It seems like BP's 2007 energy report came out in June last year. Perhaps the 2008 report (showing 2007 data) will be out shortly.

I noticed in looking at the report that Iran has been a net importer of natural gas for several years. Also, Russia's natural gas exports have been approximately flat for quite a few years. If they add lots of new pipelines, will there be more gas to go around?

Wow. I knew that Iran was importing gas. I didn't realize that they were a net importer. I frequently cite the Iranian gas situation this past winter as an example of the Export Land Model (ELM).

Turkmenistan cut off natural gas to Iran. Iran cut off gas to Turkey. Turkey cut off gas to Greece.

The gas did not go to the high bidders, and the various countries did not offer to share; they offered a middle finger salute to the export markets, basically taking the position that "Your stinking money is no good; you can't have any gas."

My premise is that the price of energy (and increasingly food) is being set at the margin as importers bid for the volume of food & energy that "escapes" into the export market.

Interesting that Iran is on the wrong side of the export/import equation regarding natural gas. Turkmenistan has doubled the price of natural gas:

http://www.jamestown.org/edm/article.php?article_id=2373014

BP 2008 was out today...shows decline in global output...

was out today - check bp website