Blogthe latest commentary and analysis from EPF

By Deborah Rogers When the price of natural gas tanked due to severe overproduction by operators in shale gas, operators quickly turned their attention to shale oil. Clearly this was a deliberate attempt to salvage ailing balance sheets saturated with natural gas assets and, no doubt, executives hoped that it might serve as an effective [...]

By Deborah Rogers Assessing shale production honestly and accurately requires that all externalities, or created peripheral costs, be examined in a circumspect manner. It is imprudent, indeed stupid, to consider oil and gas projects without also considering the externalities which inevitably arise due to its heavy industrial nature. A careful look at costs such as [...]

By Deborah Rogers The past few years have brought endless glowing reports about the benefits and promise of shales, both oil and gas. We have been assured of a prolific supply that will continue to be cheap and abundant for decades to come. Unfortunately industry rhetoric has proven overtly optimistic. Reserves and economic benefit are [...]

By Deborah Rogers The University of Texas (UT) issued a press statement recently about a new report examining production data from the Barnett shale in North Texas. Pro-Industry groups proclaimed the report as definitive proof of the abundance of natural gas in the U.S. and its ability to sustain not only domestic demand but also [...]

By Deborah Lawrence Rogers One of the primary metrics used to assess an oil and gas company is its reserve replacement ratio. Investors use this as an indicator of operating performance, good or bad. It is a relatively simple metric which measures the amount of proved reserves added relative to the amount of hydrocarbon produced. [...]

By Deborah Rogers The rainmaker is gone from Chesapeake Energy. Aubrey McClendon, who steps down shortly as CEO of Chesapeake Energy, was the undisputed rainmaker of the company. But perhaps even more importantly is the fact that Mr. McClendon was the rainmaker for the entire shale industry. Others merely rode his coat tails, grabbed on [...]

  EnergyPolicyForum (EPF) released one of two comprehensive reports today with Post Carbon Institute. EPF’s report, entitled “Shale and Wall Street: Was the Decline in Natural Gas Prices Orchestrated?”, examines the role large Wall Street investment banks have played in shale production. Post Carbon Institute released “Drill, Baby, Drill” which is an exhaustive look at [...]

By Deborah Rogers A run for public office is just the sort of theatrical venue that is not only entertaining but also enlightening because all sorts of facts and figures begin to emerge which blatantly contradict prior statements and positions of the candidates. Self interest can be a wonderful segue to the truth. In November, [...]

By Deborah Rogers   Aubrey McClendon, the disgraced CEO of Chesapeake Energy, has chosen to “retire”. Chesapeake Energy stock values have plummeted, the company faces funding shortfalls in excess of $10 billion, significant assets, including midstream assets which are virtual cash cows for a company, have been sold to cover a reckless debt ratio, the [...]

By Deborah Rogers   Rex Tillerson, CEO of ExxonMobil, has a distinct world view. In April, 2012 he stated “If you want to live by the precautionary principle, then crawl up in a ball and live in a cave”. Unfortunately this sort of “shoot from the hip” statement does nothing for building trust with regard [...]