What were the precursors to peak coal?

Next in our peak oil demand series, we’ll look more closely at the impacts of peak demand on the power and renewables market. Read our coverage on how peak oil demand could affect companies and the upstream, supply chain, metals, refining and chemicals industries.   woodmac.com

What Will Drive The Next Oil Price Crash?

As we roll into 2018, analysts and investors are more optimistic that the oil market will further tighten next year and support higher oil prices, but rising U.S. shale production will likely cap any significant price gains. On the demand side, expectations are that global economic growth will support solid oil demand growth. On the […]

Why the prospect of ‘Peak Oil’ is hotly debated

The world is turning its back on oil. But how quickly? Technological advances driven by the threat of climate change could mean the world’s thirst for petroleum tops out sooner than companies such as Exxon Mobil Corp. or giant producers like Saudi Arabia are banking on. “Peak oil” has been debated for decades, but today […]

Canada’s Economy Unexpectedly Stalls as Oil Production Drops

Canada’s economy unexpectedly stalled in October on a decline in oil output, a disappointing kickoff to the final quarter of 2017. Gross domestic product was unchanged from September, Statistics Canada reported Friday in Ottawa, weighed down by a 3.5 percent drop in production by oil sands companies. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News had forecast a […]

What Happened to Peak Oil?

I was first introduced to the concept of “peak oil” 15 years ago. It was a simple theory: Oil is a finite resource. At some point in time, the world’s ability to increase oil production would ultimately “peak.” And this peak would be followed by a terminal decline in global output. The theory has been around […]

Venezuela Is Living a Hyperinflation Nightmare

The human toll. Photographer: Roman Camacho/NurPhoto/Getty Images In most macroeconomic models, the economy is a staid and stately thing, where prices, output and other economic variables wiggle up and down by small amounts but ultimately return to their long-term trends. And for much of the time — excluding the occasional Great Depression or Great Recession […]

Peak Oil – Club Of Rome – Ian Dunlop

Ian Dunlop is Deputy Convener of the Australian Association for the Study of Peak Oil. Working with the Club of Rome, Ian wrote and helped produce this presentation on Peak Oil, also available as a Flash application here (Mac Only): http://sydneypeakoil.com/downloads/CO…

Chris Martenson: The Great Oil Swindle

When it comes to the story we’re being told about America’s rosy oil prospects, we’re being swindled. At its core, the swindle is this: The shale industry’s oil production forecasts are vastly overstated. Swindle:  Noun  – A fraudulent scheme or action. And the swindle is not just affecting the US.  It’s badly distorted everything from current […]

Fracking drives US oil exports to record high

The world’s largest oil consumer exported more hydrocarbons than ever before in 2017 and shows no signs of slowing down. You name it – crude oil, gasoline, diesel, propane and even liquefied natural gas – all were shipped abroad by the US at a record pace. While the surge comes many years after the shale […]

EIA Bashers Should Check Their Own Numbers

Summary Empirical data does not support multiple recent allegations that the EIA’s reporting or forecasts are “wrong.” The wave of frivolous accusations against the EIA in the blogosphere preys on the least protected category of investors. A competent, independent, bias-free EIA must be safeguarded. This idea was discussed in more depth with members of my […]

US EIA cuts 2018 world oil demand growth forecast

The U.S. Energy Information Administration on Tuesday cut its 2018 world oil demand growth forecast by 40,000 barrels per day to 1.62 million bpd. In its monthly forecast, the agency raised its oil demand growth estimate for 2017 by 80,000 bpd to 1.39 million bpd. reuters

Saudi Arabia Plans to Raise Gas Prices by 80% in January

Saudi Arabia plans to raise domestic gasoline and jet fuel prices in January, part of a program to gradually eliminate energy subsidies as the kingdom seeks to overhaul its economy and balance the budget, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Gasoline prices are set to increase by about 80 percent, while jet […]

The Biggest Bubble Ever, In Three Charts

Each quarter, Credit Bubble Bulletin’s Doug Noland posts a “flow of funds” report that analyzes the debt and securities markets data released by the Fed in its Z.1 Report. It’s always shocking to see the numbers we’re dealing with, but even more so lately as history’s biggest financial bubble starts to dwarf its predecessors. Here’s […]

Synergies Between Nuclear Energy and Coal

Some recent converts to nuclear energy advocacy are offended and confused by the fact that nuclear energy and coal have been lumped together in the Department of Energy’s recent effort to return profitable conditions to established power plants that do not depend on favorable weather or just-in-time natural gas fuel delivery. A segment of the […]

What Life Is Like For A Million People In Puerto Rico Who Still Don’t Have Power

If you ever wondered what it would look like if the grid collapsed here on the mainland, the island of Puerto Rico is a tragic, real-life case study. These stories show us what life is like for more than a million people who STILL don’t have power and running water nearly 3 months after Hurricanes […]

The Drastic Drop Off In US Oil Imports

While the dust may now have settled on last week’s OPEC meeting, the cartel’s impact on U.S. oil inventories is set to linger on. Stocks are at their lowest level since January 2016, and are down over 80 million barrels from their peak in March – in spite of a 30 million barrel injection from […]

The Seneca Cliff Explained as a Network Phenomenon: a Three Dimensional Collapse Overview Model

A Three Dimensional Collapse Overview Model In this post, Geoffrey Chia illustrates one of the fundamental characteristics of the “Seneca Effect”, also known as “collapse,” the fact that it occurs in networked systems dominated by feedback interactions. This is a qualitative interpretation of collapse that complements the more quantitative models that I report in my […]

Ugo Bardi: A Religion Called Economy

  Published also in Italian in “Effetto Cassandra”  A post by Michele Migliorino The idea that religions are giving way to a more advanced human level of existence is part of common knowledge. Science and technology are emancipating humankind from mythical and religious discourses under the effect of the belief that only rationality should guide […]

Peak oil and the Aramco/SABIC petrochemical project

THERE is an important connection between this week’s announcement by Saudi Aramco and SABIC of an MoU for a direct oil-to-chemicals complex and the Tesla Semi electric truck, which is being trialled by DHL and other logistics companies. To fully understand this link, let’s first consider the wider context behind the Tesla truck story. This story […]

You’re Just Not Prepared For What’s Coming

I hate to break it to you, but chances are you’re just not prepared for what’s coming. Not even close.  Don’t take it personally. I’m simply playing the odds. After spending more than a decade warning people all over the world about the futility of pursuing infinite exponential economic growth on a finite planet, I […]

Is Peak Oil dead? Not by a long shot! Remember Ladyfern?

Preface. Oil is finite. Period. Don’t be fooled by news stories that peak oil is dead, or we have reached peak demand.  They’re all nonsense. Gail Tverberg at ourfiniteworld.com is especially good at explaining this. Worse yet, what we have left has been and is not being drained as quickly as possible to pay the […]

Today’s Poor Needs More Oil, Natural Gas, And Coal

Simply put, the world has no greater problem than energy deprivation and poverty. They shorten human lives by decades. I’m going to use this post to put some horrifically sad numbers to you because ending poverty today is our most critical global goal. I’ve written peer-reviewed journal articles on this stuff and have come to realize […]

Car sales will peak in 2022 as robotaxis take off

Canalys forecasts 93.7 million cars will be sold worldwide in 2017, up just 1.7% on 2016. Low single-digit percentage sales volume growth will continue for the next five years, peaking at 99 million cars sold in 2022. Annual global sales will then decline as the urban mobility revolution, already affecting the market, gathers pace. “The […]

Russia warns global gas oversupply could trigger price ‘crisis’

Global gas supplies currently exceed demand, a situation that could lead to a “crisis” drop in prices similar to what occurred in the crude oil market, Russian energy minister Alexander Novak said on Friday. “The current excess supply of natural gas brings risks… of entering into the same crisis that affected oil prices,” Novak said […]

Finnish bakery chain to start selling ‘insect bread’

A bakery in Finland has claimed it will be the first in the world to offer ‘insect bread’ in grocery stores. From tomorrow, almost a dozen Fazer Bakery outlets in the country will offer a product called Fazer Cricket Bread. The product is made with crickets, with the insects dried and ground before being added […]

Will oil touch $100 a barrel again?

This seems unlikely, both in the short and long term, and in the context of new energy sources. But there’s always politics It took the better part of a year but the production cut effected by the 14-member cartel, Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), in January is beginning to show results. Prices of the […]

Why Are Rich People So Anxious?

“The psychology of wealth is knotty,” writes Kerry Hannon in the New York Times. “On the surface, being wealthy can make people believe they have more control over their lives, but it can also control them emotionally.” Hannon’s article, headlined “I’m Rich, and That Makes Me Anxious,” will probably elicit eye rolls from those of […]

Was 2017 The Year Of Peak Oil Demand?

From Gregory Brew: It’s possible that 2017 may go down as the year when the concept of peak oil demand went from speculation to potential reality, as companies and energy analysts began estimating when demand growth for oil would begin to taper off. The debate over whether peak demand is coming has been fierce, but it’s possible that the […]

Oil: The price is not right

The market wants to trade a demand slow-down of the future, while ignoring the fundamentals of the present Until recently, 100m barrels a day of global oil-product demand seemed a distant prospect. In its World Energy Outlook , published in November 2016, the International Energy Agency‘s (IEA) central scenario didn’t think consumers would reach this landmark […]

The Soft Belly of The Oil Industry: the Upcoming Seneca Collapse

  Ugo Bardi explains his idea of an impending “Seneca Collapse” of the world’s oil industry at the session on climate change of the meeting of the Club of Rome in Vienna, on 10 Nov 2017. What follows are not the exact words said, but it maintains the gist of this brief comment that was […]

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