Peak Oil News

An engrossing, encompassing and interesting debate is raging and the entire energy fraternity is passionately involved. Proponents and the opponents of the peak oil theory are out in open — putting across their diametrically opposite arguments, in a charged atmosphere. Leading from the front, Saudi Aramco Chief Executive Abdallah S. Jum'ah is now forcefully arguing that at the current consumption levels, the world has enough oil to last — for at least 140 more years. Admitting though in a very conspicuous manner that crude remains a finite source, and none can indeed debate it, he emphasized the world has tapped only a considerably small portion, than previously thought, of this precious natural resource. » Source: MENAFM.com And when Jum'ah says something he speaks with a sense of authority and responsibility. After all he is the caretaker of the world's largest crude reserve. Speaking before a galaxy of industry experts in Vienna, ...

Global energy companies boosted their investments in the upstream business by 31 pct in 2005, but only to achieve a marginal growth in oil and gas production and reserves. Global spending on exploration and production grew by 66 bln usd to 277 bln usd in 2005 as industry giants like Exxon Mobil Corp, BP PLC and Royal Dutch Shell PLC stepped up their hunt for more resources to meet rapidly growing demand, according to a study published today by US energy research firm John S. Herold Inc and corporate advisor Harrison Lovegrove & Co Ltd. » Source: Life Style Extra Production, however, inched up by just 1 pct, while reserves went up by 2 pct. In the US, output even fell 6 pct. Reserve replacement rate continued its decline, reaching 143 pct of production in 2005. Cost inflation ...

The world needs to spend $1tn a year in alternative fuels, starting 20 years before the peak in conventional oil production, in order to mitigate fuel shortages, a US Energy Department study showed. Production peaks in Texas, the UK and Norway were examined as part of two studies for the department that advised on "crash course" efforts to cope with an eventual shortage of gasoline and other liquid fuels. The study, led by Robert Hirsch, didn’t predict when world production will peak, though Hirsch told reporters his guess is "within the next five to 10 years." » Source: Gulf Times "Conventional oil will peak at some point," Hirsch said at the Oil and Money Conference in London. To lessen the impact, "we have to start a long time before the peak or we’ll have severe liquid fuels shortages worldwide." Conventional oil production peaked ...

Syntroleum announced that its Fischer-Tropsch (FT) jet fuel has been successfully tested in a United States Air Force B-52 Stratofortress Bomber aircraft. The plane lifted off from Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., with a 50/50 blend of FT and traditional JP-8 jet fuel which was burned in two of the eight engines on the plane. This marks the first time that FT jet fuel has been tested in a military flight demo, and is the first of several planned test flights. The test is a result of more than four years of successful research and development efforts with the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), focused on producing a high-performance alternative fuel for military applications. » Source: Green Car Congress The program culminating in the test flight today is the first step in opening up new horizons for sourcing fuel for ...

Global economic growth is at risk of peaking because of high oil prices and rising protectionist sentiment, warned Rodrigo de Rato, the International Monetary Fund’s managing director, on Tuesday. “The global growth cycle may be close to its peak,” Mr de Rato said in his opening statement at the joint IMF and World Bank plenary session in Singapore. “The best hope for continued high growth lies in further increases to international trade. If this does not happen, the outlook is less encouraging.” » Source: Financial Times Mr de Rato also warned of a continued risk that current account imbalances will unwind in a disorderly way. “There is a growing risk that protectionist sentiment will overwhelm good sense. If it does, all of the other risks loom larger.” The IMF chief urged developed and emerging countries to renew their commitment to multilateralism and resume the ...

Collaborative research between the Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth (RITE) and Honda R&D Co., Ltd., the Honda Motor Co., Ltd. subsidiary responsible for research and development, has resulted in technology and process for the production of ethanol from cellulosic soft-biomass such as the leaves and stalks of plants. The RITE-Honda process uses a bacterial strain developed by RITE that ferments sugar into alcohol and applies Honda engineering technology to enable a “significant increase” in alcohol conversion efficiency in comparison to conventional cellulosic bio-ethanol production processes, according to the partners. » Source: Green Car Congress The process consists of the following steps: Pretreatment to separate cellulose from soft-biomass; Saccharification of cellulose and hemicellulose; Fermentation of sugar into ethanol using microorganisms; and Ethanol refinement. Current approaches allow fermentation inhibitors, collaterally formed primarily during the process of separating cellulose and hemicellulose from ...

"That argument known as peak-oil theory has provided intellectual backing for the boom in crude prices. . ." This quote comes a September 14 Wall Street Journal article that was entitled "Producers Move to Debunk Gloomy 'Peak Oil' Forecasts" and detailed efforts by Exxon Mobil and Aramco to counter peak oil advocates. » Source: The Huffington Post The piece appeared more than a year after the publication of my book, "Over a Barrel," the first chapter of which challenged the notion of oil as a scarce resource. And it was published barely a week after my post, "Massive Oil Find in Gulf of Mexico Brings Gloom to Peak Oil Pranksters" 9/08/06 (you always read it first on Huffington). That post, focusing on the important Gulf of Mexico find underlined the vast potential for new oil discoveries not only in ...

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 ...

It was a great day for many companies and environmentalists back in 2003. Back then the Department of Energy (DOE) announced that a newly constructed natural gas-to-liquids demonstration facility near Tulsa, Oklahoma would open. The Ultra-Clean Fuels Program, managed by DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory, was built under a cooperative agreement among DOE, Syntroleum Corp., Marathon Oil Co. and Integrated Concepts Research Corp. (ICRC). Plant construction costs were valued at over $40 million, of which DOE provided $16 million on a cost-share basis. According to the press release of October 3, 2003, The facility would utilize the proprietary Syntroleum® Process to convert natural gas to transportation fuel. The DOE said the plant consisted of three primary components: an autothermal reformer that changes the natural gas into synthesis gas; a Fischer-Tropsch unit that converts the synthesis gas into synthetic crude product; and a refinning unit that upgrades the synthetic crude product into ...

The Bush administration said a Sept. 27 sale of oil drilling leases in Alaska should go forward and rejected a court's objections that environmental effects have not been properly addressed. The U.S. Interior Department said in a court filing yesterday that the impact of expanded drilling on air, water, wetlands and wildlife had been properly considered in the plan to expand drilling in the National Petroleum Reserve. Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge James Singleton in Anchorage ruled that an environmental impact statement prepared by the agency failed "to adequately address the cumulative effects" of drilling. » Source: Bloomberg.com "Depending on the resource or activity, the cumulative impacts throughout the entire North Slope are discussed," the Interior Department said in the filing. The agency "conducted the required 'hard look' at those impacts given the limited nature of information ...