Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
All of a sudden, the Strait of Hormuz has become the most combustible spot on the planet, the most likely place to witness a major conflict between well-armed adversaries. Why, of all locales, has it become so explosive?
Oil, of course, is a major part of the answer, but — and this may surprise you — only a part.
A weekly roundup of peak oil news, including:
-Oil and the global economy
-the Iranian confrontation
-The Euro crisis
-Refining petroleum
-Quote of the week
-Briefs
A midweekly roundup of peak oil news, including:
-Developments this week
Michael Mandlebaum argues in The Frugal Superpower that the US is too cash-strapped to continue its interventionist stance. He advises cutting oil dependence.
– EU prepares unprecedented attack on Iranian economy
– Barrelling towards fuel shortages
– An Iran war is brewing from mutual ignorance and chronic miscalculation
A midweekly roundup of peak oil news, including:
-Developments this week
Some economists have claimed that the U.S. economy is less vulnerable to oil price shocks than it used to be. Close down the Strait of Hormuz, and you’ll get a good test of that theory.
– Oil Climbs From Four-Week Low as Iran Warns of Hormuz Supply Disruption
– India to pay for Iran crude in rupees
– Juan Cole: Iran Hype undermined by Obama Administration Admissions
– Iran playing war games, but not in video arcades
– The Nature of Oil: Reconsidering American Power in the Middle East
– The Expert’s Report that Damns the Northern Gateway Pipeline (David Hughes)
– Plentiful Energy – the book on the Integral Fast Reactor
– Fidel Castro on fracking and climate change (cites Yergin)
Fears of an EU recession gained ground this week with news that the German economy shrank in Q4. In oil markets this dunked oil prices to a New Year low – though they quickly recovered on Thursday in response to renewed concerns of supply disruption. In Nigeria unions threatened to escalate nationwide strikes to the oil production sector at the weekend if the government fails to reverse recent cuts in fuel subsidies.
– U.S. Sends Top Iranian Leader a Warning on Strait Threat
– Who is responsible for the Iran nuclear scientists attacks?
– Russia Warns of US Strike on Iran
– Tom Hayden: Preventing the Coming War with Iran
Welcome to an edgy world where a single incident at an energy “chokepoint” could set a region aflame, provoking bloody encounters, boosting oil prices, and putting the global economy at risk. With energy demand on the rise and sources of supply dwindling, we are, in fact, entering a new epoch — the Geo-Energy Era — in which disputes over vital resources will dominate world affairs. In 2012 and beyond, energy and conflict will be bound ever more tightly together, lending increasing importance to the key geographical flashpoints in our resource-constrained world.
