Oil

“Our ignorance is not so vast as our failure to use what we know.” — Marion King Hubbert

Although the world will not run out of oil tomorrow, the world is nearing the end of what might be called the easy oil. Even in the best of circumstances, the oil that still remains will be more costly to find and produce and less dependable than the oil being used today. This fact means not only higher prices, but also more volatile prices.

Long-time GNN contributor Adam Porter is the oil and economics correspondent for Al Jazeera’s English language web site. Recently, he talked with GNN editor Anthony Lappé about the phenomenon known as “peak oil”

All crude oil is not created equal. No one knows that better than the world’s refiners. The markets generally track a type of oil referred to as “light, sweet” crude. But while this fast-flowing, low-sulfur variety is in tight supply and goes for roughly $50 a barrel, there’s a veritable ocean of thicker, lower-quality crude being pumped out by Saudi Arabia, Mexico, and others that currently sells for as little as $35 a barrel.

“In conjunction with the Green Transport Campaign, we are pleased to bring you the newly released documentary End of Suburbia… Followed by an afterward discussion with Green Party Co-Leader and Transport spokesperson”

Some researchers who have studied oil supplies believe that the peak in world production is decades, not years, in the future. (An article fairly dismissive of oil peak worries emphasising the dubious official studies…)

The Wall Street Journal recently published a major piece on peak oil and in the past year Campbell has spoken before a joint committee meeting of the British House of Commons, addressed a group of J P Morgan Chase & Co investors and been visited by officials from Swedish auto manufacturer Volvo.

WORLD oil production is likely to peak in the next decade, much earlier than many international forecasts, a senior BP executive has told The Business.