Peak Oil: Reality Checks From The Desert

Peak Oil: Reality Checks From The Desert – PART 1 of 2

IEA Oil Market Forecast: Optimistic Assumptions And An Economy Unable To Grow Out Of Its Problems

The International Energy Authority (IEA) forecasts a yearly increase of 1.3% in global oil demand during the period 2013-2019. This contrasts with the assumption of global economic growth rising from 3.6% in 2014 to around 4% thereafter[1]. How does a 1.3% increase in oil usage support economic growth of about three times that amount? The […]

The Changing Face of World Oil Markets

Here’s the introduction to a new paper I just finished: This year the oil industry celebrated its 155th birthday, continuing a rich history of booms, busts and dramatic technological changes. Many old hands in the oil patch may view recent developments as a continuation of the same old story, wondering if the high prices of […]

Arctic Oil Well Blowout Could Spread More Than 1,000 Km

Oil from a spill or oil well blowout in the Arctic waters of Canada’s Beaufort Sea could easily become trapped in sea ice and potentially spread more than 1,000 kilometres to the west coast of Alaska, a World Wildlife Fund study showed on Friday. The WWF contracted RPS Applied Science Associates to model 22 different […]

High-Efficiency Planet

When most people think of energy efficiency, they think of modern amenities, like their squiggly compact fluorescent light bulbs. But according to one of the world’s experts on the history of energy, lighting has become more efficient for 700 years — and much cheaper as a result. “Over the last 700 years, there has been a 10,000-fold […]

World Oil Production at 3/31/2014–Where are We Headed?

The standard way to make forecasts of almost anything is to look at recent trends and assume that this trend will continue, at least for the next several years. With world oil production, the trend in oil production looks fairly benign, with the trend slightly upward (Figure 1). If we look at the situation more closely, […]

Costs up for oil sands production

The costs of producing bitumen and synthetic crude in the Albertan oil sands have increased over the past year, says the Canadian Energy Research Institute in an annual report that projects steady growth in output. Compared with last year’s report, estimated costs of production before blending and transportation are up 4.4% for steam-assisted gravity drainage, […]

Iraqi Oil In Context: 60% Of OPEC Growth Expectations

While Iraqi crude represents about 4.4% of world production, or around 3.4 mmbd (5th largest in the world);   enabling investors to shrug at any fears that ISIS will spread to the South and interrupt this supply (since it will be ‘contained’); what many do not comprehend is that in such a tight oil market […]

Iraqi Kurdish oil may finally be freely for sale as the US seems to be dropping its threats

The United Leadership, a tanker containing about one million barrels of oil from Iraqi Kurdistan, has been stuck at sea for two months. The ship has been mostly anchored off the Moroccan coast, the victim of legal threats against potential buyers. It is mired in a battle between Kurdistan, intent on parlaying the sale of such […]

U.S. Should Do More to Develop Oil, Natural Gas

Large majorities of registered voters, both Republican and Democrat, support producing more oil and natural gas in the U.S. and say they would be more likely to vote for candidates who support development, according to a national poll API released.   “American voters want more oil and natural gas produced here at home but do not see […]

Mineral depletion: the trouble with gold

The main point that I am making with my latest book, “Extracted” is that mineral depletion is one of the major sources of our present economic and environmental troubles. Explaining this point is not easy: most people still seem to believe that depletion means “running out” of something. But that’s not the case. Depletion is […]

Robert Rapier: The US and Russia are Gas Giants

This is the 2nd installment in a series that examines data from the recently released Statistical Review of World Energy 2014. The previous post – World Sets New Oil Production and Consumption Records – delved into world oil production and consumption figures. Today’s post looks at the global natural gas picture. In 2013 global natural gas production advanced 1.1% […]

Geothermal Industry Grows, With Help From Oil and Gas Drilling

Geothermal energy — tapping into heat deep underground and using it to produce power — is sometimes described as a forgotten renewable. It languishes in the shadows of better-known sources like wind and the sun, and in 2011 it accounted for less than 1 percent of electric power worldwide, according to last year’s World Energy […]

Peak Oil: Denial Magic 2

This is a second look at a recent Reuters article by John Kemp, which got me thinking that those who deny peak oil ought to be magicians. The tactics are standard by now: Toss out some carefully massaged facts bearing the imprint of near-truths but without context (just to be safe), engage in a pattern […]

Suburbia Is Over: Why US Oil Dependence is Futureless

James Howard Kunstler, author of Too Much Magic, warns that lifestyle of suburban communities in the U.S. are unsustainable, and he asserts that suburbia will have to cut its dependence on cars and oil. Full video is available at: http://fora.tv/2013/04/20/James_Kunst…

The Fertility Conundrum

It is perhaps inevitable that contraception and population growth are controversial topics, given the many perspectives brought to bear on them. Reproductive-health activists focus on family planning and a woman’s right to control her own body. Economists look at the impact on sustainable growth. Governments fret about over-population and unemployment. Health workers worry about sexually […]

Onshore Wind Power Is Now Cheapest Form Of New Electricity In Denmark

A new analysis from the government of Denmark found that wind power is by far the cheapest new form of electricity in the country. New onshore wind plants coming online in 2016 will provide energy for about half the price of coal and natural gas plants, according to the Danish Energy Agency (DEA), and will […]

Top 10 Signs of U.S. Empire’s Passing

It’s not fashionable to talk about American empire these days, much less our empire’s coming demise. Our status as the world’s preeminent superpower remains largely unquestioned (at least domestically). Politicians and media pundits still portray our military as the world’s last great hope against tyranny and global terrorism. And yet, despite the U.S. military’s clear […]

Debunking Peak Oil Debunkers

I came across this OpEd this morning by Richard Turcotte, a former financial advisory and retired attorney, now turned author. Besides turning his ‘pen’ to fiction, he also blogs on energy issues, Peak Oil, in particular, so critics will likely call him, and me, ‘true believers.’ But our particular tribe trusts facts and verifiable numbers, […]

Oil Is Getting Harder and Harder to Find

Oil expert James Hamilton has an interesting summary of the current world oil market up today, and it’s worth a read. His bottom line, however, is that $100-per-barrel oil is here to stay: The run-up of oil prices over the last decade resulted from strong growth of demand from emerging economies confronting limited physical potential […]

Fossil Fuels or Pixie Dust

Donald Roessler Washington County, Pa. Landowner and Gas Lease Holder      We hear a lot from our anti friends about the need to stop the use of fossil fuels NOW and rely instead upon “non polluting renewable” energy sources. But, there are two major flaws to their argument. First, there is the pollution, in China, caused by mining the […]

EU Says Could Halt Technology for Russia to Develop Arctic Oil, Gas

The European Union should not give Russia technical help to develop Arctic oil and gas fields if Moscow does not help to defuse the Ukraine crisis, EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said on Wednesday. “If they don’t try for peace in the east of Ukraine … If they don’t decisively try to do something to […]

Iraq rebels storm town near Baghdad

Sunni fighters seize control of official buildings and police station in Dhuluiyah, which army recaptured last month. Sunni rebels led by the Islamic State group have attacked a town north of Baghdad and seized local government buildings, police and witnesses said. The fighters, in 50-60 vehicles, stormed the town of Dhuluiya, about 70km north of Baghdad early on […]

Putin Mulls End To Gazprom Monopoly On Pipeline Gas Sales To China

The Russian government should consider allowing gas producers other than Gazprom to export gas from new fields in east Siberia and Far East, Vedomosti daily newspaper said, citing an order from President Vladimir Putin. Russia’s Gazprom has a monopoly right to export gas via pipelines, clinching a $400 billion deal to ship gas to China […]

The Unbelievable Life And Death Of Michael C. Ruppert

After decades of struggle, the notorious doomsayer finally found fame and recognition. Then he shot himself.   By the second Sunday of April this year, Michael C. Ruppert was broke. The 63-year-old cop-turned-writer and firebrand gained fame by starring in Collapse, a 2009 documentary in which he predicts society’s destruction. Publicity from the film was […]

Richard Heinberg: Two Realities

Download printable PDF version here (PDF, 103 KB) Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. –Robert Frost Two paths via rhruzek/flickr. Creative Commons 2.0 license. Our contemporary world is host to two coexisting but fundamentally different—and, in at least one crucial […]

Shell: Few limits offshore

Shell says it’s working well in post-gulf spill culture Oil companies have yet to reach the point that technology is limiting access to offshore reserves, a Shell official in charge of deep American waters said.Shell announced a discovery in the Rydberg area of the Norphlet play in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico […]

As Russia’s Isolation Grows, Oil Companies Caught in Middle

The confrontation between Russia and the West took a turn for the worse with the downing of a Malaysian airliner on July 17, and that could spell trouble for several major oil companies operating in Russia. Just one day earlier, U.S. President Barack Obama slapped sanctions on Russia over its ongoing role in the destabilization of Ukraine. The […]

Keeping Oil Production From Falling

Production flows from a given oil field naturally decline over time, but we keep trying harder and technology keeps improving. Which force is winning the race? An oil reservoir is a pool of hydrocarbons embedded and trapped under pressure in porous rock. As oil is taken out, the pressure decreases and the annual rate of […]

Terrorism and the Electric Power Delivery System Part 2

My Summary of the 2012 National Academy of Science report written for the Department of Homeland Security: “Terrorism and the Electric Power Delivery System” There are many Really Stupid Energy-Electric Grid Interdependencies that will make terrorism, outage from natural disasters and other failures much worse Here are some other factors that I think will exacerbate […]

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