Sustainable North American oil boom would have complicated impact on OPEC

The steady increase in US oil output of recent years, especially as a result of shale oil exploitation, has not gone unnoticed by OPEC. But is it sustainable? That was a question posed rhetorically by OPEC Secretary General Abdulla ElBadri in late October on the sidelines of a Gulf Intelligence energy forum in Muscat, Oman. […]

Western Voters Say No To Fossil Fuels

Fossil fuels took a licking in local elections in Colorado and Washington on Tuesday, as voters resoundingly said no to oil and gas fracking and coal exports. In Washington state, the four progressive candidates for seats on the Whatcom County Council that will likely decide the fate of a controversial coal export terminal proposal were […]

Shale Oil Production and Decline

Hi gang, there has been a dearth of data to report on lately. But there is a lot of it coming next week. The new EIA Drilling Productivity Report that came out on October 22nd is due out again on the 12th of November. However that is the same day the latest OPEC Monthly Oil Market Report […]

Big trucking companies ready to shift to natural gas across the US

Sales of natural-gas powered big rigs could jump as much as fivefold this year as falling prices for both natural gas and the carbon fuel tanks required for such trucks come down, the Wall Street Journal says. Lowe’s, Procter & Gamble, UPS and PepsiCo are among the major US companies that have gone on record […]

Misunderstanding The Limits To Growth

I never cease to be amazed by how many people misunderstood (or more likely, never read) The Limits To Growth. Paddy Manning at Crikey has an article both outlining a recent example and being one itself, as Paddy infuriatingly describes “Limits” as making a forecast rather than what it actually did – which was describe […]

Why Peak Oil Might Matter.

Peak oil has never been a popular theory among market analysts. After all, the peak has been prophesied repeatedly, but still hasn’t come to pass. Time after time, new areas have been opened to development and new technologies have come to the fore, putting off the peak for another day. Yet the specter of peak […]

10 Years After ‘The Party’s Over’: an interview with Richard Heinberg

While running the risk of sounding like a Hello! Magazine reporter, I must introduce this post by saying that while in the US recently, I joined Richard Heinberg and his wife Janet in their beautiful permaculture garden in Santa Rosa, California.  Richard will be known to most readers of this blog as the author of The […]

The Key Numbers On The Oil Industry’s Problems

Some fascinating data points on the global oil and gas business from Ernst & Young last week. The group released its annual Global oil and gas reserves study. And the findings suggest some worrisome trends afoot in the petroleum business. he report confirmed that high costs are plaguing the business. Exploration and development spending by […]

Pakistan ‘ready to deliver nuclear weapons to Saudi Arabia’

AQ Khan dismisses claims that Pakistan-made nuclear weapons are ready for delivery to Saudi Arabia as part of its efforts to counter Iran’s atomic programme The founding father of Pakistan’s nuclear programme has dismissed reports that his country has reached a secret deal to provide Saudi Arabia with warheads in the event that Iran produces […]

Oil industry may challenge U.S. export ban

The U.S. oil industry, riding a domestic energy boom, is preparing to challenge restrictions on crude exports, possibly by arguing that limits designed to keep petroleum in America may violate international trade rules. “Export issues are something we’re going to have to address,” John Felmy, the chief economist for the American Petroleum Institute trade group […]

Shell Accused of Misreporting Oil Spills as Pipeline Thefts

Amnesty International says it has uncovered proof that Shell Petroleum conceals the amount of oil it spills in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region. Shell maintains most of the oil it loses is due to theft, not to slipshod operations and management. An oil spill near the town of Warri last May devastated local farmers, who grow […]

Russian long-term forecast sees oil price flat in real terms

Russia forecast on Thursday that oil prices would remain flat in real terms through to 2030, taking a more bullish view than many independent forecasters who expect an exploration revolution to deliver ample supply and depress prices. After taking inflation into account, the price of crude oil and other commodities will remain roughly unchanged over […]

Cracks Widen in U.S.-Saudi Alliance

  A U.S. Air Force B-1B bomber flies by ships participating in an exercise in the Arabian Gulf, August 2013. Riyadh views the U.S. as willing to risk sacrificing key strategic assets – in this case, the Bahrain headquarters of the U.S. Fifth Fleet — as part of a broader retreat from the region. Credit: […]

GM food will be essential for a hungry world

During the recent Festival of Ideas hosted by the University of Melbourne a distinguished panel of researchers working at the forefront of food security discussed the often controversial issue of genetic modification for food crops. Katherine Smith canvasses the views they shared with their audience. Email article Print Reprints & permissions “We know that by […]

Turning electricity into food

Our paper published in the “Journal of Cleaner Production” where we discuss the possibility of using renewable electric energy to power all the phases of the agricultural process. For a copy of this paper, send a message to ugo.bardi(whirlywhirl)unifi.it. You know that when energy in agriculture is discussed, the paradigm is energy production in the […]

Crowfunding for Renewables: Game Changer?

Crowdfunding of renewable energy projects is growing fast in Europe. If this grassroots movement gets organized in time to access the big money available in the next round of cohesion funding, it could have far reaching effects on the European energy sector. In recession era Europe, much talk is of ‘innovative’ or ‘alternative’ financing for […]

Oil prices may be losing Iranian ‘risk premium’

One of several factors contributing to the sharp drop in global oil prices in recent months has been optimism about a deal over Iran’s nuclear capabilities. Despite Tehran’s denials, fears the country is developing nuclear weapons has kept the international benchmark price for crude oil above $100 a barrel for nearly three years. A new […]

Oil Traders Claim Proof BFOE Boys Rigged Market

Four longtime traders in the global oil market claim in a lawsuit that the prices for buying and selling crude are fixed — and that they can prove it. Some of the world’s biggest oil companies including BP Plc (BP/), Statoil ASA (STL), and Royal Dutch Shell Plc conspired with Morgan Stanley and energy traders […]

Why the oil majors are getting hammered

As in the second quarter of the year, third quarter results for the oil majors, the international oil companies and other major listed operators, were disappointing. Some were downright awful. Why have results for the oil companies deteriorated so markedly, and what should we expect in the future? In this article, we’ll look primarily at […]

Water Shortages Threaten Shale Gas Development

If water is the new oil and shale gas is the new energy savior, something has to give. That’s because the exploration for the unconventional form of natural gas uses so much water that it is encroaching on society’s other needs. Not only do utilities consume it. So does big industry and small residential households. […]

NYMEX to adopt new US oil specifications backing WTI contract

CME Group plans to announce early next year that it will adopt new specifications and tests for crude backing its benchmark oil futures contract, a person familiar with knowledge of the plan said on Wednesday. The recommendations were submitted to the exchange for consideration by the Crude Oil Quality Association (COQA), who began testing crude […]

Are We Headed For ‘The End Of The Suburbs’?

Download MP3 More millennials are moving from the suburbs into cities, such as Brooklyn, New York. (karlnorling/Flickr) For many people, cities are becoming the place to live, while sprawling suburbs are losing their appeal. In her new book, “The End of the Suburbs: Where the American Dream is Moving,” Leigh Gallagher, assistant managing editor of Fortune, […]

Another Fukushima Quake Would Mean US Evacuation, ‘Bye Bye Japan’

Award winning scientist says another 7.0 earthquake hitting Fukushima would mean US evacuations, ‘bye bye Japan’. Award winning scientist David Suzuki has gone on record in a public talk posted online just days ago in saying that in the event of another seven or above earthquake, which he says has about a 95% chance of […]

Fukushima Debris “Island” The Size Of Texas Near US West Coast

While it took Japan over two years to admit the Fukushima situation on the ground is “out of control“, a development many had predicted for years, a just as important topic is what are the implications of this uncontrolled radioactive disaster on not only the local environment and society but also globally, particularly Japan’s neighbor […]

Return of Iran crude may spark OPEC ‘price war’

The possible lifting of sanctions against Iran as early as next year – setting the stage for the return of the country’s oil exports – may spark a “price war” within OPEC as rival producers try to compete with heavily discounted crude offered by Tehran. International sanctions aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear program have more […]

Oil traders claim crude prices fixed

BP and Shell among companies that conspired to manipulate Brent spot prices for more than a decade, lawsuit alleges Four longtime traders in the global oil market claim in a lawsuit that the prices for buying and selling crude are fixed – and that they can prove it. Some of the world’s biggest oil companies […]

The Club of Rome Reloaded

The ideas brought by the Club of Rome with the famous 1972 report “The Limits to Growth” went through a period of eclipse starting with the mid 1980s. It was the result of a campaign of demolition that succeeded in convincing everyone that the report had made “wrong predictions” about the future. It wasn’t so; […]

Cost of nuts to soar as bee population dies

THE price of nutty treats and snacks is about to soar as almond farmers struggle to pollinate their crops because of dwindling bee populations. The almond market around the world is worth about $5 billion a year, and about 80 per cent of the planet’s almonds come from California, the Daily Mail reports. But farmers […]

China cuts gas supply to industry as shortages hit

China’s top natural gas producers have begun to cut supplies to industrial consumers in a bid to make sure that homes and users of transport are not left short as demand surges over the winter. Chemical fertilizer makers and other industrial users are likely to bear the brunt of Beijing’s latest efforts to ration scarce […]

Great Expectations, Deferred

Still waiting for large, economy-wide job increases from the “shale revolution” From Goldman Sachs, “Is the Economy Gaining “Fracktion?”” (not online): There is little evidence of significant “induced” employment growth in downstream manufacturing industries. Similarly, cap-ex in energy intensive sectors that might be expected to benefit most from the shale boom has not outperformed cap-ex […]

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