Has "Peak Oil" Peaked Too Soon?

Disaster struck “Peak Oil” cheerleaders this month as Chevron announced the discovery of massive new oil reserves in the deep water of the Gulf of Mexico. “Dang it!” one expert was overheard shouting while being shepherded from MSNBC’s greenroom. “We’ve been predicting the end of oil for a century now, and it finally looked like we were right. Why won’t people just give up looking for a better future so we can all feel prophetic and important for once?”

Okay, I made up that part about MSNBC. Peak oil naysayers would never admit they were wrong or admit that the Chevron discovery is a major blow to their theory. To an optimist, the glass is half full. To a pessimist, the glass is half empty. To a peak oil theorist, the glass is hidden in the next room, but he’s sure it’s damn near empty.

Peak Oil: The Clock Is Ticking

Perhaps the most common response to the peak-oil problem is: "The oil isn't going to disappear overnight. We have a century to prepare." Unfortunately, the fact that the decline in oil is a curve, not a vertical line, makes it difficult to comprehend. What matters is that the serious damage will be done long before we get to those tiny remaining drops a century or so from now. If we look at the forecasts of Petroconsultants Corp., which produces the "bible" of oil data, we can see that in the year 2000 there were five barrels of oil per person per year, but that by 2025 there will only be about two barrels, not five. That's not an "on/off" situation, but at that point the human race should probably wave goodbye to the Oil Economy. The year 2025 is far less than a century from now.

Richard Heinberg: (post-)Hydrocarbon Aesthetics

OPEC looks to clarify oil output cuts in Doha

LONDON - OPEC members have descend on Doha for an extraordinary meeting aimed at finalizing a cut in oil output, but they must overcome divisions that damage the cartel's credibility.

SlashDot discusses that Popular Mechanics article on hydrogen: Crunching the Numbers on a Hydrogen Economy

Let's act energetically

If we ignore these trends, an energy crisis could be on the horizon for Texas. In fact, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) estimates that the current energy supply could be compromised by 2008 as reserve margins dip below acceptable levels.

Curing the World's Oil Addiction

Developing alternative energy sources now is crucial as more budding economies secure oil supplies from unsavory regimes.

EU losing faith in Russia energy charter scheme

Mexico fuel tanker blast kills 6, more feared dead

MEXICO CITY - An explosion on a fuel tanker in Mexico's Pajaritos petrochemical port complex on Tuesday killed six workers and two others were missing, feared dead, state oil monopoly Pemex said.

Mexico won't increase spending to fight poverty

Mexico must increase investment in Petroleos Mexicanos, the country's state-owned oil monopoly, in order to make existing oil reserves last as long as possible, Carstens said.

Output from Mexico's largest field, Cantarell, is forecast to decline by 8 percent in 2006 to 1.86 million barrels per day from 2.03 million barrels per day in 2005, said Vinicio Suro, deputy director of planning and evaluation for Pemex's production and exploration unit, during an Aug. 2 conference call.

Japan's Kyoto gap widens as emissions rise

Statoil Increases Production from Norne

Statoil has installed a new subsea template that ensures improved recovery on the Norne field in the Norwegian Sea. A total increase of 10 million barrels of oil is expected.

..."Statoil's ambition is to maintain a production level of one million barrels of oil equivalent per day on the Norwegian continental shelf until 2015," says Terje Overvik, executive vice president for Exploration & Production Norway.

HECO blames 3rd turbine crash for O'ahu's blackout

Hawaiian Electric Co. had enough excess power to keep O'ahu lit after earthquakes caused two generators to fail Sunday morning, but when a third, much larger, turbine crashed minutes later, it took the entire island with it.

...HECO officials said the shutdown of the islandwide system was necessary once the third generator came down to avoid permanent damage to the operating generators. If one of the other generators had been damaged, it could have led to blackouts lasting days or weeks and not hours.

[Update by Leanan on 10/18/06 at 10:55 AM EDT]

Summary of Weekly Petroleum Data for the Week Ending October 13, 2006 Oil prices rise after the weekly inventory report shows bulging crude supplies but smaller-than-expected supplies of gas and distillates.