Undeterred By Peak Oil, Saudis Look To Become World’s Largest Oil Trader

Saudi Arabia’s state oil giant Aramco says that it doesn’t believe all the ‘peak oil demand hype’ and expects that its crude oil will be in high demand for decades to come. While the Kingdom says that it’s working on the Vision 2030 strategy to diversify its economy away from oil, the Saudis and their […]

Why Resources Aren’t ‘Natural’ and Will Never Run Out

Last week, the World Wildlife Fund proclaimed May 10 to be Europe’s “Overshoot Day,” the day that Europe consumed its portion of Earth’s resources for the year. The WWF, the United Nations, and universities continue to warn that modern society is rapidly depleting our natural resources. But instead, trends show that for all practical purposes, […]

IEA Cuts Oil Demand Growth Forecast

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has cut its oil demand growth forecast for 2019 to 1.3 million barrels per day (MMbpd) in its latest oil market report. The alteration marks the first change to the IEA’s 2019 demand outlook for several months. Prior to the cut, the IEA’s oil demand growth forecast for 2019 stood […]

Europe Bailed Out by Cheap LNG

In the Netherlands, once Europe’s largest natural gas supplier, one of the big questions is how to deal with declining production and increasing reliance on imports. For hundreds of energy traders, utility executives and analysts gathering in Amsterdam this week for the Flame Conference, the Netherlands epitomizes the European energy security situation. Whether through pipelines […]

A Food Crisis Is Here: Trouble For Farmers In The Corn Belt

Trouble is brewing for farmers in the United States located in the “corn belt.”  Corn is fed to the animals much of the country consumes, so without it, we are staring a food crisis right in the face. Corn planting is already behind on schedule. The weather in the United States has made farming difficult […]

Why Your Gasoline Won’t Take You As Far As it Used To

Over the weekend, I saw a passing reference on Twitter to the declining energy content of gasoline. Intuitively I know this to be correct for reasons I discuss below. But the poster linked to data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) that I hadn’t previously seen. The EIA doesn’t directly tabulate the energy content of gasoline. […]

Michael Lynch: How Two Nobel Prize-Winning Economists Got Oil Wrong

My recent book details the numerous mistakes made by many experts—real and apparent—about the oil market and oil prices, and this post will point to two in particular (the latter of which did not appear in the book).  Robert Solow and Paul Krugman are both M.I.T. professors of economics (Krugman only for a time) and […]

What Happens to Abandoned Malls?

Interior of the abandoned Wayne Hills Mall in Wayne, New Jersey John Arehart / Shutterstock In a report last week from Fort Wayne, Indiana, I noted what I considered the mid-century tragedy of big, sprawling, “modern” shopping malls displacing historic downtowns, only to become bankrupt eyesores after the malls’ few decades of fashionability had passed. […]

IPCC Demands Peak Oil Now

Guest hyperbole by David Middleton Definition of Hyperbole Hyperbole, derived from a Greek word meaning “over-casting,” is a figure of speech that involves an exaggeration of ideas for the sake of emphasis. Literary Devices IPCC demands Peak Oil now = hyperbole… Or does it? Article / April 23, 2019 OVEREXPOSED The IPCC’s report on 1.5°C and the risks of […]

Russian Oil to Parts of Europe Suspended

Russian oil flows to parts of Europe were halted after customers complained of unusual impurities in the crude, adding another disruption to the global oil market and pushing prices in London above $75 a barrel. Poland, which receives oil through a northern section of the giant Druzhba pipeline, stopped Russian imports, saying shipments have become […]

What Oil Shortage? Just a Case of Supply Being Redistributed

Last April, Iran exported about 2.5 million barrels of oil per day (mbpd) before President Donald Trump decided to withdraw from the nuclear deal with Tehran. Sanctions were then placed on Iran, but following great opposition from Iran’s key customers, namely China and India, the U.S. granted “waivers” to allow some exports of Iranian crude. […]

The Firm Floor Under Oil Prices

The continued slowdown of US shale production and the looming deadline for Iran sanctions waivers have put a floor under oil prices this week Friday, April 19, 2019 Oil held steady at the close of the week, with a slowdown in U.S. shale and the looming deadline for a decision on Iran sanctions waivers putting […]

Saudi Aramco’s Quest to Become the World’s Biggest Oil Consumer

Saudi Aramco is well known as the world’s top crude exporter. If all goes to plan, it may also become the biggest user of the fossil fuel. More than a third of Aramco’s oil is currently fed into its fully-owned and joint venture refineries, according to its bond prospectus. The company plans to double its […]

The true feasibility of moving away from fossil fuels

One of the great misconceptions of our time is the belief that we can move away from fossil fuels if we make suitable choices on fuels. In one view, we can make the transition to a low-energy economy powered by wind, water, and solar. In other versions, we might include some other energy sources, such […]

The Skeleton In The Electric Car Closet

The number of electric vehicles is increasing rapidly, but at great human cost. You probably have not heard anything other than praise for electric cars in the mainstream media. They are sexy and environmentally friendly too, we are told. The first may be true, but not the latter. Batteries are not good for the environment, and their […]

Why Oil Prices Rallied 30% This Year

Oil prices gained around 30 percent in the first quarter this year, with both WTI and Brent posting their best quarterly performance in a decade—since the second quarter of 2009. At the start of the second quarter of 2019, WTI Crude had already topped $60 last week and has been trading above that level in […]

The World Economy Is A Pyramid Scheme

The world economy is based on ever-increasing population, said Nobel laureate Steven Chu, a scheme that economists don’t talk about and that governments won’t face, a scheme that makes sustainability impossible and that is likely to eventually fail. “The world needs a new model of how to generate a rising standard of living that’s not dependent […]

The New World Disorder – Global Population Crisis

According to Peter Zeihan, the geopolitical strategist who has predicted global chaos in the wake of the collapse of the post-WWII multi-lateral world, it is now clear that the least understood component of global trade is agricultural production and its delicate and highly unstable distribution chain. As global systems are now at risk, a huge […]

Paul Krugman: Should We Worry About the Slowing Economy?

Last year looked like the time when President Trump had delivered on his promises to strengthen the economy. His tax cuts appeared to juice growth above 3 percent, a pace the United States had not topped since 2005. But on Thursday the Commerce Department revised 2018 growth downward to below 3 percent, even as forecasts […]

The world’s reliance on wheat threatens food security

Global farming practices – dominated by wheat, corn and rice – are playing havoc with the preservation of wildlife and putting food security at further risk, according to a new report by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The lack of variety in agriculture is both bad for nature and a threat to food security. According […]

Oil Declines as Trump Pushes OPEC to Boost Production

Oil extended declines after President Donald Trump renewed his criticism on OPEC, saying the cartel should lift crude production. Futures in New York dropped as much as 2 percent, after falling 0.9 percent on Wednesday. It’s “very important” that OPEC increases the flow of crude as prices are “getting too high,” Trump said on Twitter. […]

Global oil demand could peak by 2030

Oil and metals trading house Trafigura expects global oil demand to peak as early as 2030, hit potentially by a faster-than-expected take-up of electric vechiles as the shift to cleaner energy gains pace, its CEO Jeremy Weir said Tuesday. The Swiss trader sees oil demand starting to “plateau out” with reduced growth rates from 2025, […]

Oil prices hit by worries of sharp economic slowdown

Oil prices slipped on Monday, with concerns of a sharp economic slowdown overshadowing support from tighter supply due to OPEC’s production cuts and US sanctions on Iran and Venezuela. Brent crude oil futures were down $0.36, or 0.54%, at $66.67 per barrel at 1200 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures were at $58.75 […]

More shale, who cares? Saudi Arabia pushes for at least $70 oil

Budget needs are forcing Saudi Arabia to push for oil prices of at least $70 per barrel this year, industry sources say, even though U.S. shale oil producers could benefit and Riyadh’s share of global crude markets might be further eroded. FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump welcomes Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman […]

Politics, Productivity & Population: Why The Chinese Economy Flew and India’s Just Grew

The two countries have roughly the same population, similar average unemployment rates and current GDP growth rates that are among the highest in the world. Yet China’s economy is almost five times larger than India’s. The GDP per capita for China and India in 1985 was approximately $293 per person. According to 2017 data from […]

Oil Hits 2019 High on Biggest U.S. Crude Storage Drop

Oil closed at a new high for the year in New York after the biggest withdrawal of crude in U.S. storage tanks since July signaled further tightening supplies. Futures gained 1.4 percent on Wednesday after a 9.59 million-barrel decline in American oil stockpiles reported by the government exceeded analysts’ expectations. U.S. crude exports were near […]

This man will eat only what he can grow or forage

Orlando, Florida – Standing curb-side, about a block away from a congested intersection, Rob Greenfield is counting grapefruits—over a baker’s dozen he plucked from a nearby tree. He’s more than a hundred days into a year-long experiment in which he will forage or grow 100 percent of his food. On this particular day, Greenfield’s grapefruit […]

IEA Warns Of Looming Oil Market Deficit

Production outages and Iran and Venezuela will tip the global oil market into a shortage during the second quarter, the International Energy Agency said in the new edition of its monthly Oil Market Report. This will happen against the background of steadily rising demand despite a slowdown during the last quarter of 2018, the agency […]

Machinery for a post collapse world

  Discuss this article at the Doomsteading Table Inside the Diner   Welcome to my kick off post. I find it the height of arrogance to blog as I claim no mastery in the subjects that interest me most. I’m a greenie, a builder, a single dad, an alternative energy enthusiast, a gardener, and deeply […]

Why aren’t there battery powered airplanes or flying cars?

Preface.  Batteries are too heavy for airplanes to get off the ground. These two articles explain that in further detail. Alice Friedemann   www.energyskeptic.com  author of “When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and the Future of Transportation”, 2015, Springer and “Crunch! Whole Grain Artisan Chips and Crackers”. Podcasts: Derrick Jensen, Practical Prepping, KunstlerCast 253, KunstlerCast278, Peak Prosperity […]

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