Beyond Petroleum: Is BP finally moving from rhetoric to reality?

Low oil prices may be here to stay — as the world recovers from coronavirus, there are signs across the world that the economic recovery might well be greener (via Getty Images) Kneeling in prayer for a sin he doesn’t regret, Shakespeare’s Claudius, Hamlet’s fratricidal uncle, ruefully admits: “My words fly up, my thoughts remain […]

The Federal Reserve is Getting Desperate

  In a sign that the Federal Reserve is growing increasingly desperate to jump-start the economy, the Fed’s Secondary Market Credit Facility has begun purchasing individual corporate bonds. The Secondary Market Credit Facility was created by Congress as part of a coronavirus stimulus bill to purchase as much as 750 billion dollars of corporate credit. […]

US v China: is this the start of a new cold war?

  George Kennan, the US charge d’affaires in Moscow at the end of the second world war and the author of the famous Long Telegram in 1946, captured in his memoir how quickly perceptions in international relations can change. The man widely seen as the intellectual author of the cold war recalled that if he […]

Oil Is Back to $40 What Does That Signal?

After dipping into negative territory crude is back ato $40. What does that mean? Oil analyst Phil Flynn says Oil’s Road Back to $40 Signals Economic and Job Snap Back. The road back to $40-a-barrel oil was fraught with fear and uncertainty, but eclipsing that benchmark indicates the beginning of a strong recovery from the […]

US Oil Dominance Is Coming To An End

U.S.’ energy dominance agenda is dead as the country’s shale industry is looking at a steep production decline. The U.S. tight oil or shale rig count has fallen 69% this year from 539 in mid-March to 165 last week. U.S. oil import dependence is set to grow in the next couple of years. U.S. energy […]

Michael Lynch: World Oil Reserves Suddenly Downgraded By 292 Barrels! Yawn.

This week, Rystad Energy announced the eye-popping finding that the world’s estimate of oil supplies had suddenly shrunk by 292 billion barrels. Needless to say, the announcement caused eyes to pop, as did the headline’s statement heralding the early onset of “peak oil” demand. Hopefully, oil industry executives understand the nuances of the report, and […]

Wild fire in Arizona reaches nearly 175000 acres

The Bush Fire burning in northeast of Phoenix, US state of Arizona, raged to 174,397 acres (705.76 square km) as of Saturday morning, with 7 per cent containment. According to the latest data updated by InciWeb, an interstate incident information system, 769 personnel were assigned to fight the fire with the help of eight helicopters. […]

Kurt Cobb: The financialization of the end of the world

For those who are fans of cartoons from The New Yorker magazine and consistent readers of this blog, you might be able to guess my two favorite cartoons. In the first one, a man in a coat and tie stands at a podium and tells his unseen audience the following: “And so, while the end-of-the-world […]

Russia’s Arctic ambition

Russia remains warm on Arctic projects Despite arduous operating conditions, Covid-19 further challenging the economics and the threat of further Western sanctions, growth in the region remains a core priority for the government The Arctic is the final frontier for Russian E&P. The territory holds an estimated 48bn bl of oil and 43tn m3 of […]

$18 Trillion In Global Stimulus In 2020, 21% Of World GDP

On Friday, we relayed the latest observations from BofA chief investment officer, Michael Hartnett who concluded that there is just one bull market to short – namely credit – “and the Fed won’t let you” by which he means all central banks. As the following table shows, the balance sheet of the G-6 central banks […]

Half of the world’s population breathe polluted air

Despite global efforts to improve air quality, half of the world’s population are experiencing increased levels of air pollution, according to a team of researchers at the University of Exeter.  The study, which was carried out in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO), suggests that air pollution constitutes a major and in many areas […]

Is This The Beginning Of The End For The Dollar?

Dollar-denominated financial markets appeared to suffer a dramatic change on or about the 23 March. This article examines the possibility that it marks the beginning of the end for the Fed’s dollar. At this stage of an evolving economic and financial crisis, such thoughts are necessarily speculative. But an imminent banking crisis is now a […]

Coronavirus: a wake-up call to strengthen the global food system

Global food production is incredibly efficient, and the world’s farmers produce enough to feed the global population. Despite this abundance, a quarter of the global population do not have regular access to sufficient and nutritious food. A growing and more affluent population will further increase the global demand for food and create stresses on land, […]

Can the World Get Along Without Natural Resources?

  If it is very easy to substitute other factors for natural resources, then there is in principle no “problem”. The world can, in effect, get along without natural resources. Robert Solow, 1974 In the distant future, aliens come to Earth. They find a planet devoid of life. Looking closer, the aliens see that life […]

Lifelines in Danger

Credit: URDEE IMAGE/ZUMA WIRE/ALAMY LIVE NEWS Jun 4 2020 (IPS) – The COVID-19 pandemic is crippling the economies of rich and poor countries alike. Yet for many low-income and fragile states, the economic shock will be magnified by the loss of remittances—money sent home by migrant and guest workers employed in foreign countries. Remittance flows […]

Recoverable oil loses 282bn barrels as COVID-19 hastens peak oil

The 2020 release of Rystad Energy’s annual global energy outlook reveals that the COVID-19 downturn will expedite peak oil demand, putting a lid on exploration efforts in remote offshore areas and as a result reducing the world’s recoverable oil by around 282 billion barrels. Global total expected remaining recoverable oil resources decrease to 1,903 billion […]

The Party Is Over For Shale And U.S. Energy Dominance

The party is over for shale and U.S. energy dominance. It has nothing to do with the lack of shale profitability or other silly memes cited by people who don’t understand energy. It’s because of low rig count. The U.S. tight oil or shale rig count has fallen 69% this year from 539 in mid-March […]

Prospect Of Peak Oil Demand Puts Cap On Total Global Oil Reserves

The 2020 release of Rystad Energy’s annual global energy outlook reveals that the Covid-19 downturn will expedite peak oil demand, putting a lid on exploration efforts in remote offshore areas and as a result reducing the world’s recoverable oil by around 282 billion barrels. Global total expected remaining recoverable oil resources decrease to 1,903 billion […]

BP Anticipates the Fall of Oil with a 17.5 Billion Dollar Loss

BP is one of the largest oil companies in the world, and even they are seeing the renewable energy boom as an inevitability. As a result of the current market conditions, the company will be devaluing its assets by 17.5 billion dollars. In their statement, BP had this to say, “growing expectation that the aftermath […]

On Maintaining Perspective In The Year 20 Fucking 20

As Jane looked around her, she felt that dissatisfied feeling she often experienced when she was somewhere new and lovely. She couldn’t quite articulate it, except with the words: if only I was here. This little beachside cafe was so exquisite she longed to really be there, except of course, she was there, so it […]

Jevons Paradox

The Jevons paradox is that efficiency enables growth. New technologies that can produce more goods from a given amount of resources allow the economy as a whole to produce more. More resources get used overall. This is the magic of industrial capitalism and the secret of growth. Economists have known it for a long time. […]

Global oil demand could hit record growth rate next year, IEA warns

Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, forecasts that the world’s daily oil demand will climb by 5.7m barrels next year. Photograph: Altaf Hussain/Reuters   The world’s oil demand could climb at its fastest rate in the history of the market next year, and may reach pre-crisis levels within years, unless new green […]

Why India-China border dispute will continue to be shaped by mutual distrust

The tense stand-off between Chinese and Indian troops at the Himalayan frontier, which began in early May, continues to play out following high-level military and diplomatic talks. Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying on Wednesday said Beijing had reached a “positive consensus” with New Delhi over resolving the situation, while India on Sunday said the […]

India-China border tensions

Indian troops again crossed the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Galwan Valley region and purposefully launched provocative attacks, leading to severe clashes and casualties: China’s Global Times quoting PLA 18:05 (IST), Jun 16 CDS General Bipin Rawat at defence minister’s residence Delhi: Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat arrives at the […]

Under the weather

Energy demand destruction from the coronavirus has brought forward a nagging problem for efforts to deal with climate change – the prospect of permanently cheap fossil fuels. By Nathan Witkop The coronavirus pandemic has pummelled energy use. Lockdowns and travel restrictions around the world have cut consumption of both electricity and the fuels used to […]

The Biggest Energy Problem In The World

A recent U.S. Department of Energy headline reminds us of just how lucky we are: “U.S. customers experienced an average of nearly six hours of power interruptions in 2018.” For perspective, that means we Americans have our electricity interrupted for less than 6 hours of the 8,760 hours in a year. So my wheels got […]

The War For Libya’s Oil

Last week, the Turks were still celebrating a presumed victory in Libya after General Haftar lost territory in and around Tripoli and the National Oil Company (NOC) went as far as to restart production at two giant oilfields–Sharara and El Feel. It was an endeavor that lasted a day, with Haftar immediately responding through his […]

Oil Demand Isn’t Roaring Back Yet

It was too good to be true. Last weekend’s OPEC+ meeting took a decision in record time to extend deep output cuts that had halted a dramatic slide in prices — and members even agreed to abide by them. The timing was perfect. The deal would keep oil from flooding the market, allowing time for demand […]

Is the Past the Key to the Present for Oil & Gas?

Punditry is a great thing. Especially when it involves forecasting major economic changes that are expected to take place over years instead of weeks. It allows anyone to be wrong as often as they are right. So, all pundits are wrong at least half the time. Especially when they venture into the massively unpredictable oil […]

Growth, Growth, Growth: What Will Happen?

Dear Dr. Dollar:   Infinite economic growth on a finite planet is impossible and ruinous. And yet the drumbeat goes on for growth, growth, growth. Surely it is true that the world is grossly overpopulated; it is projected to grow to nine billion by 2050. How will the current economy serve these billions? It won’t […]

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