Politics and Economics Headlines – 22 August, 2005

Save us, Indian oil firms tell PM / Dems urge Bush to open oil reserves / Ecuador oil protesters freed; talks expected / US woo’s Libya / Oil industry image suffers as energy prices rise / Expert: Venezuela’s threats could be the greatest danger to oil prices / Geostrategic game revives with new players / Petrol price pushes 4WDs off the road / High fuel prices, more drivers doing a runner / Gold & Oil

The Breaking Point

Unlike the 1973 crisis, when the embargo by the Arab members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries created an artificial shortfall, today’s shortage, or near-shortage, is real. If demand surges even more, or if a producer goes offline because of unrest or terrorism, there may suddenly not be enough oil to go around. [NY Times comes through with coverage of Peak Oil.]

OPEC Reveal Global Light Sweet Crude Peaked

The key point is that non-OPEC light sweet crude went from 41% of 66 mb/d to 34% of 70 mb/d from 2000 to 2004, a drop of 3.26 mb/d. OPEC added 1 mb/d of light sweet crude over the same period resulting in a global reduction of light sweet crude of over 2mb/d showing that global light sweet crude has peaked and is now in decline.