Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Oil prices fell dramatically this week to $107/barrel for Brent, on worsening economic news from China and Europe, and assurances from Saudi Arabia that it is ready to pump more oil to keep prices down. The speed of the fall on Monday however is something of a mystery and has led to an investigation by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the FSA.
-Fracking: Boom or Doom
-Deepening Doubts About Fracked Shale Gas Wells’ Long Term Prospects
-Gazprom Rethinks Shale as European Gas Prices Sink
-Britain’s bosses back shale gas to cut imports
-Fracking banned by Quebec government
We’ve known for a long time about basic polar amplification. Warming melts highly reflective white ice and snow, which is replaced by the dark blue sea or dark land, both of which absorb far more sunlight and hence far more solar energy. More recently another insidious feedback has become obvious — as the Arctic ice retreats, big oil companies can drill for more fossil fuels whose combustion will accelerate warming and ice retreat…Local pollution in the Arctic from shipping and oil and gas industries, which have expanded in the region due to a thawing of sea ice caused by global warming, could further accelerate that thaw, experts say.
An update is warranted to address comments from friends and followers – comments such as “Gee, I guess Peak Oil has been postponed?”, or “I guess we don’t have to worry about Peak Oil anymore!” Often they have a smile on their face …
The shale oil plays will reduce but not eliminate our reliance on foreign oil. Should a supply disruption occur over the next decade, we will be better off having this production than not. The natural gas and NGL from these plays will provide high-quality, low-carbon heat energy for electricity as well as feedstock for plastics – which could help jumpstart manufacturing.
Overall, these plays don’t solve the much larger issue of Peak Oil, but they do help “buy time.”
A midweekly roundup of peak oil news, including:
-Developments this week
Under the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) new rule for oil and gas, companies have been allowed much greater freedom to book reserves. On the surface, there is a good argument to be made for expanding the definition of allowable booked reserves. But in practice, this may have opened the door to false valuations of shale assets.
A weekly roundup of peak oil news, including:
-Oil and the global economy
-The Middle East
-The Eurozone crisis
-Quote of the week
-Briefs
Has OPEC misled us about the size of its oil reserves? The short answer is probably. The long answer is that currently, there is no way to know for sure.
The next question we should ask is: Does it matter? The answer is most definitely yes.
The USGS recently released new EUR numbers for all shale gas plays in the country and the numbers were significantly lower than operator claims. Interestingly, this same phenomenon is playing out in shale oil as well.
Starting next week longtime Energy Bulletin author Kurt Cobb will have his posts regularly featured in The Christian Science Monitor on its new “Energy Voices” blog. The highly respected Monitor has a century-long tradition of reasoned, thoughtful journalism which has earned it seven Pulitzer Prizes and many other awards. Its global reach–it stations writers in 11 countries–will bring a large new audience in contact with Kurt’s work on peak oil.
Today’s post is the first installment of a six-part series which will introduce key concepts and ideas to this new audience. (Hint: good also for forwarding to skeptical friends and family!)
-Drilling permits decline sharply for the Pennsylvania Marcellus formation
-University of Texas Compounds Conflict Question in Review of Gas Report
-Fracking Hazards Obscured In Failure To Disclose Wells
-Natural Gas and Its Role In the U.S.’s Energy Endgame
-Destroying Precious Land for Gas
-Fracking is too important to foul up
-Shale gas failure offers rescue for EU green energy drive
Yes, there’s still oil in the ground. We just can’t afford it. In broad terms, the peak oil analysts were right. But the fossil fuel industry is winning the PR battle.
