Sir William Grove created the first fuel cell in 1839. It wasn’t until 1950, however, that another British scientist, Sir Francis Bacon, demonstrated the fuel cell’s practical use in a fuel cell stack. It was the magic of chemistry created in this stacking of fuel cells that allowed them to win out over other competing power systems when NASA was looking to increase the duration of manned space flights. NASA even called their first fuel cells Bacon Cells in honor of Sir Francis Bacon. The fuel cell’s early success in NASA’s manned space flights allowed fuel cell technology to literally “take off” in the 1960’s. Many of the types of fuel cells that we have today were spawned out of the R&D done by NASA in the 1960s as variants of the Bacon Cell concept.
This month a group calling themselves the MICATS staged a protest at Attorney General Bill Schuette’s home in Midland, Michigan. The Detroit News has a story here.
For the record, I have never supported extremist groups or individuals like those in MICATS and neither has respectmyplanet.org. I don’t know them, affiliate with them, or in any way condone what they did. RMP supports as part of our stated mission the migration away from oil as an energy source. RMP supports ending oil pipelines that traverse our Continue reading Michigan Oil & Gas Monthly – July 2016→
In this month’s cover photo a buzzard flies past the flare stack at the Wessel et Al 2-6A oil well in Hillsdale, Michigan (PN#58992). Buzzards seem to love to congregate around oil wells as they await their next meal’s demise. A buzzard circling a Michigan oil well is a fitting analogy for the June 2016 edition of RMP’s MOGM as we have seen few vital signs in Michigan’s oil economy so far this year. RMP wrote throughout the year in 2015 how it turned out to be the slowest year in Michigan’s history for oil & gas well permitting. RMP also wrote in 2014 that the forecast of activity in the coming years for oil production in Michigan was bleak; and that’s when prices were over $100/bbl. As it turns out, the numbers continue to Continue reading Michigan Oil & Gas Monthly – June 2016→
The big news in oil & gas this month was the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings of Houston, Texas based Linn Energy and Los Angeles, California based Breitburn Energy Partners. Linn energy was the 3rd largest hydrocarbon producer in Michigan in 2015 bringing in approximately $45.1 million worth of Michigan petroleum revenue. Breitburn was Michigan’s 5th biggest producer in 2015 bringing in approximately $44.0 million. Now, the questions will come about how the Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructurings will impact these companies along with their Michigan assets. RMP published a summary of the 2015 top 25 producers in the Michigan Basin last month, you can read it here. Less than a month after publishing the top 25 producers, we learn that two of Michigan’s top five producers are bankrupt.
North American oil & gas bankruptcies filed in May of 2016. There have been 35 oil & gas companies filing for bankruptcy protection so far in 2016. Linn Energy is the largest by debt at $8.3 billion to file this year. Linn Energy was the 3rd largest operator by revenue in Michigan in 2015 selling about $45.1 million of mostly dry Michigan natural gas from Michigan’s Antrim Formation. (photo source: Haynes & Boone)
This post demonstrates a simple overlay on a Google Map using JavaScript. The map image is anchored by latitude and longitude points onto a Google Map canvass. Respectmyplanet.org is a Michigan based 501(c)3 non-profit dedicated to water conservation and sustainable energy production. RMP makes maps using the Google Maps API v3 which is completely free to use for non-profit organizations like ours. That’s great that it’s free because RMP is unfunded and we could not do what we do without Google’s free API. The map shown below is Continue reading Interactive Ann Arbor Dioxane Plume Map Demo→
It’s been a cold Spring. Winter came late this year in Michigan and Spring has been pushed back. The first four months ended April 30, 2016 have been freezing. But, we’ve finally turned the corner and it’s getting warmer. Sun’s out guns out for the next 5 or 6 months straight and a we are all looking forward to the warm weather. Free heat from the sun will reduce natural gas demand from consumers all across Michigan and the Midwest until next winter. Michiganders demand natural gas to stay warm for months on end through the cold season with a just a simple digital click of their thermostats. Nearly 80% of Michiganders heat their homes with natural gas as well as use natural gas to dry their laundry and heat their chicken noodle soup. Natural gas is poised to gain additional market share in 2016 around the world and to displace demand for oil similar to the way it has displaced demand for coal.
The first four months of 2016 rang in the first Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) export shipments from Cheniere’s Sabine Pass terminal in Lousiana with the very first export shipment of US natural gas occurring on Continue reading Michigan Oil & Gas Monthly – April 2016→
2015 Michigan petroleum production numbers are approximately 98% reported as of today. RMP has always focused on the numbers as they are often greater than adjectives. Opinions are overrated. People want to hear the numbers and then decide for themselves. This is RMP’s fifth year studying, parsing, organizing, compiling, and reporting numbers related to Michigan petroleum production. The information RMP publishes will always be free access to the public. RMP has always followed three fundamental tenets as a research and reporting philosophy:
It’s all about the rock. Always respect the geology.
Follow the money. Money talks.
Follow the wastewater. Waste means inefficiency and problems. Inefficiency and problems mean additional costs. With regard to costs, see point #2.
Crickets. New oil & gas activity in the Michigan Basin is so slow through the first quarter of 2016 that the only thing you can hear at the OOGM permitting department is crickets. 2015 was the slowest year in Michigan oil & gas history for new permitting activity breaking the old record set in 1931. In the first three months of 2015, the slowest year in Michigan history, the Office of Oil, Gas, & Minerals (OOGM) had received 24 applications and had issued 28 permits. As of today, through the first three months of 2016, Michigan’s OOGM has received only two applications and issued only six permits. New oil & gas permitting activity in 2016 is on pace to set the bar substantially lower than last year’s record as the slowest year ever.
The Detroit Free Press published an article March 10, 2016 written by Keith Matheny that raises awareness about groundwater contamination at Wurtsmith Air Force Base (WAFB) in Oscoda, Michigan. You can read the Freep article by clicking here. Keith’s article has current information and details about an upcoming “open house” being held by the MDEQ & US Air Force on March 23, 2016 in Oscoda in order to brief the public about groundwater contamination at WAFB. Each day thousands of gallons of Pure Michigan freshwater soak through Landfill #27 and become contaminated water that flows south through Clark’s Marsh to the Au Sable River and then out to Lake Huron. The extent of the contamination plume around WAFB is not fully understood but ongoing studies are underway to delineate the pollution. A “do not eat” fish advisory was issued immediately after data first became available on May 2, 2012 that showed contamination levels at WAFB above GSI criteria. It’s great to see Freep covering issues that raise awareness about important contamination “hot spots” in the Michigan Basin. RMP has been working on a list of contaminated hot spots in Michigan and WAFB is on our top 10 list. In this post, I will write a little bit about Continue reading Landfill #27 At Wurtsmith Air Force Base→
Each month, RMP publishes a detailed recap of oil & gas activity in the Michigan Basin. This edition marks our 14th since our inaugural monthly edition was published in January of 2015. It’s time to follow up on a couple things we reported in 2015. One of the hot topics in our hometown Detroit newspapers and on our Detroit radio stations is the application for the Word of Faith 16-27 well targeting Michigan’s Silurian age Niagaran Reef. Jordan Development out of Traverse City, Michigan filed the application in October of 2015.
This is an example of the bolierplate used by many of the people who submitted a comment in favor of the Word of Faith 16-27 well being permitted for drilling. Click to enlarge.
What makes the Word of Faith 16-27 oil well different than many other potential Michigan wells is that it’s within the city limits of Southfield, which has a population of nearly 75,000 people. Often times when an application is received for a well in a heavily populated Metro Detroit city, the MDEQ’s OOGM will extend the application review process to hear comments from the public. The MDEQ has sole legal authority to permit any Michigan oil well regardless of symbolic gestures like a moratorium enacted by the Southfield City Council in effect until April 28, 2016. Only a court ordered injunction via lawsuit can Continue reading Michigan Oil & Gas Monthly – February 2016→
RMP is focused on protecting our fresh water resources by promoting sustainable energy production, examining locations undergoing environmental remediation, & rethinking waste management.
