Jeff Rubin: Is peak coal coming?

The price of oil isn’t the only hydrocarbon going through the roof. Check out thermal coal prices to see how dependent economic growth has become on burning increasing amounts of fossil fuels. Prices of Newcastle coal, the Asian coal price benchmark, are poised to rise by as much as 30 per cent this year, approaching […]

Canada’s Peak Natural Gas Crisis

The birth of Canada’s natural gas industry actually started by accident. At the time, the Canadian Pacific Railway was sniffing around for water to use at its transcontinental railway. Drilling a little over 30 miles northwest of Medicine Hat, Alberta, workers didn’t exactly find the water they were expecting… Instead, they struck gas. Thanks to […]

Kuwait on the Prairie

North Dakota is booming. Its unemployment rate is the lowest in the country, 3.7 per cent, and so many people have moved there for jobs that last year local officials declared a housing crisis. The new workers have been drawn by the Williston Basin, in the western part of the state, which holds the largest […]

Iraqi oil ministry prepares for massive increase in production

Remember how the war in Iraq was just to steal Iraqi oil? CNN reports today that the Iraqis are now preparing to keep the profits of their own resources, rather than having them line the pockets of the tyrant Saddam Hussein. The Oil Ministry will auction 12 new exploration zones as Iraq attempts to boost […]

the outlook for Afghanistan’s oil and gas potential

Ravaged by years of war and geographically disadvantaged, Afghanistan nonetheless believes it has the potential to be a future oil producer of some note. The odds are stacked against it: the country is landlocked and mountainous, and investors could well be put off by fears of political instability and the presence of foreign troops. But […]

PEMEX: The Elephant in the Room With Us

Mexico’s Pemex crude output, exports flat in April MarketWatch / Apr 19, 2011 << Mexico’s state-owned oil company Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, said crude-oil production and exports were stable in the April 1-17 period, with total output just under the company’s target of 2.6 million barrels a day. >> Stable Doesn’t that word sound nice? […]

Australia Radio National: Peak oil just around the corner

Oil supplies are rapidly dwindling and demand is increasing leading analysts to warn of an impending oil crunch. The global oil supply has lost the equivalent of the volume of the North Sea oil reserve in 15 months. By 2014, supply is expected to fall short of demand. Other factors could bring that forward. Fatih […]

Dr. Kenneth Deffeyes on Peak Oil

20 minute talk from Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett’s 2005 Energy Conference. Dr. Deffeyes is an author and Princeton University professor emeritus. He joined the Shell research lab when M. King Hubbert had recently issued his controversial predictions that U.S. oil production would peak during the ’70s. After reworking Hubbert’s numbers, Dr. Deffeyes sought other employment. […]

Disquieting Saudi Oil Indicators and the Next Oil Shock

Stuart at Early Warning has a post looking at the implications of various oil production data points coming out of Saudi Arabia – Disquieting Saudi Oil Indicators and the Next Oil Shock. There are a growing number of indicators of concern in Saudi Arabian oil production: 1) According to the Wall St Journal, production sharply […]

Oil Situation May Be Worse Than You Think

Oil is the biggest single cost input into any business, good, commodity or product. We know it, but it bears repeating. So, if you’re looking for a reason for commodity prices to rise, you probably don’t have to look any further than the single biggest input. Right now, oil prices are scratching around the $110 […]

Peak Oil: How Soon? How Serious?

Petroleum Geologist Jeffrey J. Brown provides an overview of the global energy picture, focused on oil supply and demand and the impact of peak oil exports. Is the world at or near the maximum of oil production? Can new finds make up for increasing consumption? How might net exporters alter supply?

Looking Back at North Sea Oil Production Projections

In 1999, I wrote a paper concerning the production decline of North Sea oil fields and made projections for the future of Norwegian and United Kingdom (U.K.) oil production (crude + condensate). For comparison purposes, I compared my projections with those by the U.S. Department of Energy/Energy Information Administration (US DOE/EIA). Table I is from […]

Peak Oil – April 2011 Update

The US Energy Information Administration’s January oil production figures are out, and they show record oil production. Where are we headed from here? Figure 1. World “Liquids” Production through January 2011, based on Energy Information Administration data. While production for January is up a bit (219,000 barrels compared to December), the monthly numbers bounce around […]

Let’s get real about the oil sands

HYDROCARBONS will play a vital role in meeting global energy demand for decades. This is a view shared by Canada’s oil-sands producers and independent energy analysts, such as the International Energy Agency (IEA). The IEA estimates 1.4bn people – more than 20% of the global population – live without electricity. Canada’s oil sands are uniquely […]

Luis Giusti: Interview with a Global Oil Insider

Luis E. Giusti, enemies and supporters agree, transformed the global oil industry. As chairman and chief executive officer of global oil mammoth Petroleos de Venezuela SA, best known for its acronym PDVSA, he not only revolutionized Venezuela’s oil production capacity, but also OPEC by forcing a revision of the quota system. He led one of […]

Latest Iraq Oil Production

Above shows the latest public data from the main energy information agencies for Iraqi oil production.  As you can see, the sharp rise in January has been sustained, and even increased slightly in March.  That last data point is based on a single source (OPEC) so far, so it may shift.  Still, at any rate, […]

A Look Back at North Sea Oil Production Projections

In 1999, I wrote a paper concerning the production decline of North Sea oil fields and made projections for the future of Norwegian and United Kingdom (U.K.) oil production (crude + condensate). For comparison purposes, I compared my projections with those by the U.S. Department of Energy/Energy Information Administration (US DOE/EIA). Table I is from […]

“Saudi’s slash oil output” … or did physics?

“The market is overbalanced … Our production in February was 9.125 million barrels per day (bpd), in March it was 8.292 million bpd. In April we don’t know yet, probably a little higher than March. The reason I gave you these numbers is to show you that the market is oversupplied,” Naimi told reporters. Saudi […]

Shale gas: the problem with EROEI

The depletion problem of fossil fuels derives from their energy return (EROEI) becoming lower as the “easy” resources are used up. However, there is a subtle problem with some fuels: their EROEI is high enough that production does not decline but, at the same time, the environmental damage increases with the exploitation of progressively more […]

Oil shale, tar sand development limits economic growth, depletes water resources

The Peak Oil era model of economic growth is circular in function and most likely has developed as a way to sustain the global economy’s dependence on oil until the last drop is pumped out of the Earth. The peak era models looks something like this: Increasing GDP and oil demand, new low EROI energy […]

Peak oil stage

The economy of most countries in the 20th century was built on oil. For some, oil brought unprecedented wealth and power. For others it brought repression and new forms of economic colonialism. Few oil producing countries have used their wealth wisely. But in many countries oil has been a curse. But in the 21st century, […]

Saudi Arabian Oil Rig Count

The other day, I wrote, concerning the failure of Saudi Arabia to increase oil production in March, The burning question is: why? Back in 2006, when their production started to gradually decline from 9.5mbd even as global oil prices were in the worst spike since the 1970s, I was an advocate of the view that […]

An audacious new theory to compete with “Peak Oil”: Hydrocarbons forever.

New companies say pulling carbon dioxide straight from the air could solve global warming and provide an infinite source of gasoline. Really? FORTUNE — What if scientists could transform coal-fired power plants from giant carbon dioxide emitters into giant carbon sinks? Some say that they can, and will. Graciela Chichilnisky, a founder of Global Thermostat, […]

Saudi Arabia did not make up for Libyan Oil

The OPEC MOMR came out late yesterday, but it adds to the picture from the IEA report mentioned yesterday morning.  In particular, I can now present revised graphs for total liquid fuel production.  Here’s the last three year view (not zero scaled): Note that the rise that’s been going in since last fall has now […]

Checking in with Iraqi Stability

The future of global oil supply, and the timing and height of peak oil, depend critically on whether and when Iraq can markedly increase its oil production.  A precondition for increased oil production is adequate political stability in the country.  So it’s good to check-in every so often on how the statistics in the Brookings […]

Saudi claims ability to pump 12.5 mn bpd oil if needed

Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia would have “no problems” producing at its claimed 12.5 million barrels per day (bpd) capacity if the market needed the oil, a senior Gulf source said on Sunday. The official dismissed doubts raised by some analysts over the kingdom’s stated spare capacity as the work of speculators trying to manipulate […]

the top 30 oil producers, a review

These posts have been going through the EIA list of the top oil producers in the world, over the past few weeks, I thought I might just review them collectively, but briefly, before starting to look at individual countries and oilfields. Even the posts that I have written recently have become out of date with […]

Saudi Has Enough Spare Capacity To Meet Global Demand -Oil Min

Saudi Arabia’s oil minister said Saturday that the kingdom has enough spare crude capacity to meet any increased global demand or potential supply shortage in the market. There is a balance between supply and demand in the market, which has enough inventories, Ali al-Naimi said in remarks carried by state-run Saudi Press Agency, or SPA. […]

Oil Supply: A Peak Oil ‘Quake’

In 2005 when I first joined Titan I was exposed to a new term that I had never heard before – ‘Peak Oil’. Now over five years later, I have come to know more about the potential imminent danger, pain, and devastation of Peak Oil and what it will mean to every single person who […]

Global oil market over supplied – Iran OPEC governor

Iran sees the global oil market as over supplied, despite prices that have been pushed up by upheaval in the Middle East, its OPEC governor was quoted as saying in a newspaper on Saturday. “Not only is there not a shortage of supply in the oil market but there is 1 million barrels (per day) […]

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