World Oil Crisis Looms

Geologists and analysts have been saying for some time that estimates of global oil reserves may be dangerously exaggerated. The oil industry has been gripped by scandal since Royal Dutch/Shell twice this year downgraded its proven oil reserves by 20 per cent, or nearly 4bn barrels. Shell may not be alone. Other companies and even governments have hyped up the estimates of how much oil they have, which is a vital factor in measuring their economic health…. About four-fifths of the world’s known oil reserves lie in politically unstable or contested regions.

The Mother Of All Oil Shocks Is Looming

In a few years, the global production of conventional oil will fall, while the global demand continues to rise. The resulting shock of this structural oil famine is inevitable, so great are the dependency of our economies on cheap oil and. related to the first, our inability to wean ourselves from this dependency in a short period of time.

Managing America’s Natural Gas “Crisis”

Sharp increases in short-term natural gas prices have prompted some to call for more drilling on public lands and fewer environmental safeguards on gas exploration and use. This January 2004 NRDC analysis confirms emphatically what U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham has already acknowledged: the fastest, cheapest and cleanest forms of relief from these increases come from more efficient use of natural gas.

Coal May Shine Again

US – When natural gas prices spike, coal begins to sparkle. Back in 1990, amendments to the Clean Air Act passed, and many environmentalists breathed easier. Toxic emissions would be drastically cut, and as a consequence, electric utilities began to increasingly rely on natural gas because of its low cost and emissions. Coal’s foes began numbering coal’s days