One in eight of world population going hungry

One out of every eight people in the world is chronically undernourished, the United Nations’ food agencies said on Tuesday, warning that progress to reduce hunger has slowed since 2007/08 when high food prices sparked riots in several poor countries. In their latest report on food insecurity, the UN agencies estimated that 868 million people […]

U.S. and Israel Planning Joint Attack On Iran

The Jerusalem Post reports today that the United States and Israel are planning a joint military operation to take out Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities. The report appeared in Foreign Policy following a speech by presidential candidate Mitt Romney on foreign policy, including Obama’s stance on Iran. “Iran today has never been closer to a nuclear […]

Saudi oil minister says kingdom can meet demand

Saudi Arabia’s oil minister said Tuesday his country has the ability to meet existing and future demand for oil, seeking to alleviate concerns about supply and cut prices. Ali al-Naimi told reporters that the kingdom now pumps around 10 million barrels a day, and said its production capacity of more than 12 million barrels is […]

UK Unconventional Gas Will Fail to Reach Potential

A poll of oil and gas professionals has revealed that unconventional gas is unlikely to become the UK’s primary source of the commodity, despite recent estimates that there may be enough reserves to make the country energy self-sufficient. Fifty-nine percent of participants said that they felt unconventional production would come up against too many barriers […]

Orlov: In Praise of Anarchy, Part II

When confronted with an increasingly despotic régime, the good people of almost any nation will cower in their homes and, once they are flushed out, will allow themselves to be herded like domesticated animals. They will gladly take orders from whoever gives them, because their worst fear is not despotism—it is anarchy. Anarchy! Are you […]

Will Iraq’s energy boom postpone peak oil yet again?

Well, here is a shocker for the peak oil camp. Iraq’s oil output will more than double from 2.6 million to 6 million barrels a day (b/d) by the end of the decade. This is 45pc of world oil supply growth over these years. It will reach 8 million b/d by 2035. By then, Iraq […]

Saudi says “achieved feat” in reducing oil prices

Saudi Arabia is satisfied that oil prices have fallen to a level that does not hamper global growth, Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said on Wednesday, signaling success in a Gulf Arab effort to keep oil prices under control despite a halving of Iranian exports because of Western sanctions. “Our countries have exerted major efforts […]

It is the world or nothing for China

Let’s be fair: from the perspective of 30 years on, did it make any real sense for the United Kingdom to go to war in 1982 over the islands the British call the Falklands and the Argentines the Malvinas? For the UK, they were rocks on the other side of the world with no gas […]

Peak Oil’s 10 Year Peak – The Plateau of Global Oil Production Explained

David Demshur Chairman President CEO Core LaboratoriesFrom his talk at Enercom August 2012 (17th annnual) Denver, Colorado USA “…Many of you know that we are peak oil guys and we believe that we are at the plateau in what the globe is going to be able to produce annually. We will be able to stay […]

Clean, limitless fusion power could arrive sooner than expected

Good news, denizens of Earth: If the findings from two premier research labs are to be believed, commercial nuclear fusion is feasible — and could arrive sooner than expected. The first breakthrough comes from Sandia National Laboratories (the same engineers who brought us the fanless heatsink). At SNL, a research team has been working on […]

A Primer On the REAL Global Geopolitical Battle

The Iraq war was really about oil, according to Alan Greenspan, John McCain, George W. Bush, Sarah Palin, a high-level National Security Council officer and others. Dick Cheney made Iraqi’s oil fields a national security priority before 9/11. The Sunday Herald reported: Five months before September 11, the US advocated using force against Iraq … […]

Heinberg: Australia, Meet the Post-Growth Economy

I’ve spent most of the past month touring Australia and New Zealand, giving over a dozen lectures in about as many cities. This month’s MuseLetter includes two op-eds from that tour. First is a submission to the Sydney Morning Herald, which that publication declined to print. Second is a transcribed and edited extract from one […]

California Energy Infrastructure Ripe for Sudden Collapse

  If you’re in California, you’re paying sky-high prices for gasoline this week. At some stations, prices are over $5 a gallon. But you might not be aware of why you’re paying this price. The answer may be more than a little disturbing: California’s energy infrastructure is so fragile that a power outage at a […]

How we’ll get to 54.5 mpg by 2025

At the end of August this year, the US Department of Transport’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced new standards to significantly improve the fuel economy of cars and light trucks by 2025. Last week, we took a look at a range of recent engine technologies that […]

Cyber attackers target Iranian oil platforms

Cyber attackers have targeted communication networks on Iranian offshore oil and gas platforms in the past few weeks, but their attacks have been repelled, a state official was quoted as saying on Monday. Iran, the world’s No. 5 oil exporter, has tightened cyber security since its uranium enrichment centrifuges were hit in 2010 by the […]

Keeping Peak Oil Reality In Mind # 11: Being Informed

An observation worth noting … and pondering, from Jesse Parent: Thus, there is an inherent cut-off point approaching – and it is very different from the shocks, jolts, and other experiences that formed our current national paradigm of energy and gas prices. That is the point that I feel needs to be stressed, and it’s […]

Hugo Chavez Wins Venezuela Re-Election

Supporters of Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez began setting off fireworks and partying in the street on Sunday night in anticipation of victory in the presidential election. Various aides to Chavez published celebratory messages on Twitter, while some supporters of opposition leader Henrique Capriles began crying at his campaign center, Reuters witnesses said. “Perfect victory! The fatherland […]

How we misjudge the risks of oil depletion and climate change

Many people dismiss the risks associated with oil depletion and climate change–even many who accept the two issues as problems. They judge those risks to be small or at least manageable. Since no one can know the future, we cannot be sure whether they are right or wrong. But even if they are right, should […]

Peak Oil + Peak Phosphorus = Peak Population

This post is about a resource that is not discussed much, but whose importance to our survival is paramount. It was named one of the top six natural resources most depleted by human usage. All living organisms, including bacteria, require phosphorus in order to live. Modern industrial farming is dependent on phosphorus, and industrial civilization’s primary supply for this vital nutrient […]

Big Wind Energy: A Green Fantasy of Destruction

Leftist greens fantasise of replacing all nuclear and fossil fuel power plants with big wind farms and big solar energy arrays. But there is a huge problem with that approach, which if pursued will lead to a drastic reduction in available electric power and a general impoverishment of any society that proceeds too far. The […]

Understanding California’s Gasoline Prices

I am getting numerous questions about the situation with California’s surging gasoline prices. Therefore, I want to take some time to explain what makes California’s gasoline situation unique. The EPA defines gasoline specifications, but many states have more restrictive specifications. The reasons for this are varied, but are primarily a function of the climate and […]

WTI Oil Price Has Become Irrelevant

For years, the price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil has been used as the principal price benchmark against which producers sell to refiners. It is the underlying commodity of the New York Mercantile Exchange’s oil futures contracts. It’s what you hear about when the nightly news refers to the price of crude. And most […]

Can an Economy Learn to Live with Increasingly High Oil Prices?

Prof. James Hamilton of University of California recently wrote a post called Thresholds in the economic effects of oil prices. In it, he concludes As U.S. retail gasoline prices once again near $4.00 a gallon, does this pose a threat to the economy and President Obama’s prospects for re-election? My answer is no. EDIT – […]

Kuwait’s ruler dissolves parliament

Kuwait’s ruler ordered the dissolution of parliament on Sunday, a senior government minister said, a step opening the way to a parliamentary election in the major oil-producing Gulf Arab state after months of political deadlock. The emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, had been widely expected to take the step following a cabinet request to dissolve […]

Glut of Solar Panels Poses Threat to China

China in recent years established global dominance in renewable energy, its solar panel and wind turbine factories forcing many foreign rivals out of business and its policy makers hailed by environmentalists around the world as visionaries. But now China’s strategy is in disarray. Though worldwide demand for solar panels and wind turbines has grown rapidly […]

There Is No Hyperinflation in Iran – The Real Story Is Much More Interesting

Contrary to reports, there is no hyperinflation in Iran right now at all. In fact, the Western sanctions imposed on Iran’s oil trade are failing miserably to meet their objectives. And a regime collapse – or even, coming short of that, another popular uprising reminiscent of June 2009 – seems further away from Iran than […]

Afghanistan reels from Exxon blow

With foreign aid set to decline and Nato forces soon to withdraw, what hope there is in Afghanistan lies under the ground. But much of those mineral riches are likely to remain out of reach for the near future. Topic Oil Afghanistan Dragon Oil Last week, the apparent exit of ExxonMobil from the group of […]

Chávez promises to reduce dependence on US market by doubling crude exports to Asia

While giant rallies in Caracas may be drawing the world’s attention ahead of tomorrow’s Venezuelan presidential election, the global significance of the vote can be found hundreds of miles to the east in the oil-soaked Orinoco Belt. According to studies, Venezuela has overtaken Saudi Arabia to become number one in the world for proven oil […]

Kingdom assures world of oil flow

Ankara—Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Al-Naimi stressed that Saudi Arabia and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) have been ensuring a steady supply of oil to global markets at reasonable prices besides expressing their willingness to meet additional energy demand. “In the first quarter of 2012, high price levels prompted the Kingdom […]

A close eye on population growth

Projections that global population growth will level out in coming decades are not assured, an expert said Wednesday, adding that just a one-child difference in global fertility would mean an extra 10 billion people by century’s end. “It matters enormously what we do right now,” said Joel Cohen, a professor at Rockefeller University and head […]

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