Peak oil review – Feb 9

1. Production and Prices

2. The Eventual Rebound

3. Venezuela

4. Briefs

1. Production and Prices

The ongoing tension between bad economic news and OPEC production cuts resulted in a virtual stalemate last week. Oil started the week just above $40 a barrel and finished where it started with very little movement in between. Even a jump of 7.2 million barrels in the US crude inventory did little to move prices. Threats by various OPEC oil ministers to cut production further at the mid-March meeting continued last week as prices stubbornly refuse to move higher despite a series of cuts beginning last fall. Last week OPEC reported that it received an average of $41 per barrel of oil. […]

2. The Eventual Rebound

There is growing recognition that cheap ($40 a barrel), plentiful oil is not going to last forever, and when the price rebound comes, it could be violent. A Merrill Lynch research report released last week notes that un-replaced oil depletion could result in a cumulative decline of global oil production on the order of 30 million b/d by 2015. […]

3. Venezuela

The situation in Venezuela apparently took a turn for the worse last week and may be coming to a head. A US firm that says it is owed $100 million for drilling services is having difficulty in renegotiating new contracts and is threatening to pull out its drilling rigs. Local unions claim to have taken control of 2 rigs that were about to be moved. The company denies that their rigs have been commandeered, but say they have stopped drilling at two sites due to the contract problems. […]

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