News from October 2007

Crude Oil Reaches Record $95.80 on Decline in U.S. Stockpiles

Nov. 1 (Bloomberg) — Crude oil rose to a record $95.80 a barrel in New York after a U.S. inventories unexpectedly fell to a two-year low. U.S. crude stockpiles dropped 3.89 million barrels to 312.7 million barrels last week, the lowest since October 2005, according to the Department of Energy. A 400,000-barrel gain was expected [...]

The Peak Oil Crisis: After The Peak?

I am frequently asked First the overall magnitude of a swift transition from oil and natural gas to other, less plentiful, forms of energy is almost certain to be a very big problem. Most commentators on life with diminishing supplies of oil conclude it will take decades to transition our lifestyles to those of a [...]

Peak oil: More than cars

Progressive pundits don’t seem to be fully grappling with the oil problem Earlier this week, Joe Romm said he doesn’t see peak oil radically changing U.S. culture, since hybrids and plug-in hybrids will reduce the fuel necessary to get around. Matt Yglesias, reacting to a recent Michael Klare piece, “Beyond the Age of Petroleum,” agrees [...]

Bleak News from the Oil Zone

“Be afraid “Slide after slide, chart after chart, speaker after speaker told the tale of the world’s oil fields peaking in output and, in due course, going into irreversible decline. From the North Slope to the North Sea, Saudi Arabia to Siberia, Canada to China, Iran to Indonesia, output of oil greatly exceeds new discovery. [...]

Higher Oil Prices Blamed on Peaking Production

As oil prices reach record levels, industry observers ponder a future of increased demand and a possible peak in production. A European group announced last week that world production peaked last year and will decrease steadily in the years ahead, even as demand continues to grow. VOA’s Greg Flakus went to a peak oil conference [...]

IEA says oil prices will stay ‘very high,’ threatening global growth

LONDON: The rapidly growing appetite for fossil fuels in China and India is likely to help keep oil prices high for the foreseeable future – threatening a global economic slowdown, a top energy expert said Wednesday. The unusually stark warning by Fatih Birol, chief economist of the International Energy Agency, about the impact of Asia’s [...]

Horizon oilsands project forecast to go $1-billion over budget

TORONTO — Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. expects the cost of its Horizon oilsands project to jump as high as $7.75-billion, nearly $1-billion over budget, as some work gets pushed out into winter, the country’s No. 2 independent producer said on Wednesday. Canadian Natural said costs could be 8% to 14% above the $6.8-billion it had [...]

ASPO-China is formed

On the 26th of October 2007, a Peak Oil workshop was held at the China University of Petroleum Beijing (CUPB). Experts from Chinese oil companies (Sinochem, CNPC and SINOPEC) were present together with the president and the secretary of ASPO International. The Vice Director of the Strategy Office (China Energy Office) together with an expert [...]

Petrobras caught short on gas supplies

Brazilian state energy company Petrobras was forced by a court injunction to restore natural gas deliveries to some distributors today after it had trimmed supplies to feed gas-fired power plants instead, raising fears or energy shortages. Petrobras reduced gas shipments to Sao Paulo state distributor Comgas and to Rio de Janeiro state’s CEG and CEG-Rio [...]

Could a Melting Ice Sheet Really Raise the Oceans 23 Feet?

1 melted Greenland ice sheet = 23-foot rise in global sea level That The math behind the assumption is straightforward. To begin, you