CNN is reporting on an oil rig explosion 80 miles off Louisiana coast. Fortunately all 13 workers involved in the rig explosion are accounted for with one injury.

The implications are not positive for the US offshore oil industry.

Cambridge House International has acquired the Silver Summit Investment Conference. With silver prices looking strong, there will be lots of interest in this fall’s conference. More info below…

Vancouver, B.C. and Wallace, Idaho – Cambridge House International Inc, of Vancouver and The Silver Summit Investment Conference, Inc. of Wallace, Idaho are pleased to announce that Cambridge House has acquired The Silver Summit and is now owner of the this unique annual silver investment conference.

The Silver Summit is a yearly autumn investment conference held in Spokane, Washington, and is focused on all aspects of silver: its discovery, uses, and production.

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Scientific American has an interesting feature on the limits of earth’s resources. This is the underlying driving force behind commodity bull markets. Countering the trend of ever increasing shortages of resources are new technologies which may:

1. increase usable resources (ie shale gas)
2. decrease demand (ie energy efficiencies, recycling)

Overlay complex patterns of global booms and busts and the short term patterns of commodity prices are anything but predictable. For today, the big picture is worth a look.

Click here

Metals News, interviewed me back in June during the World Resource Investment Conference in Vancouver. Much of what I was thinking then is holding up more or less so here is a link to the article.

Jim Letourneau Shares His Thoughts on BP, Bull Markets, Pocket Manias, and Market Timing

Dave Steers of Pemberton, BC has documented the devastation at Meager Creek. There were no injuries but natural dams and high sediment loads may pose challenges for residents immediately downstream (hat tip to Paul Kedrosky).

I’ve been on vacation since last Monday morning but it really kicked off with a wonderful Sunday dinner that my wife Julia and I were invited to. Ian Brown has been eating his way across Canada (he’s been running too – that way his clothes still fit) and writing about it as well. Here’s his take on the dinner.

Tell me, were you really Miss Grey Cup?

I can vouch that Harry’s mom has got it going on.

The dinner was great fun but it came at a price, which wasn’t paid in full until Monday morning.

Nothing sums up the current state of offshore drilling in the US than the moving of a rig from the Gulf of Mexico to a new far away location. Diamond Offshore’s Ocean Confidence drill rig is leaving the Gulf of Mexico for the Republic of Congo according to the AAPG GEO-DC blog. The rig will be under contract to a subsidiary of Murphy Exploration and Production Company. While working in the Gulf for Murphy, the rig’s day rate was just over ~ $500,000/day.

If fewer domestic jobs and a greater dependence on foreign oil are a part of US energy policy, it appears to be having the desired affect.

Bird news you can use  (with apologies to Cake)

The total duck population is nearly 41 million, which is similar to last year’s estimate and 21 percent above the long-term average. Duck numbers hold steady across North America

An Oregon community has killed off 109 Canada geese that officials say were becoming a nuisance. Their goose is cooked; Canada geese gassed by Oregon community

Last year, the US Department of Agriculture removed more than 1,200 Canada geese from 17 sites, sending them to goose gas chambers. Sully’s revenge — wider goose cull planned this summer

On June 25, Syncrude was found guilty of a pair of charges – one federal, one provincial. The judge found that Syncrude did not deploy cannons and effigies, meant to scare wildlife away, quickly enough, before the dead birds were discovered on April 28, 2008.

The company is arguing the charges overlap. The provincial charge carries a fine of up to $500,000. The federal charge allows a fine up to $300,000, but allows the chance to seek a fine for each duck that died. Alberta politicians defend oil sands after Syncrude found guilty in duck deaths

I always enjoy the trivia question from the PTTC’s monthy email. I spent the afternoon with my children poking around the USS Midway Museum in San Diego so the question seemed especially apropos.

Question

One hundred years ago — on July 2, 1910 — President William Howard Taft established three Naval Petroleum Reserves — designating large areas of potential oil-bearing lands in California and Wyoming as sources of fuel for the U.S. Navy. Why did he create these “strategic” reserves?

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The worst oil spill in US history chase been making news for weeks. BP has the financial resources to pay for the cleanup of it’s spill. What did the banks do when the financial system crashed?

M. King Hubbert wrote extensively on the differences between the energy-matter system and the financial system. The interplay between a finite (energy-matter) and infinite (financial) system is ongoing but so far very few people have talked about planning how to deal with it.