Saudi prince pledges to fill financial gap from any Western sanctions on Egypt

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal on Monday pledged to fill any financial gaps left by Western countries withdrawing aid from Egypt over an army crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood protesters that has left hundreds dead since last week. Speaking to state news agency SPA in Jeddah after visiting France on Sunday, Prince Saud also accused […]

The Blood of the Earth by John Michael Greer

The Blood of the Earth: An Essay on Magic and Peak Oil By John Michael Greer 178 pp., first edition hardcover. Scarlet Imprint – May 2012. $75.00. Also available in paperback for $24.95. It was as an inquisitive young man during the 1970s that John Michael Greer—now an accomplished author and an indispensable source of […]

Iran’s President Acts to Avoid Budget Shortfall, Food Shortages

Iranian President Hassan Rohani’s new government set to work on overhauling the Ahmadinejad administration’s “unrealistic” budget to prevent shortfalls and ensure the availability of basic goods until spring time. At the cabinet’s first meeting yesterday, ministers agreed this year’s budget will be reviewed and a new version presented “within two weeks maximum,” the Tehran-based newspaper […]

Peak Oil Denial: Abundant Nonsense

We don’t like bad news, particularly when it has very long term implications. Individually and collectively we tend to slip into denial mode, focus on diversions, become numbed to the reality of the situation, cling to anyone willing to assure us it just ain’t so, that things are going to get better. You can’t live […]

Lawyer expects Egypt’s Mubarak to be freed this week

Kuwait to deport nine Egyptians over protest against Cairo crackdown – security source KUWAIT – Kuwait plans to deport nine Egyptians who demonstrated against the Egyptian army crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood that has killed hundreds of people, a security source said on Monday. Kuwait, a major oil exporter allied to the United States, gave […]

All Eyes on EBRD, Will It Go Coal Free?

In case you missed it, the tectonic plates just shifted in the world of international financial institution (IFI) energy lending. Just weeks after President Obama announced an end to US taxpayer support for overseas coal plants, two of the world’s largest IFIs, the World Bank and the European Investment Bank (EIB), followed suit. Now the […]

Fukushima apocalypse: Years of ‘duct tape fixes’ could result in ‘millions of deaths’

Even the tiniest mistake during an operation to extract over 1,300 fuel rods at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan could lead to a series of cascading failures with an apocalyptic outcome, fallout researcher Christina Consolo told RT. Fukushima operator TEPCO wants to extract 400 tons worth of spent fuel rods stored in […]

Those That Are Not Preparing For The Coming Economic Depression Are Going To Bitterly Regret It

The next great economic crisis is rapidly approaching, and most people are going to be totally blindsided by it.  Even though the warning signs are glaringly obvious, most Americans continue to believe that our “leaders” know what they are doing and that everything will be just fine.  But what will happen when the next great […]

Now it’s crude oil from algae that is being tested

Turning algae into a distillate-type fuel has long been one prospective area of renewable liquid fuels; it’s even the renewable project where ExxonMobil has been the most aggressive in its investments. Turning algae into a crude-like substance is the target of another company, as Herman Wang discusses in this week’s Oilgram News column, New Frontiers. […]

Tech Talk – Where to look for more oil this year.

The news that Saudi Arabia is planning to employ 200 drilling rigs next year (up from 20 back in 2005) suggests that there is a recognition that future reserves may not measure up to the planned volumes needed. Plans now include exploration of the shale deposits in the country, looking primarily for natural gas. There […]

Argentina: energy boom or energy cliff?

Argentina has been a gas exporter until 2007-2008 (Mainly to Chile) and now is an importer (mainly from Bolivia and a regasification plants in Bahía Blanca and recently in Escobar) Source: Energy Export Data Browser At the end of the 20th century, Argentina started exporting gas to Chile, a mirage of the gas possibilities in […]

Peak Oil Update – Final Thought

Since 2006, I’ve been tracking a set of oil production forecasts and trying to see how they performed over time. Comparing oil supply forecasts is not an easy task because of the many different assumptions, baselines, and fuel categories included. Also, most of them deal with production capacity which is almost impossible to track as […]

Egyptian bloodbath threatens crucial routes for oil and gas supplies

Egypt is a key bottleneck in the global oil industry. Should the current turmoil in the North African country get any worse, a potential oil spike could damage any nascent economic recovery. After last week’s bloody crackdown by the Egyptian army, fears of a disruption of oil supplies to the West have boosted the oil […]

The hype cycle: How the oil and gas industry manipulates investors and the public

What would you expect them to say? That’s the question you should ask whenever spokespersons for the oil and gas industry (or fake think tanks funded by the industry or analysts whose bread is buttered by the industry) announce a new find that is going to be a “game-changer” (or bigger than another well-known world-class […]

The Plastic Bank: Monetizing Waste Plastic

The Plastic Bank is an organization and a movement aimed at removing plastic waste from the world’s oceans, beaches and waterways in a process that empowers people living in poverty to raise their standard of living and strengthen their communities. The concept is to establish “Plastic Banks” in impoverished areas with an existing abundance of plastic […]

Saudi Arabia and Iraq Cut Oil Exports

Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, shipped less crude in June and exports also slid in fellow OPEC members Iraq, Kuwait and Nigeria, according to official data. The kingdom delivered 7.32 million barrels a day, down from 7.79 million in May, according to figures the governments filed with the Joint Organizations Data Initiative. Daily […]

Too big to merge? Big Oil avoids acquisitions

With the U.S. pumping record amounts of oil, one might assume that the largest oil companies would be basking in the glow—and perhaps working out a deal or two to capitalize on the domestic boom. But they’re not. The urge may be there to snap up smaller and more nimble oil producers, but analysts say […]

The Destruction Of America’s Middle Class (In Under Seven Minutes)

While hardly news to frequent visitors, especially those who recall the following list, anyone who needs a 7 minute refresher into why the US middle class is on collision course with extinction is urged to watch the following brief video which highlights all the salient facts such as: 76% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck […]

Charles Hugh Smith: The Growing Appeal of Intentional Community

Tired of being shunned and marginalized by your conventional friends and family? It’s a common situation for those who have “woken up” in a world dead set on remaining asleep as the default solution to systemic unsustainability. One time-honored way to avoid isolation is to band together with others of like mind in communities.  The […]

As global water crisis brews

As the earth’s population booms, the world’s finite water supply has come under scrutiny by the United Nations. Governments across the world are now engaged in water management as the UN predicts that in the next 12 years, two-thirds of the world’s population could be living under the stress of water scarcity.     In […]

Tech Talk – Oil Supply, Oil Prices and Saudi Arabia

From the time that The Oil Drum first began, and through the years up to the Recession of 2008-9 there was an increase in the price of oil, and that resumed following the initial period of that recession, and, in contrast to the price of natural gas, oil has recovered a lot of the price […]

T. Boone Pickens Is Wrong: Electric Vehicles Can Haul Cargo

T. Boone Pickens supports electric vehicles—as long you don’t claim that electric propulsion can work for big-rig trucks, locomotives or cargo ships. The business magnate and corporate raider, who made his fortune in the oil and gas industries, stated that “the battery will not move an 18-wheeler” and that internal combustion engines using natural gas […]

Radioactive Water Leaking From Fukushima: Why Millions Of Lives Are At Stake

In lieu of the Japanese government doing the right thing and finally coming clean about the epic environmental catastrophe that is Fukushima, which it hopes to simply dig under the rug even as the inconvenient reality gets worse and thousands of tons of radioactive water make their way into the ocean, one is forced to […]

Egypt: Killings Erupt Right After Prayers

Cairo is in total, full-blown revolution. Several cities across Egypt erupted into fierce street battles Friday between supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi outraged over the deaths of hundreds at sit-ins earlier this week, residents and security forces. Health Ministry officials said that at least 60 people died, pushing the death toll toward 700 since […]

How America Will Collapse By 2025

A soft landing for America 40 years from now? Don’t bet on it. The demise of the United States as the global superpower could come far more quickly than anyone imagines. If Washington is dreaming of 2040 or 2050 as the end of the American Century, a more realistic assessment of domestic and global trends […]

A world without bees; beekeepers say it could happen

As the worldwide bee population continues to decline from something called Colony Collapse Disorder, Ozarks beekeepers say it could have a serious impact on food prices. A third of US honeybee colonies died or vanished during this past winter but you may be asking yourself, why should I care?  Some passionate Ozarkers say there are […]

More population growth?

Predictions of future population growth are always shaky. And as far as I know the fastest and best way to restrict growth on an already crowded planet is to empower women (education, access to birth control, income). However, these are the predictions of the specialists, from the worldwatch institute: World population reached 7.2 billion in […]

Saudi King Voices Supports For Egyptian Coup

Somehow it is not very surprising that the person who should be most concerned should the Egyptian (non) coup spread, namely the head of the House of Saud, is the one to condemn the previous US-supported regime, and to voice his praises for the current US-supported regime. From Reuters: Saudi King Abdullah called on Arabs […]

Proof That Renewables Can Out-Compete Coal

Germany’s second largest energy company (RWE) made a stunning admission yesterday. Well, stunning if you have head your head stuck in the sand when it comes to the rapid evolution going on in the energy world. RWE announced that “Due to the continuing boom in solar energy, many power stations throughout the sector and across Europe […]

Ecuador to Open Amazon Rainforest to Oil Drilling

OPEC-member Ecuador, where the rights of nature are recognized in the constitution, plans to develop crude deposits in an Amazon area declared a biosphere reserve by the United Nations as existing fields age and economic growth slows. President Rafael Correa will ask the country’s congress to allow drilling in the Ishpingo-Tambococha-Tiputini oil fields in eastern […]

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LATEST NEWS HEADLINES

• Is It Time To Abandon the Idea of Phasing Out Oil and Gas?
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• Charles Hugh Smith Blog: Fire, Then Ice Our Deflationary Future
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• US Warship, Commercial Ships Under Attack In Red Sea