Wolfcamp shale in TX.

[Mikey N.C.]

20 billion gallons , WOW
What do ya think ?
I think it cost more to produce.

[Wandering Man]

http://www.star-telegram.com/news/business/article114931993.html

Well, when the next hike in oil hits it will be affordable again.

Big boost in the local economies.

Big hit to the local infrastructure.

Frustration to anyone trying to get a hotel room.

Boost in the cost of housing.

And then it will all melt away, and you'll see hotels begging for business, small restaurants shutting doors, and developments that waited too long shutting down.

At least, that's what we saw in Victoria between 2010 and today.

[lazy shooter]

At Mikey, That's 20 billion barrels, not gallons.  As a reminder, a barrel of oil is 42 gallons, not the standard 55 gallon drum.  In the early 19 hundreds oil was hauled in barrels on horse drawn wagons or very primitive trucks.  So much of the oil spilled that the buyers would not pay for a 55 gallon drum, but instead, paid for only 42 gallons.  To this day, a barrel in the oilfield is 42 gallons.

lazy

[Riverrat]

http://www.star-telegram.com/news/business/article114931993.html

Well, when the next hike in oil hits it will be affordable again.

Big boost in the local economies.

Big hit to the local infrastructure.

Frustration to anyone trying to get a hotel room.

Boost in the cost of housing.

And then it will all melt away, and you'll see hotels begging for business, small restaurants shutting doors, and developments that waited too long shutting down.

At least, that's what we saw in Victoria between 2010 and today.

We have seen this same cycle in south central Kansas.  The local governments get use to living on all the extra tax revenue then when it dries up you see a big mill levy increase on property tax to cover the lost oil income.

[efmesch]

What do I think?  I think it's scary-----if we use all that oil and gas, just imagine how it's going to effect the world-wide CO₂ levels and increase global warming!
I think we (=humanity as a whole) should think of these finds as a temporary energy supply till we "perfect" better supplies of clean energy.
I worry that, when such bonanzas are found, the pressure is off the research for better energy solutions and we, as a whole will suffer.
Think of --more hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, floods, droughts,  etc.,etc., etc. as world weather patterns go berserk.

[lazy shooter]

@efmesch:

As always your analysis is "spot on," but politicians world wide seem to use excess monies for buying more votes.  In the US, we are now into a fresh water deficit that is depleting our oceans and estuaries of habitat.  Our largest aquifer is about dry, and when it is depleted, or agricultural production will drop by a large amount, but this will not be addressed until the shoe drops.  That's the same with "climate change."

We have enough clean burning natural gas to fuel all of our automobiles in this country, but our country lives on an antiquated hydrocarbon model seems to be "the irresistible force." 

The real problem is that we have over populated the earth.

lazy