Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Recent executive decisions, and smart use by oil companies in lawsuits of ambiguous wording of the applicable laws, threaten to leave up to two thirds of Gulf of Mexico gas production paying no taxes, at a loss to taxpayers of $28 billion, according to the New York Times.
On Tuesday I had a conversation with a few Senior Executives in the Department of the Interior about how to solve the Peak Oil problem–and we all came to the same conclusion: there is a structural block to the solution to this problem…
Until very recently the expectations on long term price of oil were extraordinarily stable – at around 20$/bl. Thexe expectations have changed remarkably quickly during the past 2 years
If the peak oil crisis comes upon us quickly, the Department of Defense could turn out to be the one organization with the appropriate project management skills and contracting expertise to tackle the consequences of peak oil on a timely basis.
Last month’s foiled attack on a Saudi Arabian oil installation demonstrated yet again the world’s extreme vulnerability to any check on oil supplies. But what if the Saudi oilfields are running lower on untapped supplies than the kingdom, and the West, have estimated?
What if the US invaded Iraq, not to assure access to its oil reserves, but to keep the oil off the market?
Bakhtiari: After ‘peak oil’, ‘peak gas’ too /
When will peak oil tip? (from backwardation to contango) /
Isaac Asimov on his discovery of peak oil at age 13 /
Online lectures from Stanford’s “End of Oil?” series
While peak oil is an important turn of the tide, we should not forget that net oil for consumption will peak long before peak oil. Possibly it already has.
While it would be difficult to create an airtight legal case for impeaching George W. Bush based on his ignoring the very real threat posed by Peak Oil, nevertheless I believe that his actions—and inaction—in this regard constitute dereliction of duty on an unprecedented scale.
A round-up of recent articles.
Interview: Former GOP Strategist Kevin Phillips (“American Theocracy”) /
CNN’s “We Were Warned”: the bright side /
Jitters about energy, debt and the housing market /
Anarchism and the peak oil argument /
Food, sustainability, and the environmentalists /
Investments based on peak oil? – yes
Schlumberger CEO: energy prices to stay high on demand /
New Zealand – Running out of gas and time /
Ethanol industry braces for growing pains /
Sugar, not oil or stocks, may be best investment /
Companies spend billions in hunt for crude in Gulf of Mexico /
Schwarzenegger’s plan to reduce greenhouse gases sets off culture clash between European and U.S. oil companies
