Peak Oil News

Whereas the passage of history has recorded an increasing pace of change, such that the demand for energy has grown rapidly in parallel with the world population over the past two hundred years since the Industrial Revolution; Whereas the energy supply required by the population has come mainly from coal and petroleum, such resources having been formed but rarely in the geological past and being inevitably subject to depletion; Whereas oil provides ninety percent of transport fuel, is essential to trade, and plays a critical role in the agriculture needed to feed the expanding population; » Source: Post Carbon Institute Whereas oil is unevenly distributed on the Planet for well-understood geological reasons, with much being concentrated in five countries bordering the Persian Gulf; Whereas all the major productive provinces of the World have been identified with the help of advanced technology and growing geological knowledge, it ...

World prices of oil and gas are showing a steeply rising trend. According to Matthew Simmons, a former White House energy adviser, the price of a barrel of petroleum may rise as high as $ 200 to $ 250 in the coming years from the present price of only $ 78. Such an extreme increase in price of oil and gas would unhinge the world economy and spell ruin for large corporations. In 2005, earth’s population consumed 83 million barrels of oil per day. This number is expected to rise to about 90 million by 2010 and to 115 million by 2030. On the other hand, the historical “peak” of oil production will be reached in 5-10 years despite improvements in production technology and the expansion of oil shales and sands. The consequent shortfall will be extremely large to be bridged by the renewable energies. In the long run, even if ...

An attempt by four suicide bombers to attack two oil refineries in Yemen has been foiled. The Yemeni interior ministry in a statement said the gunmen had attempted to attack the installations in four cars packed with explosives. Aljazeera's correspondent in Yemen said two refineries, in Marab and Hadramut, had been singled out for attack. » Source: Al Jazeera The four attackers and one security guard were killed in the incident, the interior ministry said. Friday's early morning attacks occurred 35 minutes apart, directed at a Yemeni oil refinery in the northeast province of Marab and a Canadian-Yemeni oil storage facility at the Dubba Port in Hadramut province - scene of a 2002 attack on the French tanker Limburg. The four men, two at each target, were dressed in uniforms similar to those worn by staff at the facilities and had timed their attacks to coincide ...

Gasoline is composed of many different hydrocarbons. Crude oil enters a refinery, and is processed through various units before being blended into gasoline. A refinery may have a fluid catalytic cracker (FCC), an alkylate unit, and a reformer, each of which produces gasoline blending components. Alkylate gasoline, for example, is valuable because it has a very high octane, and can be used to produce high-octane (and higher value) blends. Light straight run gasoline is the least processed stream. It is abundant and cheap to produce, but it has a low octane. The gasoline blender has to mix all of the components together to meet the product specifications. There are two very important (although not the only) specifications that need to be met for each gasoline blend. The gasoline needs to have the proper octane, and it needs to have the proper Reid vapor pressure, or RVP. While the octane of a ...

A slowing US housing market and the possibility of a major oil supply disruption were two of the biggest risks to the world economy, International Monetary Fund (IMF) head Rodrigo de Rato said yesterday. Speaking at an Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) conference in Vienna of policy makers and oil executives, he underscored the importance to economic growth of stable oil flows. Moves by some oil-producing countries to raise taxes on international oil groups or change contract terms could lead to their rebound by cutting investment. » Source: Business Day “With the housing market in the US cooling faster than anticipated, there is a risk of an abrupt slowdown in the US which could derail the global expansion. “There are clear signs of increasing risks,” De Rato said, referring to global growth. “Adequate investment in the oil sector will help alleviate ...

Of all the many aspects of the predicament of industrial society, the peak of world petroleum production will likely have the most drastic impact in the short and middle term. Now it’s true, of course, that plenty of other resources are also running short worldwide, from topsoil and fresh water to dozens of minor but economically important minerals. In the latter days of a system designed and built to pursue the delusion of infinite material growth on a finite planet, shortages are inevitable, but no other globally traded commodity is as central to the world’s industrial economies as oil, or faces so imminent and irreversible a decline. » Source: The Archdruid Report Thus the end of the age of cheap oil promises a sea change in the world’s economies and societies as significant as the beginning of the fossil fuel age some three ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...