ODAC Newsletter – May 25

May 25, 2012

Welcome to the ODAC Newsletter, a weekly roundup from the Oil Depletion Analysis Centre at nef dedicated to raising awareness of peak oil.

G8 leaders meeting last weekend in Camp David will have been cheered by the recent slide in oil prices—albeit that the weakening in price is largely a consequence of the increasingly dire economic news. Nevertheless the group issued a statement to the effect that should the price start heading back in the other direction they will be calling on the IEA to take action—presumably via the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The most likely reason for this would be a heightening of tensions over Iran’s nuclear programme.

In the UK this week the big news was the release of the draft Energy Market Reform bill. The bill received a fairly rough reception with no one really happy. New nuclear looked even more uncertain this week as the Office for Nuclear Regulation announced that it has approved a plan to extend the lives of existing nuclear plants, which under the new bill will see financial benefits from being a low carbon energy source without all the investment risks of new build. Meanwhile the renewables industry is frustrated that the Contracts for Difference incentive mechanism of the new bill will be less effective and more complex to operate that the current ROC system.

There were signs this week that the government has not as yet been bamboozled by promises of abundant cheap energy by way of shale gas. The Independent on Sunday took recent comments from Energy Secretary Ed Davey on shale and ran with the headline “Government backtracks on fracking“. The report quoted Davey saying that a recent Downing Street meeting with energy experts made “clear that it would take time for shale gas to be exploited in the UK” and that the reserves “are not quite as large as some have been speculating”. Promoters of shale gas jumped on the report quickly establishing that nobody from Cuadrilla Resources, the leading shale gas company in the UK, had been at the Downing Street meeting. Energy Minister Greg Barker clarified later in the week that there had been no reversal of the government position, but rather that it “remained cautious but balanced”.

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Oil

Statement by G8 leaders on global oil markets

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New and Frozen Frontier Awaits Offshore Oil Drilling

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Oil Advances From Seven-Month Low as Drop May Be Overdone

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Gas

Government backtracks on fracking

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Fracking ‘presents huge challenge’

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Investor’s concerns lead to calls for fracking changes

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Biofuels

U.N. warns agrofuel growth may breach human rights

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UK

Government announces biggest energy reforms in 20 years

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Nuclear reactor reprieve puts UK energy plans in doubt

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Draft energy Bill may deter investment, Citigroup warns

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UK delays solar subsidy cut by a month to August

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Atlantis set to plunge down the cost of tidal power

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U.K. Climate Plan Set To Curb Impact Of Oil Shocks, Report Shows

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Europe

Merkel Tightens Grip on Energy Overhaul as Progress Lags

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Busting the carbon and cost myths of Germany’s nuclear exit

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How a green investment bank really works

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Norway Wants to Become Europe’s Battery

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Geopolitics

Iran nuclear talks to continue

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Climate

Global CO2 emissions hit record in 2011 led by China-IEA

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Transport

Stagecoach: Green Peak Oil Stock Expanding in North America

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Tags: Electricity, Energy Policy, Fossil Fuels, Geopolitics & Military, Media & Communications, Natural Gas, Nuclear, Oil, Renewable Energy