We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember Simon Gates
Post by Simon GatesThere's enough sub $100/barrel oil shale, sands, and coal to last 5
centuries at current usage. The major costs are in 'refining', not digging.
That's part of what I was getting at. The actual digging out is
relatively easy, if involving gigantic machines; the oil in the
shale/sand has to be extracted from it [1] and the spoil dumped until it
can all be heaved back into the empty worked-out hole. This adds
massively to the cost of production.
Post by Simon GatesThe current commercial cut off for oil pumping is measured in barrels
spent per barrel extracted, and is one spent for 2.5 extracted, iirc.
I'd heard a variety of figures ranging from 1:1 to 1:3, which is a huge
difference to the 'normal' ratio of deep well extraction of approx 1:30.
Such a close ratio doesn't leave much room for wastage and profit.
Post by Simon GatesThere's enough shale / sand / coal at that ratio for 1,500 years, at
current usage.
To supply who, though? Is that world demand or simply the N.American
continent?
[1] Near where I was brought up there were shale oil spoil tips left
over from late 19th C. lamp oil extraction. It was worthwhile then when
the price of oil was relatively high and before cheap drilled oil took
over the market. Afaik, the extraction process was simply heating the
shale in large containers and letting the oil run out the bottom. I
suspect if the cost of extraction included refilling the holes, there
might not have been much of an industry then. The lamp shale-oil
industry sprung up to supply cheaper lamp oil than the then favourite,
whale oil, which was quite expensive at the time.
--
Dave
GS850x2 XS650 SE6a
In my trousers.
***@Home Team UKRM http://www.tinyurl.com/jkxwv