Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
The gathering in Iran is a testimony to a consensus that has shaped a rare unity among the Gulf oil producers in the cartel over the past five years. This rapprochement helped set in motion the group’s most successful period since its creation in 1960.
The leading energy analysts who foretold Enron’s demise have an alarming new claim: The world’s major oil companies are almost tapped out.
Conservative Congressman Roscoe Bartlett, Chairman of the Projection Forces Subcommittee of the Armed Services Committee, gave an hour long presentation on Peak Oil to the US Congress on Monday. This is the full transcript.
When you finally realize how pervasive oil is in our everyday lives, you will begin to understand exactly how much the human race must change in order to do without it.
That’s the view from analysts who may have considered that prospect a long shot just a few months ago. And to be sure, some still think that’s a stretch from the current $55 level, short of a major disruption like a terrorist attack.
The slower increase in non-Opec supply is boosting demand for the cartel’s oil, reducing Opec’s already low spare capacity, while demand continues to grow.
Cartel producers say they can’t keep up with strong global demand. ‘This is their claim. But the fact of the matter is that nobody knows what their capacity is.’
— Sen. Ron Wyden
Dem. – Oregon
Over the past two years, though, oil markets have been sending a clear message, reinforced during the past two months as prices have surged as high as $55 a barrel.
The gnawing concern about Hubbert’s Peak, the theory that worldwide oil production may be in permanent decline, is colliding with increased demand from emerging markets such as China. The result is an oil market that defies convention.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed to increase production for the fourth time in less than a year. “What will happen after the OPEC meeting is that they will all be producing at capacity,” said Kenneth Deffeyes
The Stone Age didn’t end because we ran out of stone; we found something better, we replaced stone with iron but this transition took centuries. This time according to Dr Hirsh we have about a decade if we are lucky and a replacement for oil is yet to be identified.
In a monthly report released last week, the IEA cut its forecast for non-Opec supply growth by 175,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 910,000 bpd, pointing to prolonged disruptions in Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) producers and lower expectations for Russia.
A succinct introduction to concept of Peak Oil, from a mainstream energy publication, with focus on the technical aspects rather than the wider implications.
