One of the biggest changes this past year at Shale Crescent USA is the number of international companies we are working with.

Last week we had a call with a company in India. The week before Christmas we had a call with Germany. SCUSA is averaging an international call a week. We have made friends all over the world.

When Lynnda had breast cancer surgery, prayers for her came from India, Pakistan, Turkey, Israel, Europe and around the USA. We are blessed.

When Corey, our oldest, son was in the Navy and deployed in the Middle East we payed attention to conflicts in the region. If a helicopter crashed, we worried. Now when there is an earthquake in Turkey, a flood in India, a war in Ukraine or in the Middle East we have concern for our friends. The October 7th Hamas attack in Israel killed two co-workers and their young children of our friends in Israel. That hit close to home. They were beautiful innocent children. We are working with a company in Ukraine interested moving part of their manufacturing to the USA. When we did our first Zoom call they were in Kiev close to a bomb shelter. The executive lives in Kiev. He has three children under the age of 8. I can’t imagine not knowing when a missile will destroy your home or factory. When I see videos of the death and destruction in Ukraine, Israel, Palestine or Russia it disturbs me. Innocent victims. We need to find a way to end the conflicts.

My wife, Lynnda and I were in EPCOT at Walt Disney World Florida on January 1st 2002, after the 9-11- 2001 bombing of the World Trade Center. The evening closing light show and fireworks at the time was called Illuminations Reflections of Earth. It was a great show with incredible music. This evening, they added the song Let There be Peace on Earth and Let it Begin with Me. Thousands of people were there from all over the world around EPCOT’s 7 Seas Lagoon. Suddenly we all were singing that song together. It was a magical moment. No matter where we were from, we all had the same dream, peace. We were unified.

We can’t control what happens around the world or even in the USA. We can control only one person, ourselves. We control our thoughts and actions. We control how we treat others. We control what we choose to read and post on the internet. I’m surprised what normally friendly people post and say to others on the internet when they aren’t face to face. You can feel the anger and hatred. When we see one of those feeding frenzies of hatred we have a choice to make. We can become part of it and participate in the anger and hatred. We can choose to leave or inject something positive. Reading that garbage never helps our attitude or emotional well-being.

It is expensive to fight a war. Troops need to be equipped, fed and paid. Equipment is costly. An Abrams tank costs about $9 Million. A typical missile costs over a million dollars. A Russian cruise missile is over $13 Million. Even small rockets can cost over $100,000 each. Small arms like a mortar can cost $150,000 each. The companies that manufacture weapons expect to get paid.

Where does the money come from? In the USA it is taxpayers who pay bill. Some countries like Russia and Iran have state run oil companies who produce revenue. The price of oil is set globally by supply and demand. Oil prices have been climbing since 2019 when world oil price was in the $40 per barrel range and we paid $1.99 per gallon for our gasoline. When world oil price was in the $90 range we saw $4+ gasoline prices. Currently oil is in the $70s per barrel. Prices vary by state due to gasoline taxes. At $40 per barrel oil companies in the USA lose money. Break even price varies by company and location. The OPEC countries and Russia don’t have the regulations U.S. companies have. When oil went to $90 per barrel, what did Russia do with all of the extra revenue? Build schools, hospitals and parks? Did they use the excess revenue to finance the war in Ukraine?

Iran’s revenue comes primarily from oil. According to their oil minister, Javad Owja, on November 3,2023, Iran was producing 3.4 million barrels of oil a day. Could Iran be using the excess profit of $78 oil to fund Hamas?

According to the EIA, in 2022 the world produced 81 million barrels of oil per day from 98 countries. The top five oil producing countries producing 52% of the world’s oil are; the USA No. 1, Saudi Arabia No. 2, Russia No. 3, Canada No. 4 and Iraq No. 5. If the USA produces a little more oil it would lower world oil prices helping U.S. consumers and reducing the amount of money countries like Russia and Iran have to spend on war.

China has a dynamic manufacturing economy. They can build their own weapons. They can also generate revenue from manufacturing supported by U.S. consumers to support wars in Ukraine, the Middle East or Taiwan, if they choose. I haven’t seen any studies about the serious impact of wars on global emissions. COP 28 chose not to address the issue and focused on reduced fossil fuel use. Restricting U.S. oil production would raise oil prices helping Russia and OPEC generate more money for war and environmental damage.

One way to stop war is to find ways to cut off the money funding it. Putin was hinting at a cease fire. The cost of the Ukraine war for Russia may be taking its toll. If we want peace bad enough we can find ways to work together toward a common goal. Let peace begin with each of us. All things are possible.

Greg Kozera, gkozera@shalecrescentusa.com, is the director of marketing and sales for Shale Crescent USA, www.shalecrescentusa.com. He is a professional engineer with a master’s in environmental engineering and over 40 years’ experience in the energy industry. He is a professional speaker and author of four books and numerous published articles.