Oil and gas industry uses deceptive energy independence message to push U.S. exports

With gasoline scaling $4 a gallon recently, plans announced last week by international oil giant BP to export U.S.-produced crude oil ought to have Americans howling. For such a plan to be good energy policy–rather than merely profitable for the oil industry–the United States would have to be producing more than enough oil to meet its own needs. But the country produces nowhere near that amount. Nevertheless, the industry’s deceptive campaign to make the public and policymakers believe that the United States is on the verge of energy independence seems to be succeeding–a push that is really just a smokescreen for selling the country’s oil and natural gas to the highest bidder.

ODAC Newsletter Oct 12

The International Energy Agency released a new report this week in which it took a detailed look at the prospects for the Iraqi oil and gas industry out to 2035. The conclusion is that oil production in Iraq could increase significantly by 2020 – doubling or even trebling IF, and it is a big if, there is huge investment…

ODAC Newsletter Oct 5

News of Turkish military retaliation to a mortar round fired from inside Syria spooked oil markets this week. Former Arab League envoy to Syria Kofi Annan has warned that there is a danger that the Syrian conflict could spread and destabilise the region, although the Turkish Prime Minister said on Thursday that his country had no intention of starting a war…

Is shale oil production from Bakken headed for a run with “The Red Queen”?

In this post I present the results from an in depth time series analysis from wells producing crude oil (and small volumes of natural gas) from the Bakken (Bakken, Sanish, Three Forks and Bakken/Three Forks Pools) formation in North Dakota. The analysis uses actual production data from the North Dakota Industrial Commission as of July 2012 from what was found to be a representative selection of wells from operating companies and areas.

Biodiversity in Kanazawa: Autumn’s lesson

Various traditional industries rely on the water resources of the region, from paper, gold leaf manufacturing and silk dyeing, to sake and soy sauce production. The arrival of autumn marks the start of many of the processes associated with these industries, as it is during the cold months of the year that water is clear. Biodiversity has supported Kanazawa’s traditional industries at all levels: through the water-regulating function of the forests, through the direct provision of plant materials, and through the workings of the microscopic diversity of organisms involved in the processes of fermentation central to much of the local food culture.