Oil

ODAC Guest Commentary – IEA is getting rattled by events

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The IEA is getting rattled by events. For some years, the IEA, EIA and OPEC all maintained the view that oil resources are so large that they must be sufficient to maintain supply. Other leaders in government and industry uncritically accepted that position, and stopped worrying. But the IEA has now broken ranks, to accept that there is a looming problem of supply, even from the large remaining resource. Current trends in energy supply and consumption, in their own words, are patently unsustainable, as ODAC has maintained for some years.

Book Review: Preparing for Peak Oil: local authorities and the energy crisis

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The whole question of how to communicate peak oil to local government, and how to support and encourage their creative and rapid responses to it, is huge and very timely. Preparing for Peak Oil is an excellent guidebook for anyone who wants to bring their local authority up to speed on energy depletion and climate change issues. It is clear, well presented, and achieves an excellent balance between presenting the hard facts about peak oil alongside some positive and inspiring examples of change, as well as some clear and well thought through thinking tools.

The crumbling of China’s export market

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The parallels between China’s precarious social and economic future based solely on exports and our own societies entirely dependent on fossil fuel as a driver for growth are striking. China now needs to focus on what’s beyond expanding its economy through exports and manufacturing, while all of us need to focus on what’s beyond growth in a crude oil based economy. Peak oil is occurring now; the economic repercussions are a symptom.

Iraq’s Oil: The Greatest Prize Of All?

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The subject of Iraqi oil is one which has fascinated me for a number of years, so in this post I’ll outline why I believe that Iraq probably has the world’s largest oil reserves – or, as Daniel Yergin once said of the middle east, it is “the greatest single prize in all history” (echoing a similar statement by George Kennan at the end of world war 2).