“Just a few of the roadblocks: Independent producers will spend $1.50 drilling this year for every dollar they get back. Shale output drops faster than production from conventional methods. It will take 2,500 new wells a year just to sustain output of 1 million barrels a day in North Dakota’s Bakken shale, according to the Paris-based International Energy Agency. Iraq could do the same with 60.” Source: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/dream-u-oil-independence-slams-000001732.html
We discussed the economics of horizontal shale wells 5 years ago and had concluded then that the economics didn’t add up. Now the media is admitting the same conclusion. I wonder why the media took so long to draw the same conclusion? Maybe it is because those in charge of the stories did not see fit to share the reality until now.