Visible crew/equipment: Thorton drives away from the police station after ripping the department a new one. The shot is through his driver's side window. The top of the camera shooting the scene is visible at the bottom.
Factual error: At the tanker / airplane accident site, Tommy states, "When 11,000 gallons of crude oil hits 100 octane AVGAS - it tends to go boom." The problem is there was no AVGAS present at that crash site. The plane involved in the accident was a King Air - which has turbine (jet) engines, not piston engines that would require AVGAS. A King Air is fueled with 'Jet-A' fuel. (00:28:00)
Factual error: Tommy meets his son at the Patch Cafe in Midland, Texas. After the meeting with his son, Tommy leaves the Patch and drives out onto the road at Kenwood Ave and Camp Bowie West Rd. There is a JD's Hamburgers restaurant in the background, but JD's Hamburgers at that street location is in Fort Worth, Texas, not Midland, Texas. (00:20:44)
Answer: Several factors. Producing too much oil too quickly can be dangerous, particularly with methane gas leaks that can cause blowout explosions. Escaping hydrogen sulfide gas is toxic and can be deadly to workers. Also, faulty and old drilling equipment like Cooper's company is a concern, making oil production more dangerous. Economic issues of producing too much oil in a short time period can create storage issues, while having higher inventory on the open market lowers prices and profits.
raywest ★
Hydrogen sulfide is hardly odorless. It smells like rotten eggs.
That's correct. I was thinking of CO2. I corrected this.
raywest ★