Texas Oil Production Chart

Bakken Production, North Dakota

U.S. Energy CO2 Emissions

Participation Rate: U.S. Labor Force

Wolfberry Production Map

 

Economic Wolfberry production occurs at platform margins where turbidite sequences are well developed.

China Oil and Gas Fields Map

Ohio Utica Shale Permit Activity

Top U.S. Liquids Producers

Oil & Gas Companies are chasing the "liquids rich" resource plays. This strategy will be par for the course as long as the $/btu differential remanis significant.

Curiosity on approach to Mars

The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance orbiter captured this picture of the Curiosity rover still connected to its parachute as it descended towards its landing site at Gale Crater on Mars.

The image was taken while MRO was 211 miles (340 kilometers) away from the parachuting rover. Curiosity and its rocket-propelled backpack had yet to be deployed. At the time, Curiosity was about two miles above the Martian surface.

Curiosit landed at 10:32 p.m. Aug. 5, PDT, (1:32 on Aug. 6, EDT) near the foot of a mountain three miles tall inside Gale Crater, 96 miles in diameter

Credit: NASA

Cuba Dry Hole

Cuba's offshore oil exploration in the Gulf of Mexico has suffered another setback with the failure of a well drilled by a Russian-Malaysian consortium, state-run oil company Cupet said Monday.
Cupet said geological studies of the exploratory well drilled by the Scarabeo 9 offshore platform show the presence of "an active petroleum system" but in rocks too dense to release oil and gas in commercial quantities.
Russia's Gazprom Neft and PC Gulf of Malaysia "continue to evaluate the information" gathered from the four blocks it contracted to explore.
But the Scarabeo 9 platform has been passed to Venezuela's state oil giant PDVSA to drill in its assigned block.
The Spanish oil company Repsol, which used the Scarabeo platform to drill for oil in a block assigned to it off Havana, abandoned its efforts in June after failing to find oil.
Cuba's economic zone in the Gulf of Mexico was divided into 59 blocks, 22 of which were put under contract to companies from Angola, India, Malaysia, Norway, Russia, Spain, Venezuela and Vietnam.
Some studies estimate that the 112,000-square-kilometer (43,243-square-mile) area has probable reserves of between five and nine billion barrels of crude oil, although Cuban authorities say there could be as much as 20 billion barrels.
Cuba produces oil from wells on land and in shallow water, but they are reaching their capacity limits.
It also imports 100,000 barrels of oil a day from Venezuela, a close ally that supplies oil to Cuba on easy terms.

Taxes: What you didn't know

24 Outrageous Facts About Taxes In The United States That Will Blow Your Mind

The U.S. tax code is a complete and utter abomination and it needs to be thrown out entirely.  Nobody in their right mind would ever read the whole thing - it is over 3 million words long.  Each year, Americans spend billions of hours and hundreds of billions of dollars trying to comply with federal tax requirements.  Sadly, it is the honest, hard working Americans in the middle class that always get hit the hardest.  The tax code is absolutely riddled with loopholes that big corporations and the ultra-wealthy use to minimize their tax burdens as much as possible.  Many poor people do not pay any income taxes at all.  The dishonest are rewarded for cheating on their taxes (if they can get away with it) and the ultra-wealthy have moved trillions of dollars to offshore tax havens where they can avoid U.S. taxation altogether.  Our system is incredibly unfair to the millions of hard working people in the middle class and upper middle class that drag themselves out of bed and go to work each day and try to do the right thing.  In addition, the current U.S. tax system is incredibly inefficient, it diverts a tremendous amount of resources away from more valuable economic activities, and it has chased thousands of businesses and trillions of dollars out of the United States.  The U.S. tax code is such a complete and utter mess at this point that it can never be "fixed".  The only rational thing to do is to abolish it completely, and any politician that tells you otherwise is lying to you.
The following are 24 outrageous facts about taxes in the United States that will blow your mind....
1 - The U.S. tax code is now 3.8 million words long.  If you took all of William Shakespeare's works and collected them together, the entire collection would only be about 900,000 words long.
2 - According to the National Taxpayers Union, U.S. taxpayers spend more than 7.6 billion hours complying with federal tax requirements.  Imagine what our society would look like if all that time was spent on more economically profitable activities.
3 - 75 years ago, the instructions for Form 1040 were two pages long.  Today, they are 189 pages long.
4 - There have been 4,428 changes to the tax code over the last decade.  It is incredibly costly to change tax software, tax manuals and tax instruction booklets for all of those changes.
5 - According to the National Taxpayers Union, the IRS currently has 1,999 different publications, forms, and instruction sheets that you can download from the IRS website.
6 - Our tax system has become so complicated that it is almost impossible to file your taxes correctly.  For example, back in 1998 Money Magazine had 46 different tax professionals complete a tax return for a hypothetical household.  All 46 of them came up with a different result.
7 - In 2009, PC World had five of the most popular tax preparation software websites prepare a tax return for a hypothetical household.  All five of them came up with a different result.
8 - The IRS spends $2.45 for every $100 that it collects in taxes.
9 - According to The Tax Foundation, the average American has to work until April 17th just to pay federal, state, and local taxes.  Back in 1900, "Tax Freedom Day" came on January 22nd.
10 - When the U.S. government first implemented a personal income tax back in 1913, the vast majority of the population paid a rate of just 1 percent, and the highest marginal tax rate was just 7 percent.
11 - Residents of New Jersey pay $1.64 in taxes for every $1.00 of federal spending that they get back.
12 - The United States is the only nation on the planet that tries to tax citizens on what they earn in foreign countries.
13 - According to Forbes, the 400 highest earning Americans pay an average federal income tax rate of just 18 percent.
14 - Warren Buffett had an effective tax rate of just 17.4 percent for 2010.
15 - The top 20 percent of all income earners in the United States pay approximately 86 percent of all federal income taxes.
16 - Sadly, as Bill Whittle has shown, you could take every single penny that every American earns above $250,000 and it would only fund about 38 percent of the federal budget.
17 - The United States has the highest corporate tax rate in the world (35 percent).  In Ireland, the corporate tax rate is only 12.5 percent.  This is causing thousands of corporations to move operations out of the United States and into other countries.
18 - Some tax havens are doing a booming business in setting up sham headquarters for U.S. corporations.  For example, the city of Zug, Switzerland only has a population of 26,000 people but it is the headquarters for 30,000 companies.
19 - In 1950, corporate taxes accounted for about 30 percent of all federal revenue.  In 2012, corporate taxes will account for less than 7 percent of all federal revenue.
20 - In a previous article, I discussed how many of our largest corporations make huge profits and yet pay less than nothing in taxes....

What U.S. corporations are able to get away with is absolutely amazing.
The following figures come directly out of a report by Citizens for Tax Justice.  These are combined figures for the tax years 2008, 2009 and 2010.
During those three years, all of the corporations below made a lot of money.  Yet all of them paid net taxes that were below zero for those three years combined.
How is that possible?  Well, it turns out that instead of paying in taxes to the federal government, they were actually getting money back.
So for these corporations, their rate of taxation was actually below zero.
If you have not seen these before, you are going to have a hard time believing some of these statistics.....
*Honeywell*
Profits: $4.9 billion
Taxes: -$34 million
*Fed Ex*
Profits: $3 billion
Taxes: -$23 million
*Wells Fargo*
Profits: $49.37 billion
Taxes: -$681 million
*Boeing*
Profits: $9.7 billion
Taxes: -$178 million
*Verizon*
Profits: $32.5 billion
Taxes: -$951 million
*Dupont*
Profits: $2.1 billion
Taxes -$72 million
*American Electric Power*
Profits: $5.89 billion
Taxes -$545 million
*General Electric*
Profits: $7.7 billion
Taxes: -$4.7 billion
Are you starting to get the picture?

21 - Exxon-Mobil paid $15 billion in taxes in 2009, but not a single penny went to the U.S. government.
22 - Many wealthy Americans hide enormous amounts of money outside the country in order to avoid paying taxes.  According to the IMF, a total of 18 trillion dollars is currently being hidden in offshore banks.
23 - The number of traffic accidents spikes each year right around April 15th.  The following is from a recent Bloomberg article....

Deaths from traffic accidents around April 15, traditionally the last day to file individual income taxes in the U.S., rose 6 percent on average on each of the last 30 years of tax filing days compared with a day during the week prior and a week later, according to research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

24 - Most of the tax debate is focused on income taxes, but the truth is that Americans pay dozens of other taxes every single year.  The following are just a few of the taxes that many Americans pay....
#1 Building Permit Taxes
#2 Capital Gains Taxes
#3 Cigarette Taxes
#4 Court Fines (indirect taxes)
#5 Dog License Taxes
#6 Federal Unemployment Taxes
#7 Fishing License Taxes
#8 Food License Taxes
#9 Gasoline Taxes
#10 Gift Taxes
#11 Hunting License Taxes
#12 Inheritance Taxes
#13 Inventory Taxes
#14 IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax)
#15 IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
#16 Liquor Taxes
#17 Luxury Taxes
#18 Marriage License Taxes
#19 Medicare Taxes
#20 Property Taxes
#21 Recreational Vehicle Taxes
#22 Toll Booth Taxes
#23 Sales Taxes
#24 Self-Employment Taxes
#25 School Taxes
#26 Septic Permit Taxes
#27 Service Charge Taxes
#28 Social Security Taxes
#29 State Unemployment Taxes (SUTA)
#30 Telephone Federal Excise Taxes
#31 Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Taxes
#32 Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Taxes
#33 Telephone State And Local Taxes
#34 Tire Taxes
#35 Toll Bridge Taxes
#36 Toll Tunnel Taxes
#37 Traffic Fines (indirect taxation)
#38 Utility Taxes
#39 Vehicle License Registration Taxes
#40 Vehicle Sales Taxes
#41 Workers Compensation Taxes
When you account for all forms of taxation on the federal, state and local levels there are many Americans that pay out more than half of their incomes in taxes.
We are being taxed into oblivion, and yet most Americans do not even realize that it is happening.
It is kind of like being killed by thousands of tiny cuts.
So what do all of these taxes buy us?
They buy us a massively bloated government that wastes money on some of the craziest things imaginable.
Millions of Americans work for the federal government, and yet most of them produce very little of real economic value.  The following comes from a recent National Review article....

By 2005, the federal government employed 14.6 million people: 1.9 million civil servants, 770,000 postal workers, 1.44 million uniformed service personnel, 7.6 million contractors, and 2.9 million grantees. This amounted to a ratio of five and a half “shadow” government employees for every civil servant on the federal payroll. Since 1999, the government had grown by over 4.5 million employees.

According to that same article, when you add in state and local government workers the numbers are even more dramatic....

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are 3.8 million full-time and 1.5 million part-time employees on state payrolls. Local governments add a further 11 million full-time and 3.2 million part-time personnel. This means that state and local governments combined employ 19.5 million Americans.

Yes, we do need some government.  For example, without any law enforcement at all our society would descend into complete chaos, and without any military at all we would be completely open to foreign conquest.
In order to have a stable, secure society we do need some government.
However, we definitely do not need the massively bloated government that we have today.
The truth is that most government employees are a drain on the system.  Most of them just push paper around.  I used to work in Washington D.C. so I know what pushing paper around is all about.
And as I wrote about yesterday, there are millions of other Americans that enjoy a comfortable existence at the expense of the federal government without doing any work whatsoever.
Of course the biggest welfare recipients of all are the big corporations.  All forms of corporate welfare should be eliminated immediately.
When are U.S. taxpayers going to get sick and tired of paying for all of this?
Every single year, the federal government, state governments and local governments drain massive amounts of desperately needed money from hard working middle class families.
Then they take that money and spend it on incredibly foolish things.
When are American voters going to stand up and boldly declare that they have been taxed enough already and they aren't going to take it anymore?
The current tax code is completely and utterly broken and it is beyond repair.
Unfortunately, neither the Republicans or the Democrats are proposing that we should get rid of it.
So we are just going to continue to get more of the same year after year, and it is the middle class that will feel the pain.

EPA announces Dimock, PA drinking water safe

EPA completes Dimock, PA drinking water sampling

July 25, 2012

Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today that it has completed its sampling of private drinking water wells in Dimock, Pa. Data previously supplied to the agency by residents, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and Cabot Oil and Gas Exploration had indicated the potential for elevated levels of water contaminants in wells, and following requests by residents EPA took steps to sample water in the area to ensure there were not elevated levels of contaminants. Based on the outcome of that sampling, EPA has determined that there are not levels of contaminants present that would require additional action by the Agency.
“Our goal was to provide the Dimock community with complete and reliable information about the presence of contaminants in their drinking water and to determine whether further action was warranted to protect public health,” said EPA Regional Administrator Shawn M. Garvin. “The sampling and an evaluation of the particular circumstances at each home did not indicate levels of contaminants that would give EPA reason to take further action. Throughout EPA's work in Dimock, the Agency has used the best available scientific data to provide clarity to Dimock residents and address their concerns about the safety of their drinking water.”
EPA visited Dimock, Pa. in late 2011, surveyed residents regarding their private wells and reviewed hundreds of pages of drinking water data supplied to the agency by Dimock residents, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and Cabot. Because data for some homes showed elevated contaminant levels and several residents expressed concern about their drinking water, EPA determined that well sampling was necessary to gather additional data and evaluate whether residents had access to safe drinking water.
Between January and June 2012, EPA sampled private drinking water wells serving 64 homes, including two rounds of sampling at four wells where EPA was delivering temporary water supplies as a precautionary step in response to prior data indicating the well water contained levels of contaminants that pose a health concern. At one of those wells EPA did find an elevated level of manganese in untreated well water. The two residences serviced by the well each have water treatment systems that can reduce manganese to levels that do not present a health concern.
As a result of the two rounds of sampling at these four wells, EPA has determined that it is no longer necessary to provide residents with alternative water. EPA is working with residents on the schedule to disconnect the alternate water sources provided by EPA.
Overall during the sampling in Dimock, EPA found hazardous substances, specifically arsenic, barium or manganese, all of which are also naturally occurring substances, in well water at five homes at levels that could present a health concern. In all cases the residents have now or will have their own treatment systems that can reduce concentrations of those hazardous substances to acceptable levels at the tap. EPA has provided the residents with all of their sampling results and has no further plans to conduct additional drinking water sampling in Dimock.
For more information on the results of sampling, visit: http://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/states/pa.html.

California Offshore Production History

Michelle Malkin: Obama's Interior Department still going rogue

Michelle Malkin: Obama's Interior Department still going rogue

The White House rationale for the renewed crackdown? Because we said so.

The latest plan involves the interior secretary’s authority to auction oil and gas leases and to oversee oil and gas research and exploration on the OCS. Pyle explains that the “2012-17 plan leaves out the entire Atlantic and Pacific coasts and the vast majority of OCS areas off Alaska.

National Ocean Industries Association President Randall B. Luthi told the Oil and Gas Journal (an industry publication): “This deeply disappointing ‘no new access’ plan does not reflect the comprehensive, ‘all of the above’ energy policy touted by the administration, nor does it keep pace with the energy policies of foreign nations that are expanding their offshore access to develop badly needed oil and gas.”

Alta Wind Energy Center, Kern County, California

The largest wind farm in the U.S. with production capacity of 1020 MW.

Coal's Decline in Electric Generation

Above charts illustrate the decline in coal ppercentage for elecriic generation and the associated rise in the use of natural gas. Coal has been as high as 50% in the past. Is the future of coal an export industry.

Gas Storage 6-8-12

There is 2.944 TCF gas in storage as of  6-8-2102. last year, storage equalled 2.236 TCF storage, makinf a difference of 0.708 TCF. Will the industry reach the 4 TCF mark this year? Just add the 0.7 TCF to last years high water mark of 3.6 TCF and you get your number. How much gas can we store ?

Update

Total gas in storage is the volume of storage in the underground facility at a particular time.

Base gas (or cushion gas) is the volume of gas intended as permanent inventory in a storage reservoir to maintain adequate pressure and deliverability rates throughout the withdrawal season.

Working gas capacity refers to total gas storage capacity minus base gas.

Working gas is the volume of gas in the reservoir above the level of base gas. Working gas is available to the marketplace.


Base gas estimates are in the 4.3 TCF range, while total capacity is just under 8.8 TCF in 2010. Based on the above estimates, we would be looking at working gas of 4.3 TCF. The result, base gas plus working gas totals somewhere in the 8.6 TCFG range.....so we have a 200 BCF cushion?

Update 2

Capacity by Area (EIA)

Download Series History Definitions, Sources & Notes
Show Data By: Data Series Area		2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	View History
U.S.		8,268,443	8,329,967	8,402,216	8,498,535	8,655,740	8,763,798	1988-2010
Alabama		11,015	19,300	19,300	26,900	26,900	32,900	1995-2010
Arkansas		22,000	22,000	22,000	22,000	21,760	21,760	1988-2010
California		477,726	484,711	487,711	498,705	513,005	542,511	1988-2010
Colorado		98,068	98,068	98,068	95,068	105,768	105,768	1988-2010
Illinois		981,995	984,768	980,691	977,989	989,454	990,487	1988-2010
Indiana		114,080	114,294	114,294	114,937	114,274	111,271	1988-2010
Iowa		273,200	275,200	278,238	284,747	284,811	288,010	1988-2010
Kansas		289,747	288,383	288,926	282,221	282,300	284,821	1988-2010
Kentucky		218,927	218,394	220,359	220,359	220,368	221,751	1988-2010
Louisiana		593,740	599,165	588,711	615,858	651,968	670,880	1988-2010
Maryland		62,000	64,000	64,000	64,000	64,000	64,000	1988-2010
Michigan		1,021,622	1,031,290	1,060,558	1,062,339	1,069,405	1,069,898	1988-2010
Minnesota		7,000	7,000	7,000	7,000	7,000	7,000	1988-2010
Mississippi		150,947	150,809	166,909	187,251	210,128	235,638	1988-2010
Missouri		32,146	32,505	32,940	32,876	10,889	11,502	1988-2010
Montana		374,201	374,201	374,201	374,201	376,301	376,301	1988-2010
Nebraska		39,469	39,469	34,850	34,850	34,850	34,850	1988-2010
New Mexico		83,124	82,652	78,424	80,000	80,000	84,300	1988-2010
New York		204,855	213,225	229,013	228,613	245,579	245,579	1988-2010
Ohio		572,477	572,477	572,477	572,477	580,380	580,380	1988-2010
Oklahoma		378,738	380,038	373,738	371,324	371,338	371,338	1988-2010
Oregon		24,034	26,703	29,415	29,415	29,565	29,565	1989-2010
Pennsylvania		748,792	750,054	759,365	759,153	776,964	776,822	1988-2010
Tennessee		1,200	1,200	1,200	1,200	1,200	0	1998-2010
Texas		680,096	690,061	690,678	740,477	766,768	783,579	1988-2010
Utah		129,480	129,480	129,480	129,480	129,480	129,480	1988-2010
Virginia		9,035	9,692	9,560	6,200	9,500	9,500	1998-2010
Washington		42,191	43,316	39,341	39,287	39,210	41,309	1988-2010
West Virginia		512,377	513,416	536,702	528,442	531,456	531,480	1988-2010
Wyoming		114,160	114,096	114,067	111,167	111,120	111,120	1988-2010