As of this writing, if early (Wednesday evening) reports are correct, at least 4 Ukrainian cities are reported to be under heavy enemy fire. By the time you read this things may be far worse. Some great joker somewhere is seeing how far humans can be pushed and still retain their sanity. Covid has pounded many lives and psyches. Just when there appeared to be a light at the end of the tunnel, with restrictions lifting in various places, disillusion and years of frustration boiled over in Canada [Read more]
Column: Petroleum industry – If you felt friendless these past few years, that is about to change in a spectacular way
Writing about energy year after year, relentlessly - and particularly through the last post-2014 oil price meltdown and global schoolchildren-bearing-nasty-signs onslaught - has an effect on the psyche not unlike locking one’s self in a dark basement with nothing for entertainment but a 24/7 live stream of professional wrestling. At first, the bombastic “speeches” would be funny and whimsically idiotic. Then you learn the characters and sink into it. Finally, you get subsumed into their world [Read more]
Column: Maybe we’re better off if we can’t find our politicians – an ocean of ignorance guides western energy policy
A few years ago, I was discussing the impacts of drought on some Canadian crop regions with an acquaintance. The guy had no farming background whatsoever, which is not particularly unusual, as is the often accompanying disjointed view of how things really work. After a minute of mulling the crop devastation, he asked, “Couldn’t you just use like a watering hose?” The guy wasn’t a particularly sizeable idiot; he was just isolated and had no idea how impractical and implausible that idea was. [Read more]
Column: Elites vs. Blue collar, or maybe Canada’s Yellow Vest day: Here’s what the media won’t say about the truckers convoy
Today, in late January, when I Google search “only elite should vote” I get 106 million results. When I Google search “should only the elite vote” (ignoring question marks because I’m trying to fit in with the younger generation) I get 154 million results. The elite has time to noodle around Google (many of us are in that camp, from a global perspective – university-educated, own a house, two vehicles in the garage, and maybe a Tesla thrown in so we can hold our heads high) apparently; and the [Read more]
Column: Back in the USSR – Governments setting price signals will end exactly as you think it would
Warning, social media anecdote ahead that may or may not be true. I normally don’t put much faith in Twitter circumstantial evidence but this one came from a farmer and I know they don’t lie except about crop yields and hail the size of cantaloupes. The particular claim in question is from a US dairy farmer, who commented that he had been approached by about 25 firms looking rights his cow sh*t, in order to capture the methane. I believe him because one’s cow sh*t has never in history been [Read more]
Column: Energy industry charging ahead with emissions reduction technologies — A preferred route to tearing up the world in search of minerals
The start of a new year is often a time of reflection, quiet, and goal setting. Minus 30 temperatures and pants that no longer fit do make a person contemplative, and we look back to learn from the year past, calibrate where we are at, and put ourselves vigorously on a new path, to the extent that there is not a new year's bonanza on Netflix. The hydrocarbon sector is more aptly described as shell-shocked rather than reflective. Despite rebounding commodity prices, the ground-shift beneath [Read more]
Column: Don’t lose your mind reading mainstream energy chronicles – try these for immediate relief
It’s the end of the year, a time for positivity and hope for the new year. A time of relaxation, reflection, and grounding with friends, family, or whomever/whatever turns your crank. A time to set resolutions and/or objectives for the new year. The whole season just tees it up for an uplifting, go-get-‘em-in-the-new-year type of message. I got nothin’. That’s because, from an energy perspective, we seem to be witnessing a global and utter abandonment of sense, an incomprehensible flailing at [Read more]
Column: Death threats, socialist resonance, and other weird progress on the energy road
It’s time to turn over a new leaf. Maybe it’s the spirit of the season, maybe it’s delirium from a third vaccination (tip: just wander into a little pharmacy and ask for one, they’re happy to inject anything), or maybe it’s the turning tide in the energy world. At any rate, despite what the news might tell you, there is a converging energy harmony taking place that is good news indeed. But getting there to investigate is a dangerous journey. People ask if the crazies that attack [Read more]
Column: Why so torqued up about Suzuki’s comments? Did you sleep through the first two acts?
“Logic is the art of non-contradictory identification. A contradiction cannot exist. No concept [wo]man forms is valid unless [s]he integrates it without contradiction into the total sum of [her]his knowledge.” Ayn Rand This quote might seem esoteric (being from philosophy) or confrontational (being from Rand) but it is actually relevant beyond belief. Here is what happens if you don’t think so. Calgary has a new mayor, Jyoti Gondek. She must be good at some things - intelligent [Read more]
Column: Enthusiastic idiocy vs. infrastructure optimization – two strategies for an energy transition
Last week, buried in the flow of weird crap that fills the mailbox these days, was a small treat - the Lee Valley catalogue. It is a booklet of wonder, even if delivery apparently might take a year…not sure how I’m going to survive without the $80 “Discover Whittling Set” or the $135 Camera Lucida. Beyond those staples a German tool caught my eye - the Eierschalensollbruchstellenverursacher (wow did spell checker ever get mad at that). It is pretty much what it sounds like; a metal egg cup [Read more]
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