Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Few commentators have recognized the significance of OPEC’s January 30 decision to temporarily suspend their price band mechanism. If the suspension is indeed temporary, it may not be that important. If it isn’t, there are some interesting parallels to the suspension of the U.S. gold standard in 1968 to 1971.
Crude-oil production by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) fell 1.2 per cent in January, led by declines in Iraq and Saudi Arabia, a Bloomberg survey showed.
…a curious transformation is occurring in Washington, D.C., a split of foreign policy and energy policy: Many of the leading neoconservatives who pushed hard for the Iraq war are going green.
A complex look at Shells performance and prospects that, while loosing a few broadsides, fails to draw any useful conclusions from its observations; worth reading for the latest in corporate spins on depletion.
Royal Dutch/Shell Group cut its reserves for a fifth time, showing its oil and gas holdings were at least a third lower than reported in 2002 after the company misled investors and failed to find new fields.
The competition for remaining oil & gas reserves just gets hotter, with India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation making recent commitments to Caspian and Sakhalin Island projects, meanwhile pursuing stray Yukos assets.
Article describes Putins success in using competition between China & Japan for oil supply to pay for a rather long pipeline, while ultimately managing to please all parties.
Iraq has developed into a two-front war: the battles for control over Iraq’s cities and the constant struggle to protect its far-flung petroleum infrastructure against sabotage and attack.
India finally announced the long awaited announcement that she will tap into Chinese energy sources. The news was significant because India and China agreed to collaborate and support each other on Energy.
One of the biggest stories of 2004 was Peak Oil—the hardening consensus among analysts that global reserves of recoverable oil are half gone … which makes the current pipeline-terrorism fad more than a little ironic.
China is the last industrialized nation of the cheap energy age. Its factory production is keyed to the continuation of regular supplies of cheap oil. It has little oil of its own.
Russia is moving towards building new geopolitical muscle based on its huge oil and gas riches: this week Moscow conceded that its policy, notably in the Middle East, has been strongly connected with energy considerations.
