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posted by cmn32480 on Monday November 21 2016, @02:17PM   Printer-friendly
from the bblack-gold dept.

The Wolfcamp shale in the Midland Basin portion of Texas' Permian Basin province contains an estimated mean of 20 billion barrels of oil, 16 trillion cubic feet of associated natural gas, and 1.6 billion barrels of natural gas liquids, according to an assessment by the U.S. Geological Survey. This estimate is for continuous (unconventional) oil, and consists of undiscovered, technically recoverable resources. 

The estimate of continuous oil in the Midland Basin Wolfcamp shale assessment is nearly three times larger than that of the 2013 USGS Bakken-Three Forks resource assessment, making this the largest estimated continuous oil accumulation that USGS has assessed in the United States to date.

"The fact that this is the largest assessment of continuous oil we have ever done just goes to show that, even in areas that have produced billions of barrels of oil, there is still the potential to find billions more," said Walter Guidroz, program coordinator for the USGS Energy Resources Program. "Changes in technology and industry practices can have significant effects on what resources are technically recoverable, and that's why we continue to perform resource assessments throughout the United States and the world."

https://www.usgs.gov/news/usgs-estimates-20-billion-barrels-oil-texas-wolfcamp-shale-formation

-- submitted from IRC


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  • (Score: 2) by Hyperturtle on Monday November 21 2016, @07:26PM

    by Hyperturtle (2824) on Monday November 21 2016, @07:26PM (#430770)

    The new administration is seeking to fund a great deal of infrastructure improvements. That is something I can get behind and endorse. We've needed that as a country for a while. I always thought a "new deal for the 21st century" would work if the funding could be resolved -- never mind the fact that any previous propsals were unanimously argued about for whatever reason, whether they related to jobs or not.

    Now that all the sections of the government are on the same team (since we the people are not on that team, apparently), progress can be made on repairing our broken stuff. The question then is the funding. Many fiscally conservative tax cut people won't want to invest a dime.

    So, I say this partially tongue in cheek, perhaps they can drill the oil out, to sell it so they can fund the infrastructure improvements they'll inevitably need due to causing infrastructral integrity concerns in states that never worried about taking earthquake precautions in their infrastructure before? (No I do not propose they drill so they can make money to fix the problems caused by drilling, but if they are doing both at the same time, I imagine some of the money will be used in such a way...)

    It's like that machine that is designed to turn itself off after you turn it on, except with more shovels. Too bad it can't put the oil back in the ground, but I guess the wastewater is what is causing all of those issues anyway, right? But if they left it there to begin with.. it'd be there when we need it, and at a higher price, too! There are OTHER JOBS that can be done!

    I would prefer they invested in solar where it is bright and windmills where it is windy and leave the oil in the ground until we have a genuine need to pull it out (it seems to me the oil is more valuable in the ground than in the air right now), but roads and bridges and hyperloops and mass transit and... oh dear now I am putting democratic ideals into the good intentions we've proposing to pave. But still -- its a jobs program, and it will provide a needed purpose. Perhaps they can plant some trees at the same time in the areas that are getting fixed...

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 21 2016, @07:41PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 21 2016, @07:41PM (#430780)

    > The new administration is seeking to fund a great deal of infrastructure improvements.

    I wish. If you look into the actual details they've talked about, all it is are tax credits for revenue-generating developments like toll roads. [thehill.com] But much public infrastructure can not turn a profit, that's why its public infrastructure and not private. And no amount of tax credits will change that. It will make profitable developments even more profitable. So, yay.

  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 21 2016, @11:14PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 21 2016, @11:14PM (#430915)

    Bernie Sanders had this to say about Trump's infrastructure plan today:

    Let’s Rebuild our Infrastructure, Not Provide Tax Breaks to Big Corporations and Wall Street [medium.com]

     

    Our infrastructure is collapsing, and the American people know it. Every day, they drive on roads with unforgiving potholes and over bridges that are in disrepair. They wait in traffic jams and ride in overcrowded subways. They see airports bursting at the seams. They see the need for a modern rail system. They worry that a local levee or dam could fail in a storm.

    During the presidential campaign, Donald Trump correctly talked about rebuilding our country’s infrastructure. But the plan he offered is a scam that gives massive tax breaks to large companies and billionaires on Wall Street who are already doing phenomenally well. Trump would allow corporations that have stashed their profits overseas to pay just a fraction of what the companies owe in federal taxes. And then he would allow the companies to “invest” in infrastructure projects in exchange for even more tax breaks. Trump’s plan is corporate welfare coming and going.

    In 2015, I introduced the Rebuild America Act to invest $1 trillion over five years to modernize the physical infrastructure that our economy depends on. In January, I will reintroduce that legislation to directly invest in our roads, bridges, water systems, rail, airports, levees and dams. Importantly, at a time when we need to reverse the 40-year decline of the American middle class, this legislation would create and maintain at least 13 million good-paying jobs, while making our country more productive, efficient and safe.

    Unlike Trump’s plan, which creates new tax loopholes and is a corporate giveaway, my Rebuild America Act would be paid for by eliminating tax loopholes that allow hugely profitable multinational corporations to stash their profits in offshore tax havens around the world.

    • (Score: 2) by Hyperturtle on Wednesday November 23 2016, @06:04PM

      by Hyperturtle (2824) on Wednesday November 23 2016, @06:04PM (#431980)

      I don't have any illusions that the funding is special interest motivated for friends an family.

      But I *am* for repairing the infrastructure... preferably by government owned, operated and maintained means. Pay private resources to do the work, but not be responsible for figuring out how much they can profit from it. I guess that is a dream I can have cause it won't come true.

      One thing I am worried about in particular is that the new cats get just as fat as the old cats. I think Animal Farm said the same about pigs becoming what they replaced. We'll see..