Energy – Jan 4

Click on the headline (link) for the full text.

Many more articles are available through the Energy Bulletin homepage.

Goldman Sachs Is Bearish on Oil
Kevin Drum, Mother Jones
Feeling a little bullish about the economy? Settle down! I don’t know if this forecast is new, or if it’s the same one I wrote about last year, but the oil analysts at Goldman Sachs think we’re very close to reaching our maximum oil pumping capacity again after a few years of looseness caused by the recession. Via Jared Bernstein, Goldman’s chart is on the right. So what does it mean when oil demand starts to bump up against supply?

… This was all written back in 2005, when $100 oil seemed shockingly high. Today it’s the new normal. What’s worse, though, is that when the global economy expands, we hit our maximum pumping capacity and prices start to oscillate quickly upwards. Result: a global recession, which reduces oil consumption a bit. A few years later, we repeat the process.
(3 January 2012)
I thought the original headline was ambiguous, “Goldman Sachs Is Bearish on Oil.” Wouldn’t that mean that they predict prices will go down? In fact, of course, they think the opposite. I suppose whether something is bearish/bullish depends on whether you are a commodity trader or a consumer. -BA

Soliciting TOD Reader Feedback for My Energy Book
Robert Rapier, The Oil Drum
Some of you may be aware that I am writing a book – the title is Power Plays: Energy Options in the Age of Peak Oil. While I have contributed several chapters to books in the past, this is my first full book, and I only recently learned that the publication process is moving much faster than I had imagined.

… What I would like to do is share my thoughts with TOD readers and request some feedback and suggestions. The main issue is that I don’t want to overlook something major. I would also like to hear what readers would like to see in a book on energy. Essentially, the goal of the book is to provide essential information for people from zero knowledge about energy to those who are fairly sophisticated in their views on energy, but presented in a (mostly) non-technical manner. I also want to press hard for changes in our energy policy so that we can be better prepared for the difficulties that I believe await us. Scattered throughout the book are facts that may not be commonly known, and sidebars that cover a number of controversial topics. My goal is that everyone will learn things that they did not know, and I can safely say that has been the case for me as I have written the book.

Below is the Table of Contents as things currently stand, followed by a short synopsis of each chapter. The final order of the chapters may be different than depicted below, and I may even decide to add or substitute a chapter depending on the feedback I get here.
(3 January 2012)

University of Alaska Fairbanks professor predicts spike in oil prices
Jeff Richardson, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
Gasoline prices in the $4-per-gallon range may be uncomfortably high for many Fairbanks residents, but Doug Reynolds believes prices in the years ahead could make these seem like the good old days.

Reynolds, a professor of oil and energy economics at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, said he sees oil prices soaring in the next five to 10 years, “easily” reaching $200 per barrel or more.

That increase, roughly double the current price of oil, would translate into gasoline in the $5 to $10 range at the pump, he said.

“(Prices) are going to get higher … The progression is clear,” Reynolds said.

Reynolds, the author of a soon-to-be released book about global oil dependence called “Energy Civilization,” spoke Tuesday at a Greater Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce luncheon about the growing demand for oil and the effect it will have on prices.
(4 January 2012)

UK “Energy trends” bulletin available
Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), UK government
‘Energy trends’ is a quarterly bulletin containing statistics on energy in the United Kingdom. It includes tables, charts and commentary, covering all major aspects of energy, to give a comprehensive picture of energy production and use.

… You can find the last nine copies listed below. Earlier copies of ‘Energy trends’ publications are available from the DECC Publications Library.
—
Energy Trends and Quarterly Energy Prices are produced by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) on a quarterly basis. Both periodicals are published concurrently in June, September, December and March. The December editions cover the third quarter of the current year.

Energy Trends includes information on energy as a whole and by individual fuels. The text and charts provide an analysis of the data in the tables.
(January 2012)
The “Energy Trends” reports seem to be available online in PDF (for example, the December report with 136 pages).