Shale oil fields in the USA are depleting at an ever-accelerating rate. The most recent drop is half a million barrels per month per day. The Red Queen Syndrome—having to run faster and faster just to stay in one place—is in full swing.
With oil prices now higher than they have been in quite a while, you’d expect that the US shale industry would be making money, or at least breaking even. Well, no, it’s still hemorrhaging money.
We still hear sporadic noises about the US shale industry becoming “more efficient than ever.” But what use is efficiency if it just results in more efficient financial losses?
The USA is currently the world’s largest oil producer and has become an oil exporter. But it still is not producing enough to satisfy its own oil addiction. It depends on oil imports for another reason: shale oil is very light.
Shale oil is most useful for making gasoline, which is a small-engine fuel. It is not useful for making diesel, jet fuel or heavy oil, which is what industry runs on.
Russia Insider.om / AB Flash Point News 2018.
