ODAC Newsletter Nov 16

The US as the new Saudi Arabia, energy insecurity for most of the rest of the world, and climate chaos for everyone – such were the headline points of the latest World Energy Outlook from the International Energy Agency.

Commentaries on the IEA WEO 2012 – peak postponed? – Nov 14

•IEA Oil Forecast Unrealistically High; Misses Diminishing Returns •2012 World Energy Outlook: James Hamilton •IEA report reminds us peak oil idea has gone up in flames •US to overtake Saudi Arabia in oil as China’s water runs dry •Did Peak Oil Doomers Fixate On a False Scenario?

Peak Oil Postponed? – Global Challenge Seminar in Stockholm, Sweden

Global Challenge: Recently, new data on available oil reserves, new deep-water deposits, oil sands and especially "shale gas" has given rise to concerns about what these resources means from a climate perspective. The seminar "Peak Oil Postponed?" Aims to analyze the importance of these tasks.

ODAC Newsletter Nov 9

The end of the US election season and a return of the incumbent Barack Obama saw oil markets turn their attention back to the economy. Despite much talk of upside the picture remains bleak with the US showing a huge deficit, and the EU still unresolved on how to deal with its highly indebted members. Oil prices showed their steepest decline of the year on Wednesday before recovering slightly to around $107/barrel for Brent.

Shale oil: The latest insights

The impact of unconventional fuels like shale oil on the global energy system is still an issue of great uncertainty. Not so much because of the size of the tank (the resource base), but due to the large physical effort necessary to obtain a sizeable supply of this type of fossil fuel. For instance, to exploit tight shale oil formations we need large capital expenditures to obtain relatively low flow rates from many horizontally drilled wells.

The new “Golden Age of Oil” that wasn’t

Last winter, fossil-fuel enthusiasts began trumpeting the dawn of a new “golden age of oil” that would kick-start the American economy, generate millions of new jobs, and free this country from its dependence on imported petroleum. It turns out, however, that the future may prove far more recalcitrant than these prophets of an American energy cornucopia imagine.