Fossil Fuels

A sharp increase in oil prices should encourage oil producing countries, but in Georgia production has noticeably decreased.

“Oil production is now in decline in eighteen countries around the world”, said Chris Skrebowski, Editor of Petroleum Review, at yesterday’s Energy Institute oil depletion debate.

The $7 trillion national debt, unparalleled domestic consumer debt, the fall of the dollar and rise of the Euro, peak oil, the rise of the biggest markets by far in Europe and China – all adumbrations of a collapsing U.S. economy. [Warning: political rant]

Oil exports from Russia – the world’s second-largest oil producer – may decrease within two years, a top Russian oil industry expert warned Tuesday.

Crude oil prices declined to below the $47 per barrel mark today on expectations of continued rise in the US oil and natural gas inventories.

Homeowners who heat their houses with heating oil will see their bills jump more than 37% this winter from a year ago, the government said Tuesday in a report that also projected increased costs for all other heating sources.

California Institute of Technology professor and vice provost David Goodstein said the world is headed toward a global oil shortage that could cause warfare, economic depression and the crumbling of institutions.

“Our ignorance is not so vast as our failure to use what we know.” — Marion King Hubbert

Although the world will not run out of oil tomorrow, the world is nearing the end of what might be called the easy oil. Even in the best of circumstances, the oil that still remains will be more costly to find and produce and less dependable than the oil being used today. This fact means not only higher prices, but also more volatile prices.