Peak Oil News

World oil production has reached peak capacity. We are now facing the downside of the peak oil curve and the consequences on world energy markets will be more than uncomfortable. The decrease in production capacity means we no longer have the ability to compensate for minor fluctuations in oil markets. The major crude oil suppliers are all reaching the breaking point, which will spell the inevitable end of industrial expansion. Alternative energy technologies will not help industrial markets to expand, only slow the decline. The problem lies in our ability to comprehend this looming catastrophe and act quickly enough to avoid a complete economic collapse. » Source: Daily Reckoning Against the background of everything else happening in the financial markets ...

According to ExxonMobil, global energy prices will most certainly grow up to 50% by the year 2030. This price increase is estimated to occur due to the pace of expanding economies in developing countries, and the rate of worldwide population growth. "Perhaps most significant, we anticipate energy demand in developing Asia-Pacific to grow at 3.2 per cent annually, increasing to one-third of the world's total." This is an amount "equivalent to the energy demand of North America and Europe combined, the US-based oil corporation says in a booklet on "The Next Quarter-Century of Energy" released here recently. » Source: Bernama.com Every day, the world consumes about 230 million barrels of ...

The 2008 US presidential elections will be very important considering the implications of the coming peak oil crisis. The oil issue is likely to be downplayed during the 2006 elections. However, many major oil producing nations are quickly approaching depletion, and many analysts believe we will reach the peak oil production during the 2008-2012 presidential term. A severe oil crunch and resultant high oil prices will impact all sectors of society. The party and president that gets elected in 2008 will have a major economic and social crisis on their hands. » Source: Falls Church Last week they took a poll here in Virginia on how the race for US Senate ...

As the global population problem increases, serious problems seem likely to occur. All sectors of the economy will experience price increase and demand due to resource shortages. Overcrowding brings out the worst in people, as we have seen thanks to the "road rage" phenomenon. Add to these stresses looming climate change challenges and energy supply crisis and we seem doomed for disaster. The current social situation in America doesn't leave much hope for a co-operative solution to the population issue. More innovative program initiatives at the governmental level are needed. » Source: Augusta Free Press Sometime during October, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, America will add its 300 millionth resident. While profiling the candidate may be a quirky exercise in fiction writing - it will ...

A former government adviser has warned it is "only a matter of time" before BP or Shell faces a bid from a Russian state-owned group such as Gazprom which could threaten western oil supplies. Professor Peter Odell, an energy economist, says ExxonMobil is also vulnerable to a Chinese takeover as the large UK and American stock-listed oil groups lose their influence in global markets. » Source: Guardian Unlimited "A Chinese bid for Exxon and or Chevron and or a Russian bid for Shell and or BP, backed by funds provided by the wealthy member countries of Opec seem likely to be only a matter of time. "With the 'majors' gone there will be concern in the main OECD countries for ...

Events move quickly these days. Two months ago oil was north of $78 a barrel and, nationwide, gasoline was above to well above $3. The Middle East was threatening a conflagration and another exciting hurricane season was in the offing. Even the concept of peak oil was starting to get some scattered but serious attention in the media. Now here we are at the end of September. The price of crude is down nearly 25 percent. Gasoline is down 75 cents a gallon. The press is full of stories of a great new oil find in the Gulf that could show the way to a cornucopia of oil. The Dow is pushing an all-time high, and financial analysts are predicting lower inflation and solid growth in the year ahead. Finally, those who don't want to believe in peak oil are loudly proclaiming, "I told you so." » Source: ...

"None of us can go a little way with a theory," wrote John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801-1890) in his book Essays Critical & Historical . "When it once possesses us, we are no longer our own masters. It makes us speak its words, and do violence to our nature." What is theory? What an interesting quotation about theory from the good cardinal. But before we go too far along, here is the next question: What is theory? The word itself derives from the Greek word “theoria,” meaning examination, contemplation, or speculation. A theory is a doctrine, or scheme of things, which terminates in speculation or contemplation. Or you can say that it is an exposition of the general principles of a given field of study. A simple way to understand the concept of a theory is that it is the premise or set of premises upon which an argument rests, although the ...

Oil supplies from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) fell 400,000 barrels a day on the month to 30.2 million bpd in September, according to preliminary figures from tanker tracker Petrologistics. Saudi Arabia and Iran led the fall in output. Petrologistics head Conrad Gerber said the kingdom produced 9.05 million bpd in September compared with 9.27 million bpd in August. » Source: Bahrain Tribute Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al Nuaimi said in June that Opec’s biggest producer had reined in output to 9.1 million b/d in April from 9.5 million bpd on lower demand. “Saudi Arabia could be producing more, but some of it could be going into storage,” Gerber said. Iran’s output, which peaked in July at 4.2 million bpd when the Islamic Republic sold oil from floating storage, is at 3.9 million bpd in September, Gerber said. Iran supplied 4.0 million bpd ...

U.S. Energy Department study concludes crude production will peak, requiring other energy forms Last September, a Chronicle editorial warned that global oil production would peak in this decade or the next, and then inexorably decline. Given that likelihood, the United States would have to embark on a crash program to develop alternative energy sources or endure crippling increases in the price of energy. Last week, a study performed for the U.S. Department of Energy concurred with the editorial's conclusions. » Source: chron.com The study, led by Robert Hirsch, warned that the world should be spending $1 trillion per year developing alternative energy sources — including tar sands, oil shale and gas liquefaction — to avoid having its economy crippled by oil shortages and the resulting chaos. The study recommends a 20-year lead time, so it might already be too late to prevent a crunch. The report said the timing was uncertain. Hirsch ...

Crude oil makes Kjell Aleklett think about wild strawberries. Aleklett, a Swedish professor of physics, sees inescapable similarities between the steady depletion of the world's most coveted energy source and the foraging habits of berry afficionados. "In Sweden we have strawberry fields where you can go out and pick for yourself. If you go out there in the morning there is a possibility that you can pick a big volume of strawberries. But the first picker picks the big ones. The last one is left with the small ones. It's very much the same thing when it comes to the production of gas and oil. » Source: The Vancouver Sun "The goodies, the big ones, have been picked. It's true all over the world. Now we have to stick to the small ones. That means it's harder to fill the ...