Politics & economics – Apr 13

Iran and the U.S. agree on one thing: oil is the ultimate weapon /
Iran’s oil bourse: a threat to the U.S. economy? /
Petrodollar recycling and global imbalances /
Nigeria: young rebels and the fight over oil resources

Peak oil – Apr 13

WCCO scoops networks on energy coverage / Pat Robertson’s CBN on peak oil / On production rates and refinery capacity /
Saudi Aramco boosts drilling efforts to offset declining fields (8% gross declines) /
Peak oil: the inflationary case /
Laherrère: When will oil production decline significantly?

Satan in the driver’s seat

Mel Gibson’s portrayal of Satan in “The Passion of the Christ” is the one in the driver’s seat of our modern, petroleum-based civilization careening toward the cliff that is Peak Oil while we all look out the window and enjoy the scenery.

Peak oil – Apr 12

Australian sustainability conference /
Speculators pile into oil /
Geological peak vs. logistical peak /
Stormy weather (investment bank report)

Environment – Apr 12

Global warming threatens extinctions /
Lyin’ tamer (“Ask Umbra” on global warming) /
Climate change and the media, reality and the future /
Coal plants’ renaissance pits energy vs. pollution /
Schwarzenegger speech today could put California in forefront of climate change efforts

Other energy – Apr 12

Rifkin: World on the ‘cusp of a new energy regime’ /
A gentle disagreement on Turkmen gas /
Catfight! (Big Oil vs Big Auto) /
Nuclear power and climate change: is our choice glow or cook? /
New oil is costly for Alaska

Oil Major CEO talks about “the real problem of peak oil”

Christophe de Margerie of Total says the problem is not with reserves per se, but with the rates of production, and that we will never be able to reach the production levels predicted by the IEA (International Energy Agency) – or by the US Department of Energy, for that matter – simply because it is taking increasing efforts to get the oil out of the ground and that effort cannot be accomplished with today’s industrial resources.