Tag Archives: oil industry

Into Big Valley

Posted on August 10, 2016 by Ron Miksha

A few days ago, I lamented that the lovely town of Big Valley is blessed with a Creation Science Museum. The museum is a single-room curio shop with a fossilized Teddy Bear and not much more. It’s a disappointing destination … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Exploration, Geology, History | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Cuba, America, and Oil

Posted on March 21, 2016 by Ron Miksha

With America’s president visiting Cuba this week, I thought it might be helpful to re-post my story “Has Cuba Got Oil?” which I wrote in 2014.  It’s still valid. Cuba still has oil. But I argued that I doubt oil … Continue reading →

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Let’s Be Brief

Posted on December 5, 2015 by Ron Miksha

You’ve seen barrels of oil listed as bbl (and sometimes bbls) of oil. And pounds as lbs.  And you’ve thought it’s just not right. Meanwhile, ounces are oz. while the shorthand for the plural of species, spp., somewhat resembles the … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, History | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Finding Oil and Gas where God Dumps Them

Posted on September 7, 2015 by Ron Miksha

Well, here’s a great idea. Sarah Palin has offered to head the Department of Energy when Donald Trump becomes president. “I think a lot about the Department of Energy, because energy is my baby: oil and gas and minerals, those … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Geology, People | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Busted by Oil

Posted on July 28, 2015 by Ron Miksha

The list is long. Spindletop in Texas; Drake’s well in Pennsylvania; Petrolia, Ontario; Baku, Azerbaijan; Boryslav in Galicia. And many more. These are places spoiled by the boom and bust, rust and dust of oil production. I wonder if one … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, Exploration, History | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

USA and Vietnam may go to war again – as Allies

Posted on June 17, 2015 by Ron Miksha

I was a kid during the Vietnam War. I remember the nightly television scenes of boys not much older than I was, crawling through rice paddies while explosions ignited around them. Some of the young men were relatives, others were … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Exploration | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

World’s Biggest Fracking Quake?

Posted on February 8, 2015 by Ron Miksha

“Did Alberta Just Break a Fracking Earthquake World Record?” This is the headline in The Tyee, an online independent magazine focused on western Canada, and it seems the paper thinks so. The Tyee’s coverage of a big fracking earthquake in … Continue reading →

Posted in Engineering, Geology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Has Cuba Got Oil?

Posted on December 30, 2014 by Ron Miksha

Besides sunshine and sugar cane, what has Cuba got? It looks like the USA is serious about letting Americans party along Havana’s beaches and carry home a cigar or two. It has long bemused me that two of the continent’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Exploration, Geology | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Russia’s Growing Pains

Posted on November 1, 2014 by Ron Miksha

Russia plans to grow. It may do this by annexing 1.2 million square kilometres of Arctic Ocean. That’s a piece of Earth more than twice the current size of the Ukraine. This includes the North Pole. And potentially a lot … Continue reading →

Posted in Exploration, Oceans | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Who gave Santa all that Oil?

Posted on August 12, 2014 by Ron Miksha

This weekend Russia announced that the world’s most northerly oil well was about to spud.  Vladimir Putin did the actual announcing himself from his summer vacation palace in Sochi. (He is the guy behind the big desk, above.) He was … Continue reading →

Posted in Exploration, Oceans, Plate Tectonics | Tagged , | Leave a comment