How Fracking Helped the U.S. Become the World’s Top Oil Producer

By ZeroHedge - Feb 12, 2024

• Over the last decade, the US has become the top producer of crude oil globally, thanks in part to hydraulic fracturing in shale formations.
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• The US overtook Saudi Arabia and Russia in oil production in 2018, accounting for 14.7% of global crude oil production in 2022.
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• Despite leading in production, the US still trails in remaining proven reserves underground, ranking seventh globally behind countries like Venezuela and Saudi Arabia.

Over the last decade, the United States has established itself as the world’s top producer of crude oil, surpassing Saudi Arabia and Russia.

This infographic, via Visual Capitalist's Omri Wallach, illustrates the rise of the U.S. as the biggest oil producer, based on data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

U.S. Takes Lead in 2018

Over the last three decades, the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Russia have alternated as the top crude producers, but always by small margins.

During the 1990s, Saudi Arabia dominated crude production, taking advantage of its extensive oil reserves. The petroleum sector accounts for roughly 42% of the country’s GDP, 87% of its budget revenues, and 90% of export earnings.

However, during the 2000s, Russia surpassed Saudi Arabia in production during some years, following strategic investments in expanding its oil infrastructure. The majority of Russia’s oil goes to OECD Europe (60%), with around 20% going to China.

Crude Oil Production	United States	Saudi Arabia	Russia
1992	11.93%	13.97%	12.74%
1993	11.50%	13.68%	11.35%
1994	10.96%	13.32%	10.50%
1995	10.60%	13.17%	9.96%
1996	10.21%	12.87%	9.49%
1997	9.84%	12.73%	9.29%
1998	9.39%	12.58%	9.05%
1999	9.06%	11.99%	9.33%
2000	8.67%	12.33%	9.64%
2001	8.65%	11.89%	10.45%
2002	8.63%	11.49%	11.53%
2003	8.05%	12.92%	12.10%
2004	7.46%	12.74%	12.67%
2005	7.00%	13.21%	12.82%
2006	6.85%	13.00%	12.90%
2007	6.84%	12.38%	13.29%
2008	6.71%	12.44%	12.56%
2009	7.32%	11.28%	12.98%
2010	7.37%	11.31%	13.03%
2011	7.55%	12.81%	13.02%
2012	8.50%	13.04%	12.94%
2013	9.76%	12.86%	13.10%
2014	11.18%	12.60%	12.86%
2015	11.67%	12.77%	12.66%
2016	10.92%	13.12%	13.02%
2017	11.53%	12.68%	13.05%
2018	13.21%	12.77%	12.96%
2019	14.90%	12.15%	13.20%
2020	14.87%	12.37%	12.97%
2021	14.59%	12.06%	13.10%
2022	14.73%	13.17%	12.76%

Over the 2010s, the U.S. witnessed an increase in domestic production, much of it attributable to hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” in the shale formations ranging from Texas to North Dakota. It became the world’s largest oil producer in 2018, outproducing Russia and Saudi Arabia.

The U.S. accounted for 14.7% of crude oil production worldwide in 2022, compared to 13.1% for Saudi Arabia and 12.7% for Russia.

Despite leading petroleum production, the U.S. still trails seven countries in remaining proven reserves underground, with 55,251 million barrels.

Venezuela has the biggest reserves with 303,221 million barrels. Saudi Arabia, with 267,192 million barrels, occupies the second spot, while Russia is seventh with 80,000 million barrels.

By Zerohedge.com 

90,000 NATO Troops Mobilize in "Biggest Exercise" Since Cold War

By RFE/RL staff - Feb 12, 2024

• Steadfast Defender 24 involves 90,000 troops from all 31 NATO members, aimed at testing responses to a simulated conflict scenario with a near-peer adversary, widely understood to be Russia.
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• The exercise, spanning four months, includes transatlantic reinforcement of forces, amphibious assaults, air maneuvers, and land operations, with a focus on defense readiness and coordination among NATO allies.
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• Amidst ongoing tensions with Russia, particularly concerning the war in Ukraine, NATO's massive drills aim to reassure European allies and demonstrate the alliance's preparedness to defend against potential threats.
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In late January, NATO began what it has called its “largest military exercise since the Cold War.”

Steadfast Defender 24 involves 90,000 troops from all 31 alliance members as well as NATO invitee Sweden for four months of maneuvers by land, sea, and air.

You have to go all the way back to 1988 for the last NATO exercise that involved more troops: Reforger with 125,000. In between, the Trident Juncture exercise in 2018 included 50,000 personnel.

While official NATO documents don’t say outright that they’re training against a potential Russian offensive on allied territory, it’s clear that’s what is on their minds.

The alliance says it is testing responses “during a simulated emerging conflict scenario with a near-peer adversary.”

Exercise maps will show an adversary with a fictitious name, but privately my NATO sources acknowledge without hesitation that “of course this means Russia.”

Deep Background: Take a look at the geography and what the alliance will practice, and it becomes even more evident.

Roughly speaking, Steadfast Defender 24 includes two phases. The first, which kicked off slowly at the end of January, involves the transatlantic reinforcement of forces. This is in fact the key to see if the United States can effectively deploy a large number of troops and equipment to continental Europe to mount a defense.

Don’t underestimate the symbolism, as the United States nears a presidential election that culminates on November 5. The image of U.S. troops training alongside other nations in mock amphibious assaults in the Atlantic in the next two months, involving more than 50 naval vessels including aircraft carriers, frigates, and destroyers, could help assuage European fears of a less committed United States down the road.

The second phase of the exercise is equally crucial and is likely to show whether NATO is capable of defending its vulnerable eastern flank -- “every inch of allied territory,” as NATO officials like to put it.

Starting in mid-February and running till the end of May, many of the elements will take place on land and in the sky, involving up to 80 air platforms including F-35 fighter jets, helicopters, and drones, as well as more than 1,000 combat vehicles, including 166 tanks.

The epicenter is Poland, where a major river crossing will be attempted in March, but also in the Baltic states, with Germany acting as a major hub for reinforcement and coordination.

There will also be exercises throughout the Nordic region, as well as Czechia, Hungary, North Macedonia, and Romania.

Drilling Down

• This will also represent the first proper chance for NATO to test aspects of its new defense plans agreed at the Vilnius NATO summit in July, a 4,000-page document in which every ally should know exactly which part of alliance territory it should defend if NATO is attacked.
• Another big test is seeing how well the alliance’s Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF), which was created as a direct response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, functions. It will be one of the bloc’s key components to defend any potential attack, with some 6,000 troops that should be deployable within days to any corner of the alliance.
• One of the aims of Steadfast Defender is ensuring this reaction force can be deployed together with various national forces once each year, starting from 2025. So this year is very much a test run.
• While the exercise has been planned for years, it comes at a pivotal time. Two years into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it should act as assurance that the alliance is ready in case the war creeps closer or even spreads across NATO members’ borders.
• While no Ukrainian troops are participating, the specter of the war in that country looms large in planners’ minds. Speaking to media in early February, NATO Brigadier General Gunnar Bruegner said “there is this unified sense that we need to go bigger, we need to train harder” when asked about the impact of the war on the alliance.
• The real question, however, is whether it will truly allay fears in Europe. Firstly, weapons deliveries to Ukraine have dropped alarmingly in recent months. The chairman of NATO’s military committee, Rob Bauer, said last fall that Western arms industries need to ramp up, as "the bottom of the barrel is now visible.”
• Then there have been plenty of recent official warnings that European allies must step up and prepare for the war potentially escaping containment to spread beyond Ukraine. And it’s not just Ukraine’s neighbors.
• The Belgian Army chief Michel Hofman suggested that Putin opening a second front in Moldova or the Baltics is not out of the question. And Hofman’s Swedish counterpart, Micael Byden, warned in late January that his countrymen “mentally must prepare for war,” triggering a slight panic as the public rushed out to buy extra fuel and survival kits.

By RFE/RL

Trump Can't Stop Energy Transition: Kerry

By Julianne Geiger - Feb 13, 2024

Former President—and current Presidential candidate—Donald Trump—won't be able to stand in the way of the Energy Transition, John Kerry said on Tuesday at the International Energy Agency ministerial meeting.

The U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate did warn, however, that President Trump could reverse the efforts made in anti-coal diplomacy.

"Even when President Trump was there for those 4 years, 75% of our new electricity came from renewables because we had portfolio laws in the 37 states that required the deployment of renewables ... so whatever happens, that's not going to change the direction we're moving in," Kerry said, adding that the green revolution was happening "notwithstanding the hiccup of the farmers' strikes or a president of a country who wants to pull out of the Paris agreement."

Former President Donald Trump has been clear about his plans to reduce U.S. contributions to international organizations—which could include the International Energy Agency, pull the United States out from the Parison climate agreement (again), and "unleash the production of domestic energy resources." Those resources could include coal.

Kerry cautioned that while Trump was unlikely to be able to unravel the green efforts made under the current administration, that Trump could still set the climate progress back. Kerry took the opportunity to highlight the success "with China in getting China to agree that they're not going to fund any more foreign coal-fired power being built, which is a step forward." Kerry added, however, that enforcing that agreement "has proven to be complicated." The agreement from China does not include, however, coal-fired power being built within China.

While Kerry's words were seasoned with some acknowledgment that Donald Trump, if re-elected, would have limitations on unraveling green policies and progress, Myron Ebell of the EPA has previously stated that "Trump will undo everything Biden has done, he will move more quickly and go further than he did before." One primary target, said Ebell, will be the $370 billion Inflation Reduction Act.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

SCI-FI-TEK

Fusion Breakthrough Could Spark AI and Quantum Computing Boom

By ZeroHedge - Feb 10, 2024

• NIF researchers achieved a nuclear fusion reaction that created more energy output than input, a historic first in energy research.
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• Peer review confirms the breakthrough, opening the door for developing practical fusion reactors capable of providing near-unlimited energy.
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• The availability of fusion energy could significantly accelerate progress in energy-intensive technologies such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing, potentially overcoming current energy bottlenecks.
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Authored by Tristan Greene via CoinTelegraph.com,

A recent physics breakthrough that could serve as a proof-of-concept for the development of nuclear fusion reactors capable of producing near-unlimited energy has finally passed its official peer-review successfully. 

On Dec. 5, 2022, a team of researchers at the United States National Ignition Facility (NIF) in California recorded data indicating that it had achieved a nuclear fusion reaction that created more energy than it took to produce. The reported results were the first of their kind.

In physics, this is sometimes colloquially referred to as a “free lunch,” meaning a nuclear fusion reactor could one day be scaled to the point where it is capable of producing near-unlimited energy.

If the NIF team’s reported results were correct, their breakthrough research could serve as a platform for the future technology that might help us eliminate our dependence on carbon energy and supercharge fields where energy scarcity presents as a roadblock, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing.

But, as science communicator Carl Sagan put it, “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.” News of the breakthrough was taken with both a measure of optimism and a grain of salt by the physics community. The general consensus, at the time, was that people should wait until peer review before shouting “eureka!” at the findings.

Eureka time?

The peer review is in, and according to a report in the APA Physics journal, multiple teams have confirmed and replicated the results.

Recreating the experiment was no easy feat. To achieve the original fusion reaction, NIF scientists used a technique called inertial confinement fusion. This form of fusion involves bombarding heavy hydrogen atoms with nearly 200 lasers, causing them to superheat and, ultimately, fuse at pressures greater than those found within the sun.

While this early work has only just been confirmed through peer review, the NIF device could serve as a platform by which practical fusion reactors can be built. It’s currently too soon to predict when a viable fusion reactor might be achieved.

Next-generation energy

Once realized, however, the free availability of so-called next-generation energy sources could supercharge the engineering and development of adjacent technologies such as AI and quantum computing. 

Fields such as those, where energy bottlenecks at play are perceived to be the next great hurdle to scale, could see generational leaps in progress once those roadblocks are removed.

As Cointelegraph recently reported, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said there’s no way to build the AI systems of the future until there’s a fusion energy breakthrough. It’s possible that this work from the NIF team could be the first confirmed step toward that breakthrough technology.

OpenAI might be in the best position to understand the energy requirements needed to train systems such as ChatGPT, but it bears mention that Altman is personally invested in a private company working on fusion.

By Zerohedge.com

Crime scene investigators could soon be using bacteria and fungi to solve complex murder cases.

Research has found that certain microbes are extremely reliable indicators for determining the precise time of death, because they appear at different stages of the decomposition process.

These microscopic clues – which reach bodies on the backs of insects – could help police investigators establish a timeline for the crime when other evidence is unavailable.

Professor David Carter from the Chaminade University of Honolulu, a co-researcher on the study, said: “When you’re talking about investigating death scenes, there are very few types of physical evidence you can guarantee will be present at every scene.

“You never know if there will be fingerprints, or bloodstains or camera footage. But the microbes will always be there.”

A research team led by scientists from the University of Colorado observed the decaying remains of 36 humans bodies for 21 days.

The team found that, regardless of climate or soil type, the same 20 microbes were present. These micro-organisms, including different and bacteria fungi, arrived like clockwork at certain points throughout the observation period.

“We see similar microbes arrive at similar times during decomposition, regardless of any number of outdoor variables you can think of,” said Jessica Metcalf, of the University of Colorado

Experts in the UK and the US suggested that microbes could one day become a new tool in the CSI armory.

“If further research confirms the findings, and if this form of analysis can be done rapidly and cost effectively, it would be a valuable additional tool for UK police investigations,” said Professor Ruth Morgan, director of the UCL Centre for the Forensic Sciences.

“Being able to establish a post-mortem interval has remained a really challenging issue in forensic science. The findings from this study are a really exciting development, particularly given the prevalence of microbes at these kinds of crime scenes.

“If we can get a more transparent and reproducible estimate of the time since death, that is really valuable intelligence that can help to narrow the time frame of interest, focus the lines of inquiry – and that increases the possibility of solving the case,” she said.

Nancy La Vigne, director of the National Institute of Justice in the US, which funded the research, added: “One of the principal questions of any death investigation is ‘when did this person die?’”

“This shows promising results for predicting time of death of human remains, aiding in identification of the decedent, determining potential suspects and confirmation or refutation of alibis.”

The study is published in the journal Nature Microbiology.