How Much Debt it Takes to Get Oil and Coal Out of the Ground

I am far more worried about how much debt it takes to get oil and coal out of the ground than how much energy it takes to get oil out of the ground.

The amount of oil that will be left in the ground looks like it will be virtually all of it, regardless of whether the oil price is $80 per barrel of $20 per barrel. The problem is that the system is very close to breaking.

The whole idea of net energy, and various amounts that will be available at different prices is badly flawed, in my mind. It sounds like an engineer trying to figure out what the system looks like, when the system is governed by different factors than the engineer really understands. Charlie Hall is currently quite unhappy with me, BTW. - Gail Tverberg

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