Chinese Well Data is Expensive!
The Chinese government recently sentenced an American citizen to eight years for selling data relating to the locations and reserves associated with more than 30,000 Chinese oil and gas wells to IHS. The sentence has provoked demands from US officials for Xue Feng’s immediate release and deportation to the US.
As outrageous as this may sound to Americans accustomed to “freedom of information,” we should look in the mirror before we judge the Chinese too harshly. Here in the US we can usually purchase this type of information (well locations, production data, well logs, etc.) from companies such as IHS, Tobin, and others, or in many cases get the data for free from state regulatory agencies; but this is not always the case.
I was recently involved in an Eminent Domain case which involved a large interstate pipeline company wishing to expand a gas storage facility. In this case the pipeline company was concerned that its storage gas may leak out of the boundaries of the existing facility onto the property of nearby landowners. The pipeline company was exercising its federally backed right to take the mineral rights of these owners so it could expand the storage facility to prevent this potential loss.
Despite the fact the pipeline company was taking the property of these citizens, they refused to disclose the locations of their wells, the current and future boundary of the storage facility, and their geologic justification for the expansion. They claimed “national security” as their basis for withholding this information from the citizens being impacted.
While the US government hasn’t nationalized its oil industry, these large interstate pipelines and utilities have been granted powers approaching that of a NOC. US oil and gas companies are required by most states to provide this type of information with the knowledge that it will be made publicly available, but these interstate pipeline gas storage facilities can hide behind the federal government (FERC).
So, before we start making demands of other countries let’s take a minute to think what the repercussions would be for an employee of this US pipeline company had they sold their “national security” secrets to IHS.
With all of the "he said, she said" and finger pointing going on in the media surrounding the BP blowout, MSNBC has a 
These are scary times. We all know about the tragic accident that occurred April 20th at Mississippi Canyon 252. Transocean's Deepwater Horizon drilling rig contracted to BP experienced a blowout resulting in an explosion that killed 11 workers and began spilling an estimated 5,000 bbl per day into the Gulf of Mexico. This incident was indeed a tragedy for the families of the 11 who died, the residents along the Gulf affected by the spill, the companies involved and their investors, and now potentially for the future of offshore production and the country's energy security.
The Gulf of Mexico is a significant source of oil and gas for the US. 
On the other hand, the plot of offshore oil shows growth, significant growth, over the past decade due to both higher prices and technological advancements that have allowed deep water exploration and production; this is indicative of a less mature source which has future potential for expansion. If we are serious in this country about trying to be less dependent on foreign oil, we need sources that can be exploited to grow supply.
With the failure of BP's recent attempt to control the blowout being attributed to the formation of gas hydrates, I thought it might be helpful to discuss hydrates in general. A gas hydrate is a crystalline structure that forms in cold temperatures under high pressure. The crystal is formed with water molecules surrounding a hydrocarbon molecule and resembles ice...ice that will burn.
Today 1.5 billion (25% of the world's population) do not have electricity and a whopping 2.5 billion (over 40%) do not have access to modern cooking and heating fuels and must rely on burning wood, dung and other biomass. There is a very strong correlation between economic prosperity and energy consumption as can be seen in Dr. Economides' graphic.
