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46 comments on What are Chevron and Shell trying to tell us

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Dave Cohen on November 7, 2005 - 2:45pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
That would be "clueless twits" like Michael Lynch, Daniel Yergin (CERA), Lee R. Raymond (ExxonMobil), Steven Levitt (Freakonomics), Alan Greenspan, Claude Mandil (IEA), Ali Al-Naimi (Saudi Oil Minister), Peter Huber, every member of Congress except Roscoe Bartlett, the USGS, the EIA, Samuel Bodman (US Energy Secretary), etc.

So, I think our work is cut out for us.
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MikeCotton on November 7, 2005 - 2:58pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
I'm pretty sure Lee Raymond knows exactly what's happening.  He knows Exxon is good at oil, and pretty much not good at anything else.  So he's going to let other people spend the R&D dollars and make the mistakes, and when he sees a renewable solution that meets his ROI requirements, he'll be sitting on the world's largest stack of cash.  

He's just keeping his powder dry.

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TJ on November 7, 2005 - 4:28pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
He's going to wait a long time.  I thought there is no renewable that has the ROI of just sticking a pipe into the ground.  After peak oil you actually going to have to spend money to make money.
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step back on November 7, 2005 - 5:47pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
"clueless twits" like Michael Lynch, Daniel Yergin (CERA), ...

I do not think it is fair to engage in name calling against all these people.

Some of them may have good intentions in their hearts.

The problem may be that they may lack proper "education" in in areas of science and how the world actually works.

The problem may be that some of them have been indoctrinated into the cult beliefs of the "economists" --that "supply" is a given and that people will "trade" in civilized manner rather than at the point of a gun.

If you think back to your higher education days, you may remember that not everyone enrolled in the "Rocket Scientist" program.

Maybe that Intro to Physics course convinced them they were going to pursue other interests or maybe the decision was made when they hit trigonometry in high school. I'm not making fun here. Hey, not everyone is a John Steinbeck either. We each have a limited set of talents.

Peak Oil is a fairly complicated subject to understand in full. It brings into play all sorts of tehnical and nontechnical issues. So here at TOD we some of the folks arguing over whether deep earth esterfication occurs in the presence of metal oxides (abioitc oil) and some folks arguing politics and some delving into the surreal world of economics.

It is kind of like rocket science.
You shouldn't t curse at folks  like Yergin, Greenspan and all just for not fully appreciating every aspect.

We are all here to learn.

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Dave Cohen on November 7, 2005 - 6:35pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
"We are all here to learn"--Yes, we are all here at TOD to learn ;)

"clueless twits" -- I was quoting Lou. I myself would never call anyone that. I prefer terms like "myopic", which means "people who have their head up their ass".
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louGrinzo on November 7, 2005 - 6:41pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Sorry for the "clueless twits" comment, everyone.  I was speaking sarcastically, probably more so than I should have.  It's one of the "cult beliefs" we economists hold dear, you know... <g>
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mikeB on November 8, 2005 - 7:15am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Sorry, I don't share your charity toward these folks and their intentions.

I'm a mere English professor, yet I can clearly grasp all the details of peak oil and economic theory without a good basis in math.

All the men cited above are far more educated and experienced than I am.

I'm tempted to call them cynical monsters, but I won't.

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LevinK on November 8, 2005 - 1:17pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Oh, please don't, that might heart someone's feelings.

My temptation is to call these guys the inevitable (self)delusional result of contemporary neocolonialism. The same voodoo economics practiced over the third world now being projected upon us so that we stay in the Matrix... obviously we are supposed to be the next third world. Ironical isn't it?

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