Oil driller cut 25000 jobs, paid CEO $18 million

2015 was a tough year for oil driller Schlumberger. Unless you were the CEO. CEO Paal Kibsgaard received total compensation worth $18.3 million in 2015, the company reported, down only slightly from $18.5 million the year before. The rest of Schlumberger didn’t fare so well. The company cut 25,000 jobs during the year, or 20% […]

Currency And The Collapse Of The Roman Empire

At its peak, the Roman Empire held up to 130 million people over a span of 1.5 million square miles. Rome had conquered much of the known world. The Empire built 50,000 miles of roads, as well as many aqueducts, amphitheatres, and other works that are still in use today. Our alphabet, calendar, languages, literature, […]

The global economy echoes 1930s Great Depression

Protectionism, shaky debt, and weak banking systems have consequences Getty Images/Keystone/StaffHuge crowds outside the Sub Treasury Building (now Federal Hall National Memorial) and the statue of George Washington, opposite the New York Stock Exchange at the time of the Wall Street Crash, October 1929. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images) One view of what caused the Great […]

‘Selfish’ oil firms relish new production despite glut

As oil firms scrap dozens of billions worth of mega projects essential for supplies in decades ahead, fresh output from huge fields already being developed is set to weigh for many more months on an oil market struggling to shake off a glut. A collapse in oil prices over the past 20 months to below […]

Oil Industry Faces an Existential Crisis

The Saudis may go public, OPEC’s in disarray, the U.S. is suddenly a global exporter, and shale drillers are seeking lifelines from investors as banks abandon them. Welcome to oil’s new world order, full of stresses, strains and fractures. For leaders gathering in Houston next week at the IHS CERAWeek conference — often dubbed the […]

Oil is now so cheap even pirates aren’t stealing it any more

Stealing the oil from a ship is no mean feat. Oil tankers are enormous, and ships that carry expensive cargo are designed to be difficult to board. Stealing can mean hijacking the original tanker, disabling its tracking devices, taking it to a location where it can’t be spotted, and transferring thousands of heavy barrels to […]

Start Preparing for the Collapse of the Saudi Kingdom

Saudi Arabia is no state at all. It’s an unstable business so corrupt to resemble a criminal organization and the U.S. should get ready for the day after. For half a century, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been the linchpin of U.S. Mideast policy. A guaranteed supply of oil has bought a guaranteed supply […]

Saudi Arabia ‘not prepared’ to cut oil production

Saudi Arabia is “not prepared” to cut oil production, Agence France-Presse reported, quoting the Saudi foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir. “If other producers want to limit or agree to a freeze in terms of additional production that may have an impact on the market but Saudi Arabia is not prepared to cut production,” al-Jubeir told AFP […]

Is Saudi Arabia Winning The War Against Shale?

Saudi officials insist the kingdom’s oil production strategy is not aimed at putting U.S. shale producers out of business, a message that has been repeated to visiting U.S. policymakers. The United States remains the kingdom’s most important security partner, and Saudi officials do not want to be seen to be deliberately trying to halt the […]

Exxon’s Never-Ending Big Dig

Here’s the story so far. We have the chief legal representatives of the eighth and 16th largest economies on Earth (California and New York) probing the biggest fossil fuel company on Earth (ExxonMobil), while both Democratic presidential candidates are demanding that the federal Department of Justice join the investigation of what may prove to be […]

Former EPA General Counsel Scott Fulton on the Future of the Clean Power Plan

The US Supreme Court last week issued a judicial stay of President Obama’s signature climate change policy, the Clean Power Plan (CPP). The decision halts further implementation of the proposed restrictions on carbon emissions from fossil-fuel fired electric generating units until completion of the expedited, 27 state-challenge pending before the DC Circuit Court. While opponents […]

Foiled by Oil

People do use their oil shares to buy houses, cars, planes and college educations. When crude oil prices hit $140 per barrel, pension funds and college endowments rejoiced. Our 2006 book, The Post-Petroleum Survival Guide and Cookbook was published just as conventional hydrocarbons struck their all-time global production top and began to decline (a picture […]

Radioactive Material Stolen In Iraq Raises Security Fears

Iraq is searching for “highly dangerous” radioactive material stolen last year, according to an environment ministry document and seven security, environmental and provincial officials who fear it could be used as a weapon if acquired by Islamic State. The material, stored in a protective case the size of a laptop computer, went missing in November […]

The Decline Of The Coal Industry Is “Long-Term” And “Irreversible”

Demand for thermal coal is declining, a trend that appears to be “irreversible.” That is the conclusion from Goldman Sachs, which published a new report on the global coal and gas trade on February 15, and reported on by SNL. For coal producers, this is the latest in a long line of grim warnings, all […]

Retrotopia: Back To What Worked

I made some phone calls the next morning and got my schedule sorted out for the next few days. Now that President Meeker had gotten things sorted out with the Restos, I had a lot of things to discuss with the Lakeland government, and I knew they’d want to know as much as possible about […]

Is Saudi Arabia About to Invade Syria?

Saudi Arabia is massing hundreds of thousands of troops while conducting its biggest ever wargames. Is this preparation for an invasion of Syria or just one huge bluff? Russia’s Prime Minister recently warned that such a move could spark a new world war. We talk to Syrian Girl to find out.

Bakken December Data, Big Decline

The Bakken and North Dakota tight oil production data is out. Bakken production was down 28,604 barrels per day to 1,096,044 bpd. All North Dakota was down 29,506 bpd to 1,152,280 bpd. This is just the last two years of the chart above. It gives a slightly better look at what is happening. Barrels per day […]

Iran says it is ‘illogical’ for it to join oil output freeze

Iran’s Opec envoy is reported as saying it is “illogical” for it to join the oil output freeze agreed by a Russian and Saudi Arabian-led group on Tuesday. Mehdi Asali, quoted in the Iranian newspaper, Shargh, said Iran will continue to increase oil production until it reaches pre-sanction levels. Venezuela’s oil minister is holding talks […]

Just A Distraction

In the end, does the choice of words really matter? The “Yes, we’ve reached Peak Oil” versus the “No, we have not” is a distraction—and I’ve done my part to contribute. But without recognizing and accepting the simple truth that we’re drawing down a finite and depleting resource which necessitates almost unimaginable adaptations and transitions […]

The Glaring Problem With Oil Giants’ Production Freeze

Oil traders aren’t too impressed with Saudi Arabia and Russia’s accord to cap oil production at near-record levels. After rising above $31.50 per barrel when news of this agreement was reached, front-month West Texas Intermediate futures contracts have since retreated to below $30 per barrel. It’s not just the production freeze, rather than an outright […]

World’s Most Energy Efficient Countries

There is a sense of excitement in the wake of a momentous Paris Climate Agreement and adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals last year. The “energy revolution” is already underway, the consequences of which are far-reaching, transforming the way we do business, build our homes and live our lives. But there’s an even more immediate solution available […]

Africa Cannot Stand The Adverse Effects Of Fossil Fuel

Fossil fuels are derivatives of plant and animal fossils that are millions of years old. Fosil Fuel They are formed from the remains of the decayed plants and animals of the carboniferous era. The three fossil fuel sources are coal, natural gas and oil/petroleum that the world uses to meet its energy demand. But their […]

What’s at Stake in an Economy with Low Oil Prices

In the past, low oil prices have been seen as a boon, particularly at the gas pump. They’ve been credited with boosting economies and stirring growth. But recently oil prices have dropped so low that warning bells rippled through global markets, and they remain volatile. What does all this mean for countries and companies? How big is the […]

How far can a bridge fuel reach?

Rarely have things in the volatile world of energy aligned to make as much economic sense as, say, building new natural gas-fired power plants, expanding transmission pipelines and extending gas utility service to entire communities. Natural gas has become the fuel du jour as a boom in drilling over the past decade has sent prices plummeting. […]

The Hog Cycle And Oil Prices

Industries that have a delayed supply reaction to price (short term price inelasticity of supply) tend to exhibit a cyclical behaviour in supply and price. Delayed responses to falling and rising prices may create price and supply “overshoots”. The hog industry seems to display a regular four-year cyclicality, through the interaction of hog inventory, pig […]

Saudi Arabia, Russia agree to freeze oil output

Saudi Arabia and Russia, the world’s two largest crude producers, agreed to freeze output after talks in Qatar. The deal to fix production at January levels will be “adequate” and Saudi Arabia still wants to meet the demand of its customers, Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi said in Doha after the talks with Russian Energy Minster […]

UAE Offers India Free Oil To Ease Storage Woes

In an oil sector first, the oil-rich United Arab Emirates (UAE) has offered free oil to India in return for a storage deal at India’s planned underground facility as the supply glut worsens and some analysts predict that ‘’peak storage” could sending prices crashing further. The UAE’s Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has agreed […]

A persistant plastic menace

Seven tons. That’s how much plastic a study from The Citadel estimates is breaking down in Charleston Harbor right now. It’s bad enough that so much trash is littering a body of water so important to local commerce, recreation and ecology. But according to The Citadel researchers, natural processes may be turning those tons of […]

Kunstler: Repricing Reality

It ought to be a foregone conclusion that Mr. Obama’s replacement starting January 20, 2017 will preside over conditions of disorder in everyday life and economy never seen before. For the supposedly thinking class in America, the end of reality-optional politics will come as the surprise of their lives. Where has that hypothetical thinking class […]

Estimates Of Post-2005 US, OPEC & Global Condensate Production Vs. Actual Crude Oil Production

After examining available regional and global production data (using EIA, OPEC and BP data sources), in my opinion actual global crude oil production – generally defined as 45 API Gravity or lower crude oil – has probably been on an “Undulating Plateau” since 2005. At the same time, global natural gas production and associated liquids, […]

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