Our Innovation Civilization

ALL PEOPLE LIVE in a society, but fewer live in a civilization. The difference between a society and a civilization is the degree of innovation found in each. Since 1950, the West has been a civilization and not just a society. Today, I would roughly equate the West with the 35 countries that are members […]

China today is foreign oil dependent like Germany in WW2

The USA produced 70% of the oil in the world in WW2. 20% of the oil was produced by the Soviet Union. The British did not surrender and used its navy to blockade Germany’s oil imports. Germany imported 60% of its oil in 1939. In 1941, Germany only had 18% of the oil it had […]

‘Zero Emissions’ EVs Actually Run on Natural Gas

Last week was National Drive Electric Week and events were held in all 50 states to extol the virtues of electric vehicles (EVs). And EVs do have certain advantages that those who can practically take advantage of them enjoy: they tend to be cheaper to own, cheaper to maintain, they reduce carbon emissions, they – along […]

We’re Measuring the Economy All Wrong

Ten years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the official economic statistics — the ones that fill news stories, television shows and presidential tweets — say that the American economy is fully recovered. The unemployment rate is lower than it was before the financial crisis began. The stock market has soared. The total combined output […]

Could Oil Demand Peak in Just Five Years?

The Era of Oil is coming to a close but experts and corporate analysts disagree about just when that will happen. The time left before global demand for crude peaks is increasingly tightening, according to new projections from industry analysts. Two reports published this week point to an end of oil’s growth within the next […]

Amazon Is In The Oil Business And It Proves No Industry Is Amazon Proof

Amazon is now in the oil business. With the release of its Amazon Basics Synthetic Motor Oil, Amazon has effectively entered into an industry ripe for disruption. A report from Market Watch announced that shares of Valvoline Inc., sank 4.2% in premarket trading on Friday, September 14, after J.P. Morgan turned bearish on the engine […]

Way Past Time to Wean Ourselves Off Big Oil

The world needs kick its addiction to oil and other fossil fuels to stave off global warming and it’s not as impossible as the industry has made it seem, an international panel of civic leaders said at a climate change conference in San Francisco on Thursday. While coal has hit its peak as an energy […]

Oil Hovers Near $80 A Barrel As Concern Grows Over Global Supply

Oil eased on Wednesday, having neared its highest level this year after a drop in U.S. crude inventories and the prospect of the loss of Iranian supply added to concerns over the delicate balance between consumption and production. Brent crude futures were last down 23 cents on the day at $78.83 a barrel by 0923 […]

Why The U.S. Is Suddenly Buying A Lot More Saudi Oil

For a few months now, OPEC has been boosting production to ease concerns about high oil prices amid expected supply losses from Venezuela and Iran. The cartel’s largest producer and exporter, Saudi Arabia, has been specifically targeting an increase in crude oil exports to the most transparent market, the United States, which reports crude oil […]

The Air-Conditioning Debate Isn’t Really About Air-Conditioning

Jacobin recently published an article calling for a national and worldwide expansion of air-conditioning usage. In it the writer, Leigh Phillips, used the suffering of economically and ecologically stressed people and communities during heat waves as a rationale for doubling down on a technology that, at the same time it’s cooling the indoors today, is heating up the […]

Coal holds its own in global energy mix

Historical data about energy use tell us a lot about expected trends as well as the impact of policy changes, economic growth and projected prices. The 2018 issue of the influential BP Statistical Review of World Energy is preceded by a detailed review of energy developments in 2017. Energy in transition is what we have […]

Global demand for fossil fuels will peak in 2023

Global demand for fossil fuels will peak in 2023, an influential thinktank has predicted, posing a significant risk to financial markets because trillions of dollars’ worth of oil, coal and gas assets could be left worthless. Explosive growth in wind and solar will combine with action on climate change and slowing growth in energy needs […]

Oil in Global Economy

While the oil market continues to focus on supply/demand fundamentals, these are some key updates that you need to keep a tab on, U.S. oil rig count: The United States is continuing to see a surge in production. According to the latest report, the production is at 11 million barrels per day. Despite fewer rigs […]

PetroChina and Qatargas Sign 22-Year LNG Supply Deal

PetroChina Co. signed a deal with Qatargas Operating Co. to purchase 3.4 million tons of liquefied natural gas annually, the Chinese company’s biggest supply deal, amid a brewing trade war with the U.S. that threatens to stifle the Asian nation’s purchases of American fuel. Under the 22-year agreement, Qatargas will supply LNG from the Qatargas […]

Are The Saudis Keeping Oil Prices Suppressed?

We’ve seen very little recently to dissuade us from the thesis of much higher oil prices to come. EIA charts here on oilprice.com consistently show just how far short of projections the US is going to be to expected production this year. And if we scan the news, the continuing bullish headlines are just about […]

Global LNG prices exceed past winter peak

Asian spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices edged higher this week as Asian demand ahead of the winter persisted and the region’s vulnerability to unpredictable natural events was underscored by the worst power outages in years in Japan due to an earthquake. Spot prices for October delivery in Asia rose to $11.55 per million British […]

Oil demand to hit 100 mln bpd sooner than projected

World oil consumption will reach 100 million barrels per day (bpd) later this year, hitting that level much sooner than previously forecast, OPEC’s secretary-general said on Wednesday. OPEC Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo attends a session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), Russia May 25, 2018. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin Mohammad Barkindo also told an energy conference […]

Tainted Fuel Disrupts Shipping Industry

Oil may skyrocket to $400 a barrel Contaminated fuel has damaged and clogged engines on hundreds of oil tankers and shipping vessels around the world, creating costly delays for shippers. The source of the contamination has not yet been identified, but bad fuel has been traced back to production in the Gulf of Mexico and […]

Say Goodbye To Cheap Oil… For Now

Oil prices will be much higher over the next few years than previously thought, according to a new report from Barclays. The investment bank significantly raised its pricing forecast for 2020 and 2025 in its annual medium-term oil report. Barclays expects Brent to average $75 per barrel in 2020, up from a previous estimate of […]

Eco-Civ 101

“We are the people who are eating the first crabs.“ I have never been terribly fond of cities, but if you had to live in a Chinese megacity, you could do worse than Chengdu. It is the capital of Sichuan Province so you know the food is going to be good. It has been sobriqueted […]

Why Human Driving Will Never Die

I recently watched some of my old Cannonball Run videos, and I couldn’t stop thinking how much safer I would have been if no one else had been driving. Those pesky untrained commuters. So dangerous. Actually, everyone would have been a lot safer if I hadn’t been driving either. If everyone else had been in […]

The Super Rich of Silicon Valley Have a Doomsday Escape Plan

Years of doomsday talk at Silicon Valley dinner parties has turned to action. In recent months, two 150-ton survival bunkers journeyed by land and sea from a Texas warehouse to the shores of New Zealand, where they’re buried 11 feet underground. Seven Silicon Valley entrepreneurs have purchased bunkers from Rising S Co. and planted them […]

Oil climbs above $70 as storm threatens in Gulf of Mexico

Oil traded above $70 a barrel in New York as Tropical Storm Gordon approached offshore oil fields along the U.S. Gulf Coast. Futures rose as much as 1.9 percent from Friday, skipping Monday because of the U.S. Labor Day holiday. Anadarko Petroleum Corp. evacuated two Gulf of Mexico platforms as Gordon neared the mouth of […]

Unless It Changes, Capitalism Will Starve Humanity By 2050

Capitalism has generated massive wealth for some, but it’s devastated the planet and has failed to improve human well-being at scale. • Species are going extinct at a rate 1,000 times faster than that of the natural rate over the previous 65 million years (see Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School). • Since 2000, […]

Could Oil ‘Super-Spike’ Above $150?

Summary Fear of low prices, electric vehicles and financial discipline are reducing investment in conventional oil projects. Less risky, “short-cycle” projects are gaining favor. Insufficient future supply could lead to higher prices. In July, Pierre Andurand’s hedge fund, Andurand Capital, lost 15% on bullish crude oil bets. Oil was weak in July, but is up […]

Denmark Becomes Net Oil Importer For First Time In 25 Years

For the first time since 1993, Denmark is on track to become a net oil importer this year, as oil production in the Danish part of the North Sea will be lower than the country’s consumption, the Danish Energy Agency said on Thursday, revising down its oil production forecasts. The new forecast by the agency is a change from […]

wondering what will happen when the world’s resources become scarce

The global scarcity of vital resources combined with the emerging effects of climate change has the potential to unleash a tidal wave of civil unrest and conflict between nations. The inevitable wave of refugees and the resulting backlash from communities in resource rich countries is likely to eclipse current anti-immigration sentiment and will accentuate the […]

The Price of Oil.. with one comment

Crude oil is the world’s biggest and most important traded commodity. Figure 1: The chart shows the oil price (Brent) with some policies/decisions/events. The monetary and fiscal policies of the world’s largest economies, China [red text boxes] and the US [yellow text boxes] and supply events/policies [grey text boxes]. The red line shows the annual […]

World is consuming resources at an alarming rate, far quicker than our planet can replenish

Consumerism is an economic theory; it says that a progressively greater level of consumption is beneficial to consumers. Since the 1800s and the Industrial Revolution, the world has been consuming at a higher rate than ever. Consumerism is an economic theory; it says that a progressively greater level of consumption is beneficial to consumers. Since […]

Energy conservation? Trump administration says it isn’t needed

Conserving oil is no longer an economic imperative for the U.S., the Trump administration declares in a major new policy statement that threatens to undermine decades of government campaigns for gas-thrifty cars and other conservation programs. The position was outlined in a memo released last month in support of the administration’s proposal to relax fuel […]

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