Peak oil – Aug 14
ASPO 5 – The two distinct paradigms within the peak oil movement /
Saudi oil production revisited /
Kuwait’s reserves queried again / Oil price spike to end, you can bet on it / Pipeline cowboys: rustling for oil
Geopolitics & Military
Geopolitics – Aug 11
Bolivia: The policy of “Gas for Sea” will continue to be a lever (with Chile) / Renewable energy systems wanted in Iraq by U.S. military / Halting Iran nuclear program trumps oil price – Bodman
Geopolitics – Aug 10
US Army War College: Access to Saudi Arabian oil /
Iran threatens to use ‘oil weapon’ in nuclear standoff /
Kunstler: Heating Up, Melting Down /
Fuel shortages in Lebanon a grave threat to people’s health /
Karbuz: Israel Lebanon War and BTC Pipeline /
Chomsky: Apocalypse near
Middle East – Aug 6
One ring to rule them (Juan Cole on Lebanon, Iran and peak oil) /
War could trigger oil crisis, warns EIU /
Iran warns of $200 oil if US pursues sanctions /
Analysis: Iran’s nuclear fuel debate
Middle East at a crossroads
The unfolding crisis has enormous implications both for the world as a whole and for the small but growing community of people involved in preparations for Peak Oil. Mainstream reporting seems to miss much of the context of events and, when discussing the Middle East, the geopolitical struggle for control of energy resources nearly always forms much of that context.
…At the ASPO conference a well-connected industry insider who wishes not to be directly quoted told me that his own sources inside Saudi Arabia insist that production from Ghawar is now down to less than 3 million barrels per day, and that the Saudis are maintaining total production at only slowly dwindling levels by producing other fields at maximum rates. This, if true, would be a bombshell: most estimates give production from Ghawar at 5.5 Mb/d.
Geopolitics – Aug 3
The Three Energy Wars /
Sistani Threatens US over Israeli War on Lebanon /
Kunstler: Afghanistan, Iraq and The American Dream (Video) /
Lebanon, Syria, Iran and the Coming Imperialist Re-Division of the World /
Saudi Arabia rules out oil weapon
The coming “war” with Canada
It is hard to imagine that the apparently benign unconcern for where the United States ends and Canada begins might suddenly be transformed into a pitched battle of words and deeds. And yet, that is almost certainly where these two old friends are headed.
Behind this looming turnabout is one very troubling development: Natural gas production in North America has leveled off.
The old man and the oil
He was a frail old fellow, dressed in loose-fitting clothes, working in his garden and chopping potatoes. Less than a year before, in 1945, he was in command of one of the largest fleets that had ever been assembled by any nation. His name was Takeo Kurita, vice admiral of the former Imperial Japanese Navy.
The War on Lebanon and the Battle for Oil
Is there a relationship between the bombing of Lebanon and the inauguration of the World’s largest strategic pipeline, which will channel more than a million barrels of oil a day to Western markets?
Geopolitics – July 28
The spirit of resistance / Ethiopia invades Somalia / U.S. policy entangled by rising price of oil / Saudi Arabia’s Shiites and their Effect on the Kingdom’s Stability
The guns of August (redux)
The best students of peak oil currently put the peak somewhere between last December and 1,500 days hence. Moreover, Hezbollah vs. Israel has an excellent potential to spin out of control resulting at best in a significant reduction in Middle East oil exports.
Geopolitics – July 24
Encroachment (Failure in Iraq and the prospect of fascism) /
The geopolitics of oil gains a new constituency /
Putin plan to shut out US oil giants /
Iranian army chief: Arab states should cut oil supply to Israel /
Bush told to plan for Chávez oil shock
