Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
When the Soviet Union crumbled, oil in the Caspian region — a remote, rather barbaric, highly romanticized region — was accessible to the west for the first time in history. The race was on, as Big Oil and all manner of adventurers, dealmakers, and political operatives traveled to one of the most corrupt and dangerous neighborhoods on earth to embark on a new Great Game with massive geopolitical and strategic implications. (Excerpt from a new book, The Oil and the Glory.)
Oil approaches $100 a barrel. What now?
IEA cuts world oil demand view – higher prices depressing demand
US official calls for steps to cut speculation
Over a barrel with OPEC
Voter anger may free up U.S. energy bills
Indian PM says costly subsidies must be tackled
Long-term damage after Russian oil spill
High oil prices fuel winter heat fears
Bolivia’s diesel crisis
Saudis happy with $100 oil
Saudi Arabia seeks positive role in climate change
Oil prices too high, Saudi minister says
Saudi says no OPEC production move in Riyadh
Fears about oil supplies groundless: Saudi
An oil nation lifts its lid – just a little
Oil minister: Gulf producers do not control crude prices
With oil prices stuck in the $90’s per barrel range, the official story is that the U.S. economy has shrugged off this year’s price increases. And it is true—the world has not ended yet, the economy has not ground to a halt. Things appear to be going swimmingly now, but the warning signs are there for all to read.
Preparing for Peak Oil– a new report from ODAC
Turkish Weekly: Global peak oil and dollar
Have global stock markets peaked on peak oil?
Spiked reviews A Crude Awakening
Energy decline and national GDP in 2050: the growth of destitution
ODAC News
It’s as if, facing the firing squad of $100/barrel oil, some CEOs, oil ministers, and energy experts have decided to come clean. Still, in some boardrooms, at the U.S. Energy Information Administration, and at Cambridge Energy Research Associates, denial still rules. The last foxhole of the dead enders remains “increased recovery factors.”
An executive summary of weekly news from a peak oil perspective, featuring:
– Production and Prices
– Economic Gloom
– Peak Oil and the Media
– IEA’s World Energy Outlook 2007
– Energy Briefs
The “Big Five” international oil companies (IOCs) are spending less money on oil exploration in real terms despite a four-fold increase in operating cash flow since the early 1990s.
Tempests, truckers and tribesmen – another week in the oil market
Brazil hopes huge oil discovery will propel it into big league
Opec under pressure as $100 barrel creates oil panic in the West
The views of the oil industry on Peak Oil are divided, ranging from a non-event to getting there fast. Here I try to give the opinions of oil company executives about Peak Oil and related issues.
Many inconvenient questions come tumbling out of the assertion that the Iraq War is about oil. …The simple fact is that if the Iraq War is really about oil (and I believe that it is), then this means that the current official story, namely, that a smooth, seamless transition to a post-oil economy is underway, is something that even the [Bush] administration itself does not believe.
