Khurais Crude Increment Program

This will likely be of limited interest to most Gazette visitors, but if you’re in the awl bidness like me, you might find this as fascinating as I did. It’s a 22-minute animated video showing the details of a huge oilfield development project in Saudi Arabia (see link below). And when I say “huge,” I… Continue reading Khurais Crude Increment Program

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Categorized as Oil & Gas

Frac Reporting – Loophole?

As we’ve reported before, today marks the beginning of mandatory reporting of the components of fluid used in hydraulic fracturing of oil and gas wells drilled in Texas. A careful reading of the regulations indicates that you shouldn’t hold your breath to see what’s going into that well that’s planned for your back yard. Even… Continue reading Frac Reporting – Loophole?

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Categorized as Law, Oil & Gas

LPG Fracs: Technology for the times?

Update (1/21/12): Ran across this blog post about LPG fracing. I don’t have a great ear for subtlety, but the writer seems to be entering the discussion with a distinct bias, and some of the claims are simply wrong (or misleading – an outcry over putting hydrocarbons into a rock strata where hydrocarbons already exist… Continue reading LPG Fracs: Technology for the times?

Hydraulic Fracturing Chemical Disclosure: Too much information?

As you’ve probably already heard, the Texas Railroad Commission (the oversight agency for the Texas oil and gas industry, for the non-Texians in the audience) today approved a regulation that will require the public disclosure of chemical ingredients used in hydraulic fracturing of oil and gas wells permitted on or after February 1, 2012 [read… Continue reading Hydraulic Fracturing Chemical Disclosure: Too much information?

A Modest Rationale for Ending “Economic Diversification” Efforts

If you live in Midland, you’re familiar with the Midland Development Corporation (MDC), the quasi-governmental agency that uses some of our taxes to bribe entice companies to either locate in Midland County or expand their operations if they’re already here. The special sales tax that funds these efforts has been in place for a decade,… Continue reading A Modest Rationale for Ending “Economic Diversification” Efforts

Some Actual Facts About Oil Industry Taxes

One of our local TV stations made a provocative post on Facebook this morning, on the subject of the Congressional hearings about gasoline prices, and whether oil companies “should get these tax breaks as oil and gas prices continue to soar, even if it impacted business here in West Texas?” The comments were predictably appalling… Continue reading Some Actual Facts About Oil Industry Taxes

Random Thursday

Rob, this post’s for you. Or because of you. You saw the movie Take The Lead, didn’t you, the one starring Antonio Banderas as a dance instructor who volunteers to teach ballroom dancing to some at-risk high school students and ends up making a big difference in their lives? That could never actually happen, could… Continue reading Random Thursday

We’re officially through the looking glass

The Wall Street Journal reports that the Obama administration is going to make BP “pay salaries of oil-services workers who lose their jobs as a result of the spill.” This follows on the heels of Obama’s interview with NBC’s Matt Laurer this morning in which the Butt Kicker-in-Chief got all businesslike and stern, and used the… Continue reading We’re officially through the looking glass

Fake BP Ad

Have you seen the following graphic that’s making the email forwarding rounds? This is being put forth as a BP ad “from the late 90’s.” It is, of course, a fake, cooked up by those rascally rapscallions over at Despair.com (who make some pretty hilarious stuff, generally speaking). I’m pretty sure that Despair.com didn’t try… Continue reading Fake BP Ad