The ONLY Good Thing About Budget Deal: Lifts Oil Export Ban
It was truly disheartening to learn of the complete sell-out by House Speaker Paul Ryan (Republican) and the Republican-led House in the latest budget deal. They essentially bent over and grabbed their ankles and assumed the position while Barack Hussein Obama had his way with them. This budget deal is repulsive–as grossly corrupt as it gets. The Democrats are even more corrupt–but we expect that of them. The only good thing that came from the budget deal, as near as we can tell, is that it lifts the 40-year ban on crude oil exports. As a Bloomberg article headline puts it, “Shale Drillers Are Now Free to Export U.S. Oil Into Global Glut.” Yeah, that about sums it up. Hey, having the crude oil ban lifted is good, we’re happy about that. But in the larger pantheon of the budget deal, we could have lived without it if we had gotten a better deal on far more critical items. Here’s what the inimitable Heartland Institute, one of our favorites, said about this disastrous budget deal…
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Doug “the ax” Lawler, CEO of Chesapeake Energy, was the keynote speaker on Tuesday at the Louisiana Gulf Coast Oil Exposition (LAGCOE). Lawler became CEO after corporate raiders Mason Hawkins and Carl Icahn, the two biggest investors in Chesapeake, forced Aubrey McClendon out–out of the company he co-founded. That’s what happens when you take other people’s money. You lose control. Lawler embarked on massive layoffs and selling everything but the kitchen sink. How’s it worked out? Lawler claims the company now has $1.5 billion in cash, giving them some breathing room. Lawler had some very interesting comments at LAGCOE on the price of natural gas–where he sees it going over the next five years, and at what price his company (and other companies) can’t make money. Lawler also talked about the price of oil, oil production and Saudi Arabia’s rather bizarre behavior with respect to oil production…
Warning: You’re now entering… the anti-fossil fuel Twilight Zone. An anti-fossil fuel group that calls itself ForestEthics last week launched what they hope will be a public relations sensation–a campaign to scare the wits out of every person in the country, particularly young children. Their angle? If a rail tanker car carrying crude oil passes anywhere within a mile of where you are–BANG!–it may blow up and if you’re within a mile, you’re in “the blast zone.” They’ve even produced a handy dandy online mapping app where you can plug in your address and see if you live or work or (shutter) go to school in a blast zone. DANGER WILL ROBINSON! RUN FOR THE HILLS!! Of course, this is just another anti-fossil fuel campaign aimed at taking us back to the Stone Ages where we all burn wood for fuel. Oh wait, that creates carbon–can’t do that! Better yet, let’s just extinguish all carbon-generating human life–we’re a just pestilence on precious Mother Earth, ya know…
A year ago OPEC, composed of a group of America’s enemies, decided they would try to bankrupt the American shale energy industry by pumping as much oil as they could, driving the price of oil and natural gas into the subbasement. Good for consumers! Not so good for oil and gas drillers and the energy industry at large. Now that OPEC’s strategy, led by Saudi Arabia, has not worked, OPEC is ready to start talking with American shale producers to see if they can trick us into joining them in circumventing the free market. They want us to cooperate with them to restrict oil and gas output and drive prices back up. We sincerely hope America shale producers don’t do it. We need to bankrupt the Middle Eastern countries that have waged a war of terrorism on us for years. Tell them to pound sand–they certainly have enough of it…
The director of Philadelphia’s Office of Emergency Management, Samantha Phillips, has told anti-drilling zealots to (in our words) “stuff it” with respect to their demands to know the city’s emergency plans in case a trainload of oil derails in or near the city. Phillips will not disclose detailed emergency plans–rightly so–for fear that terrorists could potentially use the information should such a disaster ever occur. Of course public safety is the last thing on the minds of anti-drillers like those in THE Delaware Riverkeeper–a group attempting to incite unrest in Philly by sponsoring “scare them to death” rallies. Phillips is holding firm and will not release details to Riverkeeper to sleazily use in furthering their own twisted agenda…
MDN invites you to join us in attending RBN Energy’s “State of the Energy Markets” one-day event in New York City on July 23. Before you hurry to say “yes,” a few caveats. It costs money (a lot of it). It’s aimed at executives working in the industry, as well as traders and investors. If that describes you (and we know that many of you read MDN), you may be interested in attending. We guarantee it will be a great event. Rusty Braziel & company will provide an overview of the key issues facing natural gas, NGLs and the crude oil market. They will explain how the markets for those three commodities interact and affect each other. They will also take a look at prices, where they may be heading, and how infrastructure affects price. If you are really “into energy” as we are, this is a must attend event. Details are below, along with a link to register…