Category: Peak Oil

According to Time Magazine, in an interview with Thomas Hoenig, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas, “Global Food prices have risen 25% this last year and many nations are starting to hoard commodities” (corn, wheat, rice etc.). Whatever the reasons for this, and I don’t understand many of them, this trend is not going to get better. One of these reason alone will sky rocket food prices in the next 10-20 years and that is described in “ Peak Oil” graphs. In very over-simplified terms, “peak Oil” means that world-wide we have reached our highest production level of oil and that from here on the availability of oil will decrease rapidly and consequently the price of oil will increase sharply. By 2030 we will have as much oil available as we had in 1970 with double the demand. Increased oil prices have already caused us to look […]

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Have we reached ‘peak food’? Shortages loom as global production rates slow thumbnail The world has entered an era of “peak food” production with an array of staples from corn and rice to wheat and chicken slowing in growth – with potentially disastrous consequences for feeding the planet. New research finds that the supply of 21 staples, such as eggs, meat, vegetables and soybeans is already beginning to run out of momentum, while the global population continues to soar. Peak chicken was in 2006, while milk and wheat both peaked in 2004 and rice peaked way back in 1988, according to new research from Yale University, Michigan State University and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research in Germany. What makes the report particularly alarming is that so many crucial sources of food have peaked in a relatively short period of history, the researchers said. “People often talk of substitution. […]

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They Really Do Want To Reduce The Population thumbnail Most Americans have absolutely no idea, but a very dark philosophy is spreading like wildfire among the global elite.  This philosophy is an obsessive belief that humanity has become a cancer that is destroying the earth.  There are now large numbers of global leaders that are convinced that the exploding population of the world has become like a virus or a plague, and that it must be combated as such.  In fact, it would be very difficult to understate just how obsessed many members of the global elite are with population control.  The United Nations puts out position papers about it, universities have entire courses dedicated to it, radical population control advocates have been appointed to some of the highest political positions in the world, and some of the wealthiest people on the planet get together just to talk about it .  Those who believe in this philosophy are constantly talking about […]

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Peak Oil Pulled a Fast One on Me thumbnail I’ll admit that I was completely caught off guard by the recent (and ongoing?) crash in oil prices. It’d be a stretch to say I’m embarrassed by my lack of foresight, although perhaps “dumb-ass” would be a bit deserving. I would say I’m well enough versed with the reality of peak oil : I’ve read perhaps a couple dozen books on the topic, poured through several of the peak oil blogs (upon deciding to end my 5-year Internet hiatus a year ago), have seen several talks given by authors and writers on the topic, and I’ve attended two Age of Limits conferences. Nevertheless, even though there were bloggers out there discussing the possible ramifications of low oil prices, its possibility still didn’t register with me. I’ll explain what I mean by that shortly, but to do that it’d be best […]

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URL: http://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_gas/a/136929/US_Supreme_Court_Rejects_BP_Executives_Appeal WASHINGTON, Jan 26 (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal by a former BP Plc executive who contested whether he can be charged with obstruction of Congress for downplaying the severity of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Prosecutors say David Rainey misled members of Congress over the amount of oil spilled in the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon incident. Rainey’s legal argument on appeal was that the government missed the deadline to file an appeal after a district court judge dismissed his obstruction charge. He was also charged with making false statements to law enforcement agents, which was not at issue in his Supreme Court appeal. He has pleaded not guilty. In June 2014, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans said a lower court judge misinterpreted the obstruction statute in dismissing the charge against Rainey, a […]

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(Reuters) – The recent rout in oil prices could delay the onset of "peak oil demand," or zero global demand growth, by around five years to beyond 2030, Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofA) said. The bank had earlier expected that the continuation of high oil prices above $100 per barrel since 2011 would result in peak oil demand by 2025 as consumers moved to smaller and more fuel efficient cars. "Eventually, high prices would have led to substitution out of oil altogether, whether towards other cheaper fossil fuels like natural gas or out of fossil fuels and towards alternatives and renewables and switched to alternative or renewable fuel," BofA said in a note on Jan. 23. It now estimates that if prices stay in the $50 to $70 per barrel range over five years, peak demand would be pushed out past 2030. Crude oil prices LCOc1 CLc1 have […]

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In the past few weeks I have received numerous questions about the role of a “drop in demand” in the oil price decline. These questions are driven by many stories in the media that have referenced a drop in demand. There are two primary reasons given for this so-called demand drop. One is that years of high oil prices have resulted in reductions in consumption through conservation and improvements in vehicle fleet efficiency. The second reason is due to the strengthening dollar, oil has become more expensive for many countries since oil is generally traded in dollars. There are elements of truth behind both reasons. There has indeed been reduced oil consumption in recent years in most developed regions of the world. It is also true that the dollar has strengthened against many currencies. But despite the rationale that explains this drop in oil consumption, ultimately the data must […]

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Saudi Arabia’s Succession Line Is Set, but the Nation’s Path Remains Uncertain thumbnail Saudi Arabia’s new king moved with unprecedented swiftness on Friday to appoint not only the heir to his throne but the heir to his heir as well. If all proceeds according to plan — as most Saudis and some analysts assume it will — the chain of succession dictated by King Salman after the death of his half brother Abdullah lays out who will be the head of state of one of the Arab world’s richest and most influential nations through the middle of this century. Such a long-term road map represented a show of confidence in the national project, especially in an era when longtime Arab leaders have been tossed out by popular revolts and neighboring states like Iraq, Yemen and Syria are breaking apart. But analysts who study Saudi Arabia say that despite the […]

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A mountain of damaged oil drums near the Exxon Refinery. Photographer: John Messina. Environmental Protection Agency. (1972) via Wikimedia Commons. (orig published at Resilience Dec 2014) What the current oil price slump means for world oil supply is starting to emerge. "Layoffs," "cutbacks," "delays," and "cancellations" are words one sees in headlines concerning the oil industry every day. That can only mean one thing in the long run: less supply later on than would otherwise have been the case. But perhaps the most important thing you need to understand about the coming oil production cutbacks is where they are going to come from, namely Canada and the United States. Why is this important? For one very simple reason. Without growth in production from these two countries, world oil production ( crude oil plus lease condensate  which is  the definition of oil ) from the first quarter of 2005 through […]

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Or, What I’ve Learned in 12 Years Writing about Energy (7000 words, about 25 minutes reading time) Folks who pay attention to energy and climate issues are regularly treated to two competing depictions of society’s energy options. * On one hand, the fossil fuel industry claims that its products deliver unique economic benefits, and that giving up coal, oil, and natural gas in favor of renewable energy sources like solar and wind will entail sacrifice and suffering ( this gives a flavor of their argument ). Saving the climate may not be worth the trouble, they say, unless we can find affordable ways to capture and sequester carbon as we continue burning fossil fuels. On the other hand, at least some renewable energy proponents tell us there is plenty of wind and sun, the fuel is free, and the only thing standing between us and a climate-protected world of […]

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