
USGS Estimates 20B Barrels of Oil in Texas’ Wolfcamp Shale Formation - prostoalex
https://www.usgs.gov/news/usgs-estimates-20-billion-barrels-oil-texas-wolfcamp-shale-formation
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webXL
Another nail in the coffin for peak-oil alarmism/cheering. Oil production and
all the ways we consume it is a remarkable achievement for humankind. It's
just _too_ good, dammit! I seriously hope we can manage any severe impacts
from the increased emissions.

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jhayward
Hold your horses there, Tex. You're counting chickens that haven't even been
laid, much less hatched.

The USGS report is for "undiscovered, technically recoverable" resources.
"Undiscovered" means they have a theory that there should be petroleum there,
but it is very uncertain as to correctness and quantity. You can get excited
when it becomes "proven" reserve.

"Technically recoverable" means that if the oil they think is there exists,
and is situated the way they think, there exist technology to go get it. What
it _is not_ is "economically recoverable". It may be technically recoverable
but need a $500/bbl price point to make money.

There are many, many technically recoverable resources that will never be
economical. At some point it becomes cheaper to make oil synthetically rather
than extract it from the ground. In fact, this is the observation that peak
oil makes.

So don't get too far ahead of the facts in declaring the cornucopia days
ahead.

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jvanderbot
More bullets for the roulette game.

The oil-rich desert version of science fiction is seeming more realistic.

