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Collapse: The Post-peak Narrative

Page added on December 6, 2013 A consensus appears to have been reached that the world’s production of conventional oil peaked in recent years. And to many observers, it means that from this time forward the supply of oil and natural gas, along with peaking coal and uranium, will decrease toward zero, leaving global Industrial Culture without the precious energy that made that culture possible. With such a precipitous future awaiting the Industrial Tribe, it is curious that one does not hear much about declining energy supplies in the mainstream media. Instead, we are bombarded daily with the “Industrial Progressive Narrative” (Princen et al , 2013), a comforting meme that portrays society as having ever-more energy resources that will drive never-ending growth into the future: “This month Continental Resources told investors that the [Bakken Formation] contains enough recoverable oil to double the official count of U.S. reserves and enough […]

Posted On : Published By : ASPO-USA
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Noam Chomsky on Peak Oil

Page added on December 6, 2013 Peak oil is the point in time when the maximum rate of petroleum extraction is reached, after which the rate of production is expected to enter terminal decline. Global production of oil fell from a high point in 2005 at 74 mb/d, but has since rebounded setting new records in both 2011 and 2012. There is active debate as to when global peak oil will occur, how to measure peak oil, and whether peak oil production will be supply or demand driven. The aggregate production rate from an oil field over time usually grows until the rate peaks and then declines—sometimes rapidly—until the field is depleted. This concept is derived from the Hubbert curve, and has been shown to sometimes be applicable to the sum of a nation’s domestic production rate, and similarly to the global rate of petroleum production. However, the discovery […]

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Transition Town: A Tonic for the Peak Oil Blues

The term “Peak oil” warns of the end of cheap and plentiful energy. An expanding world population of 6.5 billion suggests a limit for growth will eventually be reached (if it hasn’t been already) and no combination of current alternative energy sources will sustain the world’s accelerating thirst for power. As oil production inevitably declines and resources become scarce, the world faces a turbulent descent. We depend on a globalized economy that is completely reliant on ready supplies of this non-renweable resource. But envisioning a life without the luxuries afforded by abundant oil can quickly lead one to denial. It’s much easier to absolve our responsibility to some higher authority – the government, the oil companies, technology, God. The exact tipping point in world oil production cannot be plotted exactly until a clear decline can be seen, by which time it will be too late. Experts analyzing this situation […]

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Brent Rebounds as Supply Fears Ease

Oil futures are mixed Friday, with Brent crude regaining some ground late in Asian trade as prices recovered after two straight days of losses due to profit-taking and as concerns over supply eased. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in January traded at $97.36 a barrel at 0636 GMT, down $0.02 in the Globex electronic session. January Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange rose $0.37 to $111.35 a barrel. U.S. crude prices have been supported this week on news that oil inventories fell for the first time in 11 weeks, as refiners in the key Gulf Coast region boosted crude-oil processing by 6.7% last week to a record high of 8.56 million barrels a day. Brent meanwhile settled lower for the second straight day Thursday as the European Central Bank reduced its inflation outlook and held rates steady, said ANZ Research. It […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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WTI Oil Heads for Biggest Weekly Gain Since July on U.S. Growth

West Texas Intermediate oil headed for the biggest weekly gain in five months as the U.S. economy posted the fastest growth since the start of 2012 and crude stockpiles shrank. Futures fluctuated in New York after climbing 0.2 percent yesterday to cap a five-day advance, the longest rising streak since August. U.S. gross domestic product expanded at a 3.6 percent annual rate in the third quarter, the Commerce Department said yesterday. Crude inventories declined for the first time in 11 weeks, government data showed this week. “The immediate focus for oil traders will now be the U.S. dollar and the non-farm payroll figure,” said Ric Spooner, a chief analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney who predicts investors may sell West Texas contracts as prices approach $100 a barrel. “WTI now looks to be embarked on a correction of the medium-term move down.” WTI for January delivery was at $97.45 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Natural Gas Hits Six-Month High After Inventory Report

Natural gas prices surged to a six-month intraday high after a closely watched government report showed demand for natural gas was stronger than expected last week. Natural gas for January delivery was recently up $1.08, or 2.73%, to $4.068 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest intraday price since May 30. The Energy Information Administration reported natural gas stockpiles fell by 162 billion cubic feet in the week ended Nov. 29. Analysts and traders had expected a 144-bcf draw, according to a Wall Street Journal survey. Stocks stood at 3.614 trillion cubic feet as of Nov. 29, the lowest inventory level for that time of year since 2008. The current storage levels are 5.2% below the exceptionally high year-ago level and 2.8% below the five-year average for the week. Stocks haven’t been below the five-year average since July 26. Temperatures were […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Al-Qaida claims responsibility for attacks in Yemen

SANAA, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) — Al-Qaida claimed responsibility for Thursday’s attacks on Yemen’s defense ministry, which has left 52 people killed and more than 167 injured. Al-Qaida claimed the deadest attack in Yemen in 18 months on its Twitter account, saying it targeted the defense ministry complex because it “proved that it accommodates drone control rooms and American experts.” It said any security institutions that facilitate the United States against al-Qaida are “legitimate targets.” Yemen’s supreme security committee released a statement on Thursday night confirmed the number of casualty. Among the dead are soldiers and civilians, including two aid workers from Germany, two doctors from Vietnam, two nurses from the Philippines and a nurse from India, it said. Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi held a meeting with the chief of staff inside the defense ministry compound after the attack, and he ordered an immediate investigation into the incident and […]

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Kashagan Gas-Leak Probe Finds More Potential Problems

An investigation into a gas leak that closed Kazakhstan’s vast Kashagan oil field less than a month after it first started pumping crude found has more potentially problematic locations along an onshore gas pipeline, raising fears of further delays to the $40 billion project. A prolonged halt at Kashagan, which has been plagued by years of delays and cost overruns, could be a drag on the finances of the consortium behind the project, which includes Exxon Mobil Corp. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Gulf of Mexico, Mediterranean yield successes for Noble

Noble Energy Inc. announced it made an oil discovery in the U.S. waters of the Gulf of Mexico and a gas discovery off the Israeli coast. Noble, which has headquarters in Texas, said it encountered a 120-foot column of oil while drilling a discovery well in the Dantzler prospect in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The company said the discovery may hold more than 55 million barrels of oil equivalent. Off the Israeli coast, the company said a well in the Tamar Southwest prospect encountered more than 350 feet of natural gas. Noble said it estimated the gross resources of the field to be more than 640 billion cubic feet of natural gas. Tamar Southwest is located about 8 miles away from the Tamar field, one of the most substantial natural gas fields in the Mediterranean Sea. “These new discoveries, combined […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple