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Archive for the ‘energy’ Category

More buzz about Quaise

Posted in climate, drilling, energy, tagged , , , , on March 6, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Given the intermittency, space preemption, aesthetic, and wildlife issues associated with wind and solar power, more attention has been shifting to geothermal energy. Quaise’s plan to tap ultradeep heat resources has been on our radar for several years and has been attracting private funding and a bit of media buzz.

Quaise is exciting not only because of the unlimited energy potential, but because of the fascinating gyrotron technology that vaporizes hard rock and could enable wells to be drilled to depths of 20-30 km and temperatures of >1000° C. Nabors, a leading drilling contractor, is one of the Quaise investors, and will be involved with the test drilling.

Demonstrating the gyrotron technology in the field is a big step up from doing so in the lab. Those of us in the “peanut gallery” are awaiting more definitive information on the lab tests that have been conducted to date and the important field tests, which are scheduled for this year.

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Autry Stephen’s story reinforces our messages about successful companies

Posted in drilling, energy, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on March 4, 2024| Leave a Comment »

A Fortune article about Autry Stephens, Endeavor Energy Resources CEO, pegs him as the world’s richest oilman following the sale of his company to Diamondback Energy. His story reinforces many of the success messages previously discussed on BOE:

  • Humble beginnings: As the son of peanut-and-melon farmers, his work ethic was no doubt established at a young age.
  • Diverse experience starting with entry level positions: He “wore nearly every hat in the oil industry, from trucker to driller to engineer.”
  • Private land: Stephens started buying Texas Permian rights early in his career.
  • Technology leader: His company embraced the horizontal drilling and advanced well stimulation practices critical to Permian success.
  • Contrarian who stuck with his plan: When major oil companies left for more lucrative opportunities overseas, he continued adding Permian leases acquiring a total of 344,000 acres.
  • Low debt: His insistence on using cash to acquire drilling rights helped him survive the 2008 financial crisis, which crushed oil demand and bankrupted some US operators.
  • Lean organization: He focused on maintaining a lean staff and efficient operations, which no doubt facilitated effective communication and instilled common values.
  • Take care of your employees: He insisted that none of Endeavor’s 1200 employees be let go after the merger with Diamondback.
  • Support the community: Served Midland and merged with the company that was located right across the street.
  • Former Federal employee 😉: Not known as a key to success, but I’ll take it 😀. (Stephens once worked for the Army Corps of Engineers.)

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Exxon’s acquisition of Pioneer is impressive, but their business strategy seems a bit hypocritical

Posted in climate, energy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , , , on October 12, 2023| 2 Comments »

Impressive acquisition:

Hypocrisy?

  • Exxon is clearly intent on maximizing production in the Permian. This makes good business sense and is good for the US economy.
  • Contradictorily, Exxon intends to establish a CO2 disposal business (“carbon sequestration”) in the Gulf of Mexico. Is their goal to profit from emissions resulting from the consumption of the production that they are maximizing?
  • If Exxon believes the consumption of oil and gas is harmful to society, as suggested by their CO2 disposal plans, perhaps they should be curtailing their oil and gas production business rather than expanding it.
  • Deepwater Gulf of Mexico production, which Exxon has shunned, has much lower carbon intensity than Permian production, but Exxon’s sole GoM interest is CO2 disposal. Shouldn’t a company that is intent on reducing upstream GHG emissions be active in the leading offshore region in that regard, the region that is adjacent to their world headquarters?

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More on ultradeep microwave drilling for geothermal energy

Posted in climate, drilling, energy, Uncategorized, tagged , , , on September 21, 2023| 2 Comments »

As has been previously discussed on this blog, the renewable energy source that shows the greatest promise for generating the power needed to support economic growth is ultradeep geothermal.

This JPT article nicely describes the opportunities and challenges

Microwave drilling test. Source JPT/Quaise Energy

Good comparison of drilling into hard basement rock with conventional and millimeter wave (microwave) technologies:

The technical readiness level (TRL) for microwave drilling reflects that it has yet to be field tested. The drilling rate includes an estimated amount of flat time. The levelized cost of energy (LCOE) is an all-in estimate of the cost per megawatt-hour (MWh). Source: JPT/Quaise Energy.

Quaise Energy’s first full-scale testing of a hybrid drilling rig combining conventional rotary drilling and millimeter wave drilling capabilities is scheduled for 2024.

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Labor Day Salute to Offshore Workers

Posted in energy, Offshore Energy - General, Uncategorized, tagged , on September 4, 2023| Leave a Comment »

On Labor Day 2023, BOE is proud to salute the thousands of dedicated offshore professionals, in the US and around the world, who work in remote locations under challenging conditions to support economic growth and prosperity.

The overwhelming majority of offshore workers do their jobs skillfully and conscientiously, and are committed to protecting their colleagues and the environment.  It is their lives that are threatened, their “back yard” that is polluted, and their jobs that are at stake if accidents occur.

Fortunately for us, energy exploration and production doesn’t stop on holidays. Whether they are working or enjoying the day with their friends and families, BOE wants offshore workers to know that we appreciate their important contributions. Happy Labor Day!

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$300 oil?

Posted in energy, Uncategorized, tagged , , on August 31, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Forbes article: “Oil Is Going To $300 A Barrel”

The title grabs your attention, but the justification isn’t terribly compelling. The author simply adjusts the brief 2008 price spike ($200/barrel) for inflation to justify his forecast.

Per the author:

The thing about commodities like oil is that while they can be acutely volatile because of supply and demand and political events, long term their price is a function of the technology needed to create them and the state of inflation in the denominating economy.

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Ironically, the ultimate clean energy source is dependent on drilling technology

Posted in drilling, energy, tagged , , , on July 5, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Because space requirements and intermittency limit the ultimate potential of other renewable energy super-sources, ultradeep geothermal may be the most exciting energy alternative on the horizon. However, ultradeep geothermal’s enormous potential can only be achieved if we can reliably drill deep beneath the surface and tap into superheated rock. As Quaise Energy’s Carlos Araque, formerly a Schlumberger engineer, has noted: “A lot of the challenges are the same as for oil and gas.”

This short video provides a good summary of the drilling technology that is under development.

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Ultradeep geothermal is the most exciting renewable energy alternative

Posted in drilling, energy, tagged , , on June 15, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Linking an excellent article on a renewable energy alternative that BOE has been following closely.

Good assessment:

I’m confident because the externalities that come with wind, solar and batteries, which are the other top candidates, are too large to bear at multi-terawatt scale: too much land, too many minerals, too much labour per unit of energy. Geothermal is very different: it is more like fossil fuels without the carbon. It’s more like nuclear – except fusion doesn’t work yet and fission is controversial.

Carlos Araque

Challenges:

A lot of the challenges are the same as for oil and gas. The subsurface is an uncertain environment. The deeper you go, the more extremes you have, but we’ve come a long way with the oil and gas industry to develop a whole suite of technologies, techniques and measurement systems to minimise that risk. The main challenge is maintaining wellbores from closing in on themselves as you go deeper. There’s a lot of pressure in the rock and these holes eventually will collapse. The way we answer that is by creating a glass wall in the rock as we burn it. When our technology vaporises the rock, it creates a glass wall and that remains on the walls and prevents the hole from collapsing.

Related posts:

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Supreme Court will review the “Chevron doctrine”

Posted in energy, energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, Uncategorized, tagged , , , on May 4, 2023| Leave a Comment »

The Supreme Court will hear a case that could significantly scale back federal agencies’ authority, with implications for regulations affecting the US offshore program. The court could overturn a precedent known as the “Chevron doctrine” that instructs judges to defer to federal agencies when interpreting ambiguous federal laws.

Few Supreme Court doctrines have been stretched more by regulators and lower-court judges than Chevron deference, which says judges should defer to regulators’ interpretations when laws are supposedly ambiguous. The High Court agreed Monday to give Chevron a much-needed legal review.

WSJ

About the Chevron doctrine:

One of the most important principles in administrative law, the “Chevron deference” was coined after a landmark case, Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 468 U.S. 837 (1984). The Chevron deference is referring to the doctrine of judicial deference given to administrative actions. In Chevron, the Supreme Court set forth a legal test as to when the court should defer to the agency’s answer or interpretation, holding that such judicial deference is appropriate where the agency’s answer was not unreasonable, so long as Congress had not spoken directly to the precise issue at question. 

Cornell Law
Market Chess

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1914 photo with “Mobiloils”sign

Posted in energy, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on April 28, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Old York Road near West Olney Avenue. December 14th, 1914.

I saw this old picture and was intrigued by the “Mobiloils” sign. I didn’t think Standard of New York had already evolved into Mobil in 1914. A couple of Wiki excerpts explain:

Following the break-up of Standard Oil in 1911, the “Standard Oil Company of New York” (or ‘Socony’) was founded, along with 33 other successor companies.

Socony merged with Vacuum Oil Company to form Socony-Vacuum. Vacuum Oil had used “Mobiloil” automobile lubricating oil brand since 1904, and by 1918 it became recognizable enough that the company filed it for registration as a trademark (it was registered in 1920)

Note that the Mobil Pegasus was trademarked by Vacuum Oil Company of South Africa.

Mobil Pegasus

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