Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
A midweek update. Oil prices, which had remained relatively steady since the end of last week, plunged on Wednesday after the EIA released its weekly stocks report showing a 6.8 million barrel increase in US crude stocks – more than four times what analysts had been expecting.
Perhaps the most important energy story on the planet right now is the precarious situation for fuel rods stored in a damaged building at the Fukushima nuclear power station. However, there is another story beyond the immediate danger that tells us something about how we think about risk.
A midweek update. It is too early to assess the consequences of the federal government shutdown that has been going on since Tuesday. Other than the obvious drop in demand for motor fuels due to less commuting and economic activity, the only concern at the minute seems to be the possibility of delays in permitting and approvals of new projects should the shutdown be prolonged.
Recent US shale oil growth sits on top of a bumpy production plateau of the rest-of-the-world (ROW).
Even if forecasting the exact date of the peak is a fool’s errand, only a fool would miss the signs that the world oil industry has entered a new, desperate era. Discoveries are down, costs are up. Production has flatlined, environmental impacts from petroleum operations are soaring.
Certainly world oil production did not stop growing in 2005. Last year’s total was estimated by the EIA to be 4.8 million barrels higher each day than it had been in 2005.
Australia will have to pay high prices if it wants to attract these imports against declining sales trends in international markets.
I believe that the Syrian regime’s use of chemical weapons is merely a pretext for American intervention. One always suspects that oil is the real issue when it comes to the Middle East. So, let’s see if that’s the case here.
Under what conditions will a technology be able to survive the energy contraction associated with the depletion of fossil fuels?
I often find myself wondering where my life would be today had I not stumbled across The Oil Drum in 2005. I don’t know that I would still be writing today were it not for my early experiences with TOD readers. As TOD winds down, I thought I’d share my story, which I have not told before.
At the end of the 20th century, Argentina started exporting gas to Chile, a mirage of the gas possibilities in this country. Both Argentina and Chile believed that the supply was going to be increasing forever.
A weekly review including: Oil and the Global Economy, The Middle East & North Africa, China, Quote of the Week, The Briefs
