U.S. Oil Production Reaches 25-Year August High

http://www.ogj.com/articles/2013/09/api-us-oil-production-reaches-25-year-august-high.html?cmpid=EnlDailySeptember202013

Yep, Obama is doing everything  he can to stifle American oil production.... (Not!).  

Oil production has grown every year the President has been in office, and now stands at 7.6 million barrels per day. It will continue to grow, and should reach 10 million barrels per day by 2020. Got oil?

I have been doing a great deal of driving the last week and I am seeing leafs and Volts all over. I also am seeing most people driving high mileage cars now. Our consumption has to be dropping in addition to our higher production. That 800 billion balance of trade problem each year is amazingly turning around. I also heard that the deficit now stands at about half of what it used to be in the annual budget. Good things are coming to America.

ZVUGKTUBM wrote:I actually hope our 58 billion barrels of oil from tight shale formations turns out to be the bridge to an electrified society where transportation is also powered by electricity. Within the next few years, renewable energy from the sun is going to start competing with electricity from fossil fuel sources. The electric vehicles of the future are going to make internal-combustion engine vehicles as obsolete as the buggy. Internal-combustion vehicels will become more expensive to operate, as gasoline and diesel will be very costly 20-30 years out.

So, our consumption of fossil fuels will steadily decline as new technology replaces those energy sources with electricity generated from solar, wind and enhanced geothermal systems (EGS). There will also still be some nuclear in that mix. That electricity will power our homes, businesses and much of our transportation.

The reduced carbon footprint of the future should do much to assuage the concerns of the global warming gang. In the meantime, we still need to use oil and gas.

That may all work out seamlessly... and I hope it does... but I wish we were building nuclear plants.

Act II for nuclear is awaiting the current intermission caused by the Fukushima disaster. The nuclear plants of the future will be nothing like the ones we have today. They are going to be smaller, modular in construction, and will largely be meltdown-proof. Here is an article explaining:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/michaellynch/2013/08/29/possible-bright-future-for-modular-nuclear-reactors/

If Gulf Power were to replace the Crist plant with modular nuclear reactors on the new property they have in the north county, the plant would require a much smaller footprint. Four to six modulars could probably power all of Escambia County for about 8 years before a module needed replacement, which would be a drop-in unit. I don't know how the rate structure would be, as the modules are expensive (about $100M apiece).

Moreover, the unit would likely be powered by Be02-clad hybrid fuel, which is 35% more efficient than older technology uranium fuel, and requires less uranium for each fuel rod. This further lessens the chance for a meltdown.