Will The World War 3 Be Fought Over Food?

Pope Francis said a few months ago that the World War 3 has already begun. Russian president Vladimir Putin is threatening the West almost every other day, which could trigger the World War 3 anytime. The Ukraine crisis continues to escalate as the country moves towards joining NATO. Russia’s ambitions to gain control over the […]

Edgartown Explores Tides As Potential Future Renewable Energy Source

Many homeowners install renewable energy technologies like solar panels in an effort to become less dependent on conventional energy sources. But could an entire island eventually achieve that goal? Edgartown on Martha’s Vineyard is taking the first steps to harness the strong tides that flow just off its eastern shore. It’s new technology, and there […]

Where Our Power Comes From

Flip the switch and the light comes on. Plug in your smart phone to charge. Put your slice of bread in the toaster and a minute later it pops up nicely browned. Where does the electricity come from that makes our lives so easy? Let’s take a look. Across New England there are more than […]

Is U.S. in an oil price nirvana?

  Dallas economist Bud Weinstein prays every night for $60 oil — give or take five bucks a barrel. That’s the sweet spot, he says, where the U.S. economy gets a boost without putting the brakes on oil-producing states such as Texas. Lately, West Texas Intermediate crude has been fluctuating at the lower end of […]

The Dangerous Economics of Shale Oil

For years, we’ve been warning here at PeakProsperity.com that the economics of the US ‘shale revolution’ were suspect. Namely, that they’ve only been made possible by the new era of ‘expensive’ oil (an average oil price of between $80-$100 per barrel). We’ve argued that many players in the shale industry simply wouldn’t be able to […]

After turbulent 2014, next year may be no calmer

From financial crisis in Russia to cyber warfare with North Korea, 2014 has generated new flashpoints right into its final days, setting 2015 up to be just as turbulent. Almost all of the major confrontations, such as the battle with Islamic State militants, the West’s stand-off with Russia over Ukraine and the fight against Ebola, […]

The Economy Isn’t Going To Recover, U.S. Government Preparing for Collapse

The Economy isn’t going to recover. The government knows this and is getting ready, but in ways that are very disturbing. Investment Watch

Saudi Arabia Ready For $20, $30, $40 Oil

Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell 2 and 3.3 percent respectively to start the week and Saudi Arabia is prepared to go much lower in a bid to trim the fat. Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said as much in an interview with the Middle East Economic Survey on Monday. Naimi defended the Saudi […]

Saudi Arabia’s Oil Pricing Power Makes It The Country To Watch In 2015

2014 was the year of the great oil crash. The price of a barrel of crude, which was higher than $90 in January, fell under $55 in December, a five-year low. While the crashing oil prices severely hurt many oil-producing nations, consumers in the U.S. benefited from gas prices that had not been this low […]

Rocket hits tank at Libya’s biggest oil port

A rocket set a storage tank at the eastern Libyan oil of port Es Sider on fire as armed factions allied to competing governments fought for control of the country’s biggest export terminal, officials from both sides said on Thursday. Clashes were also reported from Sirte, a city west of Es Sider, killing up to […]

The diverging paths of gold and oil in 2014

Gold is a commodity that in the real world doesn’t get used for a whole lot of truly important things, but is seen as a financial asset, and always has been. Oil is a commodity that in the real world makes modern life possible, gets used for many, many important things, and yet is also seen […]

The fine art of forecasting

It was six months since he joined Business Bugle and Ashutosh was already a seasoned journalist. Summoning him, his editor said, “We’ve got an edition to run, boy. I know there’s no actual business happening. All the company chiefs and market gurus are probably in pubs swigging Single Malts. But ask them how 2015 will […]

Oil and Gas Prices Are Manipulated Once Again

OPEC will not cut output even at $20 a barrel … OPEC will not cut oil production even if the price drops to $20 a barrel and it is unfair to expect the cartel to reduce output if non-members do not, Saudi Arabia said. “Whether it goes down to $20 a barrel, $40, $50, $60, […]

China needing more energy

Efforts by the Chinese government to encourage sustainable growth have led to an increase in oil demand, government data released Wednesday show. Analysis of government data from Platts found Chinese apparent oil demand, a reflection of how much oil goes into domestic refineries combined with net oil product imports, increased in November by 3.5 percent […]

Russia called on to suspend arctic oil ambitions

The Russian branch of the World Wide Fund for Nature said Russia needs to suspend exploration and production efforts in the arctic because of low oil prices. At a press summit organized by the Russian Natural Resources Ministry, WWF Director Igor Chestin said it was time to halt ambitions in the Russian arctic. “We need […]

Everything’s Coming Together While Everything Falls Apart

It was the most thrilling bureaucratic document I’ve ever seen for just one reason: it was dated the 21st day of the month of Thermidor in the Year Six. Written in sepia ink on heavy paper, it recorded an ordinary land auction in France in what we would call the late summer of 1798. But […]

The Gift Economy: What It Is And Isn’t

It’s been a long time since I’ve written an essay. A number of projects are demanding my attention, but recently, I have encountered so many misconceptions about not only the Gift Economy, but the role of money in the new paradigm, that I must respond. In current time, the term “Gift Economy” is frequently used […]

Solar Panel Maintenance Poses Unforeseen Challenge in Developing World

In an ideal world, it would be an affordable and practical solution for new electrical generation installations in developing nations to be fueled by low-carbon sources, such as solar, wind, and hydropower.  Solar seems perfect for nations with lots of sun exposure, and no efficient way of bringing the traditional electric grid to remote locations. […]

As winter arrives, natural gas is becoming less expensive

Natural gas, the nation’s most prevalent heating fuel, is getting cheaper just as winter is arriving because supplies are plentiful and temperatures have been mild. The price of natural gas has dropped 30 percent in a month, to $3.14 per 1,000 cubic feet on Tuesday from $4.50 in late November. That’s a steep drop even […]

Practical Environmentalism In The Noisy World Of Energy

The world of energy (oil, pipelines, OPEC, fracking, gasoline prices, peak oil, tar sands and natural gas, to mention the most overly discussed) has entered a new phase, while reasserting its place in the world headlines. In the meantime, another very important American energy story—electricity for the present and future of America and its electrical […]

David Hughes: The Trouble with Optimistic Shale Gas Projections by the U.S. Department of Energy

On December 3, 2014, Nature published “Natural Gas: The Fracking Fallacy”, which suggested that the forecasts of the Energy Information Administration (EIA) for four major U.S. shale gas plays were wildly optimistic, based on a comparison to forecasts for the same plays by the University of Texas Bureau of Economic Geology (UT/BEG). This was followed by a formal […]

Will The Fed Intervene In The Oil Market?

In a larger sense, the Fed is already intervening in the oil sector via its zero interest rate policy (ZIRP) and its unlimited liquidity for financial speculation. The problem with financializing a critical sector of the economy is the financialization process transforms it into a systemic risk. The trajectory of every financialized sector is the same: […]

The Oil Drum & Peak oil videos

The Oil Drum was a website devoted to analysis and discussion of energy and its impact on society. The Oil Drum was published by the Institute for the Study of Energy and Our Future, a Colorado non-profit corporation. The site was a resource for information on many energy and sustainability topics, including peak oil, and […]

Peak oil without US?

Boone Pickens, BP Capital founder, shares his thoughts on what oil production would look like without the United States.

Nuclear Power Plant In South Korea Hacked

Since the ultimate goal of the ongoing hacking scare tactic appears to be the implementation of an Internet “Kill switch” which would likely be achieved by a controlled take down of the energy grid to demonstrate just how scary “hackers” may be, here comes the “other” Korea with an appetizer of what is to come […]

The World Is Not Falling Apart

Never mind the headlines. We’ve never lived in such peaceful times. It’s a good time to be a pessimist. ISIS, Crimea, Donetsk, Gaza, Burma, Ebola, school shootings, campus rapes, wife-beating athletes, lethal cops—who can avoid the feeling that things fall apart, the center cannot hold? Last year Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of […]

Oil price drop to persist, help global growth

The recent drop in oil prices should persist, helping to boost global economic activity by up to 0.7 percentage points next year, two senior IMF economists wrote in a blog on Monday. Brent prices have fallen more than 46 percent since the year’s peak in June of above $115 per barrel, sped up by the […]

The Great Transition – The End of Growth?

New research suggests that the ongoing global economic crisis is symptomatic of a deeper crisis of industrial civilization’s relationship with nature. The continuation of the crisis, though, does not imply the end of the world – but rather is part of major phase shift to a new form of civilization that could either adapt to […]

Peak Oil: the elephant in the room

“Elephant Country” a book on peak oil by Luca Pardi. The title refers to the fact that some politicians had defined Italy an “oil country” because it produces some oil, but that’s just as wrong as it would be to say that Italy is an “elephant country” because it has some elephants in zoos. In […]

Energy in 2015: Cheap oil changes everything

A year ago today, few would have predicted a collapse in oil prices would be the biggest energy story of 2014. Pinpointing next year’s equivalent is just as unlikely. Still, we can at least consider what to watch worldwide in one of the most dynamic, unpredictable, and misunderstood industries. Whatever happens in 2015, these five […]

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