Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
•Dude, where’s my cheap gas? •How do you measure China’s oil demand? IEA goes from “error to error” •Twilight of an energy boom: Alberta’s new fiscal challenge •OPEC Boosts Estimated Demand for Its Own Crude Oil •Setback for Shell’s Arctic oil ambitions as rigs require repair in Asia
“Like dreams, statistics are a form of wish fulfillment,” French philosopher Jean Baudrillard once said. Substitute “forecasts” for the word “statistics,” and you’ll have a good understanding of the public reaction to the recently released BP Energy Outlook 2030.
•Bakken Oil Output Fell in November for First Time in 18 Months •Arctic nations’ oil spill plans too vague, say environmentalists •Vast Oil Reserve May Now Be Within Reach, and Battle Heats Up
In this post, Antonio Turiel examines the perspectives of oil production in light of some often neglected parameters: the energy density, the energy yield (EROEI), and realistic estimates of new discoveries. As expected, the result are far from supporting the optimism that seems to be prevalent today.
Exclusively social problems have a way of being addressed—if they are addressed at all—over many decades. Problems such as climate change and resource depletion will not wait for that kind of schedule.
A midweekly update…Oil prices continued to move higher this week with NY crude closing at $97.94 on Wednesday and London at $114.90. Optimism about the US and Chinese economies coupled with an announcement by the Federal Reserve that it intends to keep buying $85 billion a month worth of securities supported the move.
•HSBC: Oil majors at risk from ‘unburnable’ reserves •When will we stop wasting fossil fuels by burning them? •Algeria terrorist attack puts BP’s Libya drilling on hold
The Atlantic Canyons off the Northeastern U.S. plunge as deep as 15,000 feet and harbor diverse and fragile marine ecosystems. Now, the Obama administration’s plans to consider offshore oil and gas exploration in the canyons is troubling conservationists.
The technical-corporate-financial elite which controls our energy supplies has no clue about how to manage those supplies in the unfolding age of energy scarcity. That portends considerable political upheaval as the public becomes more engaged in shaping our energy future.
Among the many assumptions of the US DOE/EIA in their recent U.S. forecasts, there is the major assumption that U.S. 48 States offshore oil production will increase over time. The production increase would come mostly, if not totally, from the deep-water Gulf of Mexico (GOM).
•Interior Dept. Expedites Review of Arctic Drilling After Accidents •U.S. oil production to jump 25 percent by 2014 – EIA •Why the world is headed toward more oil scarcity •Peak oil group presses EIA to temper optimistic crude outlook •Why a potential role for the US as oil production king needs an asterisk •Is ‘peak oil theory’ delayed by fracking?
We are in the midst of an amazing energy boom, but by sweeping the idea of peak oil under the rug we are ignoring a significant fact: the relationship between hydrocarbon reserves and flow rates are not the same as they used to be—reserves have increased but flow rates are not as high or sustainable.
