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Dmitry Orlov Peak Oil Lessons From The Soviet Union

4 Comments on "Dmitry Orlov Peak Oil Lessons From The Soviet Union" Plantagenet on Mon, 4th May 2015 1:55 pm  The Soviet Union was never at peak oil. The problem in the USSR had to do with bad economic policies and genocide and repression carried out by a totalitarian red fascist police state. sugarseam on Mon, 4th May 2015 3:43 pm  As always, you don’t appear to know what you’re talking about, Plant. Your Red Scare is showing, as is the case with most narrow-minded cons. “Red fascist.” What a laughable bastardization of language. They showed us their underbelly after the Wall fell, and predatory capitalists went in and pilfered their country to the tune of hundreds of billions (Harvard Foundation, et al). The number of times that nation has offered an olive branch since Hiroshima only to have greedy Western fascists pull the rug out is hard to […]

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Never Mind Peak Oil, What About Uneconomic Oil?

There has been a lot of attention recently to the longer term viability of global fossil fuel reserves. Due to the fall in oil, natural gas and coal prices, the FT reports this week that all the oil majors have slipped into loss as a result of of the low oil and natural gas prices. Why Manufacturers Need to Ditch Purchase Price Variance That’s not the reason for the viability questions, though, that attention is due more as a result of future climate change legislation raising the cost of carbon-based fuels. Another article leads with comments made by Glencore Plc ’s chief executive, Ivan Glasenberg, in the company’s recent sustainability report. Glencore’s Bullish Reacting to investor concerns (not just at Glencore but at all energy companies) he is quoted as saying “Although climate change issues are part of the political, societal and regulatory landscape, we do not believe that […]

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Why the World’s Appetite for Oil Will Peak Soon

Photo: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg News When it comes to oil demand, the conventional wisdom is clear: Population growth and a rising global middle class guarantee that demand—and prices—will rise over the coming decades. It is a story line that is almost universally accepted by investors, governments and industry alike. But like many such consensus views, it is one that should be treated with caution. The world’s economy is experiencing transformational changes that, I believe, will dramatically alter patterns of energy use over the next 20 years. Exponential gains in industrial productivity, software-assisted logistics, rapid urbanization, increased political turmoil in key regions of the developing world, and large bets on renewable energy are among the many factors that will combine to slow the previous breakneck growth for oil. The result, in my opinion, is as startling as it is world-changing: Global oil demand will peak within the next two decades. A […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Oil Prices Slip on Strengthening Dollar

NEW YORK—Oil prices ticked lower Monday on a stronger dollar and weak Chinese manufacturing data. Light, sweet crude for June delivery settled down 22 cents, or 0.4%, at $58.93 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent, the global benchmark, fell a penny to $66.45 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe. The WSJ Dollar Index, which tracks the dollar against a basket of other currencies, recently rose 0.2%. A stronger dollar makes oil—which is traded in dollars—more expensive to buyers using foreign currencies. China’s manufacturing sector posted its weakest performance in a year in April, according to the widely watched HSBC Purchasing Managers Index. China is the second-largest oil-consuming nation, behind the U.S. China’s oil demand grew by 7.7% in the first quarter compared with the year before, the biggest quarterly increase since 2012, according to Barclays. But “we think the slowing economy will continue to affect demand […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Brent crude slips towards $66 on Saudi plan to halt Yemen bombing

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Brent crude oil futures slipped towards $66 a barrel on Tuesday, falling from a 2015 high, as Saudi Arabia considered halting bombing in Yemen to allow the delivery of aid, which eased concerns about oil supply from the Middle East. A stronger U.S. dollar also weighed on the dollar-denominated commodity, while investors waited for data on U.S. commercial crude oil inventories later this week for more direction. Brent crude oil futures were down 17 cents at $66.28 a barrel at 0640 GMT, after touching a 2015 high of $67.10 on Monday. U.S. crude oil futures fell by 12 cents to $58.81 a barrel. "The stronger U.S. dollar and also news out of Saudi Arabia that they are halting the bombings in Yemen are two push-pull factors affecting the oil prices at the moment," said Ben Le Brun, a market analyst at OptionsXpress in Sydney. The Saudi […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Natural-Gas Futures Extend Rally

By Christian Berthelsen Natural-gas futures rose for the fifth straight session, driven by expectations that a heat wave along the East Coast in the coming days could drive power plant demand to generate electricity for air conditioning. The front-month June natural gas contract rose 4.5 cents, or 1.6%, to settle at $2.821 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was the market’s highest settlement since March 18. Prices have gained more than 13% since setting a new 52-week low just a week ago. Weather forecasts say the Northeast and Eastern Seaboard are set to be hit with much-above normal temperatures until the middle of the month, before settling back to more seasonal levels in the second half. With more power plants switching to natural gas as a source fuel for generation, that could mean a spike in gas demand as people run air conditioners […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Brent inches towards $67, despite weak China factory activity

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Brent crude edged towards $67 a barrel on Monday, reversing earlier losses after weak Chinese data reinforced views that stimulus measures would be rolled out for the world’s second largest economy. China, the world’s second-largest oil consumer, posted its biggest drop in factory activity in a year to 48.9 in April, a private business survey showed on Monday. The sub-50 point level indicates a contraction compared with the previous month. The data came on the heels of a top government think tank’s forecast that China’s economic growth could slow further to 6.8 percent in the second quarter. "The Chinese data is weaker but it seems the oil market has had a limited reaction. What the market really wants to see is supply being cut to match the demand level," said Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at Sydney’s CMC Markets. Oil supplies from the Organization of the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Saudi Arabia restructures oil giant Aramco

DUBAI/KHOBAR, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia is restructuring the world’s biggest energy company, Saudi Aramco [SDABO.UL], in a move apparently aimed at letting it operate more at arm’s length from the powerful oil ministry. Analysts expected technocrats to get a freer hand in running the state-owned giant. Some said the restructuring might be the first step in a shake-up of the Saudi energy sector, and could possibly pave the way for a prince to take over the ministry itself, which is traditionally run by industry experts rather than members of the royal family. Citing unnamed sources, Saudi-owned Al Arabiya TV reported on Friday that Aramco would be separated from the oil ministry of the top OPEC member. Aramco officials could not be immediately reached for comment but Arabiya’s reports closely reflect official thinking. Mohammad Al Sabban, a former senior adviser to oil minister Ali al-Naimi, said the move […]

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Iran Nuclear Talks Open a Tangled Path to Ending Syria’s War

Photo Staffan de Mistura, left, the United Nations envoy for Syria, meeting in Damascus in February with the Syrian deputy foreign minister, Faisal Mekdad, in an effort to halt fighting in Aleppo. Credit Louai Beshara/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images UNITED NATIONS — Wearing pinstripes and a pince-nez, Staffan de Mistura, the United Nations envoy for Syria , arrived at the Security Council one Tuesday afternoon in February and announced that President Bashar al-Assad had agreed to halt airstrikes over Aleppo. Would the rebels, Mr. de Mistura suggested, agree to halt their shelling? What he did not announce, but everyone knew by then, was that the Assad government had begun a military offensive to encircle opposition-held enclaves in Aleppo and that fierce fighting was underway. It would take only a few days for rebel leaders, having pushed back Syrian government forces, to outright reject Mr. de Mistura’s proposed freeze in […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Iran yanks gas contract from India

Iranian media said a natural gas development deal with India was refused after years of delays tied in part to sanctions. File Photo by UPI/Maryam Rahmanian. TEHRAN, May 4 (UPI) — The Iranian government said it was frustrated with delays from companies in India and pulled a deal for the development of a gas field off Iran’s coast. The semiofficial Fars News Agency reported Saturday a delegation from New Delhi was in Tehran in late April to discuss development of the offshore Farzad-B natural gas field. The press service said the field holds an estimated 13 trillion cubic feet of gas, though has not been pursued seriously by the Indian side since talks began in 2009. Citing Oil Ministry sources, Fars said an Indian package was turned down because of lingering project delays. The report blamed international sanctions targeting Iran’s energy sector as one of the reasons for the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple