Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Occasionally, there are tipping-point moments and we are witnessing one at the moment. Seismic change is afoot. As oil prices breach $60 a barrel and pessimists warn that the world could be as little as 10 years away from a first-order resources crisis, China’s largest oil company, CNOOC, has launched a $18.5 billion bid for one of the US’s juiciest medium-sized oil companies, Unocal.
Decades of an “environmental bubble economy” built on the over-exploitation of natural resources has accelerated global warming, environmental degradation, depletion of water and oil, and brought falling crop yields, precipitating a crisis in world food security with no prospects for improvement under the business as usual scenario.
Good coverage of the development of one grass roots peak oil awareness network on US west coast, five hundred more articles like this please.
LA PAZ, Bolivia – For centuries, this country made it easy for prospectors to mine – from the Spaniards who plundered gold to the tin barons of the 19th century to the multinational energy companies that flocked here in the 1990’s to develop Latin America’s second-largest natural gas deposits. B like many energy-producing countries these days, Bolivia has pulled back the welcome mat. With an angry population demanding a larger share of the benefits, and some groups even calling for expropriation, the government recently raised royalties and taxes to among the highest levels in Latin America.
Washington lawmakers who have expressed opposition to CNOOC’s US$18.5 billion bid for Unocal Corp have received more than US$100,000 in campaign contributions from rival bidder Chevron since 2002, the Financial Times reported, citing publicly available filings in the US.
… But private warnings also point to a worsening long-term outlook, with Saudi officials saying that the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will be unable to meet projected western demand in 10 to 15 years. …
Saudi Arabia pumps 9.5m b/d and has assured consumer countries that it could reach 12.5m b/d in 2009 and probably 15m b/d eventually. But a senior western energy official said: “They said it would be extremely difficult to move above that figure”.
“Energy will be one of the defining issues of this century. One thing is clear: the era of easy oil is over. What we do next will determine how well we meet the energy needs of the entire world in this century and beyond.
So we invite you to join us for a series of discussions on some very important issues. Will you join us?”
Food is energy. And it takes energy to get food. These two facts, taken together, have always established the biological limits to the human population and always will.
China, Exxon, Bilderberger, Romania, new books, End of Empire and more.
Caltech professor outlines energy/climate problem, proposes solar /
Bush condemns Kyoto, dependence on Middle East oil /
PO doesn’t mesh with our picture of the world /
Review: Deffeyes new book is unclear on future /
Oilcast in Spanish /
Shell escapes charges over reserves reporting /
Lundberg: Active citizenry before petrocollapse? /
PO article from 5 years ago /
Discussion on peak natural gas /
US uproar about China’s Unocal bid (video) /
Some experts unconcerned about Unocal /
The Oil Drum IS concerned – is oil still fungible? /
Foreign buyers not new to US oil patch
Cuban President Fidel Castro warned Caribbean heads of state about an upcoming energy crisis and environmental problems caused by uncontrolled exploitation of natural resources and the “crazy waste” of oil-derived energy… “The crisis is more serious and deeper than imagined”, [he said].
Roscoe Bartlett, the Maryland congressman who has spoken on peak oil on the floor of the House, had an extensive conversation with the president today on the matter and said he was “very happy with the meeting.” While he declined to release any details, the fact that he was happy with the meeting is a hopeful sign.
