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
As for us in India well we got shale too very little as compared to the big boys
The Energy Business – India Energy News, Nuclear Energy News, Renewable Energy News, Oil & Gas Sector News, Power Sector News � Oil shales: future energy: Anand Kumar, director R&D Indian Oil Corp
I never speak without research and the primary reason the above question has come to my mind here is one particular resource the U.S has that has the potential to change the way America does business.... i speak of Shale oil and gas.
What is shale oil?some of you may ask well the answer as per wikipedia is
-Oil shale, an organic-rich fine-grained sedimentary rock, contains significant amounts of kerogen (a solid mixture of organic chemical compounds) from which liquid hydrocarbons called shale oil can be produced. Shale oil is a substitute for conventional crude oil; however, extracting shale oil from oil shale is more costly than the production of conventional crude oil both financially and in terms of its environmental impact.
How much shale oil is there on the planet?
-A 2005 estimate set the total world resources of oil shale at 411 gigatons — enough to yield 2.8 to 3.3 trillion barrels (450×109 to 520×109 m3) of shale oil. This exceeds the world's proven conventional oil reserves, estimated at 1.317 trillion barrels (209.4×109 m3), as of 1 January 2007.
How much shale oil does the U.S have?
The largest deposits in the world occur in the United States in the Green River Formation, which covers portions of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming; about 70% of this resource lies on land owned or managed by the United States federal government.Deposits in the United States constitute 62% of world resources.Four out of the five largest global fields of shale oil lie in the United states(the fifth is in Russia).
Isn't shale oils supposed to be commercially non- viable?
With current technologies yes, The earliest attempts to extract the oil utilized an environmentally unfriendly process known as "retorting." Stated simply, retorting required mining the shale, hauling it to a processing facility that crushed the rock into small chunks, then extracted a petroleum substance called kerogen, then upgraded the kerogen through a process of hydrogenation (which requires lots of water) and refined it into gasoline or jet fuel.
However New technologies such as hydraulic "fracking"
Hydraulic fracturing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
and an experimental(till now)technology called In-situ Conversion Process (ICP) by shell can change all that. Turning the United states into the World's largest oil producer with Saudi Arabia's daily output being a mere fifth of what american can get out of it's currently proven shale oil deposits per day.
What would this money change?
Everything... America would be able to build and maintain a far more advanced and numerous Military and also be a far bigger donor.The end of american dependence on mid-east crude would mean the end of american support to the monarchies which could lead to regime changes like crazy.. remember the map of the Neo-con Mideast we saw earlier, that gentlemen might come true faster than you can imagine.
Europe would be reduced to be a bit player relying on Russian oil and gas to fuel it's needs while the removal of american demand will see global oil prices go down leading to reduction in Russia's oil revenues to some extent as India and china will still remain consumers of global oil.
Just a Thought... would love to get your views on this
re
Oil Shale Reserves
New Boom Reshapes Oil World, Rocks North Dakota : NPR
Plans for Redrawing the Middle East: The Project for a �New Middle East�
Oil shale - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Shale oil - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
New American oil boom starts now | UnionTown Energy Inc.
Shale Oil Boom Comes To More US Plains States
Shale Oil Reserves and Drilling in North Dakota, Colorado
Oil shale reserves - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
As for us in India well we got shale too very little as compared to the big boys
The Energy Business – India Energy News, Nuclear Energy News, Renewable Energy News, Oil & Gas Sector News, Power Sector News � Oil shales: future energy: Anand Kumar, director R&D Indian Oil Corp