It's a very strong result. They're doing exactly what they said they would and keep adding to it. Of course a lot of the growth comes from Vintage. |
Libya has been a fairly easy place for these companies to deal with, and I think they welcome the opportunity to get back and be able to operate there again. |
The soft underbelly is the costs. The costs are going up quickly for them. It's troubling. |
There is coming the time, sometime in the next decade, during which our global ability to produce conventional oil on a daily basis will hit a peak. It will probably not be directly recognizable at the time, owing to ongoing improvements driven by technology, economic factors, and a gradual improvement of production of unconventional oils and other sources of energy. |
They (oil companies) have become financial engineers rather than petroleum engineers. I'd like to see them show a little more effort in the development side internally than they have lately. |
They worked together very closely for years. The basic day-to-day tools and the basic approach shouldn't change at all. |
You're seeing the effects of an electricity pricing mechanism that's tied to the cost of natural gas. Companies that are larger producers from coal and nuclear are getting a higher-than-anticipated benefit. |