Dirty Secret: Green Energy “Panacea” Revisited – Another Update!
June 12, 2023 Article by Jeffrey PriceYou may have reviewed a previous soapbox speech bemoaning the absurdity of the supply-chain flaws – hiding in plain sight – that afflict the mirage of a massive worldwide conversion to EV technologies. Well, the New York Times recently published an interesting series of charts – click here – that graphically illustrate the stranglehold that China has on this industry. In a nutshell, China has a dominant position somewhere in the supply chain for each of the critical materials comprising these vehicles: cobalt, lithium, nickel, etc.
We at First Keystone are all over this issue because energy is arguably the top geopolitical factor in the world today. Thanks to the unanticipated shale revolution, the U.S. has miraculously reversed its position of being dependent on nasty folks for oil, and has itself ascended into being a dominating force. It’s this power that has enabled the Biden Administration to put the screws on Putin’s Russia.
So back to EVs – it’s no surprise that the Biden Administration has eased off its rhetoric about the conversion to EVs. Without a complete re-jiggering of worldwide supply chains, the U.S. would be committing folly to place its transportation system into the controlling grip of the Chinese Community Party. And, we know the Biden Team is monitoring Chinese maneuvers very closely. That’s why strengthening the infrastructure of U.S.-based energy production is regarded as a critical geopolitical necessity. And, we at First Keystone are making our own small contribution to this effort by leasing industrial warehouse space in Pecos to well-established suppliers like ChampionX and to nimble new players like Spindletop Energy Products, the most recent member joining our community.
Indeed, it’s companies like these that are the backbone that makes the U.S.-based oil & gas industry so dynamic – and that helps to make the United States such a powerful geopolitical force.
The opinions expressed above reflect only those of the author and do not represent those of the First Keystone Pecos Industrial Park organization. First Keystone welcomes responsible fact-based discourses on these topics.
Brent Embraces Midland
June 7, 2023 Article by Jeffrey PriceSay what!? Yes, the formula for calculation of Brent prices – for the first time – incorporates a factor based on U.S.-produced oil. Not just any oil, but it’s Midland price points – see recent Wall Street Journal article here. That’s not WTI. If that’s not an endorsement of the importance of the Permian Basin, then what is!?
That’s why in 2017 First Keystone set up shop in the up-and-coming western section of the Permian to bolster the supply of high-grade industrial buildings for sale or lease in Pecos, Texas. Of course, Midland has for generations been a major center of oil & gas service activity, but Pecos – a relative “newcomer” — must grow into a major satellite of the Midland-dominated Permian since roughly half of all drilling in the Permian now actually occurs out in the Delaware Basin sector where Pecos is THE Hub.
The opinions expressed above reflect only those of the author and do not represent those of the First Keystone Pecos Industrial Park organization. First Keystone welcomes responsible fact-based discourses on these topics.