Heinberg: Why the Peak Oilers are still right

For the past decade I’ve been a participant in a high-stakes energy policy debate — writing books, giving lectures, and appearing on radio and television to point out how downright dumb it is for America to continue relying on fossil fuels. Oil, coal, and natural gas are finite and depleting, and burning them changes Earth’s climate and compromises our […]

Saudi Arabian Oil Production

The above graph shows Saudi production of crude and condensate (ie oil) from 1995 through July.  There are several data sources, but the black line is the average.  The red curve is the number of oil rigs working in the country, and is a rough proxy for the level of effort being made to maintain […]

Global condemnation of Egypt crackdown

World leaders, including the US, EU and the UN, have condemned the bloody security crackdown on anti-military protesters in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, in which hundreds were killed and thousands more injured. United States US Secretary of State John Kerry said the escalating violence had dealt a “serious blow” to political reconciliation efforts between the military-backed interim government […]

Dangerous Operation at Fukushima’s Reactor No. 4 Could Ignite “Atomic Chain Reaction”

Attempt to remove fuel rods from crippled building could cause “unprecedented” disaster Threatening to trigger a new—and possibly more devastating—nuclear disaster than the original or ongoing one at the Fukishima plant in Japan, a risky plan to remove fuel rods from a damaged reactor building could unleash an “unprecedented” level of radiation, according to experts, […]

What’s in Crude Oil and How Do We Use It?

Crude oil is far from being one homogenous substance. Its physical characteristics differ depending on where in the world it’s pulled out of the ground, and those variations determine its usage and price. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) puts it succinctly: “not all crude is created equal.” Some has a lot of sulphur, and it’s […]

Are We Trading Our Health For Oil in New, Fracking-Induced California Gold Rush?

Beneath the farms, orchards and vineyards of Central and Southern California lies a prehistoric soup worth a fortune. The mineral-rich Monterey and Santos shale formations stretching 1,750 square miles across the San Joaquin Valley and the Los Angeles Basin hold a watery mixture of oil and gas – but it’s the oil that may trigger […]

Marcellus Gas Production Rising Fast

Marcellus Shale natural gas production is rising even faster this year than energy experts had predicted, and that’s having a national impact on energy. Bentek, a Colorado company that analyzes energy trends, said 2013 production in Pennsylvania and West Virginia is up about 50 percent compared with last year. Figures for the pipelines that take […]

Peak Oil’s Impact: Automobiles

Oil plays an essential role in almost everything that touches our everyday lives. From the food we eat to the means by which we transport ourselves, our goods, and our services, to what we grow, build, have, own, need, and do, oil is almost always an important element. But the painful truth now and soon […]

Nigeria’s oil reserves to peak at 40.1bn barrels in 2015-2016

Nigerian oil reserves would peak at about 40.1 billion barrels in 2015 to 2016, before coming down to 36 billion barrels by 2021, predicts Business Monitor International (BMI) in its Nigeria Oil and Gas Report Q1 2013. The report, which includes five-year forecasts to 2017, reveals that gas reserves are expected to peak at 5.95 […]

John Michael Greer: The Ritual Theater of Progress

This habit of drafting my ideas on the future of industrial society right out here in public has its disadvantages, to be sure, but there are benefits as well. One of the more unexpected of these is the way that the illogic that swims through the hidden places of the collective consciousness of our time […]

Stumbling Blocks to Figuring Out the Real Oil Limits Story

The story of oil limits is one that crosses many disciplines. It is not an easy one to understand. Most of those who are writing about peak oil come from hard sciences such as geology, chemistry, and engineering. The following are several stumbling blocks to figuring out the full story that I have encountered. Needless […]

Global oil production by discovery date

Source:  ExxonMobil “The Outlook for Energy:  A View to 2040”

How Agribusiness Keeps Us “Betting on Famine”

Jean Ziegler, the former Special Rapporteur for Food for the United Nations, begins his new book with two disturbing statistics. “In its current state, the global agricultural system would in fact, without any difficulty, be capable of feeding 12 billion people, or twice the world’s current population,” he writes. And yet, “every five seconds, a […]

BP Sues Uncle Sam over EPA Suspension on New Federal Contracts

BP plc, responding to a U.S. government decision last November to bar the company from federal contracts to supply fuel and services, has sued the U.S. government, according to a story by Reuters. The suit was filed in a Houston District Court, and makes the claim that the federal ban is causing the company “irreparable […]

US Sends Warship to Bahrain In Response to Protests

While the world concentrates on the bloody scenes emerging out of Egypt, the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier has been stationed off the coast of Bahrain in response to building protests against the country’s US-backed dictatorship. Stratfor’s naval update map shows that the USS Nimitz moved towards Bahrain in recent days, with the USS Truman in […]

The future of buses

raffic to and from Dublin was particularly difficult last week when the bus drivers went on strike, and while they seem to be running again, their action reminded us how dependent thousands of us in Ireland are on public transportation – Dublin buses, Bus Eireann, trains, Luas and regional bus services. Only twenty or thirty […]

Reports Of The Death Of Russia’s Oil Sector Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

Certain writers of the anti-declinist school, Dan Drenzer and Walter Russell Mead spring immediately to mind, are dismissive of the prospect of American decline and positively overjoyed at the opportunities afforded to the US by “unconventional” oil. These writers, and other like them, are openly contemptuous of “old” oil powers like Russia and decidedly skeptical of their […]

What Is Peak Oil?

Peak oil — the point in time when global oil production peaks and begins to drop — has been looming on the horizon for decades. Countless research reports, government studies and oil industry analyses have tried to pin down the exact year when peak oil will occur, to no avail. The stakes are undeniably high: […]

The State of Shale in Europe

The UK has seen a sea change in its attitude to shale gas exploration in the space of nine months. In early December 2012, the country still had a fracking ban in place. This ban was lifted in mid-December and more recently, the government announced large tax breaks for shale gas production to encourage investment […]

Egypt declares state of emergency

Announcement comes amid security crackdown on pro-Morsi protesters which left at least 95 people dead nationwide. A state of emergency has been declared across Egypt, according to a presidential statement announced on state television. The state of emergency will begin at 4pm local time (14:00 GMT) and will last for a month, the statement said […]

Richard Heinberg on Natural Gas: Bridge Fuel or Fool’s Gold?

Podcast: Play in new window | Download We’ve spoken to Richard Heinberg in the past about several problems inherent to our carbon-based economy, from peak oil, to coal to what he has dubbed “the end of growth.” Now the author and senior fellow at the Post Carbon Institute has a new book focusing on the natural gas […]

Saudi prince defects: ‘Brutality, oppression as govt scared of Arab revolts’

  Download video (45.55 MB) Saudi Arabia, a major supporter of opposition forces in Syria, has increased crackdown on its own dissenters, with 30,000 activists reportedly in jail. In an exclusive interview to RT a Saudi prince defector explained what the monarchy fears most. “Saudi Arabia has stepped up arrests and trials of peaceful dissidents, […]

Relaxation of One-Child Policy Seen in China as Necessary, Inevitable

The official Chinese news agency Xinhua reported earlier this month that China was considering relaxing its one-child policy for some families. In an email interview, Therese Hesketh, a professor at the Center for International Health and Development at University College London, explained the one-child policy’s impact and alternative policy options. WPR: What prompted the latest […]

Three Nails in the Coffin of Peak Oil

This post is based on a talk I gave as an “undistinguished speaker” to the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) oil finders lunch in Aberdeen a few weeks ago. This will be one of my last posts on The Oil Drum. There should be enough controversy below the fold to keep a hoard of […]

The Secret GOOD NEWS from Fukushima

Many bad secrets have been revealed about Fukushima. For example: Plant operator Tepco just admitted that it’s known for 2 years that massive amounts of radioactive water are leaking into the groundwater and Pacific Ocean Tepco, the Japanese government and the U.S. knew right after the 2011 accident that 3 nuclear reactors had lost containment, […]

China to overtake US as world’s largest oil importer

Fueled by a rising population and industrial production, China’s net oil imports are set to outpace that of today’s leader – the USA – in October. The switch comes as the US ‘shale revolution’ provides for an increasing share of its domestic needs. China will leave the US behind in monthly oil imports by October […]

Expanding In The Midst Of Contraction

Joseph Campbell, the American mythologist, writer and lecturer, and whose philosophy is often summarized by his phrase, “follow your bliss,” once said, “We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us. The old skin has to be shed before the new […]

Nuclear fusion now a viable energy source, claims scientist

Prospect of cheap, emission-free energy within sight, says UK atomic energy chief Much of the world’s investment in nuclear fusion is concentrated in the ITER project in Provence, in which Ireland is a partner. Energy generated through nuclear fusion could be available in the next decade, according to a world authority on the subject. Prof […]

Mexico unveils energy reform to draw in private sector

President Enrique Pena Nieto on Monday proposed an overhaul of Mexico’s energy industry to offer private companies profit-sharing contracts, but investors said it might be too cautious and some sold Mexican assets. The proposal calls for changes to key articles of the constitution that ban certain contracts and make oil, gas, petrochemicals and electricity the […]

Heinberg: The Brief, Tragic Reign of Consumerism—and the birth of a happy alternative

You and I consume; we are consumers. The global economy is set up to enable us to do what we innately want to do—buy, use, discard, and buy some more. If we do our job well, the economy thrives; if for some reason we fail at our task, the economy falters. The model of economic […]

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