Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
During months of often bitter campaigning, the U.S. presidential candidates have focused on many issues, but one that has gotten little if any attention is the problem of oil depletion, often referred to as “peak oil”; the point at which global demand for petroleum exceeds our ability to extract it.
Saudi Arabia has sold and is selling far more oil than it would if basic economic principles were observed. The excess — the difference between the volume of oil actually supplied and the volume that should be supplied in the strict observance of the national economic interests of Saudi Arabia — is in fact a subsidy it grants the West, Japan and other oil-importing nations.
An as yet undiscussed Early Day Motion (EDM 199) before the British Parlaiment states ‘that this House notes the growing consensus amongst the world’s leading petroleum geologists and geophysicists that the peak of global oil production will occur at some point within the next 10 years…’
The current ‘oil price crisis’ in reality reflects an emerging and permanent supply crisis for oil and gas (which currently provide about 65% of world commercial energy). Initially, this will concern ever slower net additions of world production capacity in the face of strong demand growth, and will manifest itself as continued oil price rises, and continued gas price rises.
The Caspian is a promising region for petroleum and natural gas, comparable to the North Sea. Thanks to the ambitions of the states and companies on the Caspian and Russian passivity, Russia has almost missed its chance at gaining a leading position in the region’s oil industry
Ken Reiner on why voting is not enough: ‘time is of the essence; we cannot wait 4 years, then another 4. Global warming is here now, ozone depletion is here now, we have reached peak oil now and drinking water is already insufficient for the world’s present population which is still growing. Actions all over the world and within our country must be taken in the coming months to undo the corporate grip destroying us.”
China imported 76 million tons of crude oil in the first eight months of this year, making up 40 percent of the total domestic demand, a six percent rise over 2003.
In a move that would have massive repercussions in the global balance of power, last week Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia could switch its trade in oil from US dollars to euros.
Oil prices fell sharply on Monday on speculation that a U.S. election win for Senator John Kerry could ease the geopolitical friction that has helped fuel this year’s record-breaking rally.
US energy exchange Nymex has set up a new oil trading floor in Dublin, Ireland, in a move it hopes will lure disenchanted dealers from London.
Nigeria’s main trade union body is planning a second general strike over fuel price rises, and has warned it will target oil exports.
China is set to emerge as the third-largest trading economy in the world, with the total value of its exports and imports expected to grow 30% on the year to US$1.1 trillion in 2004.
