A fairly reasonable assumption given all the recent global upheaval. Yesterday's Financial Times, for example, ran a huge, full page piece, The indispensable country, singing the praises of how the U.S. shale revolution headed off a possible oil crisis. And that's probably accurate. But that same indispensable country, not the usual suspect geopolitics, may prove to be the problem.
Shale has to be fracked. And like it or no, fracking, as it's known in the industry, is beginning to catch some, well, flak. In this case, environmental flak. In 2011 two towns in New York voted to amended their zoning laws to ban fracking, claiming it "threatened the health, environment and character of communities."
So far around 180 towns in New York State have followed suit, adopting codes to control or stop fracking in their areas. And this recent July 1, New York's highest court ruled that communities could use zoning laws to ban fracking.
Yes, given the U.S. mother load from hydraulic fracturing, there appears to be an abundance of U.S. oil and gas. But opposition--some even coming in research claiming that fracking can increase earthquakes-- is growing.
In boxing there's an old saying it's the one you don't see that does the damage. Among this sea of apparent abundance could be lurking in that supply chain something hardly anyone anticipated. For more, here's an excellent piece from oilprice.com.
t. man hatter
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