The UN revises down its population forecasts

THE UNITED NATIONS is the world’s most important watcher of human tides. Its demographers have a good record of predicting global population change, although they have made mistakes about individual countries. So it is worth paying attention when the UN revises its figures, as it does every few years. The latest bulletin is especially surprising. […]

Tom Whipple: When Will Oil Production Peak?

Next to global warming, the end of our ability to produce ever increasing amounts of oil is one of the most serious developments that humanity faces in this century. Ten years ago, many were concerned that global oil production was about to peak; however, just as oil reached $148 a barrel and gasoline climbed to […]

Oil Prices Up After Iran Drone Attack

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent crude oil futures surged Thursday following the downing of a U.S. Navy drone over the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping lane for oil tankers entering and exiting the Persian Gulf. The July WTI contract price added $2.89 Thursday, settling at $56.65 per barrel. The benchmark traded within a […]

Iran oil minister says oil market is ‘fragile and unstable’

The global oil market is “unstable and fragile”, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh told Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak in a meeting in Tehran, Iran state broadcaster IRIB said on Monday. “We discussed the global oil markets and I said the market is highly manipulated by political agendas,” Zanganeh was quoted as saying by IRIB. […]

Kunstler with Rob Gourdie about Oil Price Waves and peak Oil

download (size: 0 MB )   #317 Rob Gourdie is Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics at Virginia Tech. He is also Director of the Center for Heart and Reparative Medicine Research at the same university. He writes under the pen name of Tom Therramus.  In his “day job,” he works on the repeating waves […]

Iran paralysed

The United States and the United Kingdom accuse Iran of the sabotage of six petrol tankers in the Gulf, without presenting the slightest proof except an indecipherable US video. According to the accusers, the video shows a craft of the Guardians of the Revolution recuperating an unexploded limpet-mine from the hull of one of the […]

Well, It’s Growing: The Shale Revolution

Summary Only 10% of shale companies had a positive cash balance for Q1’19. Mother Nature has production limits, and there is speculation that the shale industry has reached them. Having exposure to different phases of exploration helps oil companies diversify their revenue base. The U.S. is a leader in the shale revolution. EOG Resources has […]

New Oil and Gas Discovery in Norwegian Sea

Equinor, along with its partners Ineos E&P and Faroe Petroleum, have made an oil and gas discovery in the Norwegian Sea through the Snadd Outer Outer/Black Vulture exploration well. Gas was proven at the well’s first target, Snadd Outer Outer. Further drilling to the second target, Black Vulture, hit oil. The well volume totals 3 […]

U.S. Oil Demand Was Scorching Hot Last Year

The U.S. economy burned through an average of 20.46 million barrels of crude oil and related liquids each day last year, according to BP‘s (NYSE:BP) latest annual Statistical Review of World Energy. That was about 500,000 barrels per day (BPD), or 2.5%, more than 2017’s total, and the largest demand increase in more than a […]

OPEC, Russia Nearing Accord on Long Term Oil Supply Coordination

OPEC and other producers including Russia are in final talks for an agreement, that may be signed in early July, to cooperate on oil supplies on a long-term basis, Japan’s Nikkei reported, citing Russian energy minister Alexander Novak.     Novak also told the Nikkei that discussions with OPEC on moving the date of the meeting […]

Iranians fired missile at US drone prior to tanker attack, US official says

© Iranian Students News Agency via AP An oil tanker is on fire in the sea of Oman, Thursday, June 13, 2019. Two oil tankers near the strategic Strait of Hormuz were reportedly attacked on Thursday, an assault that left one ablaze and adrift as sailors were evacuated from both vessels and the U.S. Navy […]

OPEC May Production Data

The below charts, unless otherwise noted, were taken from the OPEC Monthly Oil Market Report. The data is through May, 2019 and is in thousand barrels per day. OPEC crude only production was down 236,000 barrels per day in May but that was after April production had been revised upward by 82,000 bpd. Iranian April […]

A Battle Between U.S. Production And Iran

Summary Oil remains above $50 per barrel on WTI and hovers around $60 on Brent. Another week of inventory builds in the US. New provocative acts in the Middle East. Brent-WTI remains firm. Trading in the current environment could offer the best opportunities – UCO and SCO for those who do not trade futures. Looking […]

Some Snapshots of the Global Energy Situation

“Global primary energy grew by 2.9% in 2018 – the fastest growth seen since 2010. This occurred despite a backdrop of modest GDP growth and strengthening energy prices. At the same time, carbon emissions from energy use grew by 2.0%, again the fastest expansion for many years, with emissions increasing by around 0.6 gigatonnes. That’s roughly equivalent to […]

Why there is no ‘Peak Car’

Auto sales, particularly in the US, have been booming for years. Automakers have been positing healthy profits, but now concern has developed about “Peak Car,” the idea that worldwide auto sales growth has topped out. The auto industry isn’t meaningfully threatened by ride-hailing or new companies making electric vehicles. And although sales could decline in […]

OIL TANKER ‘TORPEDO’ ATTACKS IN HORMUZ USA BLAMES IRAN

THE US said tonight that Iran was behind the “torpedo attack” on an American-linked oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman. Both the Front Altair and the Panama-flagged Kokuka Courageous – which was reportedly bombed – burst into flames and were forced to evacuate in the troubled region this morning. 11 A huge fire rages […]

Trump says there is ‘always a chance’ of war with Iran

War between the US and Iran is a possibility, President Donald Trump stated in an interview with Piers Morgan. However, he stressed that he is not seeking armed conflict with Tehran. When pressed by Morgan about rising tensions with Iran and the likelihood of war, Trump acknowledged that nothing could be ruled out. There’s always […]

China eyes energy revolution with development of next generation ‘artificial sun’

Chinese scientists, who dreamed to “build a sun” as far back as 1985, when a group of 35 industrial nations and blocs including China, the European Union, India, Japan, and Russia agreed on building the world’s first fusion device.   Various of Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak, scientists working in lab Chinese scientists are on the […]

Has the Oil Glut Disappeared?

It would seem from the IEA’s May Oil Market Report that geopolitical issues and industry disruptions are confusing the market. Ongoing production problems in Libya, alongside OPEC+ production cuts and U.S. sanctions on Iran, as well as lower than expected output in Mexico, have raised fears of a supply crunch. In addition, attacks by pirates […]

Welcome To The Decade Of Slow Economic Growth

Summary In the last 100 years, multiple factors were in play to ensure economic growth. Those factors are disappearing quickly. Returns will be much smaller going forward. The world economy has grown tremendously in the last 100 years driven by multiple factors such as population growth, technological advancements and rapid urbanization, not to mention a […]

“The Storm” and “Tower Time” – Simple Names For A Complicated Situation

I’ve written a bit lately about “The Storm” and “Tower Time” and “The Long Descent” – everyone knows what I’m talking about, right? Right? Such is modern language. Words get used in new ways – seemingly at random – and before long they become a part of ordinary language. Except that everybody doesn’t know what […]

The Dangers of Overpopulation

In the 20th century alone, the human population soared from 2.5 billion to 6.1 billion, an increase spurned by advances during the industrial revolution. In that time, we have developed an immense need for resources, including food, water, raw materials, and energy. Now, we are closing in on a global population of eight billion people. […]

A “Gusher Of Red Ink” For US Shale

Oil prices are off more about 20 percent in the last two weeks on growing fears of a brewing economic recession. Commodities of all types have been hammered by the pessimism. “Fear of global economic growth slowing,” said Peter Kiernan, lead energy analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), according to Reuters, “afflicting the entire energy […]

With Venezuela in collapse, towns slip into primitive isolation

At the once-busy beach resort of Patanemo, tourism has evaporated over the last two years as Venezuela’s economic crisis has deepened and deteriorating cellphone service left visitors too afraid of robbery to brave the isolated roads. A man weighs coffee beans, given as a means of payment, in a hardware store in Guarico, Venezuela April […]

Iran has no plans to leave OPEC

Iran has no plans to leave the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries despite being treated like an enemy by some fellow members, Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said in an interview published on Saturday. “Iran has no plans to leave OPEC…and regrets that some members of OPEC have turned this organization into a political forum […]

Farewell to the Fishes

“Ninety percent of the world’s marine fish stocks are now fully exploited, overexploited or depleted.“ Jianping Fish Market, photo by author And scales full of the sunset Twitch on the rocks, no more to wander at will The wild Pacific pasture nor wanton and spawning Race up into fresh water. — Robinson Jeffers, Salmon Fishing […]

Oil Shock Model Scenarios

Many different oil shock model scenarios have been presented over time at Peak Oil Barrel. Information on the Oil Shock Model, originally developed by Paul Pukite can be found in Mathematical Geoenergy. The future is unknown, so future extraction rates from conventional (excludes tight oil and extra heavy oil) oil producing reserves are unknown. Also […]

Michael Bloomberg gives $500M to campaign to kill coal

Former New York City mayor and climate change crusader Michael Bloomberg announced Friday he is giving $500 million to a campaign to finish killing coal and start killing oil and gas. “The largest coordinated campaign to tackle climate change” ever to occur in the U.S., Bloomberg says, aims to close all of the nation’s coal […]

The Accelerating Ecological Genocide

In May 2019, the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) released its latest assessment of the accelerating extinction rates of our global biodiversity. The report was compiled by 145 expert authors from 50 countries over the past three years. It has inputs from another 310 contributing authors and is based […]

Kunstler: Going Where, Exactly?

In response to what has become a nation of shameless racketeering, vivid wealth disparity, and shocking destitution on display in city streets, the party of the common man seeks remedies in the redistribution of capital. Seems more than fair to many. It’s not for nothing that they style it “social justice,” the cutting edge of […]

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