Stories tagged with "Morgan Downey"

Clunker Flunker? An Observation In Hindsight

Posted by Gail the Actuary on October 15, 2009 - 10:15am
Topic: Demand/Consumption
Tags: cash for clunkers, morgan downey [list all tags]

This is a guest post by Morgan Downey, author of Oil 101.

The US cash for clunkers program was designed to stimulate economic growth through the auto industry by encouraging individuals to trade in old vehicles for more fuel efficient models. The US$3 billion program ran from July 24 through August 24, 2009. The program resulted in an additional 690,114 cars being traded in. The average fuel efficiency of trade ins was 15.8 mpg and the average for the replacements was 24.9 mpg. Those receiving the clunker subsidy are supposed to be taxed on that benefit so the entire US$3 billion is not lost.

If you do the math, the saving in oil spending over the lifetime of the new vehicles could be great enough to justify the US$3 billion of taxpayer money spent. However, critics point out that the taxpayer is out of pocket for donating this one off efficiency saving to fortunate clunker owners without any benefit in return.

Now that the program is over, the data shows that there may be a single unexpected lesson.

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OPEC Meets as Oil Demand Turns the Corner

Posted by Gail the Actuary on September 9, 2009 - 10:10am
Topic: Demand/Consumption
Tags: morgan downey, oil demand, opec, opec meeting, original [list all tags]

This post is a guest post by Morgan Downey. Morgan is author of the book ‘Oil 101’.

OPEC members announced cuts in late 2008 totaling 4.2 million barrels per day (Mb/d). Compliance with these cuts is currently running at around 3Mb/d.

Ahead of OPEC members meeting on Wednesday September 9 in Vienna, it is worth elaborating on why OPEC will likely refrain from making any production changes and why they may in fact need a temporary tightening of compliance with existing quotas by up to 500,000 barrels per day.

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Book Review: Oil 101

Posted by Robert Rapier on April 28, 2009 - 2:00pm
Topic: Supply/Production
Tags: book review, morgan downey, oil market, oil production, refineries [list all tags]

Oil 101, by Morgan Downey, is without a doubt the most detailed and comprehensive book I have ever read on the oil industry. In fact, I am not aware that another book like this even exists. This is not an opinion piece, nor is it a peak oil book. It is a collection of factual information covering all aspects of the industry. From oil in the ground to product in the tanks (and everything in between) - this book contains everything you could ever want to know about the industry. I like to think I know quite a bit about different areas of the industry, but I still managed to learn a lot from this book.

Oil 101 by Morgan Downey

It doesn't matter if you are a complete novice or already know quite a bit about the industry; there is something for everyone in this book. Downey displays a deep understanding across all sectors of the industry. For instance, if I didn't know better I would have guessed that the refining chapter was written by someone who had spent an entire career in the refining industry. The only books on refining that I have read that were more comprehensive were those written specifically as technical guides for running a refinery. Other areas are covered in similar detail.

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An Idea: Vehicle Efficiency Market

Posted by Gail the Actuary on March 27, 2009 - 9:14am
Topic: Economics/Finance
Tags: fuel efficiency, gasoline tax, morgan downey, vehicle efficiency [list all tags]

This post is a guest post by Morgan Downey. Morgan is a commodities trader and author of the recent book "Oil 101".

Recently, there has been a growing call for the U.S. to increase gasoline and diesel taxes to the levels that exist in Europe in order to encourage efficiency and reduce oil imports. However, there are fundamental differences between Europe and the U.S. that make this model unsuitable for here.

In this post, I look at the reasons the European model appears unsuitable here and propose an alternate method of encouraging fuel efficiency, even when gas prices are low.


Author beside small vehicle in Paris.

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