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Peak Oil: Looking for the Wrong Symptoms?

General discussions of the systemic, societal and civilisational effects of depletion.

Re: Peak Oil: Looking for the Wrong Symptoms?

Unread postby mos6507 » Thu 18 Feb 2010, 23:17:19

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', '
')What is that conventional wisdom? god only made so much good real estate. Well, the good real estate suddenly looked bad when folks who made $400/week suddenly had to spend $100/week on gasoline.


The people making $400 a week had a liar loan that, after reset, they were never going to afford even if gas were free. The mortage resets broke their finances. Gas was a minor irritant in comparison.

Also, housing appreciation had already scared off buyers, as every market has a threshold of pain beyond which buyers won't cross. House prices had reached absurd highs (even when factoring in teaser loans) and no bubble market can inflate forever. The housing collapse had already begun in late 2006 or 2007 long before the SUV owners were whining and moaning at the pump. In fact, the housing bubble was able to survive the brief gas spike right after Katrina, because the ARM resets hadn't taken hold yet!

If the housing crash started in the exurbs it probably had to do with the distribution of the initial liar loans being greater in the exurbs where there was the most new construction.
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Re: Peak Oil: Looking for the Wrong Symptoms?

Unread postby mos6507 » Thu 18 Feb 2010, 23:32:51

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Outcast_Searcher', '
')next time and/or the time after that, Chindia/3rd world induced high oil prices will do the job).


Unfortunately, now that the debt crisis has been nationalized and set off a ticking timebomb for a future mega-meltdown, it will continue to cloud the causality issue of peak oil and recessions.

We're just going to have to concede that the world is not just black and white and you can have multiple crises operating in parallel and influencing eachother. There is too much effort being spent by those heavily emotionally invested in one aspect of our dysfunctional system or another to try to have their favored issue take center stage. It's about exploiting a crisis for attention rather than truly being objective.

Would I have liked to see peak oil get noticed? Sure, but for the right reasons, not because of connections that are about as tenuous as Saddam to Al Qaeda.

I look at things more holistically.

BTW, I'm going to have to start carving hashmarks into my computer desk to keep track of how many times the "peak oil caused the credit crisis" meme keeps polluting this site. It's getting ridiculous.
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Re: Peak Oil: Looking for the Wrong Symptoms?

Unread postby AirlinePilot » Fri 19 Feb 2010, 01:04:31

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('shortonsense', 'A')nd it all happened in the US after the 1979 global peak, so there is even historical precedent. :lol:


You really need to get out more and talk to some Geologists. Except for a quirky few who believe in abiotic oil I can safely say a large majority of the Geologists who understand the process for finding oil would agree that in 1979 they were pretty sure there was still a LOT of easy oil to be found. Presently I can also safely say that a large majority of these same folks would not agree that we will find a similar amount of easy oil which was turned up in the years following 1979. The global decline in discoveries supports this despite your and OF's often optimistic analysis of the situation.

Not to say there is not a lot of oil out there, but the prospects of finding another Burgan, or North Sea, or Prudhoe bay, Cantarell etc are dwindling with each passing year.
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Re: Peak Oil: Looking for the Wrong Symptoms?

Unread postby shortonsense » Fri 19 Feb 2010, 02:19:56

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AirlinePilot', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('shortonsense', 'A')nd it all happened in the US after the 1979 global peak, so there is even historical precedent. :lol:
You really need to get out more and talk to some Geologists.

Interesting comment. Which ones? The ones proclaiming peak back in 1989? Or who say peak oil happened in 2005 and we just all haven't noticed it?
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AirlinePilot', 'E')xcept for a quirky few who believe in abiotic oil I can safely say a large majority of the Geologists who understand the process for finding oil would agree that in 1979 they were pretty sure there was still a LOT of easy oil to be found.

Then why were Jimmy Carters geologists telling him we would run out by the end of the 1980's? Seems like if they knew there was plenty around they wouldn't have him looking like a geoscience moron by proclaiming we were going to run out.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AirlinePilot', 'P')resently I can also safely say that a large majority of these same folks would not agree that we will find a similar amount of easy oil which was turned up in the years following 1979. The global decline in discoveries supports this despite your and OF's often optimistic analysis of the situation.

Global discoveries were also declining when Jimmy said we were going to run out. And I don't have an optimistic analysis, I just note that 2005 has been claimed by the Prophets as peak oil...and here we are...5 years later...and people are STILL citing MSM quotes as fast as they can which say "The crunch is coming! I can smell it! Peak might happen soon!"

Which is pretty much the same thing they were saying in 2005 when peak oil actually happened.

Now, if you want to interpret the world as live in it now, at PO +5, as quite a bit better than expected, and call that optimistic, well, its hard to disagree.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AirlinePilot', 'N')ot to say there is not a lot of oil out there, but the prospects of finding another Burgan, or North Sea, or Prudhoe bay, Cantarell etc are dwindling with each passing year.

Within the past month we have been informed by expert geologists that the Orinoco has more than Prudhoe Bay, more than Burgan, more than the North Sea, more than Cantarell...COMBINED.

It might not be light and sweet, but if you want oil, we got LOTS of that.
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Re: Peak Oil: Looking for the Wrong Symptoms?

Unread postby AirlinePilot » Fri 19 Feb 2010, 02:51:45

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('shortonsense', 'I')t might not be light and sweet, but if you want oil, we got LOTS of that.


With this one statement you destroy any credibility with which you might argue anything here. The ignorance of it is colossal.
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Re: Peak Oil: Looking for the Wrong Symptoms?

Unread postby eastbay » Fri 19 Feb 2010, 03:32:03

It's fairly obvious that peak oil caused both the credit crisis, and the resulting recession. As oil production declines more markedly over time we'll see more intense credit crisis and recessions.

And we'll all have to listen to silly people say: Hey look! The demand for oil is declining. Must be due to the credit crisis and recession. Like parrots they'll repeat it over and over again. And they'll keep saying it until oil production has fallen all the way to what it was during the Renaissance. Crazy.
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Re: Peak Oil: Looking for the Wrong Symptoms?

Unread postby mos6507 » Fri 19 Feb 2010, 04:03:11

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('eastbay', 'I')t's fairly obvious that peak oil caused both the credit crisis.
Making a declarative statement like that isn't very useful, not that I want to perpetuate yet another POCTCC thread (might as well form a new acronym for the site to match TPTB, TEOTWAWKI, MZB, etc...).
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Re: Peak Oil: Looking for the Wrong Symptoms?

Unread postby argyle » Fri 19 Feb 2010, 04:07:05

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mos6507', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Outcast_Searcher', 'n')ext time and/or the time after that, Chindia/3rd world induced high oil prices will do the job).
Unfortunately, now that the debt crisis has been nationalized and set off a ticking timebomb for a future mega-meltdown, it will continue to cloud the causality issue of peak oil and recessions. --snip--
BTW, I'm going to have to start carving hashmarks into my computer desk to keep track of how many times the "peak oil caused the credit crisis" meme keeps polluting this site. It's getting ridiculous.
I'm with Mos on this one.

I agree that oil prices (PO) will have played a role in the run up to the recession, but the extend of this is not as large as people advocate here.

However, it could just as well ruin our recovery as it won't be easy to grow if oil prices suddenly go back to +100$/barrel price once demand starts to pick up and there isn't enough reserve capacity.
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Re: Peak Oil: Looking for the Wrong Symptoms?

Unread postby shortonsense » Fri 19 Feb 2010, 04:12:22

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AirlinePilot', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('shortonsense', 'I')t might not be light and sweet, but if you want oil, we got LOTS of that.
With this one statement you destroy any credibility with which you might argue anything here. The ignorance of it is colossal.
YOU might not like heavy oils, but California has been turning the same stuff into motor fuels longer than you have been alive. Pretending it doesn't exist, or hasn't been, is being or will be converted into a fuel which runs your car or airplane isn't MY demonstration of ignorance.
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Re: Peak Oil: Looking for the Wrong Symptoms?

Unread postby mos6507 » Fri 19 Feb 2010, 13:05:07

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('argyle', '
')However, it could just as well ruin our recovery as it won't be easy to grow if oil prices suddenly go back to +100$/barrel price once demand starts to pick up and there isn't enough reserve capacity.


Or it could be the second wave of foreclosures people posted about today. The credit crisis is not over yet. This idea that it has to be ONE driver at a time instead of more of a soup of complex factors. It comforts people to build a narrative in which oil geology is the Godlike driver of all other facets of life. It makes the future seem more predictable. It's not that simple.
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Re: Peak Oil: Looking for the Wrong Symptoms?

Unread postby Narz » Fri 19 Feb 2010, 13:12:00

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', 'W')e need to wean ourselves from the whole "jobs" idea.

How & what to?
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Re: Peak Oil: Looking for the Wrong Symptoms?

Unread postby Ludi » Fri 19 Feb 2010, 13:37:05

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Narz', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', 'W')e need to wean ourselves from the whole "jobs" idea.

How & what to?


Self employment (making and growing things), mutual support, the gifting economy. To go into detail would take a big essay, which I'm not good at, and should be a separate thread anyway. The idea of "jobs" is based on an ever- growing economy, something we simply can't have in a finite world.
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Re: Peak Oil: Looking for the Wrong Symptoms?

Unread postby Roy » Fri 19 Feb 2010, 13:40:33

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')ithin the past month we have been informed by expert geologists that the Orinoco has more than Prudhoe Bay, more than Burgan, more than the North Sea, more than Cantarell...COMBINED.

It might not be light and sweet, but if you want oil, we got LOTS of that.


I think AP has got you figured out.

One thing I've learned in my 5.5 years of studying this stuff, that is pretty much indisputable, is that:

RESERVES DO NOT EQUAL PRODUCTION

It's like having a bank account with a Billion dollars in it, but being limited to withdrawing $100 per day. Would that make you rich?

I don't think it would.
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Re: Peak Oil: Looking for the Wrong Symptoms?

Unread postby Ludi » Fri 19 Feb 2010, 13:43:46

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Roy', '
')RESERVES DO NOT EQUAL PRODUCTION

It's like having a bank account with a Billion dollars in it, but being limited to withdrawing $100 per day. Would that make you rich?

I don't think it would.



Super analogy!
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Re: Peak Oil: Looking for the Wrong Symptoms?

Unread postby Homesteader » Fri 19 Feb 2010, 13:58:12

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Narz', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', 'W')e need to wean ourselves from the whole "jobs" idea.

How & what to?


Likely painfully and to what ever needs being done.
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Re: Peak Oil: Looking for the Wrong Symptoms?

Unread postby rangerone314 » Fri 19 Feb 2010, 14:06:44

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Narz', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', 'W')e need to wean ourselves from the whole "jobs" idea.

How & what to?


Self employment (making and growing things), mutual support, the gifting economy. To go into detail would take a big essay, which I'm not good at, and should be a separate thread anyway. The idea of "jobs" is based on an ever- growing economy, something we simply can't have in a finite world.

Kum bay ya, my Lord, kum bay ya!
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Re: Peak Oil: Looking for the Wrong Symptoms?

Unread postby shortonsense » Fri 19 Feb 2010, 16:00:09

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Roy', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')ithin the past month we have been informed by expert geologists that the Orinoco has more than Prudhoe Bay, more than Burgan, more than the North Sea, more than Cantarell...COMBINED.

It might not be light and sweet, but if you want oil, we got LOTS of that.


I think AP has got you figured out.

One thing I've learned in my 5.5 years of studying this stuff, that is pretty much indisputable, is that:

RESERVES DO NOT EQUAL PRODUCTION


I'll do you one better. I never said anything about reserves. But reserves and production are certainly related, no production without reserves. Now, as to what you mean by "equal", thats something else entirely.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Roy', '
')It's like having a bank account with a Billion dollars in it, but being limited to withdrawing $100 per day. Would that make you rich?

I don't think it would.


Sure it would. It just would depend on where you live. And it would work even better if you decide to invest $20 of those dollars over the period of...say....a year...and then offering a $7000 bribe to the bank teller to let you have $200/day.

Childs play. And quite a reasonable analogy as well.
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Re: Peak Oil: Looking for the Wrong Symptoms?

Unread postby Ludi » Fri 19 Feb 2010, 17:52:27

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('rangerone314', '
')Kum bay ya, my Lord, kum bay ya!



Being self-employed and scavenging with your friends and neighbors is "kumbaya"? Or do you have a problem with sharing with your friends and neighbors?
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Re: Peak Oil: Looking for the Wrong Symptoms?

Unread postby mos6507 » Fri 19 Feb 2010, 18:26:10

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('rangerone314', '
')Kum bay ya, my Lord, kum bay ya!


Being self-employed and scavenging with your friends and neighbors is "kumbaya"? Or do you have a problem with sharing with your friends and neighbors?


Let's be a little more sympathetic towards the doomer dilemma for a moment...

A great many doomers "see dead people" in the sense that we look at the world around us as it is today and imagine how the game of survival will play out post-peak. We assume that our neighbors will boil in the pot before they suffer the indignity of breaking out the gardening shovel. So their skin will turn gray and they will start clawing at your door moaning "braaaiiiiinnnz". So doomers write people off.

So I really think it's a trust issue. Doomers want some sign, however faint, that their community will begin to adapt. For instance, even the most successful Transition towns only have a small number of core participants. But it's enough of an inoculation, so to speak, to think that over time the rest of the residents will join in.

But what we're really afraid of is to be stuck somewhere in which there is no transition momentum, or outright hostility towards it. I kind of see myself as sitting in front of a pile of wet firewood with a lighter without much fluid in it, trying to get it started, and getting really discouraged. For people in that kind of situation, it's natural to feel a little hopeless or cynical about your neighbors, and to fear that the frog really WILL have to boil before they act. And that just won't end well.

Really, change it's a two way street. You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink.

I hope as time goes on there will be more success stories out there to show that people can begin to adapt, but right now they are few and far between.
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