United States – Jan 16
Americans cut back sharply on spending
Saudis balk at Bush’s oil advice
James Woolsey’s satire on why oil is so pricey
Fossil Fuels
Prospects for China
China has an exquisite dilemma. If they allow their economy to expand too rapidly, and pay any price—they can obviously afford it—for additional imported oil while continuing to support domestic price ceilings, they will help push world oil and gasoline prices so high that they will harm their customers, driving down demand for their exports.
President Bush questions Saudi ability to raise oil supply
A statement last night by President Bush raises questions about the reasonableness of future world oil production estimates by EIA and IEA: “If [the Saudis] don’t have a lot of additional oil to put on the market, it is hard to ask somebody to do something they may not be able to do.”
The dislodging of another leg from Western primacy
The western oil companies that have swaggered their way through the halls of power since the beginning of the last century are losing out to Aramco, Gazprom, PetroChina, and so on. Now another underpinning of Western primacy in the world — global finance — is going the same way.
Peak oil – Jan 15
Indonesia: No longer an oil exporter
Total CEO: Near peak
Simmons: $100 oil “pretty cheap”
Simmons interview
Economist predicts $1.50 a litre for gasoline
Peak Oil Review – January 14th, 2008
An executive summary of weekly news from a peak oil perspective, featuring:
– Production and Prices
– The Economic Slowdown
– Troubles in Central Africa
– Electricity Shortages
– Energy Briefs
General Motors CEO: oil has peaked
The world’s biggest car maker, General Motors, believes the global oil supply has peaked and a switch to electric cars is inevitable.
Carpooling: A way to meet friends, influence people
Simple, small actions can be amplified. I quietly asked Bob Steinbach (at the Yellow Springs peak oil conference) if he was going my way and could give me a ride, and the next day he used the exchange to exhort a room full of hundreds of people to ask strangers for rides or give rides to strangers.
Peak oil – Jan 10
Orlov and Kunstler interviewed
Reuters on peak oil
Matthew Simmons: Another nail in the coffin of the case against peak oil
Peak oil and the financial markets: A forecast for 2008
Most financial forecasts do not recognize the systematic bias that is now entering the financial system, because of limited oil supply. They also do not recognize the risk that comes from the interconnectedness of the system, that is now increasing because food is being used for fuel, and securities are more complex.
Peak oil confusion
If antagonistic commentators actually understood what they were talking about, it might help focus the debate about the liquid fuels problem facing large oil consumers now and in the future.
The peak oil debate and oil companies
Instead of wasting time on who did what and why, we should concentrate our efforts on contributing to better understanding of future realities. We should move from controversy to acceptable consensus, from confrontation to cooperation, and from secrecy to transparency.
