Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Standard economic principles have demonstrated that price is a function of supply and demand. The same is true for the recent oil prices fluctuations we have witnessed over the last few years, namely the equilibrium between supply and demand. However, the following conundrum has not been resolved: are oil prices high due to greater demand or too little supply?
Matthew Simmons, Chairman of “Simmons & Company International”, is the world’s largest private energy investment banker. Moreover, he is a leading expert on the crucial topic of Peak Oil. In the following interview, Mr. Simmons talks about the on-going recession, explains why we might have reached an end of growth and gives his reading of last year’s oil price spike.
The Saudis are exploring the opportunity to sell their oil on more transparent exchanges in which they feel they have some logical control over production levels and pricing in relation to world demand, and also be paid in currencies outside the anemic US dollar. Such a mover would be a great influence on all of OPEC. This has crucial implications for the US as it could take oil trading from US exchanges and eventually outside the dollar as the currency of trade.
“World leaders gathering in Copenhagen next month for the UN Climate summit have a historic opportunity to avert the worst effects of climate change. The World Energy Outlook 2009 seeks to add momentum to their negotiations at this crucial stage by detailing the practical steps needed for a sustainable energy future as part of a global climate deal,” said Nobuo Tanaka, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency today in London at the launch of the new WEO – the annual flagship publication of the IEA.
-Europe Must Stop ‘Fetishizing’ American Relationship
-Britain rules out climate treaty at summit
-Recession ‘fuels UK shoplifting’
-10 new nuclear power stations named
-Spain’s windfarms set new national record for electricity generation
-The Jobs Doom Loop
-Consumer Liquidity Special Report
-Minsky to Bernanke: “Size Matters!”
-Bailouts for dummies
Scientific American presents “A Path to Sustainable Energy by 2030” in its November issue. In many ways, it sounds good. But let’s think about the details: What would the end result look like? Would it really be sustainable? What would the costs really be? Is there any way we could afford to do what is proposed?
A weekly review including:
– Production and prices
– Recovery or Speculation?
– Climate Change
– Peak Demand
– Quote of the Week
– Energy Stat of the Week
– Briefs
Crop To Cuisine takes a look at “Smart Choices”, Sacks for Sacks, Animal Welfare in Ohio, and more. We also hear from Leslie Landis about The Art of Overeating, and the importance of doing so this holiday season.
The retail price of gasoline in the U.S. is extremely low, not just compared to the summer of 2008. Subsidies both direct and hidden create a true cost at least a few times higher than the visible price. The actual cost is paid largely through income taxes (such as for wars in the Middle East and domestic infrastructure), in the purchase of goods and services associated with “free” parking, and even medical care for car/fuel related mortality and morbidity. When the average gasoline price is $2.66 a gallon, according to news reports on the most recent Lundberg Survey, the message to the consumer is “Buy that big vehicle.”
The poor in the South African townships are feeling the brunt of it already, a growing electricity crisis that will squeeze already meagre household incomes, spur inflation, add to the costs of essential foods, and raise transport costs in a country whose mass transport systems are utterly inadequate. Already saddled with a more than 30% hike in metered power costs for this year, they were told to expect a hike of a further 150% over the next three years.
At the Denver ASPO conference, I had the good fortune to meet Dr. Albert Bartlett. Afterward, Dr. Bartlett e-mailed me some material he had written over the years. The “Laws of Sustainability” were included in this material. They are part of Al Bartlett’s contribution to the anthology The Future of Sustainability by Marco Keiner, published in 2006.
