Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
In northern Russia, where vast deposits of natural gas lie waiting to be tapped, Gazprom, the state-owned Russian energy giant, is hatching a multibillion-dollar strategy that would lock a swath of Europe from Germany to Britain into long-term delivery contracts, in a move that would bypass Ukraine and Belarus and anchor Russia to Europe more closely over time.
The president of the Russian Union of Oil and Gas Producers said on Wednesday, March 16, that the country’s oil exports are in danger unless a program of geological exploration of new oil deposits is introduced.
Thought-provoking comments from an alert Newfoundland reader, following on from the ‘methane-burps’ fears covered previously. Could suitably placed wind turbines reduce climate mixing, slow the warming of arctic regions, and so avoid catastrophic methane emissions from thawing tundra?
The Bush administration made plans for war and for Iraq’s oil before the 9/11 attacks, sparking a policy battle between neo-cons and Big Oil, BBC’s Newsnight has revealed.
A five-year oil boom is ending in Russia, the world’s second-largest oil exporter, as President Vladimir Putin increases government control over the industry, curtailing investment in new wells, rigs and pipelines.
When you finally realize how pervasive oil is in our everyday lives, you will begin to understand exactly how much the human race must change in order to do without it.
That’s the view from analysts who may have considered that prospect a long shot just a few months ago. And to be sure, some still think that’s a stretch from the current $55 level, short of a major disruption like a terrorist attack.
The slower increase in non-Opec supply is boosting demand for the cartel’s oil, reducing Opec’s already low spare capacity, while demand continues to grow.
Cartel producers say they can’t keep up with strong global demand. ‘This is their claim. But the fact of the matter is that nobody knows what their capacity is.’
— Sen. Ron Wyden
Dem. – Oregon
It is implicit in Malthus’s writings that uncontrolled population growth, failing “moral restraint”, would stall near the natural limits of the food supply. Like many who have commented on population growth, Malthus did not understand overshoot.
Over the past two years, though, oil markets have been sending a clear message, reinforced during the past two months as prices have surged as high as $55 a barrel.
The gnawing concern about Hubbert’s Peak, the theory that worldwide oil production may be in permanent decline, is colliding with increased demand from emerging markets such as China. The result is an oil market that defies convention.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed to increase production for the fourth time in less than a year. “What will happen after the OPEC meeting is that they will all be producing at capacity,” said Kenneth Deffeyes
