Michael Lynch: Will Geopolitical Progress Mean Lower Oil Prices?

After a decade of elevated oil prices due to lost production in Iraq, Venezuela, Nigeria, Libya and Iran, the past few months have seen a fairly moderate response to the advances of ISIS in Iraq, the Israeli-Hamas fighting, and the rebellion in eastern Ukraine. Prices rose as much as $10 at the worst point, and […]

U.S. Bombs Iraq

The United States dropped laser-guided bombs on ISIS artillery in Iraq on Friday, the Pentagon said — the beginning of airstrikes threatened a day earlier by President Barack Obama. NBC

Oil giants evacuate Iraqi Kurdistan

Shares of energy companies operating in Iraqi Kurdistan plunged on Thursday and two U.S. companies evacuated some staff as Islamic State militants advanced within 45 kilometers (28 miles) of Arbil, a key hub for oil producers. Companies that produce oil in the semi-autonomous region, including Oslo-listed DNO ASA, as well as London-listed Gulf Keystone Petroleum […]

The United States’ Biggest Allies Are Funding ISIS

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar & Turkey all back terror group President Barack Obama’s authorization of air strikes on ISIS targets in Iraq serves as an opportunity to remind ourselves which countries are bankrolling the deadly terror group. The answer; Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Turkey and Qatar – three of the United States’ biggest allies in the […]

Stop Growing or Meet the Four Horsemen?

I took some time off from writing this summer, as I was busy getting unmarried and moving back to my original home, Florida. Don’t ever change your name—it’s a real hassle to change it back, from Logan to Odum. The divorce was quite amicable, after almost 40 years together, and Alaska provides few obstacles to […]

Avoiding a new dash for gas

Three things you shouldn’t miss this week Chart: UK open to fracking: Source: DECC Chart: UK gas consumption 2013 by sector: Source: Carbon Brief – data via DUKES Chart: Renewables rising steadily – UK Electricity generation 2013 by source: Source: Carbon Brief – data via DUKES Nearly half the UK is now open to fracking. The latest onshore […]

Israeli Billionaire Finds 3B Barrel Oil Reserve In Congo

An oil company owned by Israeli billionaire Dan Gertler said on Thursday it had discovered around 3 billion barrels of oil in the Democratic Republic of Congo, an amount similar to the proven reserves of oil producers Britain and South Sudan. The crude was discovered around Lake Albert on Congo’s eastern border with Uganda, Oil […]

Uranium Demand Higher, Supply Lower Over Long-Term

We all know that China, Russia, India and Brazil are deploying a large number of nuclear reactors. England and a few middle eastern countries like Saudi Arabia and the UAE also have big plans. Not only is the world’s population reportedly growing from about 7 billion to 9 billion + by 2050, the proportion of […]

Venezuela Selling US Oil Company Citgo

Venezuela’s government has confirmed that it is considering the sale of its oil refining and distribution network in the U.S. amid a worsening economic crisis. Analysts said the proposed sale reflects the socialist government’s urgent cash shortage. Last week, the state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA signaled its interest in a finding a buyer […]

ISIS Capture Iraq’s Largest Dam

Sunni militants captured the Mosul dam, the largest in Iraq, on Thursday as their advances in the country’s north created an onslaught of refugees and set off fearful rumors in Erbil, the Kurdish regional capital. Residents near the dam and officials in the region confirmed that the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, […]

Petrodollar Under Threat As Russia And Iran Sign Historic 500,000 Barrel A Day Oil Deal

Russia Delivers Blow To Petrodollar In Historic $20 Billion Iran Oil Deal Russia signed a historic $20 billion oil deal with Iran to bypass both western sanctions and the dollar based western monetary system yesterday. President Putin Admire Gold Bar (London Gold Delivery Bar) Currency wars are set to escalate as the petro dollar’s decline […]

Megan Quinn Bachman – Peak Oil, Community & The Future

Megan Quinn Bachman – Peak Oil, Community & The Future

China Finds Shale Gas Challenging, Halves 2020 Output Target

China has halved the quantum of shale gas it expects to produce by 2020 after early exploration efforts to unlock the unconventional fuel proved challenging, according to an industry website and a government source. China, believed to hold the world’s largest technically recoverable shale resources, is hoping to replicate the shale boom that has transformed […]

Deep Water Fracking Next Frontier for Offshore Drilling

Energy companies are taking their controversial fracking operations from the land to the sea — to deep waters off the U.S., South American and African coasts. Cracking rocks underground to allow oil and gas to flow more freely into wells has grown into one of the most lucrative industry practices of the past century. The […]

Peak Oil: Derring-Do Part Two!

Recent publications featuring the impressive tales of the billions made by oil industry entrepreneurs does have a certain appeal to it, whether one is a cynic or fawning admirer. The levels of success and wealth enjoyed by those few—ignoring the not-always idealistic paths ushering them to the top—is indeed astonishing, and so far-removed from the […]

Is the Peak Oil Myth Dead?

In his 2005 New York Times best-selling book Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy, renowned oil analyst Matthew Simmons outlined his belief that Saudi Arabia’s giant Ghawar oil field would soon begin a terminal decline that would result in permanently falling global oil production. Indeed, from the post-recession lows […]

Nearly 4% of the world’s oil supply is offline due to wars, unrest, sanction

The world’s oil prices have stayed high since 2010 — bouncing around $100 per barrel— for two basic reasons. Oil demand keeps rising, and production is struggling to keep up. But why is production struggling to keep up? One big factor has been geopolitical conflict. Wars, unrest, and sabotage have increasingly plagued oil producers like Iraq, Libya, […]

ISIS Marches On (And The Saudis Are Getting Nervous)

Destroying Iraq’s Cultural Heritage The fundamentalist retro-gang that has conquered Northern Iraq has decided it needs to go Taliban on cultural monuments it disapproves of. One of the most recent outrages was the destruction of the tomb of Yunus, better known in the West as the prophet Jonah (yes, the biblical one who spent some […]

Up Close And Personal With A 40-Story Oil Rig In The Gulf

The U.S. is in the middle of an oil drilling boom that few people saw coming. After decades of decline, crude oil production is rising again. Technologies such as hydraulic fracturing in places such as North Dakota are getting . But the Gulf of Mexico still accounts for more than one-fifth of domestic oil production. […]

California Experiencing Most Severe Drought Ever Recorded

One of the worst North American droughts in history could be getting a whole lot worse. According to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor Map released on Tuesday, more than 58 percent of California is in an “exceptional drought” stage. That’s up a staggering 22 percent from last week’s report. And, in its latest drought report […]

Making Sense of the US Oil Story

We frequently see stories telling us how well the United States is doing at oil extraction. The fact that there are stories in the press about the US wanting to export crude oil adds to the hype. How much of these stories are really true? If we believe the stories, the US is now the […]

Egypt, Iran, Jordan Call Off Gas Pipeline Talks

Egypt, Iraq and Jordan have called off talks regarding construction of a gas pipeline as a result of violence, instability and insecurity, reports Daily News Egypt. The goal of the proposed pipeline was to carry Iraqi fuel to Jordan and Egypt or to transform gas to its liquid form in one of the factories operating […]

One Hundred Thirty Nine Square Miles of Sand, Part III: Denouement

Deir Yassin was like Black Kettle’s village on the Washita River. Gaza is Wounded Knee. Before the current invasion, Yuval Diskin former director of Israel’s internal security service Shin Bet, told Der Spiegel: “They [Palestinians] will never accept the status quo of the Israeli occupation. When people lose hope for an improvement of their situation, […]

The Rise Of The Petroyuan And The Slow Erosion Of Dollar Hegemony

For seventy years, one of the critical foundations of American power has been the dollar’s standing as the world’s most important currency. For the last forty years, a pillar of dollar primacy has been the greenback’s dominant role in international energy markets. Today, China is leveraging its rise as an economic power, and as the […]

Putin Orders Preparation Of Retaliatory Sanctions, Expands Trade With Iran

As we warned previously, it appears Russia is stepping up its sanctions-retaliation confirming its threat that “US will feel tangible losses.” *PUTIN ORDERS GOVT TO PREPARE RETALIATORY SANCTIONS: RIA *PUTIN ORDERS GOVT TO READY STEPS IN RESPONSE TO SANCTIONS: IFX *PUTIN: RETALIATORY MEASURES SHOULDN’T HURT RUSSIA CONSUMERS:IFX Russian stocks and currency are sliding this morning, […]

Marcellus Production Exceeds 15 Bcf/d, to Keep Growing

Marcellus shale gas production, for the first time ever recorded, exceeded 15 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) through July, and further anticipated production growth will allow Marcellus gas to meet demand in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and several other U.S. states. Located primarily in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, the Marcellus shale play is the United […]

Can an Economy Develop Without Coal?

While all fossil fuels are contributing to the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, coal stands apart as really problematic, not just because of its CO2 emissions today (see chart, global emissions in millions of tonnes CO2 vs. time), but because of the vast reserves waiting to be used and the tendency for an […]

The Secret, Simple Reason For High Oil Prices

Why are oil prices so high, after inflation above 1980 record highes? Peak oil enthusiasts have explanations (usually wrong, like their forecasts). There are many factors at work, including one simple but hidden reason: American foreign policy. The USA has played a large role in the suppression of oil production in three major oil producers, including […]

CFTC Sets $13 Million Pact in Crude-Oil Case

U.S. commodity regulators settled an oil-market-manipulation case stemming from the 2008 price run-up against three companies and two traders for $13 million, a fraction of what authorities alleged they made in profits from the strategy. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission said in an announcement, issued Tuesday night, that Parnon Energy Inc., Arcadia Petroleum Ltd., Arcadia […]

Our Dysfunctional National Government Is Incapable of Building a Sustainable Economy

My Columbia University colleagues Bill Eimicke and Alison Miller recently joined me in authoring a new book entitled Sustainability Policy: Hastening the Transition to A Cleaner Economy. If all goes well, Jossey-Bass publishers will release the book in early 2015. Our work focuses on how American government at the federal, state and local levels can […]

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