.The Texas Energy Report

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.The Texas Energy Report

Oil’s Strategic Value Invites Government Intervention

By Alex Mills

 

April 20, 2020

“Oil ain’t pork bellies.” That was a comment made during the debate in the early 1980s regarding the decline in crude oil prices and the implementation of futures trading of crude oil. The point he was trying to make is crude oil is not just a commodity, but it is a strategic commodity that has economic, military and social values.

It is such a valuable strategic commodity that governments around world have tried to manage, manipulate and fondle oil production and consumption for almost 100 years.

In 1930, a fellow by the name of “Dad” Joiner drilled a well in East Texas that started an oil boom that lasted for about 40 years. The news spread quickly and a flood of oil erupted just as the nation was coming out of the Great Depression of 1929. It created an oversupply which caused a sharp decline in price to as low as a nickel a barrel.

The Railroad Commission, which originally regulated the transportation of agriculture products by rail and later crude oil, was assigned the duty to restore order and prevent waste of this precious natural resource. What resulted was the adoption of a prorationing rule, which allocated a reduction of production for each well. The RRC encountered many problems including lack of enforcement, cheating by rogue producers, and legal defeats. The governor had to call in the National Guard and Texas Rangers at one point……
 

Super Computer To Help Global Healthcare In COVID-19 Fight: BP

April 20, 2020

Healthcare researchers are saying they need as much computing power as possible to work out scenarios and mathematical reasoning to help find solutions to problems created by the COVID-19 pandemic, and BP says it’s contributing “significant capability” to help the effort through its Center for High-Performance Computing (CHPC) at Houston……
 

TXOGA President Todd Staples Appointed to Governor’s Strike Force to Open Texas: TXOGA

April 20, 2020

Texas Governor Governor Greg Abbott on Friday announced the Governor’s Strike Force to Open Texas and appointed Texas Oil & Gas Association (TXOGA) President Todd Staples as a Leader of the Energy Working Group. The Governor’s Strike Force to Open Texas will help to safely and strategically restart and revitalize all aspects of the Lone Star State — work, school, entertainment, and culture. The Strike Force and its Working Groups will provide input on potential additional openings of activities and services in Texas consistent with guidelines provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Governor will announce a revised plan for the state based on these initial recommendations on April 27…..
 

Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar Issues Statement on Historic Drop in Oil Prices

April 20, 2020

“Today’s market activity was unprecedented and likely indicative of very limited storage capacity. May contracts traded well into negative territory as the market prepares to shift focus to June contracts. While down somewhat, June contracts traded in a relatively stable range. While this unprecedented volatility is concerning, the greater impact to Texas will come if demand remains historically low for a prolonged period of time and supply gluts continue to strain storage capacity…..
 

Oil Plunges Below $0: What Happened?

Storage is all leased up…So blame the oil ETF, USO maybe — it’s outlived its usefulness if it ever even had any…”This is temporary but it will be rough for a little while” — Texas representative

 

April 20, 2020

US oil stocks are just now settling for the day as investors watched oil prices plummet as the afternoon wore on, with WTI dropping below $0 per barrel to as far as -$37.63 a barrel before a little price recovery began…….
 

Texas Drilling Permits and Completions Statistics for March 2020: RRC

April 15, 2020

AUSTIN –– The Railroad Commission of Texas issued a total of 744 original drilling permits in March 2020 compared to 1,137 in March 2019. The March 2020 total includes 671 permits to drill new oil or gas wells, six to re-enter plugged well bores and 56 for re-completions of existing well bores.

The breakdown of well types for original drilling permits in March 2020 is 189 oil, 43 gas, 468 oil or gas, 40 injection, and four other permits.

In March 2020, Commission staff processed 1054 oil, 313 gas and 240 injection completions for new drills, re-entries and re-completions, compared to 493 oil, 127 gas, and 43 injection completions in March 2019.

Total well completions processed for 2020 year to date for new drills, re-entries and re-completions are 3,857, compared to 2469 recorded during the same time period in 2019…..