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Peak Oil
Depletion of oil reserves is key underlying factor in investment outlook
Canoe Money/W.Cheveldayoff
Depletion is a familiar fact of life for those involved in oil and gas production but it is unfortunately little understood by most Canadian investors even though it is likely to be the key factor in the investment outlook for many years to come.
The ongoing depletion of oil and gas reserves explains why the world seems to be short of oil even though oil and gas companies are finding more every year.
In fact, depletion, because of its impact on oil prices, is the key reason behind the upswing in inflation and interest rates and why economists are toning down their economic growth forecasts.
(9 May 2005)
Confiscation
Roland Watson
From the precious metal-backed money to oil-backed money & back again: via confiscation? “…Gold and silver don’t pop up much except when a crisis occurs. But when they do, handing in your gold or silver becomes a matter of government-defined patriotism. Whether it is done by appeal or coercion is a matter of circumstance.”
(24 April 2005)
Bartlett warns of oil ‘peak’; says crisis nearing
Clifford G. Cumber
WASHINGTON – Rep. Roscoe Bartlett left his congressional office Tuesday night
with a few staffers, arms loaded with charts, and headed for the floor of the
House of Representatives in an attempt to shape national energy policy.
In three, hour-long, sparsely watched “special order” speeches, Mr. Bartlett has
shared pre dictions made in the 1950s by Shell Oil geologist M. King Hubbard
that the world is imminently approaching the halfway point in its oil supply.
Mr. Bartlett predicts the end of cheap oil as the world crosses that threshold.
Demand will rise and costs will rise as oil becomes more difficult to extract.
“The congressman is warning that we have to adjust ourselves to the implications
to our economy, our national security and geo-politics, the worldwide
implications … The more you prepare for something the less wrenching the
adjustments are,” said Bartlett press secretary Lisa Wright.
Energy-related News
Algerian oil Minister: At full capacity, Opec ‘may not meet Q4 need’
Gulf Times/Reuters
ALGIERS: Even if Opec pumps at full capacity it may not be able to meet strong fourth quarter demand without sufficient inventories being built up beforehand, Algeria’s oil minister has said.
Chakib Khelil said he was not concerned by the current situation in the oil market, but rather about the fourth quarter, which traditionally sees a sharp rise in demand due to cold weather.
“Let’s assume we go to a maximum (in output) and assuming we don’t have any (significant) stocks, we are not going to meet demand in the fourth quarter,” Khelil said on the sidelines of an energy ceremony in the capital Algiers.
“What you need to do is raise stocks in the third quarter to accumulate enough of them in the third quarter that you can deplete stocks and maintain a high level of production for the fourth quarter. That’s what I’ve been saying we need to do,” he said.
(9 May 2005)
BAS: Industry’s 2004 finding, development costs soar
Oil & Gas Journal
HOUSTON — The aggregate fully loaded finding and development (F&D) cost for a study group of 12 major integrated international oil companies and 60 US independent companies increased considerably in 2004 over 2003, reported Banc of America Securities (BAS) in a report released April 18. Responsible for these increases, BAS said, was a sharp escalation in acquisition and service costs, coupled with fewer added reserves and net negative reserve revisions.
(7 May 2005)
Study: Traffic Jams Just Keep Spreading
Associated Press
If getting stuck in traffic makes you want to roll down your car window and scream, look no further than another of those studies to find the bad news: Gridlock is getting worse. Congestion delayed travelers 79 million more hours and wasted 69 million more gallons of fuel in 2003 than in 2002, the Texas Transportation Institute’s 2005 Urban Mobility Report found.
Overall in 2003, there were 3.7 billion hours of travel delay and 2.3 billion gallons of wasted fuel for a total cost of more than $63 billion.
“Urban areas are not adding enough capacity, improving operations or managing demand well enough to keep congestion from growing,” the report concluded.
(9 May 2005)
Solutions and Sustainability
None today.
