Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
– Telegraph: Plateau Oil meets 125m Chinese cars
– Globe & Mail: All the signs point to a falling oil price – except supply
– WSJ: Oil Gives Economy Both Barrels
– WSJ: For Europe, Costly Oil Could Be ‘the New Greece’
– Rolling Stone: Why Obama Is Wrong About Natural Gas
A weekly roundup of peak oil news, including:
-Oil and the global economy
-The Iranian confrontation
-Gasoline and election 2012
-A New EIA Report on East Coast Refining
-Gas: Climate Panacea or Industry Propaganda?
-Estimates Clash for How Much Natural Gas in the United States
-The Big Fracking Bubble: The Scam Behind the Gas Boom
-Poland May Cut Shale Gas Estimates After Data From Wells
-China claims world’s biggest shale gas reserves
Whenever North Americans fill up their vehicles with gasoline these days they should reflect on their ongoing contribution to the dysfunctional status of petro states and the Islamic Republic of Iran in particular.
About a month ago, when Iranian officials started venting the idea of closing the Strait of Hormuz to commercial traffic, Western media was prompt in reviewing the events of 1981. At that time, Iranian forces mined the Strait and engaged commercial vessels with rubber speedboats in what was largely seen as a pathetic attempt to control the area. The media seems to think that Iranian officials are talking about using similar tactics today. In reality, the military technology deployed by Iran in the region is completely different today, creating a strategic scenario totally different from that of 30 years ago.
It’s one thing to create a literal portrayal of civilization-destroying natural disasters on film. It’s quite another to depict a character’s inner psychological journey as the world moves closer and closer to cataclysm. Two recent films do just that and do it remarkably well.
– Science: Is the World Tottering on the Precipice of Peak Gold?
– Heinberg: End of growth not end of the line
– Rapier: Bill O’Reilly is Misinforming Americans About Oil Supplies
– Those who argue that there will never be a final “oil crisis” fail to recognize resource limits
– Global mining boom is leading to landgrab, says report
– Do Environmentalists Have an Interest in Who Controls Oil Resources?
– Deforestataion, agroecology and Brazil’s Landless Workers Movement
Brent oil briefly touched $128/barrel on Thursday as pressure on Iran over its nuclear programme continued, the latest development being demands from Israel on the US to be more explicit in its threat of military action. The sharply rising prices are already impacting the weakened economies of Europe and the US making some wonder whether sanctions intended to hurt Iran could be backfiring…
– Q&A: What’s Going on With Gasoline Prices?
– Chris Nelder: A model of oil prices
– Facing the Facts on Fossil Fuel (series from the former president of Academy of Science and the Royal Society of Canada
– A Dynamic Function for EROI
A midweekly roundup of peak oil news, including:
-Developments this week
One concern is how import-dependent Japan might cope with the advent of the peak of oil production and a possible oil price crunch. Paul Stevens at Chatham House, one of the world’s leading think tanks, argued in 2008 that an oil crunch could occur when the oil price goes over US$200 per barrel with severe macro-economic impacts….While other reports place the peak of world oil production at a later date between 2015 and 2020, the timing is academic when considered in the context of whether Japan would have the time to respond effectively in terms of reorganizing its entire food system.
