Peak Oil is You
Donate Bitcoins ;-) or Paypal :-)
Page added on September 23, 2013
Iraq ‘to switch focus from oil’
The major hydrocarbons producer is to focus on developing its industrial sector under a new plan running until 2017, Reuters reported.
The plan, to be implemented this year, will see five sectors in particular becoming the focus of new investment: building & services, agriculture, education, transport & communications and energy, the news wire reported.
“The government made a decision to focus on other sources in the country instead of oil, so the new plan will basically focus on industry instead of oil,” Reuters quoted Hussain al-Shahristani, Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs, as saying.
Iraq envisages that approximately $357 billion in investment will be needed for development projects with 79% to come from the government and 21% from the private sector.
Oil revenues will, however, continue to be the breadwinner for Iraq, hitting around $662 billion in the over four-year plan period.
Production of oil is envisioned rising from 3.2 million barrels per day in 2012 to 9.5 million bpd in 2017, with crude exports climbing from 2.6 million bpd to 6 million bpd in 2017, assuming an average oil price of $85 per barrel over the five years, Reuters reported.
The country is also to raise wheat and barley production.
11 Comments on "Iraq ‘to switch focus from oil’"
Arthur on Mon, 23rd Sep 2013 11:48 am
More signs that the carbon fuel world is declining.
Hopefully Iraq has a population that is able and motivated to sustain an industrial society, rather than stick to a proven camel and dates society. Don’t hold your breath.
Even ‘Yuri Gagarin’ Russia with it’s oil revenues tried to set up a car industry, able to compete on world markets, after the crash of the USSR. It failed. Now Russia has told foreign car producers like VW, that if they want to sell cars on the Russian market, they have to produce it in Russia with Russian labor force. Russia now is the largest car market in Greater Europe.
Come to think of it, Russia would never have catapulted Gagarin into space without these ‘guest workers’ from Penemuende.
Now Iraq does not need to compete on world markets, but even an industrial society could prove too much. Iraq would be better off concentrating on traditional kashba’s, simple agriculture for local markets and lot’s of solar panels, not in the least to desalinate water from the gulf. Iraq could even become a modest energy exporter (electricity to Iran or solar generated carbon liquids for world markets) based on large solar arrays, maintained by cheap labor.
GregT on Mon, 23rd Sep 2013 4:07 pm
This is truly one of the most ridiculous articles that I have ever read on this site.
The rebuilding of Iraq, after the US led ‘coalition of the willing’ bombed it back into the stone age, requires oil.
Industry, requires oil.
The country’s investment revenue, requires oil.
Solar panel production, requires oil.
Desalination, requires oil.
And wheat and barley production, also requires oil.
If Iraq truly is able to become a modern industrial society, crude exports will decline, not increase.
Arthur on Mon, 23rd Sep 2013 4:19 pm
Greg, you should fight the oil addiction in yourself.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_desalination
Arthur on Mon, 23rd Sep 2013 4:21 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihEIaYsB4yg
Video of solar panel plant. Does anybody see somebody walking around with a can of oil? The entire operation is powered by the grid, that can be powered by the very panels that left the plant two days earlier.
GregT on Mon, 23rd Sep 2013 4:39 pm
In case you haven’t noticed Arthur, Solar power generation worldwide accounts for less than 1 percent of total production. There is simply not enough resources, energy, or time available, to transit to global alternate energy infrastructure.
Even if there was, electricity will not power modern industrial society. At best, it would power some of our current ‘gadgets’ until they reach the ends of their useful lives. Even the grid itself has a finite lifespan. Which is already occurring in much of North America.
And to top it all off, we as a species are in mass population overshoot. Anything that we do to attempt to continue down this path, will only contribute further to our future demise.
Tech is the problem, not the solution.
DC on Mon, 23rd Sep 2013 5:32 pm
Iraq is a barely governable mess thanks to the US. Have they even been able to rebuild the infrastructure the US deliberately targeted for destruction? You know, roads, bridges water, basic stuff like that? What about basic stability? Hows that project going?
Like GregT says, a ridiculous article. But you can see the source-an oil ragazine. Notice they are still ‘envisioning’ Iraq producing 9.5 mpb in what, 4 years time.
ROFL!
Arthur on Mon, 23rd Sep 2013 8:18 pm
“In case you haven’t noticed Arthur, Solar power generation worldwide accounts for less than 1 percent of total production.”
In 2013 most Africans have a mobile phone, 20 years ago nobody.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_in_Germany
“On midday of Saturday May 26, 2012, solar energy provided over 40% of total electricity consumption in Germany, and 20% for the 24h-day.”
This figure will improve with every passing year.
I hope you get the point that what maybe is 1% today, does not necessarily need to be 1% in 10 years time.
GregT on Mon, 23rd Sep 2013 8:27 pm
Arthur,
Great video, thanks.
But, just because you do not see a person walking around with a can of oil, does not mean that oil is not needed in the process. The building, the machines, the transport, the resource extraction, refinement, and manufacturing, and yes even the people running the plant, distributing and utilizing the end product all require oil.
You are oversimplifying your thought process. In order to properly calculate fossil fuel input, you must look at every single aspect, from start to finish.
The economy, which is completely reliant on oil, will be one of the first inputs in the process to break down. No jobs, no income, no investments, no market, no panels.
You are advocating free energy, the same thing that mankind has been trying to create for hundreds of years. It does not exist, and you, with a background in physics, should understand why it does not, more than your average Joe.
Arthur on Mon, 23rd Sep 2013 8:49 pm
“The building, the machines, the transport, the resource extraction, refinement, and manufacturing, and yes even the people running the plant, distributing and utilizing the end product all require oil.”
They don’t, they require energy, from any source.
“The economy, which is completely reliant on oil, will be one of the first inputs in the process to break down. No jobs, no income, no investments, no market, no panels.”
There are going to be massive wage cuts, the car is going to disappear as well as holidays to Farawayistan, social security will get a Russian-1995 quality (meaning: evaporated), but people will continue to exist and able to act.
“You are advocating free energy, the same thing that mankind has been trying to create for hundreds of years.”
???
GregT on Mon, 23rd Sep 2013 11:48 pm
I totally get your point Arthur. My point is that as fossil fuel energy gets more expensive and harder to come by, there will be much more important things for us to use the resources on, like food production, and distribution.
“On midday of Saturday May 26, 2012, solar energy provided over 40% of total electricity consumption in Germany, and 20% for the 24h-day.”
In BC, 100% of our electricity comes from hydro now, and maybe 100% for a few decades into the future. This will do absolutely nothing to mitigate the loss of fossil fuels. Fossil fuel energy and electricity do very different things for us in our societies. Electricity will not replace fossil fuels.
“There are going to be massive wage cuts, the car is going to disappear as well as holidays to Farawayistan, social security will get a Russian-1995 quality (meaning: evaporated), but people will continue to exist and able to act.”
I agree, and when the social fabric is torn, and people can no longer afford or find food, they WILL act, violently. While I can’t speak for where you live, violence is already getting out of control here, and we haven’t seen anything yet.
When someone builds a PV solar panel, without ANY inputs from fossil fuel energy, and uses that same solar panel to entirely manufacture another solar panel, without the use of ANY fossil fuel energy, only then will we have found a way to replace a small percentage of fossil fuels in electric power generation. That still will do nothing to replace fossil fuels in all other aspects of modern industrial society.
Arthur on Tue, 24th Sep 2013 2:40 pm
“In BC, 100% of our electricity comes from hydro now, and maybe 100% for a few decades into the future.”
To my utter astonishment I learned that Canadians harvest an obscene 55 kwh/day electricity per capita, most from hydro, the best form of energy there is. I am GREEN with envy. I am sure most disappears over the border southwards, but if you realize that happy chappies like Europeans have merely 18-21 kwh/capita, there is plenty of room for Canadians to contract.
“While I can’t speak for where you live, violence is already getting out of control here, and we haven’t seen anything yet.”
Canadians? Violence? Never on the news here. All we get to see is the regular shooting spree in the US, at least half of them probably false flags, just to get rid of private gun ownership. You have a youtube vid of Canadian violence? Just kidding. No, no real violence here, far from it, just a rising discontent with muslim immigration, but violence thresholds are still remote, or so it seems.
“When someone builds a PV solar panel, without ANY inputs from fossil fuel energy, and uses that same solar panel to entirely manufacture another solar panel, without the use of ANY fossil fuel energy, only then will we have found a way to replace a small percentage of fossil fuels in electric power generation.”
We are already there. In fact Google and Apple have policies to operate 100% on renewable energy.
http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/google-renewable-green-energy