Let's Talk Oil

Global oil prices have plummeted to $20 a barrel due to an unprecedented surplus. The US is producing excess oil and gas due to widespread fracking of shale deposits. Fracking is capital-intensive, so many drillers have borrowed large amounts of money in order to acquire leases, drill wells, purchase and install processing infrastructure. Currently the cost of shale production is estimated at anywhere from $35 to $50 a barrel. 

Do you attribute our current 2016 stock market declines to the fact that oil prices are well below the costs of production? Are drillers now being forced to drill more and more wells to keep up the semblance of growth while the debt keeps piling up? Are we likely to experience economic repercussions akin to those of a few years ago with the housing mortgage bubble?

How do we square today’s gas prices of about $2.50 a gallon with predictions of Peak Oil? Do you believe alternative energy sources can and will allow our industrial civilization to continue or do you subscribe to the belief that Peak Oil will still be that factor that pushes us over the cliff of global economic collapse?

Please listen on Thursday January 21 from 11 to noon and call 415-663-8492 during the show. We want to hear what you think will happen next with regard to our current energy and economic situation.