Exxon: The Outlook for Energy: A View to 2040

Over the Outlook period, the growth in so-called “unconventional” supplies due to technology advancements is critical. ExxonMobil projects total liquids demand to rise to 113 million barrels per day of oil equivalent (MBDOE) in 2040, a 30 percent increase from 2010. About 70 percent of this increase is tied to the transportation sector. Conventional crude […]

World Bank and US National Intelligence Council Agree: This Will Be the Chinese Century

When the bureaucrats and analysts of the World Bank and the US NIC agree that the US is on the way down, and China is on the way up, then it must be true, nicht wahr? On Monday, the National Intelligence Council released its fifth “Global Trends” report. Among its conclusions, the study predicted that the Chinese economy would […]

Playing court jester

Quoting Carl Sagan, I begin some presentations with this line: “It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.” But in the wake of a recent trip to the northeastern United States, it’s clear many people disagree with Sagan, choosing delusion over reality, […]

The promise of fusion power

In the search for new energy sources, one area with potential uses the same process that powers the sun. In part three of the Drum’s series on energy, Matthew Hole examines the prospects for fusion power. To limit the extent of anthropogenic climate change we need to change our energy-intensive behaviour, translate existing technology to […]

The Bumpy Plateau Tilts Upward

Every month I post the numbers for total oil supply, which seems to me the best way to get a sense for the issues around peak oil: how much the global oil supply is actually able to increase or decrease. However, when you look closely, “oil” turns out to be a slippery concept with the […]

The Peak Oil Crisis: Deep in the Heart of Texas

The Association for the Study of Peak Oil recently held its annual conference down in Austin, Texas. The venue for the meeting was right across the street from the University of Texas football stadium which is as close to the heart of Texas as you can get. This year the conference focused on two main […]

Heinberg: Conflict and Change in the Era of Economic Decline: Part 3 – Scenarios for simplification: the options for managerial elites

The following is Part 3 of an essay which was originally an address to the International Conference on Sustainability, Transition and Culture Change, November 16, 2012, by Richard Heinberg Read Part 1, Part 2 Setting aside the discussion of international conflict, what will be the options of nations for dealing internally with economic decline? So […]

How Unconventional Oil And Gas Is Supercharging The U.S. Economy

It’s an exciting time to be in the energy industry in America. The impact of unconventional oil and gas development on the U.S. economy is considerable, with potentially hundreds of billions of dollars in investments, millions of new jobs, and a renaissance of American ingenuity and innovation. In thinking about what is to come, looking […]

Chinese survival pods to defend against ‘apocalypse’

As believers across the globe prepare for the forecast Mayan apocalypse, a Chinese villager says he’s going to save humanity with his giant tsunami proof survival pods. ­The pods are made using a fiberglass casing over a steel frame, cost $48,000 each to make and are equipped with oxygen tanks, food and water supplies. They […]

Oil in for a crude awakening

This morning, the price of oil, West Texas Intermediate crude, is around $US86.00 a barrel. That’s a hefty 10 per cent lower than where it was at the start of 2012 and 40 per cent down from the 2008 peak. It is no exaggeration to say that a crash in the oil price could be […]

Oil may be seeping from Deepwater Horizon site

CBS News has learned that BP is set to embark Thursday on the fifth day of a little-known subsea mission under Coast Guard supervision to look for any new oil leaking from the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The BP oil rig exploded in 2010, killing 11 workers and sending an estimated 172 million gallons of oil […]

The Top 5 Oil & Gas Plays For 2012

2012 has been a stellar year for oil and gas. From East Africa to North America, new technology, major new discoveries, an unparalleled appetite for exploration and a metamorphosing perception of risk have changed the playing field. We’re looking at potential rather than existing production, and here are our Top 5 picks for this year: […]

China Flies Into Japanese Airspace For The First Time In History

Japan scrambled eight fighter jets on Thursday after a Chinese state-owned plane breached its airspace for the first time, over islands at the centre of a dispute between the countries. It was the first incursion by a Chinese state aircraft into Japanese airspace anywhere since Tokyo’s military began monitoring in 1958, the defence ministry said. […]

Death of a Battery

All the metrics looked great. The 2.7-year-old lead acid batteries in my off-grid photovoltaic system appeared to have settled into a consistent mid-life performance. Monthly maintenance (equalizing, adding distilled water) promised to keep the batteries in prime condition for some time to come. Based on cycle depth, I expected another 2.5 years out of the […]

Poisoning the well: How the Feds let industry pollute the nation’s underground water supply

Federal officials have given energy and mining companies permission to pollute aquifers in more than 1,500 places across the country, releasing toxic material into underground reservoirs that help supply more than half of the nation’s drinking water. In many cases, the Environmental Protection Agency has granted these so-called aquifer exemptions in Western states now stricken […]

IEA sees sluggish oil demand in 2013, good supply

Global oil demand will be sluggish throughout 2013 as economic expansion remains tepid and oil supply levels comfortable, which could alleviate oil price pressures on consumers, the West’s energy agency said on Wednesday. “Global demand growth is expected to stay relatively sluggish through 2013, based on the continued assumption of tepid global economic expansion,” the […]

Why Malthus Got His Forecast Wrong

Most of us have heard that Thomas Malthus made a forecast in 1798 that the world would run short of food, and that great famine would result. But most of us don’t understand why he was wrong. This issue is relevant today, as we grapple with the issues of world hunger and of oil consumption that […]

Iraq, Saudi on OPEC collision course over next oil curb

A new rivalry at the top of OPEC has emerged, pitting up-and-coming Iraq against undisputed oil cartel heavyweight Saudi Arabia. Having overtaken Iran as OPEC’s second biggest producer, a rejuvenated Iraq is beginning to worry Riyadh. At Wednesday’s meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries the opening salvos were fired in the struggle […]

QE4 Is Here: Bernanke Delivers $85B-A-Month

Ben Bernanke continues to make history at the Federal Reserve.  On Wednesday, the FOMC announced more quantitative easing at a rate of $85 billion a month for an extended period of time.  The Bernanke Fed has also modified its guidance, noting its ultra-accommodative stance will remain in place until the unemployment rate falls below 6.5% […]

OPEC keeps oil output targets on hold

OPEC ministers agreed to keep their daily crude production target unchanged at a meeting Wednesday. But in a sign of internal rivalries, they failed to reach consensus on a new secretary general, a post sought by Saudi Arabia, Iran and resurgent oil-power Iraq. The agreement to leave the production ceiling at 30 million barrels a […]

Heinberg: Conflict and Change in the Era of Economic Decline: Part 2: War and peace in a shrinking economy

Will increasing conflict lead to expanding violence? Not if neuropsychologist Stephen Pinker is right. In his expansive and widely praised book The Better Angels of Our Nature: the Decline of Violence in History and Its Causes, Pinker claims that, in general, violence has waned during the past few decades. He argues that this tendency has […]

Ford mileage claims to face review from EPA

The Environmental Protection Agency is stepping in to review mileage claims for two of Ford Motor Co.’s two newest hybrid models. The move was triggered by a report from Consumer Reports magazine that the Ford Fusion Hybrid and Ford C-Max Hybrid delivered substantially lower fuel economy than the maker has widely promoted in its advertising. […]

US government intelligence agencies see possible economic collapse, resource wars, the fall of America by 2030

The latest report from the National Intelligence Council explores megatrends that will impact America through 2030. The report is a jaw-dropper, as it openly explains that America will be overtaken by China as the world’s dominant economic superpower. It also lays out the likelihood of megatrends such as global economic collapse, wars over food and […]

Is California Up Next For An Oil And Gas Boom?

Listen to the Story [4 min 22 sec] Download  December 12, 2012 from KQED The Bureau of Land Management is auctioning off 18,000 acres of oil leases in California Wednesday. The state has one of the largest deposits of shale oil in the country. And it’s attracting new attention because of the drilling technique known […]

Natural gas’s bright future in the United States

In the last year or more, you’ve probably heard quite a bit about “fracking” — hydraulic fracturing associated with oil and natural gas production from shale formations. Whether you think it’s a great new technology, or it’s going to ruin the environment, or your opinion falls somewhere in between, the reality is that it and […]

Why Are Preppers Hated So Much?

Have you noticed that it has become trendy to bash preppers?  For a long time the prepper movement was ignored, but now it has become so large that it is getting very difficult for the mainstream media to pretend that it is not there.  In fact, it has been estimated that there are now approximately […]

Extirpation Nation: How Much Of The US Will Be Habitable In 50 Years?

“Human adaptation to prolonged, extreme drought is difficult or impossible. Historically, the primary adaptation to dust-bowlification has been abandonment; the very word ‘desert’ comes from the Latin desertum for ‘an abandoned place’.” –Joe Romm “Adrift, drifting: what is left for the lone gull / adrift between earth and heaven.” – Tu Fu “If the water were to […]

Total CEO: New Peak Oil Production Seen at 98 Million Barrels/Day

New discoveries and technological advances have increased the oil industry’s ability to increase production in recent years, pushing global maximum oil production to 98 million barrels per day for longer than initially expected, Total SA’s (TOT) Chairman and Chief Executive Christophe de Margerie said Tuesday. Global oil production should plateau at that level for some […]

Exxon Forecasts 35% Global Energy-Demand Growth by 2040

Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), the world’s biggest oil producer by market value, raised its long-term global energy-demand growth estimate to 35 percent from 32 percent as expanding populations in Africa and India use more electricity. Worldwide consumption of fuels to run power plants, trucks, trains and airplanes will climb to the equivalent of 705 quadrillion […]

Oil may have peaked – but don’t panic

Experts acknowledge that conventional oil production has peaked or at least plateaued, writes Vlado Vivoda. But we shouldn’t be too alarmed about a future beyond “peak oil”. This is the first in The Drum’s series on energy policy and oil. Qatar is one of the world’s richest nations, and its wealth has been built on […]

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