Exploration targets: Guyana vs. Minneapolis

1. “The modern petroleum industry in the United States of America dates from the drilling of the first commercial oil well in 1859. Up to the present, about a million wells have been drilled for oil and gas, and the total production of petroleum has been 22,452,498,000 barrels, which has been contributed by twenty-three of the forty-eight States.” https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/70213883

The above summation was circa 1940. On average, that old number calculates out to about 22,450 bbl of oil per well. High-impact wells or tenacity in effort at less than $3/bbl? True statistic. No report of global warming or data over that period that we can verify. Who in 1940 was concerned with global warming, when the globe was entering a war of survival (WWII)? PBS says the war was, in part, because there was not enough oil then to go around, to satisfy Japan or Germany. No green damage of note, either.

Today, Ohio has about 160,000 horses and produces about 22.3 MMboe/yr. Texas has more than one million horses and production of about 1.8 Bboe/yr. That’s a horse ratio between Ohio and Texas of 16% and an oil ratio of 1.2%. Give Ohio a break in the starter blocks, since they have only been producing since approximately 1859. However, upon viewing Texas data, could there be a causation negative green effect, due to methane from horses, not from improved production per well? Wait? Since there are probably at least two to three times as many wells drilled post WWII, just for the war survivors and their children, what statistical comparisons in the news should you consider valid when voicing energy arguments like this one?

Chevron-Hess-Exxon-Guyana-Venezuela. What’s at stake here: Exxon et al.; Bottom-up geology, top-down geophysics, or “squeeze more out of the seismic.” In this report (Fig. 1), released by Hess, could you interpret this seismic to that geo story? It is most probable that A.I. cannot, and could not, without the answer provided. I am wowed by this work. It’s miserable to look at, but valid within the limitations of seismic, elaborated as investment-grade geological interpretation.

A solid regional review of the geologic story was shown with permission from Hess to the Houston Geological Society—Bob Sheriff presentation by V.P. Tim Chisholm, Hess. Very much worth the read: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqWjXtZ6S1w.

So, what is the investment, indigestion, and possible war about? Read the Guyana geo story here: https://geoexpro.com/the-suriname-guyana-basin/

B.S. refined. Not-so-new strategy of the left: Balkanize fossil fuel users. As reported by Pipeline and Gas Journal, Jan. 9, 2024: “Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison (D) accused the energy companies and the American Petroleum Institute of knowing since the 1970s and 1980s that the fossil fuels they sold would cause climate change, but that the companies did not disclose that risk to the Minnesota public and instead actively sought to undermine climate change science…Taken together, the defendants’ behavior has delayed the transition to alternative energy sources and a lower carbon economy, resulting in dire impacts on Minnesota’s environment and enormous costs to Minnesotans and the world.”

What has this to do with exploration? Answer: If one can’t move the product or even sell it, then why work to find it? However, China, Russia, India, Mexico, and basically anywhere other than the U.S., Canada, and Western Europe will keep exploring, producing and burning fossil fuels. Stupid ideas work into the left’s theology. For example, if you can’t stop illegal border crossings, then stop the buses that move the migrants away from the border. New Jersey attempts to restrict bus companies used by Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) to transport migrants to “sanctuary” cities (Jan. 8, 2024 | Jennie Taer; bizpacreview.com/2024/01/08/).

Since balkanizing users against the use of efficient energy is being led by progressives, is the absence of fossil fuel stranding over 600 million people in Africa from access to electricity part of the political power play? Can I call the policy what it is? Genocidal? May I refer you to my friend Art Schroeder's article in World Oil:

https://read.nxtbook.com/gulf_energy_information/world_oil/december_2023/industry_outlook_2024_schroed.html

It is no news to you that fossil fuel is the target of the distribution of political power on this planet. We beat this issue every time with the discovery of new sources of fossil fuel. FIND more, and keep it cheap. Improve transportation and availability everywhere. May I also remind explorationists that even EIA reports that U.S. crude production is at, or near, record highs? Winning! WO

WJHTEXAS@AOL.COM / WILLIAM (BILL) HEAD is a technologist with over 40 years of experience in U.S. and international exploration.