DrumBeat: July 5, 2006
Posted by threadbot on July 5, 2006 - 9:40am
Topic: Miscellaneous
Kuwait’s opposition alliance, which swept to victory in parliamentary elections on June 30th, will reject a government plan to raise oil production capacity in the light of reports that the country’s reserves are half the official figure, a leading opposition MP said.“We will work to introduce key changes to the government oil policy in a bid to halt plans that aim to raise oil production, because such plans are unnecessary,” liberal MP Abdullah Al Nibari said.
A group of lawmakers in the previous parliament had submitted a bill that would limit Kuwait’s annual production to 1% of proven reserves.
Based on official reserve figures this would freeze Kuwait’s production at 2.5 million barrels per day (bpd), scuppering its plans for a massive production increase.
But if lower, more conservative figures are taken into account—as some opposition leaders want to—then Kuwait would have to halve its current production, which would drive world prices higher.
Jesse Jackson Leads Anti-BP March
High energy costs hurting industry in the U.K.
Mayo Clinic collides with coal trains.
The search for alternatives is heating up...
In the U.S.: Search for New Oil Sources Leads to Processed Coal
In Indonesia, they're making biodiesel out of palm oil. But it can't compete with subsidized petroleum, and environmentalists see it as an excuse to log the rainforest.
In Vietnam, they're making biodiesel out of catfish.
The U.S. is soon to be a A nation of 300 million.
The USA is closing in on a milestone that seemed unthinkable 25 years ago. Sometime in mid-October, we will become a nation of 300 million Americans.We will then embark on a relatively quick journey to 400 million. Target date: around 2040.
How did this young country get so big so quickly? Immigration, longevity, a relatively high birth rate and economic stability all have propelled the phenomenal growth. The nation has added 100 million people since 1967 to become the world's third-most populous country after China and India. It's growing faster than any other industrialized nation.
Update [2006-7-5 10:12:46 by Leanan]: Ex-Enron chief Kenneth Lay dead of heart attack.
Update [2006-7-5 11:51:52 by Leanan]: Oil rigs leaving Gulf of Mexico, driving up prices
Oil rigs are leaving the Gulf of Mexico in record numbers, threatening to put upward pressure on U.S. oil and natural gas prices, according to a report published Wednesday.Drilling companies are increasingly signing long-term deals with oil firms to send their rigs to more promising drilling regions overseas, said the Wall Street Journal.
Go north, young man: Canada taps tough-to-obtain oil
Oil sands development is both more difficult and labor intensive than conventional oil drilling....As development accelerates, Canadian companies expect to exhaust domestic supplies of trained oil-industry craftsmen.
"I believe we will be drawing on the American workforce. Americans have the skills to build these projects," says Camarta.
Update [2006-7-5 13:56:20 by Leanan]: Oil jumps to record trading high of $75.40 on worries about Iran, North Korea.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=amxMOFKzMVUo&refer=latin_america
... I find the Korea/oil connection kind of strange, actually.
Maybe there'd be a higher general fear factor if people thought Korea was going to start any kind of war .. but I haven't heard that either.
Then again, a lot of 'stuff' passes through that area, so you would expect to see price rises for many security-traded items.
I would stick with the Kuwait explanation.
The one long range missile failed, and the other six are upgunned SCUDS, so they have little accuracy. A scare tactic.
Yes.
More oil for the rest of us.
The way oil (or any other futures) market works has little to do with fundamentals of supply and demand. As John Maynard Keynes pointed out back in 1936, speculative markets depend on what speculators think other speculators will do. He has a very amusing passage on this topic, and BTW was a highly successful speculator himself.
When and if I speculate, I dump all my econonic knowledge in the garbage and tap deep into what I know of social psychology (of panics, mob behavior, mass hysteria, delusions, feverish overheating of tulip markets, etc.).
We can probably compile a long list of irrationally exuberant moves by "the market" to contradict those who believe that the market acts rationally. Yes, the 2001 dot.com bust and Tulip fever are part of that list as well as the build up of stock values during the roaring 1920's, but numbers one, two on my list are:
Frankly, I think we should be shrinking our current road system, not expanding it. Let's convert part of those 12+ lane freeways to bus only lanes that actually get you through the whole city, not half way through, like they had in Denver when I used to take a bus to work there.
Actually, it is worse than that. The education system is teaching the wrong skills and knowledge for a post peak world while, at the same time, using information appropriate to children, i.e., dumbing down the little, meaningless crap that is taught. At some point, people will look back (well, at least old farts like me hope they will look back) and realize that "shop" and "home economics" were far more important than diversity training.
I would also include living on credit (both personal and agency/government) on the list list.
Todd
4 July, 9 am Brent August contract was $73.49
5 July, 9 am Brent August contract was $72.97
But if the truth ever is revealed by Kuwait, this will hopefully, cast a shadow of doubt about the rest of Middle East reserves. Then, then, then perhaps a little common sense will seep through the thick skulls of all those cornucopians who see no peak in sight.
http://www.itp.net/business/news/details.php?id=21237&category=
(Same link as above)
Correct, N. Korea and his fat leader have nothing to do directly with oil, but not too many TOD readers are from either Japan or S. Korea. They are not happy, hence the increase in the price of oil.
I need the help of the TOD community.
We (Crisis Energética and AEREN) have translated our own Peak Oil Primer to English:
The Oil Peak and the World (pdf file, 2,5MB).
We would be very grateful to hear your opinion about this document, its contents, the translation (is there something that sounds strange), etc.
We intend to print some copies and we would be bringing some of them to ASPO in Pisa, so I would like to hear your opinion before that.
Many thanks!!!
Not Found
The requested URL /ficheros/The_Oil_Peak_and_the_world.pdf was not found on this server.
http://www.crisisenergetica.org/ficheros/The_Oil_Peak_and_the_World.pdf
In looking at it, it dawned on me that there is a difference between The World As We Each Individually Know It (TWA-WEIKI) and The World As We Should Collectively Know It.
What does that mean?
Well look each of our 6,500 million citizens and how he or she sees that world from his/her viewpoint:
http://www.columbusdispatch.com/business/business.php?story=196901
Link courtesy of Energybulletin:
Pre-emptive Energy Security otherwise known as Might is Right
but I think it really puts a gun to congress' head. It says fix the nation's energy problems, of face this.
BTW, lots of "end of oil" references in the footnotes.
It's PDF, and needs the Adobe Reader to be installed.
Thanks.
These two premises seem to quite contradict themselves, at least in the foreseeble future. If we are going to rule one of them out the obvious choice would have to be carbon sequesteration, IMO. Add to this that most of the carbon would still be released from the liquid fuel itself, and that sequesteration eliminates other sources of heat for the process (NG for example) and the CS part turns into an empty sound aimed to please the GW aware public.
The liquid fueled auto needs to be erased from the future.
***
Imagine the PRECEDENT if a democatically elected parliament decides to limit output to that which it perceives to be in its long-term national best interest.
There could be a line of other countries itching to do the same thing ... lower production, longer life, higher prices!
Best,
Matt
How well stocked is your retreat now?
Want to hire me as a consultant and tennis coach? :=)