The Oil Drum

Iran Cuts Gas Supplies To Turkey To Meet Domestic Demand

Iranian authorities say the country has stopped supplying natural gas to neighboring Turkey in order to meet growing demand at home this winter, Radio Farda reports.

Iranian Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri Hamaneh said he had apologized to Turkey's energy minister but added that he hoped the opening of a major gas refinery in Iran's southern Fars Province by the end of this week would help solve the problem.

Eleven of Iran's provinces are currently facing gas shortages, including some of the coldest areas like Kurdistan, Zanjan, and East and West Azerbaijan, according to Radio Farda.

An interview with Subdivided filmmaker Dean Terry

There was a higher and higher crime rate over there, constantly, and the response is, you know, more security systems, big bars on the windows, instead of what like Robert Putnam says, the leading social scientist in this whole area, who I interviewed - he has this thing in there, the number one determiner for the crime rate is how many people in the neighborhood know each others' first names. Not how many police, not how many alarms - we need to figure out ways to strengthen our community bonds, rather than figure out ways to create higher walls and more gates and all those kinda things. It just doesn't work: all you do is lock yourself in and become more fearful, and what you really should be striving for is to be more open to each other, rather than more closed.

Most widely read at PeakOil.com 2006

Here are the best read stories from Peakoil.com newsboards throughout 2006. Stories have been arranged according to month, to counterbalance the advantage older stories might have over newer ones. Unforunately, it should be noted that stories may not always be available at their original sources anymore.

Nevertheless, the list makes for an interesting, let's say, undulating plateau between hope (biggest ever oil field off US coast), disbelief (CERA: "Peak Oil" theory is wrong) and despair (Fiscal crisis for Mexico as oil starts to dry up).

The peak oil story during 2006

Key factors behind 2006’s production reality (using O&GJ data):

• Depletion continues to overwhelm new production in the North Sea (-9.6%);

• Most regions were flat (Asia-Pacific +0.6%, Africa -0.2%, Western Hemisphere -0.4%);

• Only Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union increased substantially (+4.3%);

• OPEC increased 0.7%, though production in Iran and Saudi Arabia declined; Iran has genuine production problems, while Saudi Arabia claims they cut production voluntarily.

So the key question here: have we reached peak production? We maintain that it’s too early to tell. ASPO-USA won’t be surprised if production of total liquids increases moderately over the next few years. However, for that to occur, we would expect that some disturbing recent trends-from geologic limits to nationalism and geopolitics-would have to slow if not reverse. But more importantly, we assert that the combination of difficulties posed by peak oil production are sufficiently challenging that we should act on that information now rather than delaying action based on hopes offered by optimists.

The Top Renewable Energy Stories of 2006

OPEC Output Cut Seen as Key to Oil Prices in 2007

For oil traders returning to trading pits on Wednesday, the new year begins with something that hasn't preoccupied them in years: OPEC production cuts.

Enlarged Membership to Boost OPEC's Clout on Oil Market

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) started enlargement for the first time in over 30 years by admitting Angola at the beginning of 2007, and was poised to tighten the cartel's grip on world oil market.

The Fat Lady Hasn’t Sung

The $20 drop has given consumers a false sense that the parabolic rise in oil prices is over. This couldn't be further from the truth. While it's likely we'll continue to see some weakness in the sector over the next few months, the long-term fundamentals are still in place that could propel oil prices over the magical $100 mark.

Peak oil and healthcare

America’s healthcare predicament will be resolved in the context of the worldwide energy emergency idiomatically known as “peak oil.”

Europe Wary of Implications of Sakhalin Loan

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is likely to abandon a loan to Sakhalin II, the huge energy project in the far east of Russia, after Royal Dutch Shell PLC and its two partners were forced to sell a 50% stake in the venture to Russian natural-gas giant OAO Gazprom. The European development bank -- set up in 1991 by Western governments to support the private sector in former Communist states making the transition to a free market economy -- had planned to lend Sakhalin II about $300 million.

Crude Oil and Natural Gas reserves divided between two superpower blocks - third world war over underwater reserves?

Within OPEC there are pro-American group and anti-American group. As oil and gas needs rise in coming years, Russia and anti-American OPEC groups will join hands. That may include Venezuela, Iran and so on. There will be two distinct groups under two superpower blocks. First the pro-American Western and Middle Eastern group of nation. Then there will Russia led block of countries.

South Korea’s trade surplus shrinks sharply in 2006

SEOUL –– South Korea posted a 28 percent drop in its trade surplus last year despite record-high exports, the government said Monday.

...Imports were fueled by high energy and raw material prices, it said.

Nigeria: OPS Raises Alarm On Fuel Prices

The Organised Private Sector (OPS) yesterday raised alarm over current high cost of petroleum products resulting from acute scarcity warning that the trend if unchecked would spell doom for the industrial sector and private businesses.

Iraq Government Focusing on Rebuilding Oil Industry

Oil sector continues to miss opportunities

KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) made a mistake when it missed several good investment opportunities and disposed of its productive centers in 2006, says oil expert Hajjaj Bukhadour.

One of the most important shortcomings faced by the oil sector in 2006 was the decline in the level of maintenance of oil installations in spite of the millions of dinars spent for this purpose, he adds.

2007 Could Be The Year of Biomethane

Biomethane, chemically the same as natural gas yet available from essentially any kind of organic waste, is emerging as a viable renewable alternative to fossil fuels.

Australia: Minister explores tidal power

France OKs Biofuel

Biofuels have been approved for commercial sale in France as of 1 January 2007, says the French Finance Ministry. The plan calls for new pumps to be installed at between 500 and 600 points of sale before the end of the year. According to Le Monde, "green fuel" containing up to 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline should be available in "stations-service classiques" by September.

The New Energy Debates: Will the new Congress act to change our disastrous energy policy?

James Kunstler: Forecast For the Year Ahead

The major trend on the oil scene the past 12 months is the apparent inability of the world to lift total production above 85 million barrels a day — with demand now rising above that line. It is unclear how much more demand destruction will come out of the Third World before bidding intensifies between the developed nations. One commentator in particular, Dallas geologist Jeffrey Brown — a frequent contributor on the web's best oil debate site, TheOilDrum.com — is advancing the idea that we are entering an oil export crisis that will presage a more general permanent world-wide oil emergency. Brown holds that the major oil exporting nations are using so much of their own product, because of rising populations, that their net exports are falling at an alarming rate, perhaps as much as 9 percent annually

Heating costs forecast to drop

Home heating bills this month will drop 10 percent below January 2006, despite expectations that customers will use more natural gas to combat a colder winter this year, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. said Tuesday.

The San Francisco-based utility said its customers can expect to save $12.37 on average. It credited long-term purchasing contracts that avoid price spikes and its pipeline and storage capacity for helping keep prices down.

New Zealand: Commissioner calls for more local power

Promoting local and small-scale generation would bring "greater resilience" to New Zealand's electricity system at a time when climate change and fears over peak oil had heightened concerns about the security of supplies.

"Peak Oil" Despair Versus Energy Innovation

In fine Seattle fashion, the group wants to dialog about "the emotional, spiritual and philosophical ramifications of life-altering resource scarcities." That may yield ambient methane, but developing real energy alternatives take systematic innovation and capital, not vegan potluck hand-wringing. One entirely more more constructive approach is plug-in hybrid vehicles which run on conventional fuel and electricity stored during off-peak down times.

Nabors warns profit to miss estimates

Nabors Industries Ltd. warned on Wednesday its fourth-quarter earnings would fall short of Wall Street estimates as weakening gas prices cooled demand for its drilling rigs.

Animal fats touted as future fuel source

DEXTER, Mo. - Jerry Bagby is typical of the oil men who are prospecting for a fortune in the Midwestern biofuels boom. He's convinced there's oil in these hills — and he's found a well that no one else is using.

Bagby and a longtime friend have cobbled together $5 million to build a new biodiesel plant on the lonely croplands outside this southeast Missouri town. They're betting they can hit paydirt by exploiting a generally overlooked natural resource that's abundant in these parts — chicken fat.