US peak oil output has passed: Oxy CEO

US oil production will not return to its peak output of nearly 13mn b/d following this spring’s Covid-19-related collapse in demand, according to Occidental Petroleum chief executive Vicki Hollub. US production’s high-water mark came in November 2019 at 12.8mn b/d as US oil exports surged amid a growing global economy. Weekly production hit 13mn b/d […]

Fossil Fuel Production Is Reaching Limits in a Strange Way

Strangely enough, the limit we seem to be reaching with respect to fossil fuel extraction comes from low prices. At low prices, the extraction of oil, coal, and natural gas becomes unprofitable. Producers go bankrupt, or they voluntarily cut back production in an attempt to force prices higher. As the result of these forces, production […]

IEA: Natural Gas Wil Be Key in Both the Short- and Long-Term

Natural gas will continue to play an important role globally as countries recover from the economic strain caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to two recent International Energy Agency reports. The IEA reports provide clear insight on the future of natural gas both in the near-term and longer projections. The World Energy Outlook (WEO) has […]

Zoom and gloom

IN 1973 THE Eldfell volcano, long-dormant, erupted on Heimaey, an island off Iceland. The eruption destroyed about 400 homes, a third of the total (Heimaey’s seaport was saved by pumping seawater into the lava). The Icelandic government compensated the unlucky people who lost their homes, many of whom never returned. But when Emi Nakamura and […]

The most important variable affecting global oil supply

The single most important variable affecting global oil supply is arguably Iraq’s oil production. Iraq is OPEC’s largest offender in terms of production quota non-compliance since May, over producing far more than any other single country. If Iraq complies with its quota going forward, it will reinforce the power of OPEC+ and contribute to Saudi […]

A Master Class on Overconsumption and Climate Change

Hope Jahren is a formidable scientist, and a formidable writer about science. With this, her second book, she shows she is also a formidable science educator. She’s covered education, youth and housing issues for a decade now, and we’re lucky to have her. Jahren describes how her heart sank when she was asked to teach […]

U.S. Oil Production Set To Decline More From Here On Out

Summary Real-time US oil production reading indicates ~10.783 mb/d into October. With September US oil production now set at ~11 mb/d average, the implied decline rate between August and September excluding shut-ins is around ~500k b/d. Consensus has US oil production flat around ~11 mb/d for the next year. This will prove to be too […]

Kunstler: Tomorrow, Come Here Tomorrow….

The Coen Brothers must be writing Nancy Pelosi’s script now, a kind of Macbeth update set in a swampy Potomac lowland at Halloween time: Madam Speaker rides her fabled scepter up in the night sky, around the capitol dome, across the moon’s laughing face, to the White House, trailing vapors of hatred and malice as […]

Andrew Sheets: The New Definition of “Peak Oil”?

Thoughts on the Market | Publicerades 2020-10-09 Do tech-driven energy efficiencies—coupled with a shift in environmental attitudes—mean oil demand will fail to recover to pre-COVID levels?

Kamala Harris Gets a Fracking Education

Kamala Harris in Wednesday’s debate declared that Joe Biden’s Administration would make the U.S. “carbon neutral” by 2035—a more ambitious goal than even California has set—while at the same time disavowing plans to ban fracking for natural gas. We look forward to Mr. Biden explaining this apparent contradiction in the next debate, if there is […]

Why The Elections Aren’t Moving Oil Prices

The U.S. elections are less than a month away, and the oil market cannot seem to make up its mind whether it prefers a Biden or Trump presidency. Democratic candidate Joe Biden is ostensibly bearish for the oil markets since he has not only pledged to steer the U.S. to a net-zero carbon emissions status […]

Oil’s demise will be more gradual than many imagine: Daniel Yergin on his new book — podcast

The rise of fracking technology changed America’s position in the world because it went from a country that imported most of its oil to a country that produces energy. In his latest book, “The New Map: Energy, Climate and the Clash of Nations,” Daniel Yergin, a pulitzer prize-winning analyst tracks the ramifications of this shift. […]

Heinberg: Has oil peaked?

Last month, the world’s 4th largest oil company—BP—predicted that the world will never again consume as much petroleum as it did last year. So, have we finally hit peak oil? And if so, what does that mean for our economy and our world? There was fierce controversy in the first decade of this century over […]

OPEC Expects Peak Oil Demand in 2040

The world’s appetite for crude oil won’t reach its apex for another two decades, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries  (OPEC) said Thursday, offering a much more optimistic view of the world’s post-coronavirus demand for oil than many other forecasts. In its annual report on oil’s long-term future, OPEC forecast that global oil demand will […]

Oil Prices Climb 10% In A Week

Oil prices are on course to climb 10 percent this week as Hurricane Delta shuts in over 90 percent of production in the Gulf of Mexico, leading some analysts to claim prices are set for a breakout. Friday, October 9th, 2020 Oil prices have posted strong gains this week, although opened trading on Friday slightly […]

Facing liquidity crisis, Iraq presses for more emergency borrowing

The Iraqi government is expected to send a controversial new emergency finance bill to parliament this week in a last-ditch attempt to pay its bills in the absence of a 2020 budget, amidst a financial crisis, pandemic, and bloated public sector workforce. The proposed law is supposed to act as a stop-gap measure after the […]

Peak grain

The depletion of groundwater sources in parts of the United States High Plains is so severe that peak grain production in some states has already passed, according to new research. An international team of scientists, including experts from the University of Delaware, has extended and improved methods used to calculate peak oil production to assess […]

Tom Whipple: Whatever Happened to Peak Oil?

It is now over 20 years since a pair of European geologists set forth the concept of “peak oil” in Scientific American. When the idea that the world’s oil supply might soon hit a peak was first developed, the world consumed about 63 million barrels of oil per day, and consumption was rising. Official projections […]

China’s crude oil party is finally winding up, now for hangover

China’s five-month crude oil party was still going strong in September, but is winding down in October, leaving the industry to ponder just how big the hangover is going to be. September imports are estimated by Refinitiv Oil Research to be 11.71 million barrels per day (bpd), the fifth straight month that arrivals have exceeded […]

Will the Pandemic Spell the End for Oil and Gas?

In August, Exxon Mobil, once the largest publicly traded company in the world, was dropped from the Dow Jones industrial average after 92 years. Exxon’s removal is emblematic of the changing profiles of energy companies. In 2008, oil and gas companies accounted for more than 15 percent of the S&P 500; today they make up […]

Saudi Arabia Pegs Budget to Oil Staying Around $50 Until 2023

Saudi Arabia’s Finance Ministry seems to think that oil prices will stay around $50 a barrel for at least the next three years. That’s according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s analysis of the kingdom’s pre-budget statement released on Sept. 30. “Using our own estimates for the breakdown of government revenues, we calculate that the numbers […]

Can Hydrogen and Renewable Natural Gas Displace Shale?

Today, corporate and state decarbonization announcements are progressing into actual strategic plans, often calling for increased production of hydrogen and renewable natural gas (RNG—cleaned methane from a landfill or anaerobic digester). These gases can use existing infrastructure while producing low-to-negative carbon emissions, making them an attractive lever for decarbonization. As a result, government incentives are […]

Peak Oil Demand and the Middle East: Even More Bad News?

It would seem that the Middle East oil producers cannot get enough of bad news these days. The coronavirus pandemic and the collapse in global energy demand in the first quarter of 2020 led to oil prices plunging into the mid-teens as Saudi Arabia launched the oil price war against Russia in early March. Despite […]

System Fail #3: The Ballot & The Bullet

In this episode we look at the continuing racial tensions in the United States, political violence in Kenosha and Portland, and the effect this is all having on the upcoming US election. We then shift our attention to the uprising in Belarus, and chat with Minsk-based anarchist, “Maria”.

Truth Is The First Casualty In Cold War

Governments make evidence-free claims which the mass media report uncritically, with ordinary citizens expected to either prove them wrong or shut up and believe. The burden of proof is fallaciously placed on members of the public and tiny indie media outlets with no resources to disprove the claims, instead of on massive news media outlets […]

Kunstler: Caution Low-flying Black Swans

The New York Times almost wet its panties breaking the pre-dawn news that the president has tested positive for coronavirus. By the end of day, Democrats across the land — or, at least, up and down the east and west coasts — will be gathering unto Santeria shrines, lighting MAGA hats on fire, sacrificing chickens, […]

Exxon Signals Another Loss

Exxon Mobil Corp. likely made a third consecutive loss in the last quarter, heaping further pressure on the energy giant’s ability to pay its $15 billion-a-year dividend, currently the third-highest in the S&P 500 Index. Exxon suffered further losses in its refining division in the third quarter while higher oil prices were likely not enough […]

The Mask of Disenchantment

When I noticed at the beginning of the month that September had five Wednesdays, and I didn’t have anything in mind to post here for the fifth of them, I asked my readers for their suggestions, following an old custom here that I’ve recently revived. As usual, the resulting discussion was lively and quite a […]

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