Peak Oil News

The fight for space on Spain's beaches looks set to grow fiercer over the next four decades as the sand starts to disappear under a rising sea that also threatens to flood beach-side homes, according to a Spanish environment ministry report. Spain's beaches are expected to shrink by an average of 15 metres (50ft) by 2050 as global warming causes sea levels to creep up while stronger waves and currents eat away at the coastline. In some of the worst hit resorts, unprotected beaches could vanish altogether while salt water washes into holiday homes, the authors warn. » Source: Guardian Unlimited "I wouldn't buy a house in La Manga," said the report's coordinator, Professor Raúl Medina, referring to an area in the south-eastern region of Murcia popular with British holiday-home buyers. "It is a bad investment because I doubt that my ...

Relax! There's plenty of oil left in the ground. By 2030 conventional fossil fuels will still account for 80% of the world's energy requirements. At least that's the view espoused by Mark Nolan, chairman of Exxon-Mobil Australia. It is also the view of the US Department of Energy. Now I'm not here to promote conspiracy theories, only to promulgate them. FN Arena attempts only to be an objective news service, providing food for thought. Lord knows I get into enough trouble for suggesting central bank gold price manipulation (based on the evidence collected by others), but then I'm lauded on the other side of the fence. It is with the credo of objective journalism in mind that I have delved into the great Peak Oil debate. » Source: FNArena Put very simply, supporters of the peak oil theory believe the world's supply ...

Canada's oil production dropped in 2005 for the first in six years as conventional supplies wane, but that should change as oilsands operations continue their rapid ramp-up. According to a Statistics Canada report released Monday, companies pumped out 858 million barrels of crude last year, down 2.3 per cent from the year before. One of the key reasons for this drop was a major fire at Suncor Energy (TSX:SU), which cut production at Canada's second largest oilsands operation in half for three-quarters of the year. "In general, this occurred mostly because of lower output from the conventional sector as well as unplanned interruptions in the non-conventional sector," the statistics agency said. » Source: CBC News With Suncor's operations repaired and producing more than pre-fire levels, Canada's oilsands production hit a record 1.2 million daily barrels earlier this year, ...

The discovery of potential deep-water oil and gas reserves off Cuba's northern coast has caught the eye of the world's energy-hungry nations. The US could see rigs drilling for Cuban oil only 50 miles off Florida. India's state-run oil firm ONGC, already signed up to exploration in the area, has just upped its stake - the latest to place its bets on a Cuban oil rush. The 44-year-old US trade embargo, meanwhile, continues to bar American companies from doing business with the Caribbean island. » Source: BBC News But, some observers are asking, can the US really afford to risk losing out on valuable energy resources only 50 miles (80km) off Key West? The prospect of nations such as China, Venezuela or India lining up to exploit Cuban oil has already led some politicians to call for the embargo to be relaxed. They want US ...

Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) is a widely touted US-based energy advisor firm. They bill themselves as a source to “help decision makers anticipate the energy future and formulate timely, successful plans in the face of rapid changes and uncertainty.” One aspect of our energy future about which CERA appears certain is the concept of peak oil. "Peak Oil theory is garbage as far as we’re concerned", said Robert W. Esser, a geologist by training and CERA’s senior consultant/director of global oil and gas resources, according to Business Week online national correspondent Mark Morrison (Sept 7). » Source: Energy Bulletin A wide range of very serious organizations are looking at and/or have commented upon the concept of peak oil, including the National Academy of Sciences (10/05), the US GAO (11/06), and the National Petroleum Council (2/07), working at the ...

For decades, the conventional wisdom about developing energy projects in the U.S. has been that "big" always meant cheaper, and therefore better, projects. This produced what has become our modern centralized electric power system fueled primarily by coal, natural gas and nuclear power. In the mid-to late 1990s, however, the electric power industry began to hear concerns, particularly from the environmental community, about the negative environmental consequences of a system based too heavily on these types of power. As a result, a second wave of thinking arose that called not just for producing the cheapest power at any cost, but also for finding ways to produce cleaner energy from renewable sources such as the wind, sun, biomass, water and geothermal heat -- and to do so on a scale large enough to become a significant portion of utilities energy portfolios. » Source: ...

The curtain will fall on North Sea oil production by 2012 if not enough is done to maintain development and exploration, according to a forthcoming report from the Offshore Industry Liaison Committee (OILC). The report, due out by the end of September, will reignite the debate on depletion rates in the North Sea. The OILC report will claim that while in the short- term there has been a slow-down in the rate of decline, from 17% in April to 8% in August, the long-term outlook is that the rate of decline will be established at 17% by 2007/2008 without significant increases in investment. » Source: Sunday Herald The report draws its figures from real-time metre readings from production rigs and updated data from reserves analysts – which claim that significant features of the geology of the region will result in less oil being ...

The peak oil movement — an unlikely alliance of geologists, physicists, oil industry consultants and environmental activists — seems to be gaining momentum and winning new converts. For the first time, some say, peaksters have begun to grab the attention of Washington and Wall Street. The US Energy Secretary has now asked his advisory body, the National Petroleum Council, to investigate if oil supplies could keep pace with (the rising global) demand. Further, the US government accountability office, a non-partisan congressional watchdog, is due to release a study on peak oil this November. Interestingly, a congressional peak oil caucus has also been formed in the meantime, too. » Source: MENAFM Naturally with the theory of peak oil coming increasingly under discussion, the focus is bound to shift on Ghawar, the world's super giant well — accounting for more than six percent of the global oil needs ...

Sweden is planning to be oil free by 2020, and a multi-party Senate Committee has cited it as a good example. Their report raises recommendations reducing greenhouse gas emissions and car use, and investing in public transport, gas and biofuels. But new figures show that Australians are relying on their cars more than ever. Annie Guest has this report. » Source: The World Today ANNIE GUEST: It's no secret Australians love their cars, but there's evidence that affection is stronger than ever. Maryann Wood from the Bureau of Statistics says we're clocking up record kilometres. MARYANN WOOD: In the year ending 31st of October 2005, the report actually shows that Australian vehicles travelled just over 206 billion kilometres. ANNIE GUEST: And where does that sit with previous statistics? MARYANN WOOD: This is actually a record figure. ANNIE GUEST: Whether 2006's higher petrol prices have pushed more Australians ...

One of the hazards involved in energy analysis is placing too much emphasis on raw data, like the kind one finds in the U.S. Energy Information Agency’s weekly and monthly reports. While rawness may be a desirable attribute in certain meats and vegetables, it is less desirable in statistical information that is susceptible to errors requiring a correction at some later point. It is even more exasperating when the changes are significant enough to warrant junking a hypothesis that explained the earlier results well but doesn’t fit at all with the newly redrawn picture. The latest example of this recurring pattern occurred this week when EIA released a compilation of supply and consumption data from January through June this year. In that statistical summary, EIA reported that demand for gasoline inched up by 0.6 percent from the year-earlier period. But in the weekly reports, EIA’s estimates of increased demand had been ...