THE GLOBE INVEST

US shale output continues to soar in the Permian basin, but worries about poor infrastructure hampering production won’t go away The huge amounts of oil and gas that are being extracted from the Permian Basin are causing frustrating bottle necks for producers in the region  This July, the US crude oil industry celebrated a groundbreaking  moment  when its output averaged an estimated 11 million barrels per day (BPD) for the first time ever ( see Fig 1 ). This makes the US the world’s second-largest producer, behind only Russia. The surge is largely down to the boom in shale oil and gas production in the Permian Basin across the west of Texas and south-east New Mexico. Drilling in the region began to ramp up a decade ago, and it is only projected to continue growing. But there is one hurdle standing in the way: a lack of critical infrastructure. It is not just oil pipelines that are unable to keep up with demand – the associated natural gas production has also overwhelmed

Germany possesses the European Union’s biggest economy, has its largest population and runs the most substantial trade surplus. In one area in particular, however, it is not among the continent’s leading players: militarily, the country is lagging behind. Reports of under-equipped personnel and planes that are no longer airworthy are becoming increasingly commonplace. The primary problem is a lack of funding. The chronic lack of funding that undermines the German military has deep roots According to US President Donald Trump, Germany’s inadequate defense budget is more than just a domestic issue, having implications for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the security of the European continent. “If you look at NATO, where Germany pays one percent and we are paying 4.2 percent of a much bigger GDP – that’s not fair,” Trump said. While the actual numbers are different – World Bank figures ( see Fig 1 ) for 2017 put US military expenditure at around three percent o