Saudi retreat on oil IPO highlights dearth of reliable information on world oil reserves

The recent retreat of Saudi Arabia from its planned IPO is not only an important financial event. It’s an important informational event in that it highlights the opacity of the world’s oil producers. It should remind us that the numbers we accept from major governmental and international organizations regarding oil reserves worldwide are largely based on unverified sources, namely, the word and only the word of most of the world’s national oil companies.

Peak oil notes – May 2

A mid-week upate. Oil prices bounced around early this week, settling Wednesday down from Monday’s opening price. On the New York exchange, crude opened the week at $92.70, climbed to $95, dropped to $90 and closed yesterday at $91.03. In London, Brent futures closed down $2.43 at $99.95 Wednesday, leaving the spread between the two crudes at its low for the year.