Emerging markets, not Wall Street, hold 75% of the world's foreign exchange reserves.
To those who think the West is the most sovereign nation in the world, think again...........the above statement is a sobering reality to this nation's demise.
"The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God".........Psalm 9:17
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Monday, June 9, 2008
"Tough" barrels in oil production
I decided to repost this from it's first date of post in early March of this year because of it's importance. Oil will soon be trading on the NYMEX for $200 a barrel. Wall Street is in for a rude awakening or should I say "Crude Awakening". Nations go to war over oil and I believe that is coming very quickly. Time is running out..........
In Hammerfest Norway energy executives were suduced by vast quantities of natural gas in one of the world's least hospitable places.....90 miles of Norway's northern coast, beneath the Arctic Circle. Freezing winds and blanketing snowstorms lash the region. No oil company knew how to operate in such harsh conditions.
But Norway has solved the problem.......one of the most advanced natural gas plants is coming to life. Gas will start crossing the ocean in specially designed ships, feeding into the pipeline network for America's East Coast. It will be the first commercial energy production from waters north of the Arctic Circle.
As global demand soars and prices rise, energy companies are going to the ends of the earth to find new supplies. In Kazakhstan, petroleum engineers are braving wild temperature swings in the shallow waters of the Caspian Sea to tap the biggest oil discovery of the last 30 years. They are drilling wells 6 miles deep in the Gulf of Mexico. And on the island of Sakhalin, off far eastern Russia, they have drilled horizontal wells through miles of rock to produce oil from a stretch of ocean notable for giant icebergs.
But as the industry extends its reach, the quest is becoming more arduous. The cost of producing new oil and gas is rising fast, and companies are troubled by worsening delays. Drilling rigs are scarce. Engineers, geologists and petroleum specialists are in critically short supply. And the POLITICS of oil and gas are getting trickier, with producing countries demanding a bigger share of the revenue and angry about project delays that postpone their payments.
Industry executives say their ability to keep up with global demand is badly strained. "We're facing bigger risks and bigger difficulties when we go into new frontier regions", said Odd A. Mosbergvik, a senior manager at the dominant Norwegian energy company, StatoilHydro. "But this is why the oil industry is for big boys. It's a big gamble."
The industry's new reach is shifting the economics of energy extraction. According to a recent study, discovery and development costs, a key indicator for the industry, tripled from 1999 to 2006, to nearly $15 a barrel. Last year alone, companies spent $200 billion developing new energy projects worldwide according tot he study by the consulting firms John S. Herold Inc. and Harrison Lovegrove- an amount larger than the economies of 147 countries.
These higher costs mean that the industry needs higher energy prices to finance new projects. They are also constraining its ability to expand quickly. "There are no easy barrels left," said J. Robinson West, chairman of PFC Energy, an industry consulting firm in Washington. "The only barrels are going to be the tough barrels."
There is plenty of oil and gas still in the ground, energy executives say. But the global consumption is rising SO FAST that they must keep looking for new sources. Despite worldwide concern over the role of fossil fuels, U.S. government specialists project that global oil and gas demand will increase by some 50% in the next 25 years.
At the same time, the big discoveries of the last 3 decades, like those in the North Sea and on the North Slope of Alaska, are drying up. So with the rising prices of oil and gas.....topping @ over $110 a barrel, it is not a matter of inflation or a weaker dollar as some economists would suggest, but rather a simple matter of supply and demand and that supply is quickly running out.
Another great book to pique your interest......."Twilight in the desert" by Matthew Simmons. It's about an inflated estimate of Saudi oil reserves. He believes that the largest oil basin ever found in the world has already been depleted by @ least 50%. However OPEC continues to reassure the public that they have plenty more oil to produce and can actually produce more oil. My question.......so how come they haven't?
In Hammerfest Norway energy executives were suduced by vast quantities of natural gas in one of the world's least hospitable places.....90 miles of Norway's northern coast, beneath the Arctic Circle. Freezing winds and blanketing snowstorms lash the region. No oil company knew how to operate in such harsh conditions.
But Norway has solved the problem.......one of the most advanced natural gas plants is coming to life. Gas will start crossing the ocean in specially designed ships, feeding into the pipeline network for America's East Coast. It will be the first commercial energy production from waters north of the Arctic Circle.
As global demand soars and prices rise, energy companies are going to the ends of the earth to find new supplies. In Kazakhstan, petroleum engineers are braving wild temperature swings in the shallow waters of the Caspian Sea to tap the biggest oil discovery of the last 30 years. They are drilling wells 6 miles deep in the Gulf of Mexico. And on the island of Sakhalin, off far eastern Russia, they have drilled horizontal wells through miles of rock to produce oil from a stretch of ocean notable for giant icebergs.
But as the industry extends its reach, the quest is becoming more arduous. The cost of producing new oil and gas is rising fast, and companies are troubled by worsening delays. Drilling rigs are scarce. Engineers, geologists and petroleum specialists are in critically short supply. And the POLITICS of oil and gas are getting trickier, with producing countries demanding a bigger share of the revenue and angry about project delays that postpone their payments.
Industry executives say their ability to keep up with global demand is badly strained. "We're facing bigger risks and bigger difficulties when we go into new frontier regions", said Odd A. Mosbergvik, a senior manager at the dominant Norwegian energy company, StatoilHydro. "But this is why the oil industry is for big boys. It's a big gamble."
The industry's new reach is shifting the economics of energy extraction. According to a recent study, discovery and development costs, a key indicator for the industry, tripled from 1999 to 2006, to nearly $15 a barrel. Last year alone, companies spent $200 billion developing new energy projects worldwide according tot he study by the consulting firms John S. Herold Inc. and Harrison Lovegrove- an amount larger than the economies of 147 countries.
These higher costs mean that the industry needs higher energy prices to finance new projects. They are also constraining its ability to expand quickly. "There are no easy barrels left," said J. Robinson West, chairman of PFC Energy, an industry consulting firm in Washington. "The only barrels are going to be the tough barrels."
There is plenty of oil and gas still in the ground, energy executives say. But the global consumption is rising SO FAST that they must keep looking for new sources. Despite worldwide concern over the role of fossil fuels, U.S. government specialists project that global oil and gas demand will increase by some 50% in the next 25 years.
At the same time, the big discoveries of the last 3 decades, like those in the North Sea and on the North Slope of Alaska, are drying up. So with the rising prices of oil and gas.....topping @ over $110 a barrel, it is not a matter of inflation or a weaker dollar as some economists would suggest, but rather a simple matter of supply and demand and that supply is quickly running out.
Another great book to pique your interest......."Twilight in the desert" by Matthew Simmons. It's about an inflated estimate of Saudi oil reserves. He believes that the largest oil basin ever found in the world has already been depleted by @ least 50%. However OPEC continues to reassure the public that they have plenty more oil to produce and can actually produce more oil. My question.......so how come they haven't?
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
The Clandestine Affairs of Men
Some historians say that the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, and the civil war were fought over an attempt to control the issuance of America's currency. The Bank of England was determined to establish and control a central bank in the United States.
In 1912, the Federal Reserve Act was passed by our well-intentioned politicians, creating a central bank of the United States....under the control of the Bank of England and its European-based International Banking Cartel.
When the Federal Reserve System was established in 1913, the United States had no national debt. Today, however, our government owes this International Banking Cartel more than $13 trillion. At the end of the 20th century, all the taxes collected in America will not cover even the interest due on our national debt. When Thomas Jefferson first learned that Alexander Hamilton had been given a permit to establish a central bank, he said, "If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and the corporations that will grow up around them, will deprive the people of all property until their children wake homeless on the continent their fathers conquered." And that is exactly what is happening.
After the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln voiced his concern about the prospects of private control of America's currency. He said, "As a result of the war, corporations have been enthroned. And an era of corruption in high places will follow and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working on the prejudices of the people until wealth is aggregated in the hands of a few and the Republic is destroyed."
In 1913, Colonel Edward Mandell House, a secret representative of the International Banking Cartel, persuaded President Woodrow Wilson to support and sign the Federal Reserve Act into law. Some years later, President Wilson admitted, "I have unwittingly ruined my country." And who was Colonel Edward Mandell House? He was a proponent of world government. During the Civil War, his father, Thomas House, had been an agent of the Bank of England and had made a fortune by supplying the South with equipment and ammunition from France and England. Colonel House called himself the "unseen guardian angel" of the Federal Reserve Act. He was not only an advisor to President Woodrow Wilson, he was the unseen administrator of the Wilson White House.
In 1912, Colonel House published a novel called, "Philip Dru, Administrator", wherein he laid out a plan to bring America into a New World Order. He wrote, "America is the most undemocratic of democratic countries......our constitution and our laws served us well for the first 100 years of our existence, but under the conditions of today they are not only obsolete, but even grotesque." His book tells of a bloody revolution in the United States wherein the "Socialism of Karl Marx" would be established. Colonel House wished the same for Russia. And that revolution came in 1917......only 5 years after the publication of his book.
Over the years, there have been several attempts in our Congress to dissolve England's hold on America's currency. But all attempts have failed. Our government is filled with politicians on the payroll of the International Banking Cartel. By the middle of the 1980's, some 20 states had passed several legislation calling for an audit of the Federal Reserve System, or for a repeal of the Federal Reserve Act. But did you hear about this in the news media? NO!!! The big networks are effectively controlled by this powerful and fabulously wealthy secret society.
By the late 1980's the battle was once again taken to the floor of the United States Congress. House Resolution 1469 called for the abolition of the Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve System, and House Resolution 1470 called for repeal of the Federal Reserve Act of 1913. Another House Resolution called for an annual audit of the Federal Reserve. But again, they all failed. How can this be? Who are these people who have a stranglehold on American politics? And what is this SECRET society which plans to bring all nations under their control?
On May 1, 1776, the infamous Illuminate was organized in Germany by Adam Weishaupt, a prominent member of one of the secret societies evolving from the Knights Templar. His sinister organization conspired for the overthrow of all governments and the establishment of a New World Order. Weishaupt wrote, "We must do our utmost to procure the advancement of Illuminati into all important civil offices. By this plan we shall direct all mankind. The occuptions must be so allotted and contrived, that we may, in secret, influence all political transactions."
According to some historians, this ultra-secret organization was short-lived. But not so! They have continued to flourish under the cover of several sinister organizations until this very day. In the late 18th century they carried out the French Revolution. In the 19th century they conspired with Karl Marx to produce a plan for world conquest. In America, this secret society, funded by the International Banking Cartel, established a group called the Council on Foreign Relations. Gary Kah quotes from the handbook of the Council on Foreign Relations concerning it's origin: "On May 30, 1919, several leading members of the delegations to the Paris Peace Conference met at the Hotle Majestic in Paris to discuss setting up an international group which would advise their respective governments on international affairs." The United States branch was officially formed on July 29, 1921, and called the Council on Foreign Relations.
Over the years, this group has accomplished some astonishing feats. It established the United Nations, the Trilateral Commission, and the Club of Rome. Its tentacles reach into every facet of American life. It influences our educational system from the earliest grades to university level. It provides politicians for local, state, and federal legislatures. It educates our lawyers and controls our judicial system. And it effectively controls both political parties in our nation. It provides the candidates for our federal government in both the Democratic and Republican parties. We are told that the candidates differ in their approach to government; but in reality, it doesn't matter who is elected. Both will work for the establishment of world government. This is true not only in America, but in almost every nation in the world.
Adapted from the book....."Earth's final Days" by various authors. The post title is mine however. I thought Clandestine was a perfect description of what goes on in government and politics, not to mention throughout our whole world.
In 1912, the Federal Reserve Act was passed by our well-intentioned politicians, creating a central bank of the United States....under the control of the Bank of England and its European-based International Banking Cartel.
When the Federal Reserve System was established in 1913, the United States had no national debt. Today, however, our government owes this International Banking Cartel more than $13 trillion. At the end of the 20th century, all the taxes collected in America will not cover even the interest due on our national debt. When Thomas Jefferson first learned that Alexander Hamilton had been given a permit to establish a central bank, he said, "If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and the corporations that will grow up around them, will deprive the people of all property until their children wake homeless on the continent their fathers conquered." And that is exactly what is happening.
After the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln voiced his concern about the prospects of private control of America's currency. He said, "As a result of the war, corporations have been enthroned. And an era of corruption in high places will follow and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working on the prejudices of the people until wealth is aggregated in the hands of a few and the Republic is destroyed."
In 1913, Colonel Edward Mandell House, a secret representative of the International Banking Cartel, persuaded President Woodrow Wilson to support and sign the Federal Reserve Act into law. Some years later, President Wilson admitted, "I have unwittingly ruined my country." And who was Colonel Edward Mandell House? He was a proponent of world government. During the Civil War, his father, Thomas House, had been an agent of the Bank of England and had made a fortune by supplying the South with equipment and ammunition from France and England. Colonel House called himself the "unseen guardian angel" of the Federal Reserve Act. He was not only an advisor to President Woodrow Wilson, he was the unseen administrator of the Wilson White House.
In 1912, Colonel House published a novel called, "Philip Dru, Administrator", wherein he laid out a plan to bring America into a New World Order. He wrote, "America is the most undemocratic of democratic countries......our constitution and our laws served us well for the first 100 years of our existence, but under the conditions of today they are not only obsolete, but even grotesque." His book tells of a bloody revolution in the United States wherein the "Socialism of Karl Marx" would be established. Colonel House wished the same for Russia. And that revolution came in 1917......only 5 years after the publication of his book.
Over the years, there have been several attempts in our Congress to dissolve England's hold on America's currency. But all attempts have failed. Our government is filled with politicians on the payroll of the International Banking Cartel. By the middle of the 1980's, some 20 states had passed several legislation calling for an audit of the Federal Reserve System, or for a repeal of the Federal Reserve Act. But did you hear about this in the news media? NO!!! The big networks are effectively controlled by this powerful and fabulously wealthy secret society.
By the late 1980's the battle was once again taken to the floor of the United States Congress. House Resolution 1469 called for the abolition of the Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve System, and House Resolution 1470 called for repeal of the Federal Reserve Act of 1913. Another House Resolution called for an annual audit of the Federal Reserve. But again, they all failed. How can this be? Who are these people who have a stranglehold on American politics? And what is this SECRET society which plans to bring all nations under their control?
On May 1, 1776, the infamous Illuminate was organized in Germany by Adam Weishaupt, a prominent member of one of the secret societies evolving from the Knights Templar. His sinister organization conspired for the overthrow of all governments and the establishment of a New World Order. Weishaupt wrote, "We must do our utmost to procure the advancement of Illuminati into all important civil offices. By this plan we shall direct all mankind. The occuptions must be so allotted and contrived, that we may, in secret, influence all political transactions."
According to some historians, this ultra-secret organization was short-lived. But not so! They have continued to flourish under the cover of several sinister organizations until this very day. In the late 18th century they carried out the French Revolution. In the 19th century they conspired with Karl Marx to produce a plan for world conquest. In America, this secret society, funded by the International Banking Cartel, established a group called the Council on Foreign Relations. Gary Kah quotes from the handbook of the Council on Foreign Relations concerning it's origin: "On May 30, 1919, several leading members of the delegations to the Paris Peace Conference met at the Hotle Majestic in Paris to discuss setting up an international group which would advise their respective governments on international affairs." The United States branch was officially formed on July 29, 1921, and called the Council on Foreign Relations.
Over the years, this group has accomplished some astonishing feats. It established the United Nations, the Trilateral Commission, and the Club of Rome. Its tentacles reach into every facet of American life. It influences our educational system from the earliest grades to university level. It provides politicians for local, state, and federal legislatures. It educates our lawyers and controls our judicial system. And it effectively controls both political parties in our nation. It provides the candidates for our federal government in both the Democratic and Republican parties. We are told that the candidates differ in their approach to government; but in reality, it doesn't matter who is elected. Both will work for the establishment of world government. This is true not only in America, but in almost every nation in the world.
Adapted from the book....."Earth's final Days" by various authors. The post title is mine however. I thought Clandestine was a perfect description of what goes on in government and politics, not to mention throughout our whole world.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Oil genesis
I have said before that the study of geology is fascinating to say the least. Understanding where crude oil comes from and how it is formed is essential to interpret the current problem with rising gas prices. The law of supply and demand is fundamental. You can factor in the weaker dollar or inflation, however, that does little to effect the price of a barrel of oil on the NYMEX. Some have said that it is price manipulation and greed from the oil companies, but unfortunatley, that too will do little to bring down the price of oil. Congress has convened with oil companies under their ethics committee to determine if price gouging is indeed going on but nevertheless, we live in a capitalistic society where companies make enormous profits. It's always been that way. So it's important for people to understand this amazing organic substance and it's indispensible value and why it's supply is indeed declining.
*Basins at the edges of the world ocean......like the Red Sea, the Yellow Sea, and the Black Sea.......sometimes develope a circulation pattern that traps marine nutrients. Dead plants and animals and fecal pellets fall out of the surface water, taking nutrients with them. They are normally oxidized by bacteria on the sea floor, which releases the nurients back into the water. This constant organic fallout from the surface continually hauls nutrients into the deep water. When an arm of the sea has more surface evaporation (from sun and wind) than freshwater input from rain and rives, a circulation pattern develops that brings in shallow ocean water and exports the nutrient rich deep water back to the main ocean. If river runoff plus rainfall exceeds surface evaporation, then nutrient-depleted surface water is exported back to the ocean and the deep water becomes a nutrient trap. Wherever the nutrient-laden deep water is mixed toward the surface, surface marine life blooms. Phosphates and nitrates are usually the critical nutrients. The Black Sea comes close to being a modern example. About a thousand years ago, the Black Sea bottom water was fully depleted of oxygen. Sediments with more than 10% organic matter were preserved on the bottom of the Black Sea. Organic-rich sediments are not common; less than 1% of all sedimentary rocks contain more than 5% organic carbon. If organic-rich sedimentary rocks were common, we would be swimming in oil.
*Burying organic-rich sediments in rocks deeper than 7,500 feet takes them into a temperature range (about 175 F) that causes large organic molecules to break into smaller pieces. Molecules with 5 to 20 carbon atoms are liquids: crude oil. Molecules with fewer than 5 carbon atoms are gases at room temperature and pressure: natural gas. A depth of 7,500 feet is called the "top of the oil window".
*Burying the sediments, or the oil, deeper than 15,000 feet continues the molecular breaking until the remaining product has only 1 carbon atom per molecule. That gas, almost pure methane, is often referred to as "dry" natural gas. The limit of 15,000 feet is the bottom of the oil window. If you are looking for oil, you need organic-rich sediments that have been buried, at some time in their history, into but not deeper than the oil window.
*After liquid crude oil is liberated within the oil window, it tends to migrate upward. The oil is not soluble in water and it floats upward because it is lighter than water. Most oil, at least 90%, finds its way to the surface as oil seeps. The remaining 10% (or less) gets trapped underground in places that are not well connected to the surface, such as domes, fossil reefs, sand lenses, and even a few meteorite impact sites.
More to come..........
*Basins at the edges of the world ocean......like the Red Sea, the Yellow Sea, and the Black Sea.......sometimes develope a circulation pattern that traps marine nutrients. Dead plants and animals and fecal pellets fall out of the surface water, taking nutrients with them. They are normally oxidized by bacteria on the sea floor, which releases the nurients back into the water. This constant organic fallout from the surface continually hauls nutrients into the deep water. When an arm of the sea has more surface evaporation (from sun and wind) than freshwater input from rain and rives, a circulation pattern develops that brings in shallow ocean water and exports the nutrient rich deep water back to the main ocean. If river runoff plus rainfall exceeds surface evaporation, then nutrient-depleted surface water is exported back to the ocean and the deep water becomes a nutrient trap. Wherever the nutrient-laden deep water is mixed toward the surface, surface marine life blooms. Phosphates and nitrates are usually the critical nutrients. The Black Sea comes close to being a modern example. About a thousand years ago, the Black Sea bottom water was fully depleted of oxygen. Sediments with more than 10% organic matter were preserved on the bottom of the Black Sea. Organic-rich sediments are not common; less than 1% of all sedimentary rocks contain more than 5% organic carbon. If organic-rich sedimentary rocks were common, we would be swimming in oil.
*Burying organic-rich sediments in rocks deeper than 7,500 feet takes them into a temperature range (about 175 F) that causes large organic molecules to break into smaller pieces. Molecules with 5 to 20 carbon atoms are liquids: crude oil. Molecules with fewer than 5 carbon atoms are gases at room temperature and pressure: natural gas. A depth of 7,500 feet is called the "top of the oil window".
*Burying the sediments, or the oil, deeper than 15,000 feet continues the molecular breaking until the remaining product has only 1 carbon atom per molecule. That gas, almost pure methane, is often referred to as "dry" natural gas. The limit of 15,000 feet is the bottom of the oil window. If you are looking for oil, you need organic-rich sediments that have been buried, at some time in their history, into but not deeper than the oil window.
*After liquid crude oil is liberated within the oil window, it tends to migrate upward. The oil is not soluble in water and it floats upward because it is lighter than water. Most oil, at least 90%, finds its way to the surface as oil seeps. The remaining 10% (or less) gets trapped underground in places that are not well connected to the surface, such as domes, fossil reefs, sand lenses, and even a few meteorite impact sites.
More to come..........
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